A Nice Weekend with Dear Husband

My husband and I had an entire weekend to ourselves. No major plans, nothing pressing to get done, just us doing our normal (or what used to be normal) routine on the weekend. We decided to use our new found time to create something new in the kitchen. We were sorta getting board with the usual recipes we had become comfortable making. It was nice being able to whip up a flavorful dish quickly after getting the prep work and cooking down to a T with our favorite recipes, but we needed something new!

I had wanted to make this Low-Fat Chicken Parmesan recipe I had seen in Cook's Country a couple years ago, but had not had much time lately. Based on past experiences, trying out a new recipe when you're on a strict time schedule was not a good idea.

Low-Fat Chicken Parmesan:
I started off by making a simple and quick tomato sauce that consisted of diced tomatoes ran through the food processor, and then garlic, tomato paste, oil, and a bit of red pepper flakes that had been allowed to bloom in the saucepan first. The sauce was reduced and then fresh basil was added. I made a double batch knowing my husband likes tomato sauce, and we had planned to have some whole wheat pasta as a side. I thought it would be good to toss some of this sauce in with the pasta!

Instead of frying the chicken breasts, chicken cutlets were lightly dredged in a flour and garlic powder mixture, then moistened with an egg-white wash, then "battered" with a toasted panko and parmesan mixture. They were set on a wire rack over a rimmed backing sheet and baked. Right before the chicken was done, we spooned some of the warmed sauce over each chicken breast and then topped it with part-skim milk mozzarella cheese and put it back in the oven. The chicken was done just as the cheese had melted and started to brown slightly and was then topped with fresh basil.



SO good!


Butter Pecan Ice Cream:
For dessert, my husband wanted to make Butter Peacan Ice Cream. We recently purchased the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker with Extra Freezer Bowl from William-Sonoma as a sort of wedding gift. So far we are really happy with our purchase!


The Instructional booklet comes with some pretty good recipes. In our attempt to eat healthy and loose weight, my husband, knowing my love for ice cream, decided to make the Butter Peacan one because he knew I wouldn't eat it. We are following the Weight Watchers Points Plus plan, and he has about twice as many points as I do, so he can afford something like this, whereas I cannot.

He sauted the pecans in butter and salt, and then made the base of the ice cream. After dinner we poured it into the machine, and 20 minutes later we had fluffy, creamy ice cream. The base was too good to pass up, so I had some and just picked out the pecans. Very rich and creamy!




I don't know if we will be making the ice cream anytime soon since it was definitely not healthy, but we will definitely be making the Chicken Parmesan again and will be adding it to our rotation of meals.

Wonderful dinner and a fun time in the kitchen with the hubs on a Saturday night!