Recipe Review - Crockpot Chicken Parmesan :)

Last week we tried a new recipe - Crockpot Chicken Parmesan.  When I showed the recipe to Dave, he wasn't too encouraging about it.  He doesn't like recipes where the meat is breaded or has sauce on it.  Unlike me . . . bread it, fry it, and smother it in sauce or gravy . . . I'll be there with my knife and fork ready to dig it!

Because of Dave's resistance to this recipe, I was a little anxious about serving it to him.  Here's the break-down of how it's made:

First you crack an egg in a bowl.  Then you mix in a separate bowl some parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and Italian bread crumbs.  I used Panko bread crumbs with Italian seasoning because I've been wanting to try the Panko bread crumbs.

I really liked the texture of the Panko bread crumb mixture:

You dip the skinless boneless chicken breasts in the beaten egg first:

Then you put the chicken in the bread crumb mixture and coat it on both sides.

You grease the bottom of the crockpot with olive oil and then lay the coated chicken breasts in the crockpot. 

I may have put too many chicken breasts in my crock.  I put more than the recipe called for just because that's how many breasts came in my pack. 

You sprinkle mozzarella cheese top of the chicken.

Then you pour an entire jar of Marinara sauce over the chicken.

I should have added more sauce for the amount of chicken I did, but it was still sufficient for the dish.  My boys just love the sauce so much!  I need to remember to add extra sauce for them!

Here's the picture from the Chef in Training which is where I got the recipe:

Here's a picture of my version of this recipe:

It was really good.  Even Dave liked it.  My picture taking needs some help if I'm going to be posting food pictures on this blog!  Her picture is so much better than mine!  I would recommend not overcooking it in the crockpot.  Definitely stay within the time frames given in the recipe.  The longer this dish cooked . . . the thicker the sauce got. But it was pretty good for a crockpot dish.  I think I would definitely add more sauce the next time.  It wasn't a lot of sauce for the noodles, in my opinion.  The most surprising item about this recipe was . . . the breading on the chicken was pretty good . . . not soggy or gross.  I think the key is to not overcook the dish.

Besides cooking, I have also been working on a little craft project . . .

Wonder what I could be making . . .

Do you see the burlap . . . I have really wanted to try doing a painted burlap craft after seeing Angie's cross at the Ladies' Craft Night . . .

While I was painting, Shane got my camera and took a few pictures . . .

Next time I hope Shane lets me get some makeup on before he starts snapping pictures!  Ha!

I'm not finished with my burlap project . . .  when I get finished, I will definitely post some pictures.  It's looking really cute so far . . ..

I also wanted to follow up on my homemade laundry detergent post.  So far I haven't put a dent in the container of detergent I made . . .  and I have done about 12 loads of laundry . . . plus I gave 5 scoops of the laundry detergent to my friend, Laycee, to try.

Last night when I was washing some of the boys' jeans, I took a picture of Zach's pants just before putting them in the washer. . . . red clay dirt  . . . yuk!

I sprayed some Shout on the knees and threw the pants in the washer with all the other clothes . . .  Here they are right out of the dryer . . . Now the knees are little worn from wear . . . but they're clean!

I still use Shout on my clothes because I would use Shout with the name-brand detergent.  This homemade detergent isn't supposed to be super special detergent that cleans magically.  It's just like regular laundry detergent without all the extra filler that's in the name-brand detergent . . . .or so that's what I read.  I'm no expert on the matter.  But so far, I like this homemade detergent!  It smells so good in my laundry room.  The clothes are soft and clean.  And I don't think I'll be buying any detergent for quite a while. :)

I know some people are making the liquid laundry detergent, and I might try that next.  But when I researched the topic . . . it just seemed like the liquid detergent required more effort than the dry . . . I was interested in trying this idea out, but not interested enough to devote too much time to it.  This took about 10 minutes to throw together including grating the soap in the food processor.  Just about the amount of time I like to devote to cleaning of any sort.  :)

Well, I am going to sign off tonight.  My sweetie and I are spending the night away from our children tonight.  Thank you Nana and Pawpaw for little-Ferrell-sitting! 

We ate dinner at the Olive Garden -- can you say "Yum!"  Did I look the points up for the Stuffed Chicken Marsala I ate . . .   Nope!  :D

So until tomorrow  . . .  me  . . . without

                     the Ferrell Boys  . . .  Whoopie!