Skinny Chicken Parmesan Casserole

Eric is typically off on Mondays, but he went into work to catch up on paperwork and then headed to his job’s annual employee appreciation. This year they went bowling and to no surprise, he won. For all that know, Eric he is VERY competitive and no matter how small the competition is, he has to win. Lord help our future children! When Eric and I first started dating, I remember this one day in particular. I was determined to beat him at something. So we raced in the pool, he won. We raced at Snow Hinton Park in Tuscaloosa, (I was for sure I would beat him I mean I got some long legs here), and he won. We played bocce on the quad, he won that too. I think after that, I pouted the rest of the day. So far during our 8 years of knowing each other, the only thing I have beaten him at was a game of corn hole ... Maybe one day I will win. At least my football team wins! Roll Tide! #housedivided

Anyways, Eric and I actually met some friends after work for drinks and apps at Jackson’s in SOHO. We were really tired and weren’t feeling Jackson’s for dinner and just decided to be cheap and stop at Chick-Fil-A on the way home. I decided that I needed to save money and changed my mind (Mom be proud). So last night, I cooked Skinny Chicken Parmesan Casserole, and it was so delicious. It is the easiest recipe to make and only takes an hour to cook. According to Skinny Mom (where I got the original recipe), you can have 1 ¼ cups, and it is only 268 calories! I’ll be honest, it’s very filling and I didn’t even eat all of my serving. 

I really had a sweet tooth last night and was going to be good and just eat a peach, but I decided that the ice cream that was in the freezer needed to be finished, duh! So I put fresh peaches on top of vanilla ice cream. OMG! Heaven! Thankfully we have no more ice cream, and this won’t become a habit!

Ingredients

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

Salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

1 (13.25-ounce) box whole wheat penne pasta

1 (28-ounce) can no-salt-added crushed tomatoes

3 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

½ cup reduced-fat shredded Mozzarella cheese

¼ cup reduced-fat shredded Parmesan cheese

¼ cup panko bread crumbs

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350° F and grease a 9x13-inch casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
• Spread the chicken in an even layer on the bottom of the casserole dish. Season the chicken with salt and black pepper to taste. Next, spread the uncooked pasta over the chicken.
• Pour the crushed tomatoes and chicken broth over the pasta, and sprinkle the basil and Italian seasoning over the sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
• Uncover and top with the 2 cheeses and panko bread crumbs. (I leave foil off at this point.)
• Bake an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the breadcrumbs are browned.

Skinny Chicken Parmesan Casserole

Fresh Peaches and Vanilla Ice Cream

Original Recipe- http://www.skinnymom.com/recipe-chicken-parmesan-casserole/

Happy Eating!