Crockpot Recipe Feature: The Simple Life

You probably remember Rachael from my last feature but in case you don't, she's the founder of The Simple Life which is one of my favorite blogs! Rachael is so creative and talented with her recipes and writing that it's no surprise I've fallen in love with her blog!

I'm a huge crockpot fan and with fall right around the corner I thought it'd be great to share with you guys one of Rachael's crockpot recipes. Too early for crockpots you say? Never! It's never too early for crockpots and in fact my sister and I have already used ours multiple times. Anyway, back to Rachael-- she has a ton of crockpot recipes and I love her idea of Crockpot Mondays where she makes a batch then has enough meals for the rest of the week!

In my opinion crockpots are genius because you throw all the ingredients into one thing, let it cook on its own, and then you only have to clean up the crockpot! Could it get any easier?

Like I said Rachael has a ton of recipes to choose from but the one that really caught my attention was her Healthy Crockpot Chicken Parmesan.

So I'll stop all my rambling and let Rachael take it from here:

Healthy Crockpot Chicken Parmesan!!

It is another glorious crockpot day at my apartment!! One of my favorite foods used to be chicken parmesan but I stopped eating it long ago because it is high in calories and some recipes contain an entire day's amount of sodium (2,000 mg). I haven't had chicken parmesan in probably two or three years, but that was about to change. 

This week I decided I wanted to revamp and reinvent chicken parmesan in the crockpot and make it healthy. My spin on traditional chicken parmesan will be different than what you are used to but I promise it tastes just as good and you don't have to feel guilty about eating it!! 

You will need:

• 3 chicken breasts (you can use 4)
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs, regular or Italian style whichever you prefer
• 2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese  
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cups organic marinara sauce

Take the tablespoon of olive oil and spread it at the bottom of the crockpot.

Next, pour 1/2 of the organic marinara sauce on the bottom of the crockpot, saving the other half to pour on top of the chicken once it is placed in the crockpot.

In a small mixing bowl combine the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese, mixing them completely together. 

In a separate bowl beat the egg. Take the chicken breasts and dip them one at a time into the egg and then into the bread crumb and parmesan cheese mixture, coating both sides with egg and then bread crumbs. 

Once the chicken breasts have been covered with bread crumbs place all breasts in the crockpot. After all the chicken breasts are in the crockpot cover the chicken breasts with the remaining organic marinara sauce. 

Finally, cover the crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.

Once the chicken has been cooked turn the crockpot off and carefully remove the lid as it will be hot. The chicken should fall apart because it is so tender.

I shredded the chicken breasts up because it creates more servings of chicken parmesan that way (I got four servings of chicken parmesan this way). I had a single serving of chicken parmesan over one cup of spaghetti squash instead of noodles for an added nutritional bonus. Click here to find out how to cook spaghetti squash. 

Serve with a side of vegetables and you have a complete meal!! I hope you adore my savory and healthy version of chicken parmesan. Have a great week and happy crockpoting!!

Nutrition (per serving):
Calories: 298
Fiber: 6 grams
Sodium: 794 mg (this may seem like a lot but it is drastically less than any other recipes I have seen)
Potassium: 124 mg
Protein: 20 grams

http://simplificlife.blogspot.com/2013/10/healthy-crockpot-chicken-parmesan.html