Mom's Italian Chicken & Not Your Mom's Banana Nut Bread

One of the things that is hard about trying to eat better when you are a food lover is that we don't really like to give up on flavor. So the first thing I did when I started "dieting" is dig through my recipes to see if I had any that were already fairly low cal with out trying. And I did! Part of this is proper portioning but not everything that tastes good has to be full of fat.

The main dish I am sharing was one of my favorite recipes long before I started counting calories (I try and keep dinner between 500-800 calories as it is the biggest mean of the day for us). Its sort of like a lighter version of Chicken Parmesan, but there is no breading so I just call it Italian Chicken.

During my senior year of high school I realized that I really needed to learn how to cook properly before I got married the following August so I volunteered my mother to teach me how. Now I grew up helping in the kitchen and was at an advantage for it, but preparing a meal all by yourself and helping a pro are two very different things. This recipe was awesome because it was so easy that anyone could do it and it's super yummy. It boosted my confidence at being able to cook and became a keeper recipe in part because it was inexpensive enough for us as a broke couple living of military pay to afford.


This recipe serves 3 people but you could easily add another chicken breast with out a problem.

Italian Chicken:

1 Jar Pasta Sauce (What ever brand and type you like. I buy what ever organic marinara I can find.)
3/4 cup part skim shredded mozzarella
6 Tbsp parmesan cheese
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (6 oz)
PAM

Preheat you oven to 375°.

Lightly spray a 9x7 pyrex casserole dish with PAM, empty 1/2 the jar of sauce into the bottom of the dish. Place the chicken breasts on top of the sauce and sprinkle each of them with 1/4 cup of the mozzarella and 2 Tbsp of parmesan. Cover chicken the other 1/2 jar of sauce. Bake for 1 hour or until chicken is fully cooked.

Serve over pasta. I alot 3/4 cup (dry) pasta per person wish is about 150 calories, the sauce and cheese (depending on the sauce you use) per person comes out to about 300 calories, and the chicken another 200. So you have a dinner for a grand total of 650 calories per person. Add ten spears of steamed asparagus for 50 calories or 1/2 cup of peas (frozen, popped into the microwave for a couple for a minute or two) for 70 calories to round out your meal if you like.



Next is my recipe for "Not Your Mom's Banana Nut Bread". This has come about from me trying countless Banana Nut Bread recipes over the years and combining the parts that I like and adding things and playing until I got it just the way I like it. The result is a bread that isn't like anyone else and defiantly not like moms.

Our house ALWAYS has banana's in it and it seems like we eather eat all of them in a matter of a day or two or we have several left hanging out till they are over ripe. Ripe bananas can be frozen until you are ready to use them so anytime I have one or two lonely ripe bananas I pop them in the freezer. Now keep in mind that when you do this the skin on them will turn COMPLETELY black. That's normal...don't panic. When you are ready to use them make sure you take them out and let them thaw for 24 hrs or until they aren't frozen anymore.  Or you can stick them in a ziplock and let them rapid thaw in warm water, either way works. You will need 2 bowls, one for wet ingredients and one for dry, as well as a 10 in bundt pan (if you don't have a bundt pan you can use loaf pans instead).

Not Your Mom's Banana Nut Bread:

Wet:

4 bananas mashed (the riper, the better)

4 Tbsp orange marmalade

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

2 Tbsp nutella

Dry:

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup chopped nuts of your choice (I like almond slivers but I also often use pecan bits)  

Preheat your oven to 350°.

Mix together the wet ingredients in their bowl, the dry ingredients in their bowl, and then combine the two, mixing all the ingredients together well. Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan (PAM Baking also works really well. If not, spray regular PAM or rub sides of pan with butter then sprinkle a very small amount of flour in. Shake flour around and then invert pan over trash, tapping lightly to get rid of any extra flour).

Bake for one hour, testing for doneness with a knife.

This bread freezes really well so if this is way more than you can eat, don't worry! Freezing is also a good way to stope yourself from eating to many servings. Just pre-slice, freezer bag (removing air) and freeze! Take out a bag and nuke for 30 seconds when you want a slice!

This makes about 24 small slices and are only 150 calories each. One slice is perfect for breakfast or a fast snack. This is one of those times that its all about proper portioning, but really can be done and feels like you are getting to indulge.

Enjoy! 

- Catie