Chicken Parmigiana

www.flickr.com, photo by balise42

I've been making this recipe, which I got out of my Fix It and Forget It slow cooker cookbook, for a long time. To make this recipe better for you, I just added my own pizza sauce and chicken breading, and changed up the noodles a little bit. It's very easy to make--it requires a little bit of time in the morning (or the night before!), 30 minutes or less--then it cooks in your slow cooker all day long and you can finish up your day with a delicious meal!

Chicken Parmigiana

Ingredients:
1 egg
1 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (cut your chicken breasts in half or buy chicken strips with a thinner cut)
1 cup homemade bread crumbs*
2-4 Tbsp. butter
1-2 recipes of pizza sauce, depending on how much sauce you like.**
1/2-1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Brown rice or whole wheat spaghetti noodles (if desired)

Directions:
Beat egg, salt, and pepper together. Set the egg mixture in a shallow bowl or pie plate, and pour the bread crumbs into another shallow bowl or pie plate. Set the butter in a skillet, then turn the skillet to medium and let the butter melt while you dip the chicken breasts into the egg mixture, then the bread crumbs. You may have to firmly press the bread crumbs to the chicken.
After dipping the chicken, brown the outsides of it in the melted butter, then lay the chicken in the slow cooker. Pour pizza sauce over the chicken. Cover, and cook for 6-8 hours.
Sprinkle the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese over the chicken and sauce, cover, and cook for a few more minutes until it melts. While the cheese is melting, prepare brown rice or whole wheat spaghetti noodles.
Lay the cooked chicken over the rice or noodles, then pour a little sauce over it.
We've also substituted vegetables, and even spinach, for the rice/noodles. It's actually quite tasty!

*Homemade Bread Crumbs:
Toast 2 slices of Ezekiel bread. Set the toasted bread in a food processor, then sprinkle about 1 tsp. italian seasoning over them. Run the food processor for a few seconds to get bread crumbs.

**Pizza Sauce:
If you can find a jar of pizza sauce that doesn't include harmful oils or sugar, that would be fine to use for this recipe. I just make my own, which only takes a few minutes.

Ingredients:
6 ounce can of tomato paste
1/2-1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2-1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. parsley
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. oregano
2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
(these amounts are approximate. Season to taste.)

Scrape the tomato paste into a small saucepan, then add 2 more cans of water. Add all of the spices, then heat on medium until you start to see bubbles.