Flying by the Seat of My Pants

Yeah, that pretty much sums up the story of my life (Chick, stop nodding your head). And speaking of Chick, I was on my way home from work one evening this week, when he called and wanted to know what was for dinner. To be honest, I was kind of hoping for a quiet, pick-at-this-and-that sort of night so I didn't have a menu planned, however he had a stressful day and was looking for some comfort food. I weakly suggested, "I have some chicken?" "Okay." Well, when I arrived home, I did what comes naturally to me: wonder, "now what?" Wanting to try something different, I made up a Chicken Parmesan recipe as I went along to see what would happen. This may be how it went:

Spontaneous Chicken Parmesan

Several chicken breasts
Couple of handfuls of seasoned croutons, thoroughly crushed
Grated parmesan cheese
Cooking spray
1 egg, beaten
Salt
Mozzarella cheese
Spaghetti sauce

(Remember, friends, this was done on a whim so no measurments were used.)

Pre-heat oven to 375 F. Coat a baking dish with cooking spray or olive oil, if you prefer. Combine the bread crumbs (crushed croutons, wink - wink) and the parmesan. Butterfly the chicken and dip it in the beaten egg, then dredge it in the crumb/parmesan mixture and place in the baking dish. Salt it. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until no longer pink in the center. During the last 5 minutes in the oven, sprinkle some mozarella over each piece. Ladle a generous helping of the spaghetti sauce in the center of each plate and place a chicken breast on top.

While the chicken was cooking, I threw together some corn on the cob and green beans with almonds.

Then I held my breath.

Chick exclaims, "Un - believ - able! This is the perfect end to a rough day!"


Sigh of relief. Don't you love it when a "plan" comes together?