What do you get when you have these delicious Parmesan Crusted Freezer Friendly Chicken Breasts……

…..combined  with some fantastic Traditional Italian Bolognese Sauce ………….

…….and you add some  mozzarella cheese on top?

You will have the most perfect ingredients for a Healthy Baked Chicken Parmesan of course!

Nutrition Info

(4 oz piece of chicken topped with 1/4 c. sauce and 1/2 oz. mozzarella)

Servings:6* Calories: 312.5* Fat: 13.5* Fiber: 5* Carbs: 13.5* Protein: 38* Points+: 8* Old Points: 6*

Additional Notes:

*If using previously frozen cooked breasts, simply have them thawed overnight prior to using. After adding sauce and cheese bake for 30 minutes until chicken is warmed through and cheese is melted.

Doesn’t that look crispy, like it was fried?!!!!

BUT it wasn’t and it tastes JUST as good I promise!

This a favorite winning, kid approved recipe!

Adding a nice side salad like my Cucumber Feta Salad or Fresh Fennel would be a perfect side!

Healthy Baked Chicken Parmesan

[sc:Ziplist]

Ingredients

• 6- 4 oz cooked parmesan chicken breasts
• 1 1/2 c. tomato sauce
• 3 oz. mozzarella, part skim, 1/2 oz. slices

Directions

1.  Follow my recipe for Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breasts.
2. Lay each piece of chicken in a baking dish.
3. Spoon 1/4 c. of tomato sauce over each breast.
4. Lay one half ounce slice of mozzarella on top of sauce.
5. Bake in 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted.

The post Healthy Baked Chicken Parmesan appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

My sister-in-law was the one who motivated a very big freezer cooking marathon day last weekend and boy am I ever so glad she was with me to do it all. But the benefits of a little extra cooking one day a week or even once or twice a month will save you an enormous amount of time during the week. Of course the benefit of cooking healthier meals at home is the key to losing weight and more importantly at this point in my life anyway, keeping it off!

My sister-in-law bought about 5 lbs of chicken breast, 16 chicken thighs, 3 lbs of ground hamburger, and 4lbs of ground turkey. We made up some easy meals and baked everything in the same oven at the same temp and it was all done within an hour! The prep time took about an hour, but for that amount of time, this is what we now have in our freezer:

• 16 seasoned cooked chicken thighs
•  2 cooked meatloaves (We could have made 2 more but decided to just freeze the rest of the meat)
• 24 large, cooked turkey meatloaf muffins
• 2 1/2 pounds of sliced, seasoned cooked chicken breast
•  18 chicken burrito’s individually wrapped  for easy reheating.

It’s very simple to prepare the chicken breast to make the burrito’s. All you need is 2 casserole dishes, 9 x 13, and slice the breasts. Lay them in the dish sprayed with some nonstick cooking spray, some overlapping is fine. We used one bottle of Italian Greek dressing (no added sugars) and poured half the bottle over one dish then the other. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour. I should mention I was inspired to make the burrito’s because of the wonderful Money Saving Mom who has some fantastic ideas about freezer cooking.

We cut the chicken into smaller bite size pieces and simply placed some chicken on a tortilla then added about 1/4 c. cheddar cheese and folded them up. Of course, you could add some nice veggies like onion, peppers, and/or re-fried beans if you like, but my kids just wanted it plain with cheese.

We wrapped them individually with aluminum foil and placed them in a Ziploc gallon bag.To reheat, I thawed them the night before, took them out of the foil and rolled them up in a paper towel. Microwaved them for about a minute to warm them through and melt the cheese. They were perfect!

Ok I’ve got some interesting Nutrition facts for you as I was  interested in how much of a difference using different tortillas would make. Hubby and kiddies wouldn’t budge on using anything other than white flour tortillas! I can’t seem to convert them to switch to whole wheat, but they do eat whole wheat bread at least. SO I made my own using low carb, whole wheat tortilla’s. You will notice what a HUGE difference in using a healthier tortilla makes when you read over this info for one single burrito! These are all with 1/4 c. shredded cheddar and 2 oz. chicken breast in each, not counting re-fried beans or any veggies either. Not only do you reduce your fat by more than half, you increase your fiber as well! If that doesn’t win you over to convert to whole wheat I don’t know what can. Just sayin’!

Nutrition Info for one White Flour Burrito:

Calories: 368* Fat: 15g* Fiber: 1g* Carbs: 36g* Protein: 21g* Points+: 10* Old Points: 8

Nutrition Info for one Whole Wheat Burrito:

Calories: 241.2* Fat: 5.7g* Fiber: 4g* Carbs: 24.5g* Protein: 24g* Points+: 6* Old Points:5

Nutrition Info for one Low-Carb Whole Wheat Burrito:

Calories: 201.2g* Fat: 5.4g* Fiber: 8.4g* Carbs: 14.5g* Protein: 27.2g* Points+: 5 Old Points: 4

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breast, sliced like tenders
• bottle of Italian dressing of choice
• package of tortilla’s of your choice
• package of shredded cheddar cheese
• optional: cooked sweet peppers, onions, mushrooms, re-fried beans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place sliced chicken breast in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Cover the chicken with half the bottle of dressing. If you have up to five pounds of chicken breast and using another baking dish use the rest of the dressing on that chicken.
3. Bake for 1 hour until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink when sliced.
4. Chop up the chicken when done and lay 2 oz. of chicken on a flat tortilla under a piece of aluminum foil if you are freezing them. Place 1/4 c. shredded cheese on top of the chicken and any other optional ingredients. Fold lengthwise, then fold the two ends and fold over final piece lengthwise.
5. 2 1/2 pounds of chicken makes about 18 tortilla’s.

The post Freezer Easy Chicken Burrito Recipe appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

Guest Post Recipe for Skinny Mom’s Kitchen

This recipe is a fabulous meal for after Thanksgiving. Left over turkey gets revamped into an amazing dish your family will love. This can be easily assembled and frozen. Reheating is just as simple covering it with aluminum foil at 350 degrees until bubbly.

This makes me happy. Why,  you ask?

Because I was a mom who only thought about dinners the night before.  I always tried to get my protein out of the freezer for the next night and prided myself on that, but I wouldn’t call it organized in any way. I would simply find a meat to thaw, then decide what I had time to make depending on the next days schedule. Does that sound familiar? Do you follow that routine as well? I can see now it was always risky. Life happens and what I planned didn’t happen and then take out  was ordered or it was breakfast for dinner. Not helpful on the waistline or the budget!

You see until I started to follow Skinny Mom’s Kitchen I was not inspired to plan too far ahead. I just simply felt I didn’t have time for that. I barely made a weekly menu!  I definitely was a double batch-er  mom. I would make two meatloaves, one for dinner and one to freeze. I didn’t mind doing that, but meal starters and cooking once a month were not on my to -do list. I was following Skinny Mom’s Kitchen, but mostly for her great family friendly recipes.

Freezer cooking is now exciting to me. So now since following Skinny Mom’s Kitchen and reading her great articles about freezing cooking and menu planning, I am on my way to filling my freezer for the month! I plan in advance, cook in large batches and love every minute of my new found organized cooking methods! Yeah for me…… but you can do it too! Have you been lurking around as well, intrigued, but not yet motivated to try freezer cooking?

This meal can be a start for you. Double the recipe and you are on your way! Its not as daunting as it sounds and you never know, you may even get excited once you see how many meal starters and prepared meals you’ve got going on in that freezer of yours!

Nutrition Info

Servings: 8* Calories: 245* Fat: 6g* Fiber: 4g* Carbs: 26.5g* Protein: 19.4g* Points+:6* Old Points: 5*

Lean Turkey Tetrazzani

[sc:Ziplist]

Ingredients

• 1 lb. cooked turkey, chopped
• 2/3 c. sliced onion
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp ground mustard
• 2 c. 1% milk
• 8 oz whole wheat pasta
• 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 c. shredded, low- fat cheddar
• optional: 2 cups fresh chopped spinach

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a bowl, add pasta and cook until al dente, drain.
2. In a medium sauce pan, saute onion in butter until tender.
3. Add cooked chopped turkey, flour and seasonings.
4. Pour in milk and Parmesan cheese and reduce to low heat. Stir until mixture thickens.
5. Blend in 1/2 c. shredded cheddar until melted. Toss in spinach if using, just until wilted. Turn off heat.
6. Add pasta to a 9 by 13 baking dish. Pour turkey mixture over pasta. Sprinkle 1/2 c. shredded cheddar on top.
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

May be frozen as assembled and thawed and reheated at 350 degrees.

The post Lean Turkey Tetrazzini (Leftover) Recipe appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.