Happy Valentine's Day, friends! I hope you're all having a great day celebrating LOVE. The truth is, everyone of us has a love worth celebrating...a sweetheart, a family member, a friend, and best of all, a great God who has blessed us beyond what we deserve! Find the joy in the NOW, because it is there if you choose to see it. I know, I know...that has absolutely nothing to do with gluten (or lack thereof)...but it does have to do with our spirit, which effects our health, right? Right. Anyway...
Andy and I had our own little Valentine's Day celebration last night because our church sweetheart banquet is tonight! We opted to stay in and cook instead of going out this year. We had such a fun, relaxing evening - minus the bloaty, full feeling! Praise be!
I found this gem of a recipe a few weeks ago after we had sworn off gluten. I had some chicken in the refrigerator and (after ridding my pantry of the nasties) not much else to work with. Food.com saved our supper! It was delicious, so I decided to make it again for our Valentine's dinner.
Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients:
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken
2 cups shredded parmesan
1 TBS dried parsley
1 TBS dried basil
1 TBS dried oregano
cooking spray
spaghetti sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
Preheat the oven to 400. Combine parmesan cheese, parsley, basil, and oregano in a large zip lock bag. Wash the chicken, pat dry and put the pieces in the cheese mixture. Spray 11x13 pan with cooking spray. Make sure each piece of chicken is coated with cheese and place in the pan, dumping the remaining cheese mixture on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the chicken is done. Top with spaghetti sauce (I used a whole jar.), then add mozzarella cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Serve with gluten free spaghetti, gluten free bread, and salad...whatever you like!
For spaghetti, I used Simply Balanced Gluten Free Spaghetti (multigrain, with quinoa), a Target brand. I have tried a few different brands of gluten free pasta, and this on is my favorite so far. The only difference I've noticed between this and regular spaghetti is how I feel after I eat it!
For the garlic bread, I used Udi's Gluten Free Whole Grain Bread. You'll need to keep this bread in the freezer, because gluten free breads spoil faster. I defrosted it in my toaster oven, then added butter, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and parmesan cheese. I put it back in the toaster oven and toasted it until the cheese melted. It was perfection! :)
For dessert, we had brownies, courtesy of Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownie Mix! Betty's never failed me before and this holds true for the gluten free variety. So far, I have tried the chocolate chip cookie mix and the brownie mix...both were fantastic.
I might do a future post on gluten free products I've tried and loved...I've got a good list of things already! Let me know if you try these recipes and what you think of them!
