Crispy Parmesan Ranch Chicken

When Josh & I first got married I really, really struggled with how to cook chicken.  I had a serious lack of creativity and know how and sadly, Pinterest wasn't around to aid me in my culinary adventures.  Early in our marriage I "did my own thing" to several meals and about half of them turned out awful.  This one, however, did not and has become a staple in our home!  This dish is really flavorful the chicken is moist and best of all a serving is only 4 WW points plus!

Ingredients

12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 packet ranch (3 tbs)

1.5 tbs olive oil

1/4 cup bread crumbs

2 tbs parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Cut your chicken breast into strips.  I like to cut mine about 1" thick and sometimes if the breast is thick I even butterfly it.  I've become a freak about the internal temperature of food ever since I started feeding J table food.  No raw chicken will get into his tummy! I also trim the white off the chicken and toss it out.

If you're super paranoid about having raw chicken hands (like me) use a fork to place each strip into a ziplock bag.  Dump in 1.5 tbs of olive oil and give your chicken a shake insuring each piece is coated.  You can also do this in a bowl with your hands.  Open the bag and toss in 1/4 cup bread crumbs and a packet of ranch (or 3 tbs).  Give that bag another good shake (or if you're sure no chicken goo escaped, let your toddler shake that bag - he'll have a blast and you can clean your work area).  Place the chicken in a greased pan and top each piece with the 2 tbs parmesan cheese.  (You can always try to shake the parmesan onto the chicken in the bag, but I find it never sticks which is just so frustrating to me so now I just place it on top).

Cook the chicken for 45 minutes*, let stand for 5 minutes (except your toddler's piece, pull that and let it start cooling!) and then enjoy!  We frequently enjoy this meal with roasted green beans (coming soon!) and basic mashed potatoes (coming soon!).

Be sure to let me know what you think! :)

*A hard lesson it took me far too long to learn is that every oven is different.  Sometimes I'd put this chicken in for 30 minutes and the temperature would never get above 140.  I timed the whole meal around the chickens completion and the menfolk and I would end up eating the sides and then consuming the chicken 30 minutes later.  I've found 45 minutes at 375 is pretty solid in my oven for this recipe, but remember each oven is different and for you it might take longer.  I highly recommend testing the temperature after about 30 minutes to see how you're progressing.

About Me

Hi & welcome to my blog! :)

My name is Ashley and I'm a 20-something wife & Mom living in Oklahoma!

Like most girls, I spent time day-dreaming about the various professions I'd want day have.  Some of those included being: a firefighter, the President, and a ballerina.  Now I'm terrified of fire, have no desire to lead the free world, and only wish I could have the grace of a ballerina.  But aside from those fleeting dreams, I dreamt more consistently of growing up to be either a chef, an interior designer, a teacher, a nurse, a professional organizer*, photographer, and I've always dreamt of being a Mom.  Back then I may have thought being a chef would include a big, white hat and the fast-paced environment of a professional kitchen, but it looks more like me frantically chopping while my kids nap and I'm wearing a spit up stained t-shirt.

One day, while frantically chopping I'm sure, I realized that this was it: I was living my dream.  My realm wasn't the least bit professional and my payment is nothing, but I'm doing it all.  Every day I'm being a chef, I'm decorating my home, I'm teaching my toddler & baby, I'm nursing "boo-boos," I'm organizing when I can (because 1200 square feet fills up fast with two under two!), I'm clicking hauling the DSLR around and snapping at least 15 iPhone photos a day of my sons, and I'm a Mom.

This blog - My Nesting Instincts - was born out of the desire to push myself to create & to share.  And, to be honest, the need for an outlet for my "me" time.

Thank you so much for stopping by my little corner of the Internet! I hope you found something here that would inspire your if you're like me and are trying to find the balance of giving yourself 100% as a Mom while still juggling your other responsibilities and roles within the home, I hope you are reminded you're not alone!  If you've come by, I'd love to hear from you in the comments or by e-mail at mynestinginstincts (at) gmail (dot) com.

*Yes, I really did want to be a professional organizer! When I was 9 I'd spend a Saturday morning cleaning out my closet and pretending I was being recorded for "The Ashley Show!" which was loosely based on The Martha Stewart show of the 90s I overheard my Mom watching every day!

About my family...

Josh is my husband of almost 4 years.  We met at work the summer of 2007 & spent the whole summer hanging out every night talking about every little thing and dreaming up a life together.  We were married in August 2008.  In May 2009 we bought our first home.  It's a 1200 square foot little thing that's very cookie cutter.  I love the idea of a house being a home and since our purchase I've worked with our measly (IE, frugal) home budget to try to infuse our design style into the home.  In August 2010 we had our first son who on this blog will be known as J.  In almost 2 years we've really come to know his personality and he is fierce, confident, adventurous, brave, bold, kind, loud, and so much fun!  We welcomed our second son into our family in October of 2011.  He is known on this blog as E.  E is observant, sweet, gentle, funny, spirited, and strong-willed.  He and J are already the best of friends and watching them play and laugh together already is always the highlight of my day.

And, just a note, for privacy reasons I won't be posting pictures of my sons' faces on this blog, but little hands, chubby ankles, and wrinkly feet are totally fair game!

A Word about Points & my Weight Watchers Journey...

My blog's intention is also to primarily share my recipes.  I'm a woman who's struggled with weight my whole life, but never have I been as overweight as I am now.  After gaining 50lbs in my first pregnancy and then gaining 35lbs in my second pregnancy (without having lost more than half of the first's pregnancy's weight), I'm a member of Weight Watchers and am on track to lose 103lbs hopefully within the next two years.  All my recipes will include points values to help make life easier on other WW members.  My goal in cooking hasn't been to "skimp" on the good stuff.  There are so many blogs I've found with great Weight Watcher recipes, but after making a few I learned I hate cooking with reduced fat cheese, but I don't mind reduced fat cream of chicken.  So, my recipes are more about flavor than substituting to make it the lowest point meal possible.  If something is 9 points and tastes great, I'll spend the 9 points instead of using 5 to eat something that's not satisfying.  I know that if I want to reach my goals and then keep this weight off, I need to continue to enjoy my eating.  If you have any questions about Weight Watchers, let me know!  Each week I plan to update my weight loss progress here (talk about accountability!)

Weight Lost so far: 20.2lbs in 17 weeks!