Baked Chicken Parm Bites
26 May
Hey everyone! I hope you all are enjoying your Memorial Day weekend. Thankfully, I – like most! – have off from work on Monday. Saturday flew right by, so I already know that I’ll be appreciating an extra day off from work.
So, I realize I was a little MIA Thursday & Friday. Thursday evening, I headed up to my parents’ house to dog-sit Jake for a few hours. Even though he’s still a puppy – & gets super-excited whenever company comes to visit him! – he’s pretty well-behaved. We even took a quick nap!
Friday evening I was pretty much dead to the world. I came home from work, plopped down on the couch, & proceeded to nap with Stewie for quite a few hours. I really have a hard time being remotely productive on a Friday evening. Am I alone? Eventually – around 7:00PM – I made this recipe (pasta, veggie, & cheese skillet) for dinner, then settled in for a low-key evening of pinning & movie-watching (The Break Up, one of my favorites).
That brings us to this morning!
I knew I wanted to get some cleaning done ASAP this morning, so I woke up around 7:30AM & laced up my sneakers to get my workout in before tackling my to-do list.
By the time I got outside – around 8:00AM – it was already pretty warm, & by the time I completed a mile & a half, I was drenched in sweat & ready to call it a day. I completed just under two miles before I stopped, & immediately chugged a glass of water upon retreating to my air conditioned apartment.
Since Chris was still sleeping & I wanted his help with the cleaning, I enticed him with a Starbucks frappucino to encourage an earlier wake-up time – it worked! For myself, I got a large iced coffee & one of my favorites – Starbucks perfect oatmeal.
I topped the oatmeal with the provided add-ins – brown sugar, dried fruit, & mixed nuts – but also added in a teaspoon of peanut butter & a drizzle of honey. So tasty!
The oatmeal helped to fuel me through a solid hour or two of cleaning. Soon enough, it was time for lunch, & I had a leftover bowl of pasta from last night. Simple & it hit the spot!
After I showered & got ready, Chris & I headed off to BJ’s Wholesale. This place is so fun, but also so dangerous. For some reason, as soon as I walk through the doors, it becomes imperative that I stock up on tons of random items. Granted, we’re usually getting a great deal by buying in bulk, but these trips are never cheap! Some of my favorites finds from today were a giant container of Viactivs – I had a coupon, too! – & a box of 32, 100 calories packs of Blue Diamond Almonds.
We also purchased a pineapple for $3. Neither of us had ever cut up an entire pineapple before, but it was super easy to do so, & the fruit tasted so fresh & delicious!
After we got home, we headed back out the door to church & eventually back home to enjoy some BBQ chicken pizza (no picture was snapped since I basically inhaled my slices in a few minutes!).
Now, here I sit while Chris watches the Sixers game… a pretty low-key Saturday night.
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On Wednesday’s post, I alluded to a new recipe – Baked Chicken Parm Bites – & now it’s time to share!
While I was meal-planning last week, I added “chicken parm” to my list, but changed things up at the last minute to make these “bites.”
While I usually prefer to follow someone else’s recipe, every now & then I become a little adventurous & try out my own thing. I always love when my own recipes are a success, like this one! Enjoy! 
Baked Chicken Parm Bites
Ingredients:
- 1 pack (about 1 lb.) chicken tenderloins
- 12 reduced-fat Ritz crackers, finely crushed
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp. Italian blend shredded cheese
- Salt, pepper, garlic salt, & oregano to taste
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350*.
- Prepare baking sheet by placing a cooling rack on top (or something similar), so that meat is “elevated” & heat can circulate around the entire piece of chicken (see photo below).
- Cut chicken tenders into bite-sized pieces.
- In one bowl, crack the two eggs.
- In another bowl, combine the crushed Ritz, cheese, & seasonings.
- Dip chicken pieces in egg, then toss in Ritz coating.
- Place on cooling rack & bake for 15 minutes.
- Serve with pasta & sauce.
While this recipe is a bit time-consuming – it takes a while to coat the pieces of chicken – I think it’s worth the extra effort. Although I served mine atop a bed of pasta, these would also be great on their own with some pasta sauce for dipping!
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What are your plans for the rest of Memorial Day Weekend?
Do you belong to any warehouse clubs like BJ’s, Sam’s, or Costco?
that puppy’s face just melts hearts!
Alex @ therunwithin recently posted..Feeling Human Again and Hashtag Highlights
He’s a cutie!
Chicken parmesan is one of my favorites…I love these little bites! Also…pb in Starbucks oatmeal? So smart!
Baking Serendipity recently posted..Summer Favorites (Giveaway!)
I couldn’t believe I hadn’t tried it before, but the pb made it sooo delicious!
Love this recipe idea – chicken parm is my favorite!!
Oh yes I’ve been waiting for this recipe! Looked so delicious when you first mentioned it!!!
I watched the Break Up Friday too! It was on and I just couldn’t pass that up! I love it!
Hope you enjoy your extra day off!! Have a good weekend!
Jentry Nielsen recently posted..How To Survive Memorial Day BBQ’s
Did you notice Bravo played it twice? About halfway through my SECOND time watching it in one night, I was like “Wait, why am I watching this again?!” haha It’s one of my favorites though, so it never gets old!
The oatmeal from starbucks is pretty good, but pb is necessary, will be trying that myself
This recipe looks great too… I go pretty nuts for chicken parm, so I say yes please to those!
Tessa @ Amazing Asset recently posted..Guest Post- Foodie Fiasco
Those parm bites looks so tasty!! And I bet the extra bit of work is totally worth it
. My mom belongs to Costco and I love going there. I got a 4lb bag of frozen broccoli the other day haha.
Bulk stores are so fun! We sort of want to get a Costco membership too, since it seems like the different stores carry different brands/products!
Jake is too cute. Since it’s 94 in Wisconsin today, Oliver is melllllow. We are heading to a friend’s house for a BBQ today and I hope to hit some stores tomorrow – Memorial Day is great for sales
Alysha @Shesontherun recently posted..Craft: DIY Button Monograms
I wish I could hit up the outlets near me, but sadly I have a lot of stuff to grade for school! Boo!
love starbucks oatmeal. you just HAVE to top with peanut butter!
Yummm I have been waiting for this recipe