Is it me or did this week fly by? We discussed so many important and fun topics this week perhaps it made the time go fast..either way…Happy Friday friends!
Speaking of important topics, if you notice on the right side of my page, there is a new badge – The Cookie ChRUNicles is now a proud member of Healthy Living Blogs and I am quite excited about it!
If you are not familiar with Healthy Living Blogs, it is a wonderful community consisting of a wide variety of blogs with a common theme – health. Be sure to check out the link!
So last night my son requested that I make the same dinner I made for him Wednesday night – chicken parmesan.
I was so happy that he loved it enough to want it two nights in a row. I didn’t have leftovers from Wednesday night but when using the Trader Joe’s frozen but ready to cook individual chicken breast tenders, it is no problem to make a last minute, healthy dinner decision.
I love how easy it is for me to throw together last minute dinners.
You all know how I feel about Freedom of Meal.
Being a vegetarian while raising my son to still eat poultry and meat sometimes means I am cooking two separate meals.
It really isn’t a big deal or a hassle in any way. On nights that we are going to eat different things, I just try to use similar ingredients.
Since he wanted chicken parmesan, I went with the Italian theme and made myself eggplant parmesan.
Both meals look good right?
Can I let you in on a little secret?
I don’t use traditional breadcrumbs for the breading….I use oat bran.
Trust me, delicious, crispy and no one would ever notice the difference.
The only difference is that you aren’t eating empty calorie, processed, comes from a can bread crumbs with added preservatives and added ingredients you can’t pronounce.
Oat bran is high in dietary fiber (including both soluble and insoluble fiber), high in protein and a good dose of iron.
I simply mix the oat bran together with parmesan cheese and various Italian seasonings and voila – breadcrumbs!
But isn’t oat bran a cereal you wonder?
Why yes, it is a cereal. But oat bran is pretty versatile.
At the boy’s request one random morning this week, I made chocolate chip pancakes – using oat bran instead of flour.
In addition to eating oat bran as a hot cereal, you can also use oat bran in other ways. I tend to just sub it into just about any recipe that may call for flour (or breadcrumbs!) and it always works. Banana breads, cookies, muffins, pancakes, meatloaf, …endless possibilities.
Feel free to get creative when cooking; there is no right or wrong way to prepare your meals.
Customize your meals people! Be an individual! Do not allow recipe peer pressure to keep you from being an individual in your own kitchen!
Well. After this quick little lesson in peer pressure, I am off to get my son ready for school and myself ready for spin class. The sun may be shining here but it is just so darn cold still that running outdoors will have to wait. I think my sneakers have forgotten what pavement feels like.
Have a great day!
I need to know:
Do you buy oat bran?
Do you ever play around with recipes to make them your own?
Awesome idea using oat bran instead of bread crumbs! I will be trying that next time, never tried them before! And i’m constantly playing around with recipes. I pretty much never actually follow a recipe verbatim.
Let me know how it comes out when you try it.
I make eggplant parm pretty often, but have never thought to use oat bran – such a great idea! I will be trying that for sure. Have a great weekend!
You too!