Healthy Eating: Chicken Parmesan

I can't believe I've never made this before!! I served chicken parmesan last night, and it was soooo delish. Of course, everything was purchased with coupons from the tomatoes, to the chicken, to the pasta. We rounded out the meal with steamed broccoli on the side and organic cherries.

First, I made crispy chicken tenders from FishMama's recipe HERE.

The marinara sauce recipe is from my friend Charlotte. The sauce was really inexpensive since I used two cans of tomatoes bought with a coupon, and fresh basil leaves from the garden. I confess that I have almost always used jarred marinara sauce in the past, but this sauce was incredible, and so simple to make.

Charlotte's Marinara Sauce

2 T. olive oil

4 med. cloves garlic minced *

2 14-oz. cans diced tomatoes with juice

Coarse salt & fresh ground pepper

1/4 c. basil leaves, torn

2 t. sugar (I added this to cut the acidity slightly)

Combine oil and garlic in pan. Turn heat to medium. Cook until garlic is fragrant but not brown.

Stir in tomatoes, salt, and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally, 10 to 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add basil & simmer for 1 minute more.

* We are not big garlic fans, so I just used a little sprinkle of garlic powder instead. Also, I used one can of unsalted diced tomatoes and one can of Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes. I mashed them a little with a potato ricer as well. I did not add extra salt, but the fresh ground black pepper added a nice little zing.