Apartment Style Chicken Breast

Another recipe, inspired by attempting to keep them easy, cut them down for a single person (but still have some leftovers), draw on my Grandmother's cooking advice, and save some apartment utility costs.

Okay, I hit the pantry and fridge to see what I had (Grandma's advice), I gathered what I thought might work and then hit allrecipes.com for some guidance. After doing some searching, I came across the Parmesan Crusted Chicken Recipe. I looked at what I had available and decided to try some new things. The recipe that I used appears below, and then I added some suggestions to assist making it.

Ingredients 

• 4  boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup Italian blend shredded cheese
• A sprinkle of Italian bread crumbs over the top

Directions

1. Preheat the toaster over to 375 F
2. Use oil or a spray to cover the baking dish to prevent sticking
3. Mix mayo and shredded cheese in a bowl
4. Take some of the mix and spread it on the top of each piece of chicken, & place them in the baking dish
5. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top of the chicken, not too much, but also not too little
6. Slide the baking dish into the toaster over, and bake for approximately 50 minutes

And, when that is all done, you should have something that is approximately like this:

Apartment Style Chicken Breasts

Okay, if you don't want to scroll down any farther, suffice it to say that this is awesome, and I will definitely be making it again.  I simply ate my dinner by cutting it on a plate, but I could see serving this over a field of wild rice, or even just white/brown rice, or even with a side of noodles.

Now, on to why I changed the recipe from the original. Most of these decisions were made because of my experience of cooking in an apartment for 1, but also by reading most of the comments for the original recipe. Again Grandma's advice came to mind... "recipes are a guideline, you have to use what you have on hand, and use your experience, and make it the way YOU want it..."

Once of the most awesome things about allrecipes.com is that you can change the number of servings you are looking for, and it adjusts all of the ingredient amounts for you. I usually choose to make 4 servings of recipes because it gives me dinner, and some leftovers. And, reduces the number of things you might need to purchase at the store.

I cut the breasts in half, because that makes them the right size to put on a hamburger bun to eat as a sandwich, like for lunch the next day. I used Italian blend shredded cheese because that is what I had in the fridge. I used the Italian bread crumbs, because that is all I use for bread crumbs because they already have some seasoning in it, so I don't have to add it myself.

I used the toaster oven because I'm mostly only cooking for me, it uses less electricity than using the full oven, and in the summer it doesn't over heat my apartment. Yes, it took me a while to find some casserole and baking dishes that fit in the toaster oven, but Pyrex makes all kinds of sizes and I found a set at Target.

I also reduced the temp of the recipe, because I liked that baking it for a little longer time keeps poultry more moist. Again, my Grandma's advice. Yes, I use an instant thermometer to make sure that the food achieves the recommended temps. Poultry is recommended to achieve 180 F, so that is why I kept an eye on it starting at 45 mins. It took another 5 to get from 174 to 180.

Okay, I suppose you've been kind enough to scroll down this far, so I'll close with this entry. I have several other ideas for entries, so please bookmark my blog, use an RSS feeder, or go ahead and join as a member. Carry on...and good luck cooking...