Use Leftovers: Chicken Parmesan

A few nights ago, we had spaghetti for dinner--as in, real, meaty, homemade spaghetti sauce. Yum!

Parker claimed to be extremely hungry (and he probably was), and he convinced me to make an entire box of spaghetti noodles.

Bad idea.

We ate a lot, but not THAT much!

So, what was I going to do with the extra noodles and sauce? Make Chicken Parmesan!

I've always loved this dish, but this was the first time I made it myself. I used this recipe as a base, but I don't like measuring, so I did it my own way in the end :)

First, I skinned and boned my chicken thighs (which I got on sale at the grocery store! yes!)--it took a long time, but it was worth it not to pick out bones as we ate.

Then, I took a zip-top sandwich bag and mixed flour, oregano, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese inside (zip it and shake--so fun!). I put a thigh in the bag and coated it with the mixture. This method is the easiest way of coating, I think--just zip and shake!

The breaded thighs went into a skillet with some hot oil and browned up nicely :)

While those were cooking, I put half of my leftover spaghetti sauce into the casserole dish.

I had to add some water to my sauce, because I usually make it really thick, but the recipe needs more sauce than I had left. It worked.

Then I put the crispy thighs on top of the sauce.

You're supposed to pour the rest of the sauce on top before the cheese, but I forgot . . . so I put on the cheese slices first. I used pepper jack cheese, but *technically* you're supposed to use mozzarella. I liked it this way :)

Then, into the oven for a while!

While the chicken parm was baking, I made garlic bread!

Well, I didn't actually make the bread this time. I knew dinner would be rushed, so I picked up some cheesy focaccia  bread at the grocery store.

I sliced it and but it on the broiler pan.

For the topping, I mixed Italian spices (basil, oregano, and rosemary) into oil (butter works too), and spread it on top. Then I sprinkled it with garlic salt and broiled!

It came out nice ans toasted after a few minutes :)

And, presto! The chicken Parmesan was done, too!

I served this over warm spaghetti noodles, with green beans on the side.

I used the garlic bread to separate green beans and chicken parm, so the beans wouldn't be too saucy.

Of course, I spooned extra sauce on top. Gotta use all that sauce!

This was sooooo yummy!!! I haven't had that many food-related compliments from Parker in a long time. I feel quite accomplished :)