Parmesan-Crusted Chicken with Creamy Tomato Risotto

I got this recipe from a friend and decided to give it a try today. It was sooooo good.

Parmesan-Crusted Chicken with Creamy Tomato Risotto

Ingrediants:
2 eggs
¾ cup plain dry bread crumbs
½ cup Parmesean cheese, grated
½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 ¼ cups 2% milk
1 medium zucchini
½ medium onion
2 garlic cloves, pressed
¾ tsp salt
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups uncooked instant white rice (I used brown)
2 oz cream cheese, softened

Directions:
1. Beat eggs in one bowl. Combine bread crumbs, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, and black pepper in another bowl. Dip chicken into eggs, then into bread crumb mix. Sprinkle chicken with any remaining bread crumb mix.
2. Heat oil in 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat for 1-3 minutes. Add chicken; cook 3-5 minutes on each side until browned.
3. Drain liquid from diced tomatoes into a measuring cup. Add enough water to liquid to make 1 cup. Pour into large mixing bowl. Add tomatoes, soup, and milk to mixing bowl and mix well.
4. Slice zucchini lengthwise into quarters, then crosswise into ¼ inch slices. Chop onion into small pieces.
5. Remove chicken from skillet and keep warm. Combine zucchini, onion, garlic, salt and pepper flakes in the skillet. Cook and stir 1-3 minutes until fragrant. Add rice and tomato mixture to skillet and bring to simmer; cook 3 minutes.
6. Cover skillet and remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
7. Add cream cheese and remaining ¼ cup Parmesan cheese; stir until incorporated.
8. Top with chicken and enjoy 🙂

Yield: 6 servings

Labor Day

Today we celebrate Labor Day. I did a little research on the actually history of Labor Day and this is what I found:

Labor Day: How it Came About; What it Means
Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Founder of Labor Day
More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.
Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.”
But Peter McGuire’s place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.

The First Labor Day
The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.
In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a “workingmen’s holiday” on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.

Labor Day Legislation
Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From them developed the movement to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

A Nationwide Holiday
The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take were outlined in the first proposal of the holiday — a street parade to exhibit to the public “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations” of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.
The character of the Labor Day celebration has undergone a change in recent years, especially in large industrial centers where mass displays and huge parades have proved a problem. This change, however, is more a shift in emphasis and medium of expression. Labor Day addresses by leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics and government officials are given wide coverage in newspapers, radio, and television.
The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation’s strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.

So how will you be spending your Labor Day holiday? Hope you stay safe and enjoy!

Five Question Friday

It’s Friday again……so here’s another FQF for you, so you get to know me better. Please feel free to answer, I would love to know more about you!

1. How many pets do you have?
Right now, I don’t have any. Before I moved out to California, I had the best cat in the world, Tyus. He was found by a coworker right after he was just born and was so little and cute that I couldn’t resist taking him home. I had him for 5 years before moving out here and could not bring him with my. I gave him to my friend. Here’s a picture of him:

2. If you could switch places with anyone in the world for one day, who would it be?
No one specific comes to mind. I would love to switch places with a famous actress, just to know what all the hype is all about.

3. What is your favorite money-saving tip?
Don’t spend! Easier to say than do. I try to use coupons, shop clearance racks and sales, etc. I really need to learn how to budget my money so that I can pay off some bills…..help would be appreciated 😉

4. What do you want your kids to be when they grow up?
It wouldn’t matter to me what they are, as long as they love Jesus, their family and others, are happy, strong, caring, independent people.

5. What is your favorite quote?
I found this one today that I really like: Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

I also like:
“Our lives find meaning as we view ourselves as participants in God’s unfolding story.”

“May the love hidden deep inside your heart find the love waiting in your dreams. May the laughter that you find in your tomorrow wipe away the pain you find in your yesterdays.”