Stuffed Chicken Parmesan

Awhile back I saw a link somewhere to get a free coupon book from Eat Better America, so I signed up for it. A few weeks later I got a booklet with coupons and a bunch of healthy recipes. Sweet! This one struck me the first time I saw it, but then I forgot about it for awhile. Then I've had it on my menu for the past couple weeks but kept pushing it back for some reason. Well tonight was finally the night!! Thankfully I even found the recipe on their website, so I didn't have to type it all out--woo hoo!

Stuffed Chicken Parmesan
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 5 oz each)
1 box (10 oz) Cascadian Farm® frozen organic cut spinach, thawed, well drained
2 oz 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel), softened
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup fat-free egg product
12 stone-ground wheat crackers, crushed (about 1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup Muir Glen® organic Italian herb pasta sauce
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (1 oz)

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Between pieces of plastic wrap or waxed paper, place each chicken breast smooth side down; gently pound with flat side of meat mallet or rolling pin until about 1/4 inch thick.
2. In medium bowl, mix spinach, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, 1/2 teaspoon basil and the garlic until blended. Spread about 1 tablespoon spinach mixture over each chicken breast; roll up tightly. If necessary, secure with toothpicks.
3. In small shallow bowl, place egg product. In another small shallow bowl, mix cracker crumbs, 1 teaspoon basil and the pepper. Dip each chicken breast into egg product; coat with crumb mixture. Place seam side down in baking dish.
4. Bake uncovered 20 minutes. Pour pasta sauce over chicken; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake 10 to 15 minutes longer or until thermometer inserted in center of chicken reads 165°F. Remove toothpicks from chicken before eating.

Nutritional Information (per serving):
Calories 290 (Calories from Fat 100); Total Fat 11g (Saturated Fat 4 1/2g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 100mg; Sodium 450mg; Total Carbohydrate 10g (Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 3g); Protein 38g

*****

The chicken breasts I used were pretty big; I cut them each in half and had just enough filling for all of them. The only thing I changed was using some homemade Italian bread crumbs I had in my freezer instead of the crackers. Oh and I used garlic powder instead of real garlic. I had some stuff for sale on Craigslist, and someone responded to one of the ads, and it turned out she is a fire fighter. We went to drop off the stuff to her at the fire station where she works, and we ended up getting a private tour of the fire station and the fire engine!! Pretty cool! But, they were out on a call when we got there, so we ended up getting home late because we had to wait a bit, which meant I was scrambling to get dinner going because I hadn't thought to take out the chicken breasts before we left. Oops.

Anyway, I'm writing this after we've eaten, so I'll let you know that it was super tasty. I LOVED it. The boy ate every bite on his plate (that doesn't happen very often). The husband said he liked it but he thought it was too much spinach. I told him next time maybe I'd cut back on the spinach and increase the cream cheese. I would definitely make this again!

Oh, and I took a picture, but the one from the website sure looks a lot nicer, so I'm just putting that in here. Cheating, I know, but it does the dish a lot more justice than my pic.