Chicken Parmesan Bundles-lower calorie version

Hey all! Happy Thursday to ya! Here in DC, it is bright and sunshiney, 80 degrees and like no humidity. This means Jenn is one happy girl (and will be sitting poolside in a little over an hour!!)

Some of you asked me to post the recipe for the Chicken Parmesan Bundles that I saw on Pinterest and wrote about in yesterday's post, so here it is.

MP and I had planned on making these together but I got restless when he got home from work late, and then wanted to go workout. With a tummy grumbling, I set out on making these bad boys all by myself, and they turned out reeeeeally good!  (I put in parenthesis the lower calorie choices that I made in the ingredients listed below.)

Ingredients you will need:

• 4
  oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened (I did the 1/3 less fat kind)
• 1
  pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
• 1 1/4
  cups KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese, divided (I did the 2% kind)
• 6
  tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided (I did the Fat-free grated parm)
• 6
  small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1-1/2 lb.), pounded to 1/4-inch thickness (I just bought the thin-sliced ones because I'm lazy and don't have a meat mallet)
• 1
  egg
• 10
  RITZ Crackers, crushed (about 1/2 cup) 
• 1 1/2
  cups spaghetti sauce, heated
  
  
  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
  
  
  First you have to mix the cream cheese, spinach, 3 tbsp of the parmesan cheese and 1 Cup of the mozzarella cheese until it's really well mixed together. This is easier when the cream cheese is softer, like the directions say.
  
  
  I laid out the chicken pieces on foil mainly so I could do it all in one step and easy clean up after.
  
  Then, you start from the smallest end of the chicken and roll them up tightly. You can pin them with toothpicks (if you have a super fat one that might be helpful--only one of mine came open while baking).
  
  
  Next you need two shallow dishes. In one, beat the egg in. In the other, mix the 3 tbsp of parmesan cheese and the crushed Ritz crackers ( I just put them between two paper towels and smooshed them with my hands...worked quite well and no mess).  Take each of the chicken roll-ups and dip it in the egg mixture all around, and then run it through the crumb/cheese mixture. 
  
  
  Add these to an already sprayed with cooking spray baking dish (I forgot that part til after I added the chicken pieces and said "F it" and they all came out easily). It recommends 9x13 baking dish but I didnt have one so we used two 8x8s and that worked out well. Add to the oven for 30 minutes.
  
  
  It comes out looking like this:
  
  

  

  
  

  

  See the fat one that opened?? It was still good tho.
  
  
  Right before the stuff is all ready in the oven. Heat up the tomato sauce and get the remaining cheese ready (should be about 1/4 of a cup, but I like cheese so I just used what was left). While the chicken was cooling, once out of the oven, I added the warmed up sauce and the cheese, and it looked like this:
  
  

Then, just pop them off the plate, and serve up with salad or something. We also had ours with some yummy Malbec wine from the grocery store which was perfect.

Despite the lower fat substitutions (which is not something I usually worry about), it was still really tasty and it cooked really nicely. (The hardest part was keeping my dog away from my feet when I rolled the chicken through the crumbs and they went splattering on the floor lol). I'd totally recommend this recipe! MP liked it too (and even left me a nice comment on my FB wall this morning thanking me for dinner...so sweet hehe).

If you all try it, you'll have to let me know what you think!!