Healthified Chicken Cordon Bleu

Original Recipe from Gina's Skinny Recipes (http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/03/chicken-cordon-bleu.html)

Chicken Cordon Bleu is one of my favorite recipes. However, if you buy the prepackaged kind in the frozen section of the store, you quickly realize just how unhealthy it can be. This recipe is very simple to make and is perfect for a quick, no fuss dinner. It allows you to control the ingredients that are in the recipe as well. There are several  modifications that can be made to this recipe for something different each time you make it. I will post these below the recipe. I serve this chicken dish with salad and a veggie side dish, but you can serve it with almost any side dish you prefer. It would be very tasty with a wild, brown rice dish, in my opinion.

My recipe: Healthified Chicken Cordon Bleu
Serves 4

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts thin-sliced (I use the hormone-free chicken)
2 egg whites or 1/2 cup of eggbeaters
1/2 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
4 ounces of Healthy One's Honey Ham Thin-sliced (from the deli or from the deli meats section of the store)
2 slices of Sargento Reduced Fat Swiss Cheese Slices - cut in half so you have 4 pieces
Pepper - as much as you prefer for seasoning purposes
3/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Parsley
Olive Oil Cooking Spray or nonstick cooking spray
Toothpicks

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
On a baking tray, spray your cooking spray on the surface to prevent chicken from sticking to baking tray
In a small bowl, whisk eggs and set aside.
In another small bowl, combine breadcrumbs, pepper, garlic powder, and parsley and mix well.
Take each chicken breast and dip them in the egg mixture and then coat them with the breadcrumb mixture and place on baking tray.
In the middle of each chicken breast, add a slice of honey ham and swiss cheese.
Roll up the chicken and secure with a toothpick.
Sprinkle additional pepper on top of each chicken bundle for additional seasoning.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked to 165 degrees.

Suggestions:
*you can use any breadcrumbs, ham, and swiss cheese you prefer, but the nutritional information will be different.
*feel free to add any additional spices that you might like to season the chicken.
*You can use thin sliced turkey breast cutlets instead of chicken or you can use thin sliced, boneless pork chops.
*You can use this basic recipe and change it up by doing a broccoli/cheese center or a spinach/ricotta center. I have done both and they were both quite tasty. Change it up and make it your own dish. Just make sure you share what you have tried, so that I can try it as well. :)

Nutritional Information:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts thin-sliced (I use the hormone-free chicken) - 440 calories
2 egg whites or 1/2 cup of eggbeaters - 40 calories
1/2 cup whole wheat panko breadcrumbs - 140 calories
4 slices of Healthy One's Honey Ham Thin-sliced (from the deli or from the deli meats section of the store) - 60 calories
2 slices of Sargento Reduced Fat Swiss Cheese Slices - cut in half so you have 4 pieces - 120 calories
Pepper - as much as you prefer for seasoning purposes - 3 calories
3/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder - 9 calories
1 teaspoon Parsley - 1 calorie
Olive Oil Cooking Spray or nonstick cooking spray - 0 calories

= 813 calories/4 servings =  203.25 calories per chicken breast