Easy Baked Eggplant Parmesan

Keith and I were looking for an eggplant recipe one night and thanks to the Whole Foods recipes app*, we came across this keeper. It's yummy and cheap!

Ingredients

1 large eggplant, sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick pieces (about eight)
2 eggs, beaten with a fork
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs (sundried tomato or plain)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 (25-ounce) jar pasta sauce (roasted vegetable or any variety)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Method

Preheat oven with a baking sheet inside to 375°F. Coat eggplant slices with beaten egg, then bread with panko crumbs. Spread oil on hot baking sheet and place eggplant slices on it in a single layer. Bake 15 minutes, flip and bake another 10 minutes.

Increase oven temperature to 475°F. In an 8 x 10-inch ovenproof dish, layer pasta sauce, then eggplant, and top with cheeses. Repeat, finishing with cheese. Bake until the cheese melts and turns golden in spots, about 15 minutes.

*I highly recommend this app! You can search by ingredients on hand, course, category (make ahead, portable and picnic, entertaining, etc.) and special diets. It's so handy!

Our Week in Review

Despite the fact that our HVAC decided to quit working and the temperature inside our house reached 88 degrees, we did manage to enjoy ourselves a little over the last week. (Thankfully, our HVAC is now in proper working order.)

We got to play with Aimee and Nick's five precious foster puppies.
We celebrated Keith's mom's birthday with a surf-n-turf dinner and homemade carrot cake.
And Ann Claire and Will came over to check out the fireplace renovation and have dinner. They were troopers and braved the heat, but I don't have a picture to prove it. Here's one instead of Ann Claire and me from Will's birthday party in April.We're off to Atlanta this weekend for a long overdue visit with Greg, Kathy and their dog, Elwood. Then we're home for a few days before heading to California for our 3 year anniversary!

Dining with Darcy

Like I discussed here, Keith and I have started taking Darcy with us on our Friday night dinner dates. With a little googling and a few phone calls, we have expanded our list of Darcy-friendly destinations. In the coming weeks, we hope to visit some of these restaurants- some old favorites, some new to us locales- with Darcy in tow.

Zumi Sushi
Frothy Monkey

Eastland Cafe

Park Cafe
Margot
mAmbu
Rumba
12th South Taproom and Grill
Jackson's
Flyte
Merchants
PM
ChaChah (We took Darc here last Friday. Great tapas, great weather, great people watching and lots of compliments on our cute and well-behaved pup.)

The Merc

I love downtown Franklin. I also love eating outside. On Fridays I hate cooking dinner. Darcy hates when Keith and I have been gone all day and we only stop by the house after work to feed her and change clothes before heading out again. A few weeks ago, we took all of that into account and arrived at the perfect solution- Franklin Mercantile Deli. We could eat outside and dogs are allowed! This may be one of mine and Keith's new favorite Friday night destinations. Darcy's too.

Lake Getaway

Last weekend Keith and I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days at Lake Wilson near Florence, Alabama. It was so great to have a quick getaway to relax, eat and play in the water. Keith is an expert skier/wakeboarder.

I, on the other hand, stuck to tubing. :)
Kissy loves riding in the boat! (Bella does too.)Thanks Joey and Lauren! We had a blast!

Toys!