I'd like to present...CHICKEN PARMESAN CASSEROLE

I did it!  I made it!  A casserole.  A dish all by myself.  With no recipe.  I did of course have some guidance from The Gluten-Free Homemaker.  So...does anyone want to know what I made?  How I did it?  Well, that's too bad...I'm going to tell you anyway!  ;-)

OK...I'm not sure where to start.  I did it in about 25 different orders...let me think through this.  OK.  Let's start with the pasta.  I used Quinoa Garden Pagodas pasta.  Naturally gluten-free, it's a good option.  Unless you can't eat corn...which I'm not supposed to...BUT I'll make an exception where my pasta is concerned because I know I like Quinoa and I'm just not quite ready to give up corn as a grain...so...all that being said, cook your Quinoa pasta, drain it, and set it aside.

Next, prepare your spaghetti sauce, or marinara if you are feeling fancy and want to call it that!  For the sauce:

4 Tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion
1 small green pepper
2 cloves of garlic (I used a garlic press and next time will add more garlic)
1 Tbsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 12 oz can tomato paste
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
2 tsp garlic powder

Heat oil in a large saucepan.  Sauté onions, pepper and garlic until soft.  Add salt, pepper, tomato paste and crushed tomatoes.  Add seasonings and simmer for 20-40 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering, cook the pasta.  Mine amounted to about 3 cups by the time I was done-I just used the whole box.  After the pasta was done, I spread it in a 13x9 pan.  Then I put a thin layer of sauce on top of the noodles (because my test recipe told me it needed just a bit more sauce in it).

Now I am horrible with measurements when it comes to creating a breading, so the amounts may be too little or too much-it depends on how much chicken you are wanting to coat.  I originally had too little and had to add more.  So, for the Parmesan chicken here is what you will need (give or take a few Tbsps here and there!):

2 cups chicken, cut into bite-size pieces.
3/4 cup almond flour
2 Tbsp Italian seasoning (you can use oregano, basil, etc...)
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 egg
1-2 cups Mozzarella cheese

Mix egg in bowl.  In a separate bowl combine almond flour, Italian seasoning and garlic powder.  Dip the chicken pieces into the egg and then into the flour mixture.  Place the coated pieces of chicken into the pan with the pasta spreading it out so that the whole pan is covered.  Next, pour the remaining sauce on top of the chicken and pasta.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle Mozarella cheese on the top.  Cook for another 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.