0054. Stuffed chicken

My husband hates chicken. Hates. I hate pork. He won't eat a meal without meat. So that leaves us with few options when it comes to dinner. However, there are times when I make chicken anyway because it's delicious and healthy and... well, cheap. As a mother and wife who's in charge of the bookkeeping, I'm definitely okay with cheap. Especially when it's so tasty.

This recipe is one that he actually loves when I make There's two variations that I use - one with spinach and one with jalapeno. He loves spicy food, so when I make the jalapeno version, I make some less spicy versions for Monkey and myself on a different pan.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 ounces cream cheese 

½ cup packed fresh baby spinach, chopped

2 scallions, thinly sliced

3 cloves (1 tablespoon) fresh garlic, minced

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon basil

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

OPTIONAL: bacon, cooked, cooled, and crumbled

1. Place a rack near the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place a piece of parchment paper or a silicone mat in a baking sheet and set aside. If you don't have those, then lightly grease the baking sheet with Pam spray (I use the olive oil version).
2. Butterfly the chicken breast and using a meat mallet or rolling pin, flatten each chicken breast to about a ½ inch. Combine cream cheese, spinach, scallions, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, basil, Parmesan cheese and the optional bacon. Spread a quarter of the mixture onto each chicken breast; carefully roll up the chicken and secure with toothpicks. Place chicken on the prepared baking sheet.
3. Bake 40-45 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center and the outside is golden brown. Serve warm.

VARIATION: Skip the spinach and use thin slivers of jalapeno. If you're sensitive to heat, make sure you get all the seeds and membrane out before you mix it. But make sure to use the bacon because jalapeno and bacon is the most amazing combination of flavors ever. SO GOOD.

I like to serve this dish with scalloped potatoes and asparagus. The scalloped potatoes don't exactly equal healthy dish, but it's delicious and my favorite way to have potatoes. Noms.

0020. bacon wrapped jalapeno chicken bites

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 16 bite-sizes

Chicken spread with cream cheese and jalapenos, rolled and wrapped with bacon, then grilled.

Ingredients

§ 8 chicken tenders, flattened and cut in two

§ 3-ounce package softened cream cheese

§ 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped

§ 8 slices bacon, cut in half

Instructions

1. Dab 1/2 teaspoon (more or less) of cream cheese on top of each chicken tender. Sprinkle a scant 1/4 teaspoon of peppers over cream cheese. Fold or roll chicken to enclose cream cheese mixture. Wrap each roll with one piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick.

2. Grill until bacon is brown and crispy on both sides.

Notes

Be sure to wear plastic gloves when handling fresh jalapenos. The oil will attach itself to your hands and is not easily washed away. An inadvertent swipe of the hand close to your eyes could be an unforgettable experience.

For reference, if you are substituting for the chicken tenders (i.e. dark meat, large pieces of chicken breast, game meat), the size of the tenders I used were 5-6 inches long and 2-3 inches wide before flattening and cutting in half.

Try flattening meat inside a zip-lock bag as pictured above. No flying pieces, no contamination on your cutting board from the chicken, and cleanup is super easy.

0019. bacon wrapped chicken

Chicken, and bacon, better yet, crispy bacon. They are two of my favorite foods both in one easy recipe. I had some extra boneless-skinless chicken breasts on hand and was looking for an easy dinner which brings us today’s recipe for Bacon Wrapped Chicken. What really surprised me was the amount of ingredients in this recipe, there are very few! I feel the chive and onion cream cheese is a huge ingredient in the flavor department and does most of the work for you. Try and pound the chicken breasts down with a mallet as thinly as possible because they will roll up a lot easier. If you want to do some outdoor grilling these can also be grilled as well. They go great with a side dish of pasta or flavored rice. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
12 boneless skinless chicken breasts halves
2 (8 oz) cartons chive and onion cream cheese
12 slices of bacon
salt (to taste)
2 tablespoons butter

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Between 2 sheets of wax paper with a mallet flatten chicken breasts to ½” thickness.
Step 2: Spread 3 tablespoons of cream cheese over each chicken breast. Then Dot with butter and season with salt. Wrap with bacon and stick a toothpick through the rolled chicken breast to hold it together. Roll up and stick a toothpick through to hold it together.
Step 3: Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes (or until juices run clear).
Step 4: Turn on the broiler and broil six inches from the heat for 5 minutes or until the bacon is crispy.

0008. bacon cheeseburger quiche

I got this recipe from Alisha Rai on Twitter. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm pretty sure that PK is going to LOVE IT. I can't wait to try it. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to jack up the amount of bacon in the recipe since he loves it so much. Seriously, he once told me he'd put bacon on ice cream... yeah. :)

Ingredients

1 lb. very lean hamburger
1 small chopped onion
4 slices crisp-cooked bacon, chopped in bits
3 eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise (too much! use a few squirts of Kraft chipotle mayo - nomnomnom)
1/2 cup half-n-half
8 oz. shredded chedder or swiss cheese
garlic powder to taste (optional)
white pepper

Directions
Brown hamburger in skillet with onion. Remove and mix in bowl with
bacon pieces, breaking up any larger clumps with a fork or pastry mixer
until you have a fine mix. Drain well of any excess grease and press into the bottom of a deep-dish pie pan. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine remaining ingredients in mixer bowl and whip well. Pour
mixture over beef "crust" and bake 40-45 minutes until top is browned and
"set".
Cool 15- 20 minutes before slicing. This can be packaged in Ziplocs or
plastic containers for meals quickly microwaved over the next 3-5 days. (Does not freeze well, though.

Serves 6. 2 grams per serving.