Decided to try Stuffed Chicken last night

So, I had some chicken breasts in the freezer and I took it out and put it in the fridge to thaw. By the time it thawed I wanted to put it back into the freezer and nap LOL. But, I don't think you can re-freeze chicken that you've just thawed so I forced myself on into the kitchen.

My first thought was to chop up the chicken, pull out some pasta, and make chicken fettuccine alfredo. But I did a quick recipe search on Allrecipes.com for chicken recipe ideas. I saw a picture for Spinach Stuffed Chicken and it looked yummy. I didn't have all the ingredients for it though so I sort of substituted some ingredients and added a little extra.


INGREDIENTS:
Chicken Breast halves

Thawed Frozen Spinach

Sauteed Mushrooms

Olive oil

1 tsp. Garlic Powder

1 tsp. Onion Powder

1/2 cup Grated Parmesan cheese

1 tbs. Grated Romano cheese

2 tbs. Softened Cream cheese

1 tbs. Ricotta

1 tbs. Shredded Fontina cheese

2 slices Pepper Jack

1 tsp. Oregano

1/2 tsp. Italian seasonings

3 dashes Nutmeg

3 dashes Black pepper

Slices of Turkey Bacon

Paprika

Parsely

Melted butter

WHAT I DID:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thaw the spinach in a bowl in the microwave. Chop up sauteed mushrooms (i used a chopper) and add to spinach. Add the ricotta, parmesan, romano, fontina, pepper jack, and cream cheese to the vegetables and mix until fairly smooth. Stir in garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, italian seasoning, nutmeg, and pepper.

Lay the chicken breasts out on a clean surface, and flatten or pound to 1/2 inch thickness. Spoon some of the spinach mixture onto each one (about 2 tbsp). Roll up chicken to enclose the spinach, then wrap each chicken breast with 1-2 slices of bacon. Secure with toothpicks, and arrange in a shallow baking dish. Pour melted butter or olive oil over chicken.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and chicken is cooked through. Garnish with paprika and/or parsley.



NEXT TIME I MAY TRY:
Next time I'll try to follow the original recipe a little closer using more ricotta cheese. I want the cheese to be a little stiffer so that it doesn't melt into the baking dish so much. Also I may try adding in another veggie. The chopped mushroom was a nice touch!