Back at it

After a 10 month hiatus, I think it's finally time I bring the blog back. Many a dinner, breakfast and cupcake have gone un-blogged, and it's time to put an end to that madness. I'd like to make promise that I'll keep this thing updated with new posts every week, but let's be honest, we all know that's not going to happen. If I can supply steady posts at least once a month then I'll be happy, and you should be too. 

Let's get to tonight's dinner. If I'm going to take 10 months off, then I figured I better come back with something strong. I can't just go MIA for almost an entire year and then show up and write about the bowl of cereal or kraft macaroni and cheese I had for dinner, and believe me, there have been plenty of those nights that no one is missing out on. Part of the problem is that I cook for myself, so when I'm faced with the decision of dirtying up the kitchen, scaling down portion sizes to serve one and then enjoying my food alone or pouring a bowl of cereal - the bowl of cereal is going to win 9 times out of 10. Maybe 7 times out of 10. I knew tonight's dinner was too good to eat by myself though. When in doubt, invite mom over. 

To take chicken up to a new level, you can stuff it or you can wrap it in bacon. Due to the fact that I need to come back out of the gates strong, I decided to do both. I give you, bacon wrapped chicken on steroids. (Side note: this chicken actually wasn't injected with steroids...according to the label.) 

First things first: butterfly the chicken. I've never actually owned a meat cleaver, so I bought one today, which led to an inappropriate comment by the cashier, that I'm still in shock over. I'll leave it at that. Once the chicken was pounded out, I caked on my stuffing which consisted of sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, water chestnuts, pine nuts, garlic, and seasonings. Oh, and Parmesan cheese because Parmesan cheese is good on everything. 

I wasn't shy with the filling. There is probably at least a half cup worth pressed on to each chicken breast. Then I rolled them up tightly. No need to use toothpicks to hold it together - that's what the bacon is for. All four pieces of bacon. Mo' bacon, mo' betta. 

Here are my little bundles of joy ready for the oven. 40 minutes at 375 loosely covered with foil, then 15-20 minutes longer without the foil. I gave it an extra 5 minutes under the broiler because in this case I like my bacon extra crispy. No one likes soggy bacon. I took them out of the oven and let them rest for about 10 minutes, which also allowed the bacon to crisp up a little more. I sliced them up and served it on top of a bed of lightly dressed arugula. I swear I'm not the food snob I just sounded like. 

And there you have it. If only I remembered ice cream at the store, this meal would have been complete. 

My grade: A - I got used to eating cereal and this was a big upgrade. Pretty easy, and no big mess to clean up. I'll use thinner bacon next time though. 

Mom grade: A+ - She said she "taught me well"...so I guess that means it was good? I bow to you, sensei.