Baked Chicken Stuffed with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto, Basil, and Goat Cheese

Baked Chicken Stuffed with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto, Basil, and Goat Cheese
From Kayln's Kitchen

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup 100% whole wheat pastry flour
3 eggs, beaten well
2/3 cup 100% whole wheat bread crumbs
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
6 oz. goat cheese (log type, such as Chevre)
6 oz. Sun-dried tomato pesto
1/2 cup fresh basil, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F. Trim all visible fat and tendons from chicken breasts. Put chicken breasts, one at a time, inside a heavy plastic plastic freezer bag and pound with meat mallet or other heavy object until 1/4 inch thick.

Put pesto, goat cheese, and chopped basil in food processor and buzz a few times until mixture is combined but not completely blended. Spread 1/6 of pesto/basil/goat cheese mixture on each chicken breast. Roll up chicken, starting with smallest end, tucking in loose pieces and securing with two toothpicks.

Put flour, beaten egg, and bread crumbs combined with parmesan cheese into three separate flat dishes. Roll each chicken breast, first in flour, then in egg, then in bread crumb/parmesan mixture.

Spray glass casserole dish with nonstick spray and arrange chicken so pieces are not touching. Bake at 350 F for about 50-60 minutes, or until chicken is slightly browned and firm, but not hard to the touch.


Changes I made: I could not find tomato pesto, so I bought regular pesto and added it to regular sundried tomatoes in a food processor. It would have been better if I had the tomatoes packed in oil instead of the dry ones in a bag.

The Verdict: Hubbs had never had goat cheese before, and I am a very picky cheese eater. Therefore, goat cheese was a no go!! It was very bitter and kind of took away from the flavor of the chicken. Next time, I will use mozzarella cheese instead. The chicken was very good and crisp after baking for 50 minutes.

Skillet Barbecue Pork Chops

I needed a recipe for pork chops, and didn't have time to scour all of the food blogs I follow. What to do, what to do...Use my Betty Crocker app on my iPhone!! New age cooking!

Skillet Barbecue Pork Chops
Recipe from Betty Crocker

4 pork loin chops, 1/2 inch thick
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 can (15 oz) chunky tomato sauce with onions, celery, and green bell peppers
2 Tbsp pack brown sugar
2 Tbsp white vinegar
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp ground mustard

Spray 12-inch nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Sprinkle both sides of pork with salt and pepper. Cook pork in skillet about 5 minutes, turning once, until brown.

Stir remaining ingredients into skillet.  Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pork is slightly pink when cut near bone.

Served with mashed potatoes and corn.

I could not find a can of the chunky tomato sauce, so I used sliced tomatoes with onions/celery/peppers instead. As I poured them into the skillet, I realized I probably could have thrown them in the food processor for a better end result, but hindsight is 20/20. Because I wasn't using sauce, I added a small can of plain tomato sauce to the skillet as well.

I battled yeast and won!!

I made this bread about 2 weeks ago. In fact, we don't even have any left. But I have been slacking on my blogging. An even BIGGER but- This was my first time using yeast and making bread (thats not in the bread maker!!), so clearly it deserves a spot on my blog!!! Also- I am new to food photography, and the lighting in our kitchen leaves a lot to be desired, so please excuse my poor photos.

Anyway...a new (well if you can call getting it in March and opening in September new) Kitchen Aid mixer was calling my name from the upstairs closet, so I pulled it down into the kitchen. But what to make...well, I have some yeast. Let's try...bread!

Basic White Bread
Yields 32 servings (16 slices per loaf)
Recipe from Kitchen Aid

1/2 cup low-fat milk

3 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt

3 Tbsp butter or margarine

2 packages active dry yeast

1.5 cups warm water (105-115 degrees F)
5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour

Place milk, sugar, salt, and butter in small saucepan. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool to lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl (I ran the outside of the bowl under the hot faucet). Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4.5 cups flour. Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer. Turn to Speed 2 and mix about 1 minute.

Continuing on Speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 a cup at a time, and mix until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl, about 2 minutes. Knead on Speed 2 about 2 minutes longer, or until dough is smooth and elastic. Dough will be slightly sticky to the touch.

Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

Punch dough down and divide in half. Shape each half into a loaf and place in greased 8.5x4.5x2.5 inch loaf pans. Cover. Let rise in a warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

Bake at 400F until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.

Viola!! Bread! Did I make mistakes while making this? Of course. And could it have been better? Yes. But did Hubbs love it? He did!! And I will make it again.

"Taco Bake!"

The gnocchi plans in the post from last night (well this morning) got postponed due to my friend having family plans come up at the last minute. When I let Hubbs know she wasn't coming and that I would figure out something else for dinner, he promptly responded with "Taco Bake!!!" He has been craving it and actually just mentioned it the other day. Perfect.

Now, while I did not take pictures of the taco bake (it's not very pretty anyway) it goes something like this: Brown ground beef (or turkey) like you would if you were making tacos (i.e. add taco seasoning). In a glass pie dish, place one tortilla. Layer 1/3 the ground beef, and your choice of taco ingredients (I made it with queso dip, corn, salsa, mexican cheese blend and olives on my half). Repeat twice more until you have 3 tortillas and 3 layers of meat. Bake in oven uncovered 15 minutes at 350.

Not quite gourmet, but quick and yummy and it will give us leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.

But my biggest news, with a post to come tomorrow....I made my first loaf of bread today (that wasn't in a bread machine)! Yes folks, I tackled yeast and won. Tomorrow, I will have some jam on my toast and update the blog (I did take pictures of that process!)

Just a Wednesday...

Today I took my first practice exam for my licensure. I've only studied one section of my review book so far, so this was a way for me to get a baseline and too see what areas I am strong/weak in. Of course, I did not get a passing score but I knew I wouldn't. I did, however, only miss a passing score by about 22 points (or 22 questions), which I don't think is that bad for basically no review! Hubbs was happy.

In other news, I am still waiting to hear back from the interview I did 2.5 weeks ago. Keep crossing those fingers, folks!!

Tomorrow one of my besties is coming over and we are making gnocchi from scratch. I will try to remember to take pictures!

It's Tuesday again!

As you may have noticed, if it wasn't for these weekly posts, I would never update my blog!! This week's Top 2 Tuesday topic over at Taylor's blog- 2 Things You Want to Accompish This Year

1. Get my license to practice/Find a job

Really, I want this to be accomplished before we leave on our delayed honeymoon. Hopefully it works out that way!! I need to get studying!

2. Lose 10-15 pounds/Start eating better

I've gained weight since the wedding and wanted to lose weight before it anyway but didn't. I don't want to go on said honeymoon at the weight I'm at now. We will see what happens.

If you want to play along, click the link and head over to Tay's blog!!

Favorite Fridays

This Week's Favorite Fridays topic: Fall Fashion!

My favs for fall:

Chunky Sweaters

Hoodies

Ok, not exactly fashion forward, but who doesn't love curling up in a comfy hoodie on a chilly fall night?

Want to play along? Click the link to Jen's blog!!

Have a great weekend everyone, it's finally starting to feel like fall here!!