Bacon Wrapped Chicken

I'm sure most people get kind of tired of chicken, especially if you use the same recipes over and over...I know I can!  I found this recipe on Pinterest and tried it since I already had everything (which never happens!).  I didn't take a picture, but here is the picture from the blog, Blog Chef with the recipe.

Ingredients:
Boneless skinless chicken breasts (how many you want)
Bacon slices (turkey bacon is cheaper and better for you, we had the real stuff though)
Cream cheese
Butter
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Chives (or parsley, oregano)
Salt
Pepper
Toothpicks

1. Pound chicken breasts until flat (if they are frozen thaw first).
2. Liberally spread each chicken breast with cream cheese and a little butter.
3. Top with seasonings (you don't have to use the ones listed, that's just what I used and it was good).
4. Roll up each chicken breast, wrap with bacon and put a toothpick in each piece.
5. Bake @ 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes in a casserole dish or cookie sheet (with sides)
6. Turn on broiler and cook for 5 minutes about six inches away from the boiler to get the bacon crispy.
7. Serve with rice, a veggie or pasta.  Enjoy!

We had large pieces of chicken breast and smaller ones (smaller than my palm) and the smaller were so good!  So I recommend cutting the large pieces in half before putting cream cheese on it.  The original recipe called for chive and onion cream cheese but I didn't have that so I used an opened block I had and just added the spices.  It was so good and very easy!! (Brett did most of the work actually because I was doing school work!) 

Funny story, for some reason we only have colored toothpicks (I don't even recall buying them that's how long I've had them).  Well the color came off in the chicken so some pieces of chicken were colored! Haha  It tasted fine and we got a good laugh (Brett didn't even notice, I had to tell him!)  :)

Citrus Marinade

We grilled out chicken for Father's Day and used this Citrus Marinade. It is awesome!! I have always used it with chicken, but I can't imagine why it wouldn't work for pork too.

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Citrus Marinade

2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp. grainy mustard
1/4 cup vinegar
1 or 2 limes
1 lemon
6 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper

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This is good for about 6 chicken breasts. I marinade for about 4-6 hours. If it goes longer than that, I start to worry about the acid from the vinegar and lime/lemon juice starting to "cook" the chicken. I heard that once on the food network and now I have some strange "phobia" about letting meat sit in acidic substances too long....strange I know.

We use this a TON during the summer when grilling. It is so yummy!!! Enjoy!

Super Easy, Super Yummy Rice

I make this rice as both a side dish and a main course. You put all the ingredients together and in the oven it goes... so easy! My kind of recipe!

1 cup rice (not the quick cooking kind)
1 can of french onion soup
1 can broth (chicken or beef... I usually have boxed broth on hand, so I just fill up the french onion soup can with the broth to measure)
1 small can mushrooms (if that's your thing!)
1 stick of butter (I usually don't use the whole stick...maybe a half or so)

This is where you can stop if you are using it as a side dish. Stir all the ingredients together and put them in a 9x13 dish for an hour at 350.

If you want to make it as a main dish/casserole just add shredded chicken (however much you want... I usually shred the white meat of a rotisserie chicken to use) and a can of water chestnuts. I guess you could add whatever vegetables you like... I am just a creature of habit that follows a recipe strictly! ha! This still goes into the oven for an hour at 350.

I have tried this with brown rice (thinking it would be healthier) and the rice DID NOT cook?!? I am not sure if I had a bad batch of rice, or if brown rice just takes a lot longer or what.... so I usually use enriched medium grain rice. It seems to work well.

This is really good with the cranberry chicken recipe that Alyssa posted. One of our favorite meals!