Today I was simply thankful it was Wednesday. Why? Because it’s the only day of the crazy week we don’t have to be at an activity straight after school! My son has Church group but that’s later so I can actually prep and make a real dinner on Wednesdays! I LOVE that! Over this past weekend I was meal planning, cutting coupons and making a grocery list, and wanted to do something different with chicken. I love stuffing chicken;-) One of my favorite chicken recipes is my cranberry brie one that is on my blog here! I thought about pesto and how good that would be in chicken. So I created and of course I can’t just use pesto, I have to Meagenize the recipe or it just wouldn’t be me! I used a jar of pesto, Cabot Habanaro cheese and sauteed onions and it was awesome!!!! And I also made twice baked potatoes for the first time ever, I’ve eaten them many times, just never made them myself and they are so simple and so good! Well, for the tummy not necessarily the waist, although I don’t know that anything in this post is real healthy, but tonight, who cares, it was awesome!

Pesto stuffed Chicken Ingredients:

5 good size boneless skinless chicken breasts, thawed and sliced open to make a pocket

1 jar of Pesto

3/4 of a block of Cabot Hot Habanaro Cheddar Cheese (you can use any cheese you like, we like a kick to our food!). grated

3 medium onions sliced

ground black pepper (to top the chicken with before cooking

6 pieces of uncooked bacon

 

In a frying pan saute the onions until browned and tender. In a large bowl mix the pesto and grated cheese together. Add the sauteed onions and mix well. Stuff the pocket you created in the chicken with the mixture. Wrap each chicken breast with one piece of uncooked bacon and tie. When you are done prepping the chicken, top with ground pepper and bake at 350 degrees for about 40-50 minutes.

The twice baked potatoes I started before the chicken because it requires more prep and I’m a major time fanatic and must use every minute wisely (I really am a time freak, don’t ask, hehe) so it works out good to start these first, everything comes together and is ready about the same time!

 

Twice baked potato recipe:

8 medium potatoes

skim milk (about a cup, I don’t measure, start with less, add more as you go)

1 cup of light sour cream

1 3/4 cups Colby Jack cheese (any cheese works, cheddar also would be great but this is what I had on hand)

8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Parsley to top before cooking

 

Preheat oven to 350. Bake the potatoes whole, after you have washed them of course, for about an hour. While these are baking, cook up the bacon so it will be ready. This is the most time consuming part which is why these are always best to prepare first no matter what you are making them with! After the potatoes have cooked, let them cool for about 10 minutes, or until your hands can bear holding onto them, then slice them in half length wise. Empty the contents of each potato into a large bowl, leaving just  hollow skins. When you have all the potatoes in the bowl, add the milk, half the cheese, and the sour cream. Mix with electric mixer until somewhat smooth, a few lumps are ok. Fill each potato skin with the mixture, top with bacon crumbles and the remaining cheese and bake for about 15 minutes.

This really was a great dinner, don’t know where I came up with this chicken recipe but it really worked! You can cut back both recipes a little if you wish, I always make extra because my husband loves to take leftovers to work for lunch. I think y’all should totally make this and don’t forget to tell me what you think:-)