Bacon Wrapped Chicken Jalapeno Poppers

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

8 small jalapeno peppers, roasted with stem and seeds removed

2-3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

Frank's Buffalo Hot Sauce

8 slices bacon

Blue cheese or ranch for dipping

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Pound the chicken very thin. If making appetizers, cut each breast into four pieces. Season with salt & pepper and lay a roasted jalapeno pepper and some cream cheese over the top.

Roll each one into a little bundle and coat in Buffalo wing sauce. You can marinate the bundles in the sauce, but it's not completely necessary. Wrap in bacon and secure with a toothpick.

Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and pour a little of the wing sauce in the bottom. Place bundles in the dish without crowding. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and bacon is starting to get crispy, turning once if necessary.

Serve with blue cheese or ranch.

{Food for Thought}

Next time, I may place the cream cheese in the jalapeno before putting it in the chicken, because I found both the pepper and cream cheese to be very slippery. Also, this could prevent the cream cheese from oozing out of the chicken too much.

Nutella Brownies

I am not a big brownie person but was intrigued when I saw these somewhere on the internet. And since my mom and MIL are chocolate lovers, I thought these would be perfect for dessert one Sunday dinner. These are a dense kind of brownie and everyone really loved them. I will definitely be making them again. 

{Printable Recipe Here}

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup Nutella

2 tbsp brewed espresso

4 large eggs

1 1/4 cups cocoa powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tblsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 baking dish. In small saucepan over low heat, melt butter completely. Stir in sugar and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Do not allow sugar mixture to boil.

Remove from the heat and stir in the Nutella and espresso until well combined. Pour butter mixture into a large bowl. Beat in cocoa powder, eggs, salt, baking powder and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.

Stir in the flour and chocolate chips until just combined. Spread into prepared pan (batter will be very thick and sticky) and bake for about 35-40 minutes, until a tester comes out mostly clean. The edges should be set and the center should still look slightly moist, but not uncooked. 

Cool on a wire rack. Don’t cut until completely cooled.

Parmesan Crusted Potato Halves

What an awesome variation to the baked potato. I absolutely love these! Wish I had better pics but the craving for these suckers took over & I didn't make time for photos with them as the focal point.

{Printable Recipe Here}

6 small potatoes, scrubbed & cut in half

1/4 cup butter

Grated parmesan cheese

Garlic powder

Other seasonings (to personal preference)

Sour cream for dipping 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Melt butter and pour into a 9x13 inch pan and spread evenly across the bottom. Generously sprinkle parmesan cheese and lightly sprinkle other seasonings all over the butter. Place potato halves face down on the butter and seasonings. Place in preheated oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Cool for at least a FULL 5 minutes before removing from the pan, otherwise the parmesan crust won't stick to the potato. Serve on a plate with a side of sour cream for dipping. 

Food for Thought

Obviously use less butter if you are using less potatoes and a smaller pan to cook them in. These are simply incredible and nice variation to a baked potato.

Melt In Your Mouth Chicken

This is all over the internet under the name "Melt In Your Mouth Chicken" and as much as this is a wonderful & quick way to make chicken for the convenient weekday meal, the chicken doesn't really melt in your mouth. Perhaps it does with the original recipe which calls for mayo instead of the yogurt but this is the healthy version that is also popular. Still, the hubs really enjoyed it and I don't want to lose track of it. I also made a variation or two, noted below.

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{Printable Recipe Here}

1/2 c parmesan cheese

1 c Greek yogurt -plain
1 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp pepper

4 chicken breasts

Combine the first  5 ingredients and spread all over chicken breasts. Bake at 375 for about a half hour. Check for doneness. 

Food for Thought

My variation includes not measuring precisely on the garlic powder as I like to be very liberal with it. I also add  some Italian seasonings to each breast & on occasion, breadcrumbs. If using breadcrumbs, I like to throw chicken under the broiler for a couple minutes to brown nicely.

Goes wonderfully with Parmesan Crusted Potatoes.

Tuna Cilantro Dip

What an unexpected wonderful dip. Sister Lau brought this camping one day and we were blown away. There is a nice heat to it from the jalapeño and it is awesome served with any kind of corn/tortilla chips. This would also be great on a sandwich. 

{Click for Printable Recipe Here}

2 (6 oz) cans Albacore tuna in water (drained)

1/2 cup mayo

1/4 cup sour cream

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded & finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh cilantro (finely chopped)

salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients, chill for an hour. If you like a little more heat, add another jalapeño or leave in some seeds from the one jalapeño. Garnish with fresh cilantro. We love this served with tortilla chips. 

Grilled Sriracha Shrimp

I make so many variations of grilled shrimp, throwing together whatever spices I am in the mood for. But when I made these as a Christmas appetizer, the consensus was they blew away all the others. Can't go wrong with these babies!

 

{Click Here for Printable Recipe}

4 tablespoons Sriracha

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro plus some for garnish

1 lb extra large shrimp, peeled, deveined, with tails on

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Combine Sriracha, honey, lime juice, garlic & cilantro in a bowl. Set aside a few tablespoons for brushing the shrimp after they are grilled. Toss the shrimp with mixture & let marinate for 1/2 hour. If there is no time then no worries. 

Thread shrimp evenly among grilling skewers, pouring marinade all over the skewers. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Grill the shrimp over medium high heat for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until the shrimp are firm and opaque in the center. Brush with remaining marinade that was set aside. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro.

Food for Thought

I know it's messier but I prefer tossing the shrimp in the marinade before putting them on skewers because the shrimp really gets covered well. If you prefer skewering & then brushing the marinade on that is fine too.  If you don't have fresh cilantro, dried works well, just use 1/3 of the amount.