Cajun baked chicken stuffed with pepper jack cheese and bacon

I originally saw this on Pinterest and added it to my meal plan for this week. My fiancé and I loved it. My 5 year old thought it was too spicy, so next time I'll season her piece a bit differently.

You can find the original recipe at this link - http://cuckooking.blogspot.com/2010/08/cajun-chicken-with-pepper-jack-cheese.html?m=1 - or you can check out mine below (with very subtle changes).

2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 oz pepper jack cheese, shredded
1 c frozen spinach, thawed and drained (you can also use fresh cooked spinach)
extra light olive oil
2.5 tbsp Cajun seasoning
1.5 tbsp Italian breadcrumbs
salt and black pepper, to taste
Lots of toothpicks


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Flatten the chicken as much as possible.

In a medium bowl, combine the pepper jack cheese, spinach, salt and pepper.

Combine the Cajun seasoning and breadcrumbs together in a small bowl.

Spoon about 1/4 c of the spinach mixture onto each chicken breast. Roll or fold each chicken breast tightly and fasten the seams with several toothpicks. I used about 5 toothpicks in each. Be sure to count how many total toothpicks were used.

Brush each chicken breast with the olive oil. Sprinkle the Cajun seasoning mixture evenly over all. Sprinkle any remaining spinach and cheese on top of chicken (optional).

Place the chicken seam-side down onto a baking sheet with any open side facing up. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Remove the toothpicks before serving. Count to make sure you have removed every last toothpick.

I paired this with garlic bread and some veggies (zucchini, bell pepper, onion, etc) in a marinara sauce.

Homemade chili mac with bacon

Simple and filling dish - though not too healthy LOL

Two boxes of Kraft macaroni and cheese cooked as directed. While that's cooking, bake some bacon (my thick cut was at 400 degrees for maybe 17 minutes). After the mac'n'cheese is all made, add one can of chili (with or without beans - this time was without). Then cut up the slightly cooled bacon (after blotting off any grease) and mix it all together.

I add grated cheese when serving.

Bacon, avocado, and Colby jack paninis

This is another one inspired by Pinterest. I saw a pin of bacon, avocado, grilled cheese sandwiches which sounded heavenly. So I got some avocados, bacon, and Colby jack cheese. I sliced up the avocado and fried the back, and made thick slices of the cheese then threw them together on some sourdough bread (no condiments) and grilled them in our panini press. Super yummy!

Next time I might try more of an avocado spread so there's definitely avocado in each bite but otherwise they were delicious.

With cheeeeese!

Remember my tortilla post? The one where I made a giant chip in the microwave? Well I added cheese to it today...

I shredded some Colby Jack cheese before tossing it in the microwave. Same time of 90 seconds. It came out good, but I wouldn't say that it's necessary. It tastes good with it, but it tastes good without it, too. So I'll do it sometimes, but won't go totally out of my way for it. The nice part though is it cooks on and is hard on the tortilla, not melty and messy. I would say that means it's good on the go... But this snack really isn't. It's so crumbly! But at least the cheese won't get on your hands, as the tortilla crumbles down your shirt ;)