Stuffing Muffins

I always throw the ends of bread loaves into the freezer.  Sometimes they turn into stuffing, sometimes bread pudding.  I got a new roommate recently, and it's been getting hard to close the freezer door.  I had almost 2 loaves worth of bread in there, so I figured it was about time to do something with it.  I didn't manage to use all of it, but I did manage to use of some of it!

Ingredients

garlic cloves

fresh ginger root

1/4 yellow onion

2 slices of bacon

2 small carrots

big handful of cranberries

1 egg

veggie stock

c 3/4 loaf of dried bread

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350.

Chop the garlic, ginger, and onion and saute in some olive oil.  Chop the bacon and add it when the onion starts to brown.  Grate the carrot and put it in a big bowl.  Chop the cranberries and add them to the bowl. Add the garlic/ginger/onion/bacon mixture.  Beat the egg and add it.  Add c 1/2 c of veggie stock.  Mix well.  Break the bread into roughly 1 inch pieces and add it.  Stir well until all of the bread is moist.  Add more veggie stock if needed.  Grease a muffin tin.  Shape the stuffing mixture into 12 balls and put them in the muffin tin.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.  

Stuffed & Bacon-wrapped Chicken

Pre-heat oven to 375.

Finely chop a little bit of onion and celery.  Brown the onion in olive oil, add 1 clove minced garlic and 1 tsp minced ginger, cook for another minute or two.  Add the onion/garlic/ginger to a bowl with the celery.  Tear up 4 pieces of dried bread and add them to the bowl.  Mix with veggie stock until moist.  

Butterfly 3 b/s chicken breasts.  Spread some stuffing on top of each one, then roll them up.  Wrap each chicken roll with a slice or two of bacon. Place the rolls in an oven dish.  

Bake for 1 hr. 

Deliciousness.

You're welcome.

Stuffed Chicken Roll-ups

INGREDIENTS

thin-sliced b/s chicken breast

dried bread

bacon

onion

ginger

garlic

celery

heavy cream

1) Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry it in a pan. 

doesn't look like much...but it's actually 3 slices of bacon

my trusty bacon-cutting scissors

in another life (1st grade?) they were my first pair of sewing scissors

 2) Add some chopped onion, and let them cook til crispy. 

3) Add chopped ginger, garlic, and celery, cook briefly and mix well.

 4) Remove from heat and add the bread (break it into small pieces first).  Add small amounts of heavy cream until the stuffing is slightly moist.  

5) Clean and dry the chicken, then place a spoonful of stuffing on each piece of chicken, roll them up, and secure with a toothpick.  

6) Sear on each side in a pan on the stovetop, then place in a pie plate and bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. 

7) Make a meal. Eat.

Chicken Roll-ups, Zucchini Fries, Deviled Eggs

Bacon and Apple Stuffed Beef

I got my inspiration from here, which I came across by chance on Facebook, through Foodies Like Us which posts various delicious looking recipes frequently. 

So, the original recipe was with pork.  But the pork I needed for the recipe was rather expensive, and I already had the thin-sliced beef in my freezer.  So I thawed it out (I love how quickly it thaws...hooray for thin-sliced meats!).  I wasn't sure if my experiment would work or not, but it ended up working perfectly!  I still hope to try this recipe with pork chops at some point...and probably also with chicken.  But the beef worked so well and was easy enough that I'm sure I will do it again. 

I USED:

3 slices of thin beef
1 tbsp minced garlic
oregano, basil, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, 1 tsp salt
4 thick slices of sourdough bread
5 slices of bacon, chopped and fried
1 granny smith apple, peeled and chopped
4 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp bacon grease
handful of shredded colby/monterey jack cheese
1/2 c (?)  potato water (it's supposed to be chicken broth...but I didn't have any...and I was boiling potatos at the time)

PROCEDURE

I mixed up the stuffing (everything listed above excpet the beef), while preheating the oven to 400.  I also heated some olive oil in a skillet.  I stuffed a generously large spoonful of stuffing onto each piece of beef, then rolled it up and stuck 2 toothpics through to hold it together.  Laid the rolls in the skillet, and quickly browned them on each side, then popped them onto a pie plate and put them in the oven for about 20 minutes. 

Then, I had a delicious dinner, with the stuffed beef, mashed potatos, and broccoli. 

the stuffing

the 3rd lonely piece of stuffed beef after the first 2 got eaten

Baked Chicken & Stuffing

There is never enough stuffing at Thanksgiving Dinner.  There never will be, as long as it continues to be everybody's favorite food.  I had just enough on Thanksgiving to remind me of how long it's been since the last time I ate stuffing, and of how delicious it is.  So of course I came home wanting more.  So, earlier this week, I decided to try making some.  Of course, it can't quite compare to Thanksgiving stuffing that's been cooked in the turkey, but it's not too bad. 

Chicken/Stuffing, Green Beans/Leeks, Mashed Potatos

Ingredients
 1/2 loaf whole wheat bread
 1 tbsp butter
 1 egg, beaten
 1 12 oz can of chicken broth
 herbs/seasoning

Preheat oven to 350.
I took the bread out of the fridge and laid it out to air dry.  I think it ended up sitting there for a day or two before I had time to actually make the stuffing.  I broke the hard bread up into bite sized chunks and threw them in a large bowl.  Then, in a seperate boil, I beat together the other ingredients.  I poured that over the bread crumbs, mixed it up, let it sit and soak for a bit, mixed it up some more, repeat, repeat repeat, until all the bread is moist.  Then, I smashed the bread down into a baking dish.  On top of the stuffing, I laid b/s chicken breast which I had cut into very thin slices, slathered with ranch, and dusted with cornmeal. 
Bake for 45-60 minutes