6 Chicken Breasts
1 tablespoon olive oil
Garlic powder
paprika

4 cups herb stuffing
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
1 and 1 /3 cup chicken broth
Thyme

Optional – 1/ 2 cup spinach, drained and sauté

1. Oven 350 degrees.
2. Put butter into a medium frying pan. Add onions and celery.
Saute until tender.
3. In a medium bowl, add stuffing and slowly pour in chicken
broth. As broth goes into bowl, keep fluffing stuffing to
absorb liquid. Add sautéd onions and celery with the butter
in the frying pan into the stuffing mixture. Sprinkle in some
thyme.

Optional – At this point add the spinach to the stuffing
mixture for added flavor.
4. On a large edged baking sheet, line aluminum foil. Take a
chicken breast and with your fingers, lift the skin, making a
partial opening. Take a fistful of stuffing and push it under
the chicken skin. Repeat until the whole top of the breast is
stuffed under the skin. When all breasts are stuffed, place
on the cookie sheet.
5. With a pastry brush, brush the whole chicken breast with
olive oil, lightly.
6. After all breasts are coated in olive oil, sprinkle paprika and
garlic powder.
7. Bake for 65 to 75 minutes. Cut into a breast with a knife to
check for doneness.
8. Serves 4 – 6.
ENJOY – Get “Stuffed” from eating a stuffed Chicken Breast!

Today is a day like any other day. I get up, go to work, come home, prepare dinner, clean the house, go to bed and start over again. There is one chore that drives me crazy and that is deciding what to make for dinner. After thirty something years, the phrase, “What do you want for dinner?”, is enough to make me feel like a robot. Just tell me what you want and I will cook it. But do they tell you? No! You get the following same answers repeated over and over again. “Whatever you want to make.” “I don’t know.” “Don’t ask me now, I’m not hungry.” “I don’t care”. Of course, no one cares because they are not having a mental breakdown trying to figure out a menu for every night of the week. Do not ask this question to anyone under 21. Otherwise the answer will be pizza, McDonalds, Chinese food or anything that you do not actually cook but you are lucky enough to pay for. There is no concept of living on a budget for a family. Buying take-out dinner for a family of 4 or more people could wipe out your wallet for the week.

So, that leaves you with preparing meals with those 3 food groups – meat and fish, bread and cereal, and fruits and vegetables. What falls under that first group? Meat, which can be expensive if it is beef. Fish; also is an expensive protein. That leaves us with chicken. Chicken is the least expensive protein to feed your family. Believe me, I have tried to prepare chicken each and every way I can. We have a standard in my house and I found in most houses across America. It’s called chicken cutlets. We have this for dinner at least 3 times a month. The beauty of this dish in my house anyway, is that everyone loves it. My husband prepares about 3 pounds of cutlets. He likes to make them the way he likes them. Fine with me. Word of advice to any newlyweds out there, if you husband wants to cook something, let him. One less thing you have to worry about. I told him he made the best chicken cutlets the first year we were married, and I haven’t had to cook them since. I hate frying food anyway. Well, that leaves me with preparing chicken 10 or 12 different other ways for the rest of the month.

I actually was served this stuffed chicken breast for dinner at a friend’s home years ago. I have made chicken and I have made stuffing before but I never thought at that time to put them together. If you think you make less mess in your kitchen, forget it. You still have to prepare your stuffing ahead of time. I make this dish with variations on occasion. The last time I prepared this I had some leftover sautéed spinach in the refrigerator that I added to the stuffing mixture before placing under the skin of the chicken. It was definitely an added delight. With the spinach added all the food groups were taken care. I might just always make it with the spinach added from now on. I have told my friends that do not like to cook to use any brand of instant stuffing to save time. I really like to make my own stuffing with real onions and celery but I understand that not everyone loves to cook.

This recipe is a hit with the family and it will be for your friends too. Next time you don’t know what to make for dinner, don’t ask, just make stuffed chicken breasts and everyone will be happy,
including you.