Popper Chicken

Bacon wrapped Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken Breast

If you like jalapeno poppers and chicken - mmmmmmmm...this is for you!

2 jalapenos, quartered (unstuffed and completely cleared of veins and seeds if you are wimpy like me and you like spicy foods just not spicy in the holy crap my mouth is on fire kind of way)
8 oz of soft cream cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
5-6 chicken breasts
6-12 strips of raw bacon

Cut the jalapenos and chop them into a nice minced size.  Discard the nasty hot parts like those stems, seeds, and veins if you prefer the taste of the jalapeno not the spicy bite of it.  Your call.  
 You have let your cream cheese sit out for a little while so that it is soft.  Now you simply add the jalapenos to the cream cheese and add a tsp or so of garlic powder.  You can also add pepper and onion powder if you wish.

If you know how to stuff a chicken breast you are on stage now.  They say you slice a lengthwise pocket down the chicken. Spread the innard goodness along this length and mash the chicken together.  It won't close therefore you now wrap the chicken with bacon strips.  I found 2 strips per chicken breast worked perfectly.  Now you grill over medium heat, flipping once, until it's done.  My recipe indicated that this would be 8 minutes on each side until the internal temperature reached 160 degrees.  Well, I've never stuffed chicken before and I did the 8 minutes with innards spilling out and my internal temp was 160 based on my brand new meat thermometers and lookie - it was still undone inside.  Basically cook til it's done.  How do you know?  Well, I can only offer you tasty recipes not life answers. :)

I tried this again with boneless skinless chicken thigh as I read something in a healthy type magazine that said that even though the dark meat thigh has a gram more fat it is loaded with vitamins and minerals  (?) that the white meat breast does not have; plus it's cheaper so you should go with dark meat.  Well, I found that the thigh costs the same but I do like the dark meat - but alas, I had the same issues.  Result: I cannot successfully stuff any part of a chicken! SOOOO, brilliant woman that I am, I decided next time to cut my chicken into bite size pieces and cook.  Then, I added my cream cheese mixture to the pan until it basically melted all over the chicken.  Oh my - so much easier and just as tasty!  Maybe I'll add bacon pieces and chedder cheese shreds too.

Definitely on the list of meals to eat over and over and over again!