This idea is so simple.  Take some favorites and combine them into an awesome meal.  I can practically guarantee that your kids will eat it.  I suggested dinner’s ingredients to my husband because I knew we would all like it.  Of course, I don’t have to tell him how to make it, but I also know it will be great— and different than the way I’d make it. (Actually when we discussed the recipe, I found out how differently I would have made it!) 

I was off dinner duty as there was a typical huge mound of laundry to fold/sort and my husband was luckily not disagreeable about cooking (sorry, I mean, I didn’t feel guilty about asking him to cook dinner when he’s off work from cooking).  He’s usually always agreeable about cooking, I just don’t want to have him regret it. 

Chicken Mushroom Bacon Pasta

Boneless chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces

5 bacon strips, diced

1 quart shiitake and/or crimini mushrooms, sliced

1 leek, cleaned and sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 handfuls baby spinach

1 plum tomato, chopped

½ cup chicken stock

¼ cup white wine

½ cup heavy cream

pasta of choice (we used fusilli)

Salt and pepper

Sauté the bacon until about halfway done.  Add leeks until the leeks are soft then add the garlic until done. Leaving fat behind, take out bacon, leeks and garlic.  Add wine to fat and reduce for a couple of minutes.  Add the cream and reduce until thicker.  Add chicken, stock and mushrooms— cook until mushrooms are soft.  Add tomatoes. Cook another minute then set aside. Cook pasta and drain.  In the larger pot add spinach in with pasta then throw in rest of mixture. Toss until well coated.

So, the dinner was delicious and the kids loved it!  I love getting a meal where they all like it, eat it all and not one complains.   Pasta, chicken, bacon, leeks, mushrooms, cream…as my eldest said “Everything’s better with bacon”. Funny thing was that my middle son said at one point, “But I don’t like mushrooms” so I reminded him that he’s said before that he likes mushrooms when in a cream sauce with chicken. “Oh, yeah.”  He continued to eat it all… mushrooms included.

Though chicken can seem boring at times, it’s versatility can make it wonderful.  Chicken goes with so many different types of cuisines and flavors.  It’s just about putting a bit of effort into changing it up from time to time.  The supermarket had thin sliced chicken breasts on sale, so I bought some to stuff; they’re not worth the price difference otherwise.  I’ve never actually made stuffed chicken breasts before but enjoyed them many times.  My husband ended up coming home just in time to make these too!  Wonderful thing about stuffed chicken breast is how versatile they can be: you can make all different kinds of stuffings — all types of vegetables or like this one, sausage and vegetable stuffings.  It doesn’t take as long as one might expect too. 

Sausage, Mushroom, Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast

8 pieces of thin sliced chicken breast or 3-4 pieces of regular breast, sliced lengthwise

1/2 med onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 Italian sweet sausage links, removed from casing (slice lengthwise and separate)

8 Crimini mushrooms, diced

1/3 package frozen organic spinach (thawed) or

                        4 oz. fresh spinach, steamed and chopped (squeeze out excess water)

Handful or two of shredded flavorful cheese (we used Quattro Formaggio from TJ’s— Asiago, Fontina, Parmesan, and Provolone)

Salt and pepper (check before salting as it might not need any)

2 Tbsp melted clarified butter for oven roasting

Tbsp olive oil for sautéing

Optional breaded coating:

Panko or regular breadcrumbs

3 Tbsp flour

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350F. Sauté onions with olive oil and when nearly clear, add garlic and sausage.  Using a flat wooden spatula, break up the sausage as it’s cooking.  Once it’s brown add mushrooms and continue to sauté until mushrooms are tender.  Add spinach and mix well.  Pour into a metal bowl and chill (in a pile of snow if you have as much as we do!) for a few minutes. Mix in the cheese and check for seasoning.  Put Tbsp of stuffing mixture on chicken breast and roll. (Optional bread crumb topping would be done now.  First dip piece in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs.)  Put clarified butter in bottom of pan so chicken doesn’t stick and pour a little over each roll.  Pop in oven for 20 minutes and serve with your favorite sides.  We served it with harvest grains, broccoli and snow peas.

My sons all loved this dinner, although my middle son complained about mushrooms being in it before he’d even tried it.  He ate the entire dinner anyway. The boys ended up eating the chicken like sushi rolls with their fingers (no grandparents around to disapprove). 

Bonus:  I had leftover stuffing mixture that I turned into a layer of lasagna the next night.