Cassie's Cajun Crab & Spinach Stuffed Chicken

I made a wonderful dinner. I kept seeing all these cheese stuffed chicken recipes on Pinterest and while they looked good they just didn't have everything I was looking for in a stuffed chicken breast. So, I concocted my own!

• 4 Chicken Breasts pounded out (about 1/4 inch)
• 1/2 Package Fresh Spinach
• 2 T. Butter
• 1 Package Crab Meat (I used the imitation crab because I couldn't afford the real stuff).
• 1/2 c. Shredded Cheese (any kind you want, I used half cheddar, half monteray jack)
• salt
• pepper
• red pepper
• paprika
• chili powder
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• oregano

I started out by putting the 2T. butter in a skillet and melting it down on medium heat. I add all the seasonings to the melting butter (I didn't give amounts because we like things very spicy in our house and most people would use way less....so eyeball it). Then you dump the half package of spinach into the melted butter.

Use some tongs and start stirring and tossing the spinach until it cooks/wilts down. It goes quickly, maybe 2 minutes...it will look like this.

I put the spinach into a big bowl to cool and while that was going on, I had my kitchen helpers shred my cheese for me... (they got a bit carried away and we had a REALLY CHEESY dinner!) Then I cut the crab up (next time I will either cut it up much smaller or shred it). I add the shredded cheese and the crab to the spinach and stir until everything is mixed well.

Once you are all done with the chicken it is time to do some stuffing. I packeded as much as I could on the chicken (you need to be able to wrap the chicken all the way around your stuffing and close it with toothpicks or kitchen twine).







Once you get them all wrapped up, stick them in a baking dish/pan. I then added more of my seasonings to the top of the chicken. Then I stuck it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 40 - 45 minutes.

I had some filling left over so I put it in it's own baking dish and stuck it in the oven for the last 10 minutes. I spooned the extra on top! Roast some veggies to go with this and you have yourself an awesome dinner! It only took me about 15 minutes to put it all together. 

The next time I make it I will just put it together completely either that morning or the day before. It could be covered and stuck in the fridge until you are ready to bake it.

Oh, and make sure you take the toothpicks out before you eat it!

Cassie's Cajun Crab & Spinach Stuffed Chicken

Lots of Food Pictures!

I have kept up posting my food pictures on facebook but I have slacked here, and I have some awesome ones since we have switched to paleo. I think I will post a few pictures here and there to catch up on that!

To start with I will put up my favorite meals thus far.

This first one is an herb rubbed pork tenderloin with roasted green bean, asparagus, and a blueberry/onion glaze. It was amazing!

This one is curried shrimp and spinach over fish cakes. I have been making a point to eat foods and spices that I had previously never tried. Curry is one of those things, I had never tried it and now I love it!

This next one just happened to be a last minute throw together meal and I loved it! We cook up a big batch of chicken and pork on the grill each weekend so that we will have something quick to grab out of the fridge. Also, G takes them for work for lunch. Anyway, I grabbed a chicken breast, a pork chop, some shrimp and I cut them up, tossed them in a skillet with butter and spices...tossed in peas and tomatoes at the end and we had an awesome 10 minute meal!

And, the last picture I have for the day (this one was taken on one of the new plates I got for Christmas! 5 full settings of fiesta ware). This is what we had last night for dinner. I cut up some chicken breasts into nuggets. I dipped them in egg and then coarsely ground almonds mixed with my own taco seasonings, then fried them in bacon drippings. I served the chicken nuggets with roasted greenbeans, asparagus, carrots, and mushrooms and we dipped them in salsa!

Life is getting better...lots of changes

I am still working through the loss of our sweet baby Luke. My due date is coming up fast (October 31st) and I'm pretty sure that will be a hard day. On my way through that monster called grief I have made some changes in my life and my families lives.

I am still barefoot running, although not as much as I would like. Getting over that calf strain was harder than I thought...I suspect that it was a tear and not a strain. Anyway, now that Hugh is back in school for the year I have been able to take Owen out in the stroller for some runs. I need to build my distance back up. G. is thinking about going for a half marathon in the spring and I'm hoping to join him.

I poured my heart and soul into yard work and gardening this summer. Just taking a shovel and digging helped to give me time to think and an outlet for all the emotions. I created HUGE new flowerbeds in the back yard. I hope to put a patio in the middle next summer. I also added a big bed in the front yard and re-dug all the beds up close to the front and side of the house.

Greg and I were able to take a small vacation up to Michigan for a long weekend. That was very much needed to reconnect.

Now for the biggest change....we have gone primal/paleo/sugar free. I am loving it and G. is still struggling with the loss of sweets. It has been just over 3 weeks and we have each lost just about 10 lbs. I want to switch the boys to this as well as I believe they will thrive. That just may take a little time. Owen may have to switch out of necessity...the doc wants him worked up for celiac...I just have not made the appointment yet.

The basics of the plan....meat, veggies, fats, and some fruits and nuts. Some dairy but it is on its way out as well. We eat nothing that is processed, and no grains of any type. In the three weeks that we have been doing this I feel soooo much better. I decided to have some beans last night with dinner and I will never do that again. My stomach is ANGRY at me and I woke up really sick...I felt like I had been poisoned.

I guess that is about as much of an update as I can do for now. I still have a book giveaway to do so I will get that up in a couple of days.