My thoughts of the day...

So I have been rather busy lately. With the Christmas season unofficially upon us, I have taken on an extra job to help pay for Christmas gifts.

I actually have a total of three jobs at the moment. Three jobs with opportunities to learn new lessons every day! What I have learned in the past 24 hours is this:

  1.) If your spouse places a call to order something over the phone, try to refrain from yelling, hollering, and just plain being rude. If you don't want to talk to me, I don't care. With your terrible attitude I don't care to talk to you either. Using the excuse that you're too busy to talk because you're cooking something for a church dinner doesn't cut it as a good excuse either!

  2.) When someone is interviewing you whether it is for a job or a service you receive and they tell you they are going to ask you questions and the answer is either yes or no, then for the love of God please just answer yes or no! There is no need or want for you to elaborate with a ten minute explanation of WHY the answer is yes or no.

Well, the day is still young, nut that is that for now!

Pear, Apple & Brie Stuffed Chicken Breasts w/ Raspberry Sauce

I have always been one to dabble in the kitchen arts. It wasn't until my family got the Food Network, however, that I started to get a little more creative. I am a sauce girl. I must have a sauce on everything. Since chicken is basically a blank canvas, I have created many a sauce for my fine feathered (not anymore) friend! My latest creation is actually an oldie - revisited. This little re-creation is a chicken breast stuffed with pears, apples & brie and drizzled with a simple raspberry sauce accompanied with cheesy chive smashed red skinned potatoes and candied carrots! The sauce in this dish is easy as it just raspberry preserves since I was trying to cut time constraints.  My past dishes I created the sauce using fresh raspberries.

Just in case you may want to make this for yourself I will tell you how I made this, but since I didn't really measure anything out I can't give approximate measurements lol.


Pear, Apple & Brie Stuffed Chicken Breasts w/ Raspberry Sauce


Boneless skinless chicken breasts - 2-4
Diced Granny Smith Apple (You can sub your favorite!)
Diced pear (I recommend fresh, not canned when possible)
Brie (Sub Gouda, smoked Gouda, Havarti or your favorite creamy cheese)
1 Jar Raspberry Preserves
Salt (optional)
Pepper
Butter (I use Parkay butter spray)


Pre-heat oven to 400°
Butterfly chicken breasts and place a layer of sliced brie on the bottom inside half of the chicken, top brie with apple/pear mixture and replace the top half of the chicken breast.  Salt and pepper lightly and spray top of chicken with butter to brown. If you don't have spray butter, you can use regular butter. Cook until the juices run clear or the internal temp of the chicken reaches at least 165° (35-45 minutes)




Sauce:
Place enough of the preserves for the amount of chicken you are making in a bowl or small sauce pan. If microwaving, be sure to cook in 20-30 second increments and stir between each. Continue to cook until the consistency is liquid.


To plate, place chicken on serving dish and drizzle with sauce. Suggestion: Serve a small ramekin of extra sauce on the side.