National Men Make Dinner Day: Pumpkin Cornbread Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Do you know what today is?  It's National Men Make Dinner Day!  Didn't know that was a holiday?  Well, it is!  And you might as well take advantage of it.  I thought this would be the perfect time to share with you what my lovely husband made for dinner last year on National Men Make Dinner Day.  He really stepped up to the plate and knocked one out of the park!  He did some searching around online for a great recipe, but in the end, created his own.  It turned out wonderfully.  Chicken breasts stuffed with pumpkin, apple, and cranberry cornbread stuffing.  Here's how he made it.

Pumpkin Cornbread Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Ingredients:
½ cup pumpkin puree
½ cup apple, coarsely chopped
¼ cup dried cranberries
1 box StoveTop Stuffing Mix Cornbread Variety
4 tbsp butter
1½ cups water
4 chicken breast cutlets

Directions:
Make stuffing mix as directed on package.  Stir in pumpkin, apples, and cranberries.

Pound out chicken and roll up with stuffing.  Heat a skillet over high heat and add some oil.  Cook chicken two minutes on each side to brown.  Then cover and turn heat down until chicken is cooked through.  Add ½ cup apple cider to the pan.  Serve extra stuffing alongside the chicken.

Makes 4 servings.

Now, this wasn't my husband's first foray into the kitchen.  He really can hold his own in there, despite the fact that he rarely gets the chance because I enjoy it so much.  He is kind of infamous for going overboard adding ingredients and seasonings to things, though.  One time he made a meatloaf and decided to put ham cubes in it.  Ham cubes in meatloaf?  I thought it was pretty weird!  He's also known for adding cinnamon to almost everything, sweet or savory.  So, I have to admit, that when he was banging around in the kitchen making this creation, I was a tad nervous.  I love how this dish is true to Jim; he did add tons of things to this stuffing: pumpkin, apples, and cranberries, but it all worked and was absolutely delicious.  

I can't wait to see what he comes up with tonight!  I'll take pics and share them with you next year.  If you are successful in getting your husband to "celebrate" this holiday, let me know in the comments what he made and how it turned out.

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Jim's Chicken Taco Quesadillas

This is a dish that Jim came up with one night when I didn't have time to make supper. I had some chicken thawed for another dish, but something came up and we ran short on time and I had to feed the baby right during the time I usually make supper. So Jim went into the kitchen and created this dish. He doesn't cook very often, mostly because I like to cook so much, but this dish proves that he really can step up to the plate when necessary!

Jim's Chicken Taco Quesadillas

Ingredients:

¼ cup taco seasoning

3 tbsp olive oil, divided

4 chicken breasts, sliced

4 large flour tortillas

1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Cilantro, for garnish

Sour cream

Salsa

Directions:

Heat grill pan over medium-high heat. Combine taco seasoning and 2 tbsp oil in a large plastic bag. Add chicken and shake to thoroughly coat. Place chicken slices on grill. Grill until no longer pink, turning once. Remove from heat.

Heat remaining olive oil in a large skillet. Take each tortilla and place 2 tbsp of the cheese, then ¼ of the chicken, and then another 2 tbsp of the cheese on one half. Fold tortilla over. Place in skillet and cook until golden brown on one side, then flip and cook until golden brown on the other side.

Remove from pan and cut into wedges. Garnish with cilantro and serve with sour cream and salsa.

Makes 4 servings.

Jim likes to do it that way, but an alternate way is to leave the chicken whole, season it, grill it, then cut it into strips. Either way works just fine. He says that the chicken gets better covered with the seasoning if you cut it first. He makes a good point. But if you were inclined to grill your chicken outside, I think it would be better to grill it whole, and then slice it so that the slices don't fall through the grates.

These quesadillas are really easy to customize to your liking. Jim likes to put some taco sauce inside his quesadilla before he cooks it. That's too much flavor for me; I take mine without. But I do like some finely chopped onion in mine. You can add anything you like in there. Just make sure you keep a good amount of cheese to glue it all together!

We actually don't serve these with sour cream and salsa like the recipe says. Our favorite condiment for these quesadillas is my Cilantro Cream Sauce. The cool creaminess of the sauce is the perfect balance to the spiciness of the filling. Yum!

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