Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken

Here is a fairly easy recipe, that looks impressive when you have guests over! This recipe is from skinnytaste.com, and tastes great.


To start, cut each chicken breast into thin slices.  I was able to get two full slices out of each, and a small piece of chicken that I set aside for the moment.

Lay half a slice of swiss cheese on each piece of chicken, followed by a couple pieces of steamed broccoli.

Then fold up the chicken, tucking in all of the cheese and broccoli.  Toothpicks work great to hold everything together!

Then dip the chicken pieces into the egg wash, followed by the seasoned breadcrumbs.  Place the pieces on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray, or one lined with parchment paper.


This is also where those extra chicken pieces come into play!  I cut them into strips, and dipped them in the egg wash and then the breadcrumbs. They were then bake for about 20 minutes with the rest of the chicken, and now you have chicken strips!  You can put them on a salad for lunch the next day, or they are great for the picky eater at the dinner table too.

The stuffed chicken is then baked for about 40 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink. 


These are fantastic! I served mine with a fresh garden salad on the side for a delicious (and healthy!) supper.


Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken

• 3 chicken breasts, sliced into thin slices (down the length of the chicken breast)
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp water
• 3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• 2 cups of broccoli, steamed and cut into small pieces
• 3 to 5 slices of swiss cheese
• cooking spray or parchment paper
• toothpicks

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F and spray your cookie sheet, or line with parchment paper
2. In a small bowl, beat together the egg and water
3. Place the breadcrumbs in a second bowl
4. If your chicken breast slices are too thick, you can pound them to make them thinner and therefore easier to roll up
5. Place half a slice of swiss cheese on a piece of chicken, followed by a few pieces of broccoli
6. Roll up the chicken around the cheese and broccoli, securing all of the filling inside
7. Seal closed with toothpicks
8. Dip into the egg wash, and then coat with breadcrumbs
9. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink
10. If you are also making chicken strips with the remaining chicken, these will take about 20 to 30 minutes to cook
11. Enjoy!

Avocado, Cucumber, and Black Bean Salad

Last week we had a couple of wonderfully warm days that put us back into BBQ/summer cooking mode for a little while.  I was looking for something fresh and tasty to serve with our BBQ's steaks, and came across this recipe on skinnytaste.com.


This salad was wonderfully easy to make, and was so fresh and delicious.  If you want to bring a bit of summer back into your home, try this out soon!


The recipe originally calls for cilantro to be added, but personally I cannot stand the stuff.  If you enjoy cilantro, feel free to chop some up and throw it in!


Avocado, Cucumber, and Black Bean Salad

• 2 ripe avocados, sliced, pitted, and diced
• 2 small or medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 large cucumber, cut into large pieces
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed very well
• 1/4 red onion, diced into small pieces
• 2 limes, juiced
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl, and mix well
2. Store in the refrigerator until those steaks are ready!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Chocolate Chips

The leaves are falling off the trees, the mornings are a bit chilly, and our evenings are much too short.  Fall has definitely hit us full force!


These cupcakes are perfect for this weather, they have a wonderful Fall flavor, and are perfect for breakfast or dessert.


I bought a few cans of pureed pumpkin the other day, so I am trying out some new recipes with it.  These turned out amazing; I love the texture of these cupcakes.  I am about to try a new pumpkin muffin recipe, and then a different pumpkin cupcake recipe, so I will let you know how those turn out!


This recipe is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and they are so delicious!  Next time I make these, I will definitely be doubling the recipe, 12 cupcakes was not enough!  While the recipe is vegan, my cupcakes were not.  I used a mixture of milk chocolate chips, and semi-sweet chocolate chips, so good!

These are originally topped with a sweet cinnamon icing.  This icing is fantastic as it does not overpower the cupcakes at all.  Next time I make these, I am going to try them with a cream cheese icing, or cinnamon cream cheese icing!


Pumpkin Cupcakes with Chocolate Chips

• 2 cup pureed pumpkin
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup soy milk
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F, and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners
2. In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, vegetable oil, sugar, soy milk, and vanilla
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt
4. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet with a fork, and mix well
5. Add the chocolate chips, and stir until well distributed
6. Fill your cupcake cups, and bake for 20 - 24 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into a cupcake

Cinnamon Icing

• 3/4 cup icing sugar (or more if you want a thicker glaze)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp melted butter or margarine
• 1 tbsp soy milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Mix all 5 ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth with a fork or small whisk
2. If you would like a thicker glaze, continue to add icing sugar until it is just right
3. Drizzle over the cooled cupcakes
4. Enjoy!

Flowers and Vanilla Buttercream Icing

I was making some Vanilla Cupcakes the other day, and I had no idea how I was going to decorate them.  I then remembered that I had learnt how to make all sorts of flowers in my Wilton class, but I had not made them since!  

I whipped up a vanilla buttercream recipe that I had heard of on a couple different sites/youtube videos, and it tasted absolutely amazing.  This buttercream is softer and lighter than the traditional Wilton Buttercream Icing, so it would not work well if you were making roses or other decorations that require stiff icing. It was a little soft for some of my petals, but since they were laying flat on the cupcakes, all you needed to correct that is to mix in a little bit more icing sugar to the colors you will be using using for them.

This icing recipe would be great for spreading icing on cakes or cupcakes, or for basic details.  Again, if you would like to thicken it a bit, you can just add more icing sugar.  If you require really thick icing for decorating, I would recommend leaving the whipping cream out, and adjusting the stiffness with teaspoons of milk or water.

Vanilla Buttercream Icing

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 4 cups icing sugar
• 1/4 cup whipping cream

1. Beat the butter until it is light and fluffy
2. Add the vanilla, and beat on high for a minute or two
3. Add the icing sugar 1 cup at a time, beating until each cup is completely mixed in before adding the next
4. When all the icing sugar has been added, pour in the whipping cream and beat until very light and fluffy
5. If you would like to thicken the icing, you can add less whipping cream, or add more icing sugar 
6. You can also switch up the flavor of the buttercream by using different extracts: Maple, Mint, Rum, Orange, Strawberry, etc!

Vanilla Bean Scones

These scones are an absolute treat! They are so delicious, I'm not even sure how many I had eaten right after they were dipped in the glaze.


The use of real vanilla beans really shows through in these scones.  They are also really great without the glaze, but the extra dose of vanilla-infused sweetness is amazing.

In order to get the nice triangle shapes, roll out the dough into a rectangle, and then cut it with a sharp knife (or pizza cutter) as shown below.  If I am making these to bring as a dessert, or to have after a meal with tea, I think I will cut each of the triangles in half again to make them bite-size.

These are also wonderfully easy to make, and very impressive to serve. Next time you need something sweet for breakfast or to bring to a dinner, try these out!


This recipe is from thepioneerwoman.com, and can be found here.  This recipe makes about 2 dozen scones.  If you have time some free time, check out the site, it is great!


Vanilla Bean Scones

• 3 cups flour
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 5 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup cold butter (2 sticks)
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cups heavy cream (I used whipping cream)
• 2 whole vanilla beans

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F, and line a couple cookies sheets with parchment paper
2. Split each vanilla bean (lengthwise) and scrape out the inside
3. Stir the inside of the beans with the cream, and let sit for 15 minutes. You can also add the vanilla bean pods to the cream for extra flavor, just remember to move them at the end of the 15 minutes :)
4. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl
5. Cut the butter into small cubes, then add to the dry ingredients
6. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or two knives until crumbly
7. Add the egg to the vanilla/cream mixture (after removing the vanilla bean pods) and whisk together
8. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix until the dough just starts to come together
9. Spread some flour on your counter, then place the dough on the floured surface
10. Roll it out until about 1 to 2 centimeters thick
11. Cut the dough into squares, and then into triangles
12. Place the triangles onto the parchment lined cookie sheets, and bake for 15 -18 minutes or until they just begin to turn golden brown on the bottom
13. Allow the scones to cool completely before adding the glaze

Vanilla Bean Glaze

• 1 vanilla bean
• 1/2 cups milk
• 3 cups icing sugar

1. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the inside
2. Place both the inside of the vanilla bean and the vanilla bean pod in the milk and let sit for about 10 to 15 minutes
3. Remove the vanilla bean pod, and then whisk in the icing sugar, one cup at a time
4. Continue whisking until all icing sugar is added, and the glaze is smooth
5. Dip the completely cooled scones in the glaze, or drizzle the glaze over the scones
6. Allow the scones to dry before storing

Enjoy!!