3 Chicken Breasts, 3 Different Meals, 3 People

Last week my local Harris Teeter had Buy 1 Get 2 free of their boneless, skinless chicken breasts (3 to a pack). I bought a few packages and then took a look at the calendar to see where I needed chicken so I knew what needed to be frozen, and if I needed to break up any of the packages into individual breasts before freezing. Then I received my first issue of Cooking Light and was inspired! 25 ways to cook chicken? My husband could eat chicken every night so sign me up! I portioned out some of the chicken and kept two packets intact leaving 3 breasts together.

So tonight, the menu said "Chicken and Goat Cheese". Usually that means I make marinated and grilled chicken  and herb goat cheese sandwiches on wheat baguettes toasted in the oven. However, having recently hopped back on South Beach, no bread for me. So to the Cooking Light issue I went and found the recipe for stuffed chicken breasts with spinach and blue cheese located next to a recipe for stuffed chicken breasts with bacon and goat cheese. Naturally I was all about making some stuffed chicken with spinach and goat cheese! However hubby was still wanting a sandwich and the 3-year old was of course not having anything stuffed in his chicken. The solution? I was going to make those 3 chicken breasts into 3 meals.

Here's how:
The grocery store packaged chicken usually still has the tenderloin attached which you usually want to remove when making a stuffed breast or any dish only calling for the breast itself. I removed the tenderloins and trimmed the breasts and then marinated all of the chicken in a light bottled olive oil and garlic dressing. After a few hours in the fridge I started making dinner. First for the 3 year-old, I cut the tenderloins into large chunks and set them aside. In two of the breasts, I cut large slits into them to make the pockets for the stuffing. The last breast went on the indoor grill to cook.













For the little guy I rolled the chicken chunks into Panko breadcrumbs mixed with a little flour and pan fried them in a little Canola oil. The remaining oil was used to saute` some garlic and wilt about 2 cups of spinach for a side dish for husband that I set aside. Then I cooked the spinach I needed for my stuffed chicken, mixed in the goat cheese and prosciutto and stuffed that chicken! While the chicken was cooking its first 4 minutes, I sliced the grilled chicken and made the sandwich with the remaining goat cheese. It got popped into the oven with the stuffed chicken and the last few minutes of cooking, the nuggets just to warm them up. Add a side of smashed cauliflower, and Voila! 3 different meals!