Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Chicken

You know those bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers that are filled with cream cheese? I could eat about 100 of them at a time. I LOVE them. But I rarely make them because carefully scooping all of the seeds out of the jalapenos is a bit time consuming, and I’m always afraid I’ll get pepper juice in my eyes accidentally (though I never have).

So I decided to make them into a meal without any extra work — just one more ingredient! Chicken! Now I don’t have to de-seed 100 peppers, and I get to enjoy bacon-wrapped pepper poppers for dinner!

Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Chicken

Ingredients:

• 5 chicken boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3 pieces each
• 1 — 8oz block of cream cheese
• parsley
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• 8 fresh jalapeno peppers
• 1 pound of bacon (the kind we buy has about 15-17 slices per pound. If you like thick bacon you may need more than 1 lb)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Warm the cream cheese in the microwave for 30 seconds. Sprinkle in some parsley, garlic powder, and onion powder (however much you think you’ll like). Stir well to combine.
3. Carefully cut each jalapeno in half lengthwise and cut or scoop out the seeds. Discard the seeds.
4. For each piece of chicken, fill a pepper half with cheese mixture, place on the chicken, and wrap with a slice of bacon.
5. Arrange chicken on a baking dish and bake 40 minutes or until bacon is crisp. You may broil it for a few minutes at the end if you’d like.
6. Eat it!

Tip: If your sleepy toddler rubs her eyes while eating this meal, she may get pepper juice in her eyes and break your heart by sadly declaring, “Hurt!” while continuing to rub her eyes in an attempt to make them feel better (but actually making them worse). If this happens to you, pour some milk onto a napkin, and apply it to the toddler’s eyes , then wipe the toddler’s hands with it. This will stop the burning enough for her to enjoy the chicken and bacon (with the pepper removed) before heading to bed.