Sweet Birds Nests

My nieces spent winter breal with me and Ive had a lot of fun coming up with activities to keep all the lovely ladies occupied. One such activity was making chocolate birds nests. Theres even a peep garnish because every nest needs a bird.

The nests themselves were easy to assemble. I melted a pound of chocolate chips and a cup of peanut butter in a large plastic bowl. I just microwaved them for a minute, stirred it up and microwaved it for another minute. Then I stirred in six cups of chow mein noodles. We made A LOT of nests, halving the recipe will give you ten good sized nests. We have 20.

Drop dollops of your chocolate covered chow mein noodles onto wax paper. With a spoon press down onto the top of each dollop, creating an indent. Allow these to harden for at least four hours. We made them in the evening and let them sit out overnight.

After your nests are hardened, place your eggs in. we used cookies n cream eggs and secured them in place with peanut butter. You can secure the peep to the side of the nest with peanut butter too.

These were a big hit, and very tasty to boot!

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Boneless Skinless chicken breasts are as tricky as they are versatile. They can be used in just about anything but they dry out easily. Especially in the oven. So to stop that from happening, I wrapped my chicken breasts in bacon. In addition to fantastic flavor, bacon adds fat to the dish, keeping it moist.

To start I trimmed off all the little extra bits of fat and meat that would just burn in the oven. Then I made a slit in the large part of the breast. I was very careful not to cut through any of the sides because I didnt want to ruin my pocket. Once I was done I had three chicken breasts ready to be filled.

I used pre made stuffing mix, but homemade would have been better. I didnt cook the stuffing, I just added the liquid. I also added an egg to help hold it all together and stay moist. I stuffed each pocket as full as I possibly could.

After the chicken breasts are stuffed I wrapped three slices of bacon around each breast. For larger breasts you may need more bacon, and for smaller you may need less. Then I seasoned liberally with salt pepper and garlic powder.

Bake at 350° for thirty minutes or until the juices run clear. Now you can serve these as they are or sear them in a frying pan to get some crisp on them. I left ours as is.

There you have it! Another easy and delicious meal from my kitchen to your table.