Smoked Bleu Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts Wrapped In Bacon

 Last week, I wound up buying a container of smoked bleu cheese. I had initially thought that I would include this on Bob's requested charcuterie board for Thanksgiving, but I thought there was more than plenty to remake one of my published recipes on allrecipes.com, Gorgonzola Stuffed Chicken Breasts Wrapped In Bacon. I used to prepare this recipe quite often, several years ago, but had gotten away from it. It's always nice to revisit (and revamp) one of your highest rated recipes, I think.

I got away from adding anything to the bleu cheese. I figured with the smoke flavor, it didn't need any added ingredients, like shallot or parsley. Also, with the bacon and the cheese, this definitely did not need any added salt.

This also differs from the original recipe in that I baked these on a rack this time.

I baked these on a lower temperature than I did with the original recipe. I found that lowering the temp, even though I had them in the oven for over an hour, resulted in a much juicier version. These were not dried out at all.

Dinner, last night, was a sheer pleasure.


Smoked Bleu Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts Wrapped In Bacon

 

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup smoked bleu cheese
4 slices of pepper bacon
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Penzeys Spices Parisien Bonnes Herbes blend
Cracked black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut a pocket into each chicken breast, without cutting all the way through. Stuff 2 tablespoons of smoked bleu cheese into each pocket. Wrap each breast with 2 slices of bacon. Secure with toothpicks, if necessary. Sprinkle each breast with 1/2 teaspoon of Parisien Bonnes Herbes blend. Sprinkle with freshly cracked black pepper.
Place in oven and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F on a food thermometer. Let stand for 10 minutes, remove wooden picks and serve.

Carrot Pie

 This afternoon, I thought it would be a great day to try to turn these carrots into a pie. I hoped it would resemble a pumpkin pie.

These carrots were pretty big. I decided to use the same amount of pureed carrots as I would with pumpkin. I peeled them and boiled them until they were soft.

I decided to break out my homemade vanilla and I also opted to open up the Tung Hing cinnamon that I bought from Penzey's Spices. 

All this deliciousness gets whipped up and mixed with pureed carrots. 

I can't tell the difference by simply looking at it.

I can't tell the difference after it's baked, either. It cracked when it cooled off. 

The consensus is that the texture is just a little bit different. That's all. Other than that one minute detail, I could not tell the difference between carrot or pumpkin in this pie. I'll make more carrot pies in the future, for sure.


Carrot Pie

1 9-inch pie shell
2 cups pureed carrots (about 3 large, peeled and boiled until soft and pureed in a food processor)
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
3/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl until well combined. Pour into prepared pie shell.
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, lower heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 50 minutes.
Pie is done when you can put the point of a knife into the middle and it comes out clean.
Cool completely before cutting. Refrigerate leftovers.

I do not receive compensation from Penzey's spices. This is not a sponsored post.  I just really like their products.

And The Winner of the $50 Penzeys Spices Gift Card Is...

 Drum roll please.....



















Congrats! Please contact me on Facebook to make arrangements to receive the gift card! Thanks, everyone! Happy Holidays!
I hope to do more of these in the future.

Gift Card Giveaway

 I'm rather surprised. I thought there would be a lot more than this wanting to get in on this giveaway. You guys have 4 days left. Make sure to share this blog with your friends. Tell them to sign up to follow for an extra entry. Remember, only those of you who have followed and commented on here will be entered for that $50 Penzey's Spices gift card giveaway. It ends on November 11th at noon, Pacific Standard Time, via Rafflecopter, and is only available to residents of the United States. Sorry, but I don't know all the countries that Penzey's ships to. I'm am not being compensated by Penzey's Spices for this giveaway. Bob and I bought this gift card.
Time's a'tickin' away!

A Look At Our New Place & Seed List For 2022

We drove up to the new property yesterday. This photo was taken when it was a bit warmer out, of course, but this is the apple orchard. 

The guy, who was there before, had raised meat pigs. He had a boar and this was where he kept his boar. I'm going to turn this area into my chicken run. 

 Our pigs will be pasture raised. I'm grateful that he left this pig area up. All we need to do is get the box and a battery to turn on the electric fence. 

That trailer has been sold and it just needs to be removed. That is where our canopy and fifth wheel will go. 

We have all this area. I want to turn a good chunk of it into garden spaces. 

All of this area will have raised beds. I want to put my herb garden where I don't have to walk very far to utilize it.

This is where we will put a hot water tank and a washer and dryer. Yes, we will be buying a set, for sure! It is too far to run to the laundromat every week.

That is a beautiful deck, but it will have to be moved. We're not sure if the person who bought the trailer has bought that, too, or not. If not, we'll move it out a bit and we'll set up an outdoor dining area. I can put cute little pots of trailing flowers at each corner. It will be cute.

These terraced gardens are really cool. There are a ton of strawberry plants. I'm going to need a couple of ducks for slug patrol.

My lavender plant will join a couple of lavender friends.

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So there's a better look at where we are moving to. I hope you enjoyed the tour.

Now, onto my seed list. I'm taking on a huge project here, but I want to be self sufficient, this coming summer, as far as produce goes. I also want to be self sufficient through the winter, too.

Heirloom Tomatoes

*Julia Child
*Great White
*Coyote
*Lagidnyi
*Zena's Gift
*Alice's Dream
*Broad Ripple
*Orange Jazz
*Mushroom Basket
*Principe Borghese
*Girl Girl's Weird Thing
*Lipstick
*Amana Orange
*Barlow Jap
*Trip-L-Crop
*Green Ghabdan's Danish Orange
*Vintage Wine
*Moonlight Mile
*A Grappoli D'Iverno
*Pit Viper Dwarf
*Amish Paste
*Groovy Tunes
*Egg Yolk
*Red Beefsteak
*Clay Family Red Cherry
*Sart Roloise
*Dancing With Smurfs
*Oregon Spring
*Campbell's 1327
*Kentucky Beefsteak
*Dr. Wyche's Yellow
*Old German
*Kaleidoscope Jewel
*Yellow Pear
*Red Ruby
*The Thong
*Snow White Cherry
*Nizami
*Zlatava
*Red Charcoal
*Riesetomate
*Heaven Oregon
*Join Or Die
*Kazachka Cherry
*Stripes of Yore
*Pink Egg
*Rutgers
*Kentucky Yellow/Orange Slicer
*Super Steak
*Pork Chop
*Delta Dawn
*Marge's Polish Pride
*Sgt. Pepper
*Rose Beauty
*Piovano
*Pineapple
*Red Pear
*Northern Lights
*Zebra Rita
*Gold Pearl Micro Dwarf
*Valencia
*Xanadu Green Goddess
*White Wax
*Mortgage Lifter
*Red River
*Marianna's Peace
*Mix (Roma, San Marzano & Rio Grande)
*Amethyst Jewel
*Carbon
*Cereza Amarilla
*German Queen
*Black Krim
*Big Rainbow
*Black Sea Man
*Isis Candy Cherry
*Red Dumplin Winner Pink
*Vnucen'ka
*Iva's Red Berry
*Blondekopfchen
*Lille Lise
*Solar Flare
*Sub-Arctic Plenty
*Aussie Pink
*Hawaiian Current
*Rebel Alliance
*Black Dragon
*Gargamel
*Nina's Heirloom
*Pink Yellow Stripe
*Firesteel
*Cherokee Purple
*Aunt Ruby's German Green
*Arubuzunyi
*Lemon Boy
*Matt's Wild Cherry
*Georgia Slicer
*Lavender Lake
*Green Zebra
*Skykomish
*Black Beauty
*Cosmic Eclipse
*Pineapple
*Midnight Snack
*Dr. Caroline's Cherry
*Black Pear
*Brad's Atomic Grape
*Bulls Heart Red
*Indigo Pear Drop
*Blue Berries
*Thorburn's Terra Cotta
*Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye
*Red Crystal
*Chameleon
*Malachite Box
*Spoon
*Landreth's Surprise
*Speckled Roman
*Paul Robeson

Beans:
*Laura
*Parpl Tippi
*Blauhilde
*Calypso
*Tanya's Pink Pod
*Tongues of Fire
*Blooming Prairie
*Unknown brown variety that I grew out that was mislabeled
*Unknown grey variegated variety that I grew out that was mislabeled
*Arapaho Fish Hill
*Watkdnono'saingwimr'd (Yellow Dog Belly)
*Purple Podded Pole
*Red Yard Long
*Green Yard Long
*Coco Rose De Prague
*Flood Pole
*Haricot Dolique
*Scarlet Emperor
*Broad Windsor Fava
*Dragon Tongue
*Succotash
*Dixie Speckled
*Old Joe Clark
*Robert Hazelwood
*Kebarika
*Sacre Bleu
*Black Nightfall
*Dapple Grey
*Seneca Cornstalk
*Palomino
*Senate Soup Navy
*Cannellini
*Chester (Skunk)
*Tonawanda Strawberry
*Plus De Soleil
*Wing
*Greasy Grits
*Christmas
*Kabouli Black Garbanzo
*Extra Precoce A Grano Violetto Fava
*Cherokee Trail of Tears
*Hobbs Goose
*Chickpea (Garbanzo)
*Chinese Red Noodle
*Cranberry
*Slippery Silks

Peppers:

*Sweet Bonnet (hot)
*Peter
*Nadapeno
*Poblano
*Choricero
*Jalapeno
*Peperone di Senise
*Liebesapfel (Candy Apple)
*Dulce Rojo
*Ljubovs Dlan
*Rdeca Spic
*Ros de Mallorca
*Najerano
*Laylak
*Trontarolo
*Yaglik Biber Salacalik
*Sweet Cherry
*Hong Gochu
*Shishito
*Sirenevyi
*Habanada
*Early Jalapeno
*Brazilian Starfish
*Serrano
*Corbaci
*Ajvarski
*Murasaki
*Calabrian Hot
*Sweet Ratunda
*Jimmy Nardello
*Rezha Macedonian Hot
*Sugar Rush Hot

Herbs:

*Fenugreek
*Lemon Balm
*Tulsi Basil
*Sweet Basil
*Garlic Chives
*Florence Fennel
*Lime Basil
*Bouquet Dill
*Sweet Thai Basil
*Giant Italian Parsley
*Dill, unknown variety
*Parsley, unknown variety
*German Chamomile
*Borage (blue)
*Cilantro
*Lemongrass
*Cinnamon Basil
*Garden Chives
*Single Parsley
*Clary Sage
*Persian Basil
*Lettuce Leaf Basil
*Borage (white)
*Culantro
*Mammoth Long Island Dill
*Provence French Summer Thyme
*Giant of Italy Parsley
*Anise Hyssop
*Dwarf Lemon Cilantro
*Zloty Lan Chamomile

Eggplant:

*Comprido Verde Claro (orange)
*Japanese White Egg
*Listada di Gardia
*Casper
*Petch Siam
*Ping Tung
*Eastern Prince
*Golden Eggs Indoor

Peas/Lentils:
*Sugar Snap
*Tom Thumb
*Favorit
*Mixed (from what I grew last year, including Spring Blush)
*Lentils
*Carouby De Maussane
*Sugar Magnolia Tendril
*Oregon Sugar Pod II
*Cascadia Snap
*Adagumsky
*Miracle
*Easy Peasy
*Sugar Daddy

Lettuces/Salad Greens:
*Castelfranco Radicchio
*Mixed Lettuce (from what fell out of the packages that I planted)
*Mesclun Mix
*Iceberg
*Sword
*Drunk Woman Frizzy Head
*Mache Corn Salad
*Marville Des 4 Saisons
*Parris Island Cos
*Buttercrunch
*Landis Winter
*Chinese Narrow Leaf
*Butter King
*Bronze Beauty
*Outredgeous
*Saguine Ameliore
*Brune Percherone

Chard/Spinach/Beets:
*Malabar Spinach
*Mangold Alyy Chard
*Matador Spinach
*Strawberry Spinach
*New Zealand Spinach
*Yellow Mangel Beets
*Chioggia Beets
*Golden Detroit Beets
*Detroit Dark Red Beets
*Golden Beets
*Ruby Queen Beets
*Nokhovskaya Beets
*Giant Noble Spinach

Brassicas:
*Michili Cabbage
*Golden Acre Cabbage
*Chinese Yod Fah Broccoli
*Spring Rapini Broccoli Rabe
*Chinese Chirimen Hakusai Cabbage
*Rosella Brussels Sprouts
*Calabrese Broccoli
*Violaceo Di Verona Cabbage
*Shanghai Green Choy
*Purple Vienna Kohlrabi
*Delicacy White Kohlrabi
*Beni Houshi Mizuna
*Early Mibuna
*Pac Choi
*Granaat Chinese Cabbage

Root Veg:
*Purple Top Turnip
*Gold Ball Turnip
*Shogoin Turnip
*Zlata Radish
*Rainbow Blend Carrot
*Little Finger Carrot
*White Icicle Radish
*French Breakfast Radish
*Uzbek Golden Carrot
*Parisian Carrot
*Pusa Jamuni Radish
*Longue Rouge Sang Carrot
*Chinese Red Meat Radish
*Gniff Carrot
*Pink Glitter Daikon Radish
*Pusa Gulabi Radish
*Giant Red Carrot
*Kyoto Red Carrot
*Hida Beni Turnip
*Parisienne Carrot
*Purple Top Rutabaga
*White Egg Turnip
*Black Spanish Radish
*Chinese Shawo Fruit Radish
*Japanese Wasabi Radish

Cucurbits:
*Bottle Gourd
*Rocky Ford Cantaloupe
*Arctic F1 Cucumber
*Early Crookneck Summer Squash
*Korean Melon
*Svitozar Zucchini
*Boston Pickling Cucumber
*Marketmore 76 Cucumber
*Birdhouse Gourd
*Waltham Butternut Squash
*Fanfare Cucumber
*Pattison-Panache Jaune Et Vert Scallop Squash
*Iran Squash
*Parisian Pickling Cucumber
*Red Kuri Squash
*Baby Pam Pie Pumpkin
*Table Queen Acorn Squash
*White Bitter Melon
*Balcony Swallowtail F1 Cucumber
*Jealous Neighbor F1 Cucumber
*American Tondo Pumpkin
*Calabash Bottle Gourd
*Pineapple Squash
*Zucchino Rampicante Squash
*Kajari Melon
*Luffa Gourd
*Fordhook Zucchini Squash
*Ronde De Nice Zucchini Squash
*Siamese Bitter Melon
*Chinese Python Snake Bean Gourd
*Mexican Sour Gherkin Cucumber
*Rich Sweetness Melon
*Minnesota Midget Cantaloupe

Flowers:
*African Marigold
*Snow Princess Calendula
*Melba Peach Double Nasturtium
*Coral Glitter Nasturtium
*Double Gold Nasturtium
*Kroshka Double Nasturtium
*Royal Robe Nasturtium
*Orient Mix Zinnia
*Jerusalem Gold Hybrid Sunflower
*Candy Cane Mix Zinnia
*Classic Artistic Mix Bachelor Button
*Yeti Nasturtium
*Pink Surprise Calendula
*Tip Top Alaska Salmon Nasturtium
*Tall Trailing Nasturtium
*Alaska Red Shades Nasturtium
*Tower Custom Mix Aster
*White Single Clitoria
*Mixed Zinnia
*Orange Cosmos
*Mixed Marigolds
*Cockscomb
*Oklahoma Mix Zinnia
*Love In A Mist
*Peppermint Stick Zinnia
*Single Blue Clitoria
*Blue Double Clitoria
*Red Cardinal Vine
*Dwarf Yellow Snapdragon
*Rose Campion
*Lilliput Zinnia
*Tower Purple Aster
*California Giant Zinnia
*Pink Mix Zinnia
*Cactus Zinnia
*Cupid Mix Zinnia
*Mixed Snapdragon
*Gumdrop Zinnia
*Thumbelina Zinnia
*Out Of Africa Nasturtium
*Blanket Flower
*Shasta Daisy
*English Daisy
*Forget-Me-Not
*Black Oil Sunflower
*Pink Dandelion
*Japanese White Dandelion
*Purple Emperor Nasturtium
*Strawberry Blonde Calendula
*Chinese Wool Flower
*Zeolights Calendula
*Fiesta Gitana Calendula
*Hungarian Blue Bread Poppy
*Passion Flower
*Purple Balloon Flower
*Blue Disc African Daisy
*Freckles Viola
*Brush Strokes Viola
*King Theodore Nasturtium
*Bloody Mary Nasturtium
*Lime Zinnia
*Bright Orange Zinnia
*Mixed Dwarf Zinnia
*Canary Nasturtium
*Bronzed Beauty Calendula
*Tetra Mix Snapdragon
*Mongolian Giant Sunflower
*Yellow/Orange Mix Calendula
*Teddy Bear Sunflower
*Toothache Plant
*Yarrow
*Feverfew
*Persian Carpet Zinnia
*Rainbow Mix California Poppy

Other Misc. Garden Seeds:
*Red Shiso
*Green Shiso
*Red Orach
*Old Tokyo Komatsuna Spinach Mustard
*Red Russian/Ragged Jack Kale
*Blue Scotch Curled Kale
*Pink Plume Celery
*Okra (unknown variety)
*Lacinato (Dinosaur) Kale
*Premier Kale
*Chijimisai Chinese Greens
*Pascal Celery
*Chinese Pink Celery
*Jing Orange Okra
*Morris Heading Collards
*Clemson Spineless Okra
*Green Wave Mustard
*Granaat Chinese Cabbage
*Orchard Baby Corn
*Tokyo Long White Bunching Onions
*Mavka Onion
*Onion (unknown variety)
*Red Beard Bunching Onion
*Green Calaloo Amaranth
*Verde Tomatillo
*Yellow of Parma Onion
*Love Lies Bleeding Amaranth
*Golden Giant Amaranth
*Mullein
*Lion's Mane/Tail (not sure what this is. Obtained in a trade. I always thought that these were mushrooms)
*Etiole Jaune Alpine Strawberry (yellow)
*Metsa Muinasjutt Strawberry
*King Richard Leeks
*Elephant Head Amaranth
*Brightest Brilliant Quinoa
*True Potato Seeds


Am I being overly ambitious? Yes. But, I can always store seeds that I won't be using in the freezer for another year.

Let me know in the comments if I'm missing anything. Make sure that you have signed up to follow The RV Homestead and share with your friends.
I'm giving away a $50 Penzey's Spices gift card on November 11th.
You can read the details here.

Hopefully, I'll have an update soon as to the actual move date. Right now, I don't have that available.
So, make sure to get entered for the giveaway and let me know if I'm missing anything in the garden.