Everything is better with bacon. Unfortunately, its cost almost always exceeds my $2 per pound limit for meat. So when I find it on sale, I buy a lot of it and freeze it. Last week Safeway (Vons or Pavillions for you Southern California people) had bacon on sale for $1.99 per pound. I bought two pounds one day (that was the limit) and got a rain check for two more another day. They also had boneless skinless chicken breasts on sale for $1.88 per pound. Not the best price for chicken breasts, but good enough.
A few years ago I found a version of the following recipe in my mom’s recipe file. I don’t know where she got it, but it sounded amazing. It originally called for a can of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup. I never use canned cream soups—I can use items I keep on hand to make a healthier, cheaper alternative. I also changed the cooking method. The original recipe said to bake it in the oven; I now make it in my slow cooker.
You can alter the fat-content of this recipe depending on what kind of sour cream and milk you use. I use regular sour cream and fat-free milk. Though I like it served with noodles, I usually serve it with brown rice for the fiber.
Creamy Bacon-Wrapped Chicken
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt
Pepper
6 slices bacon
1 lb. sour cream
2-4 Tbsp. flour
1½ Tbsp. chicken bouillon
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
½ c. milk
Rice or noodles, cooked
Fry bacon until pale and limp. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Roll each breast, wrap with a slice of bacon, and secure with a toothpick.
Place in slow cooker. In a small medium bowl, stir flour into sour cream; less for thinner sauce, more for thicker sauce. Add chicken bouillon, salt, pepper, and milk. Pour over chicken.
Cook on high 4-5 hours or low 6-7. Cooking time will vary depending on size of breasts and variations in slow cookers; check for doneness using a thermometer. Serve over rice or noodles. Yield: 6 servings. Total cost: about $8.50, $1.42/serving.
To make this in the oven, assemble in a casserole, cover, and bake at 275° for 3 hours.
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| After it is cooked--pale |
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| Before it is cooked--red |
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| When serving, be sure to remove all toothpicks or warn everyone |
Place in slow cooker. In a small medium bowl, stir flour into sour cream; less for thinner sauce, more for thicker sauce. Add chicken bouillon, salt, pepper, and milk. Pour over chicken.
Cook on high 4-5 hours or low 6-7. Cooking time will vary depending on size of breasts and variations in slow cookers; check for doneness using a thermometer. Serve over rice or noodles. Yield: 6 servings. Total cost: about $8.50, $1.42/serving.
To make this in the oven, assemble in a casserole, cover, and bake at 275° for 3 hours.
Wow, that sounds amazing! I will definitely have to try it. Bacon AND sour cream... does it get any better??
ReplyDeleteI just found at our Winco last week that I can buy their thick cut deli bacon for $1.99/lb if I buy it in a 3 lb. package. The deli bacon from the case was out of my budget, so I checked over by the packaged bacon, and there it was! I think it tastes better than any of the packaged bacon, anyway. It wasn't on sale, so I think that was the regular price. Hopefully your Winco has the same deal.
We love bacon but not the nitrates. Luckily, we will be butchering our pigs sometime in March and have enough no-nitrate bacon and ham to last us all year. Hope it doesn't make me too fat LOL!
BTW, is butter any better for your health to cook with than pork fat? I hate to throw away the bacon grease when butter is so expensive, especially if it is from our naturally-raised pigs. I have even been using bear lard (yep, not kidding) in my pie crusts intead of expensive butter. I just figure animal fat is animal fat, and I might as well use up what is cheap or free. Do you have any info about this regarding health?
Stacey,
ReplyDeleteJust want to let you know that I did see you comment and will get back to you sometime when all the kids are sleeping. They are sick so it might be a couple days.
Sorry!
Hi, Stacey!
ReplyDeleteSorry it took me so long to get back to you! Thanks for the WinCo bacon tip! Unfortunately, our WinCo sells it for $3.98/lb. =-( Oh well; it's probably better that way! =)
I did some fat comparisons here: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/ Unfortunately bear lard isn't in this database. =-) Bear meat is, though.
Here are the basics, comparing 1 Tbsp. of unsalted butter with 1 Tbsp. of lard:
- Butter 102 Cal.; lard 115 Cal.
- Butter 7.294 g saturated fat; lard 5.018 g saturated fat
- Butter 31 mg cholesterol; lard 12 mg cholesterol
Lard is looking pretty good!! Especially if you already have it! Plus it adds so much great flavor. In fact, I just finished a bowl of popcorn that I made with bacon grease. Yum!! Hope this helps!