Cookinggal: Stuffed

I've been Cookinggal for about four years now. I've come a long way from the days of, "Jacquie, what exactly is garlic and how do I mince it?" I mean, not only can I follow a recipe, but I can spice it up and even create my own.

People sometimes ask me to borrow ingredients (which I always have on hand). Sometimes people even ask me cooking advice. I'm serious!

But one cooking challenge has always intimidated me: stuffing something. I love the taste of stuffed stuff; I just didn't have the confidence to actually stuff something myself. I would shy away from recipes that called for "pounding the chicken into 1/4 inch thickness." But I secretly longed to stuff.

So last night I tried it. I stuffed chicken. I flattened it out with a rolling pin and I stuffed it with spinach, roasted red peppers, Italian dressing and--what else--stuffing! It was delish. Now, of course I went out and bought a regular red pepper (which are only $1 at the produce stand by my house) instead of a jar of roasted red peppers. But no prob. Cookinggal knew just what to do: I just sauteed those peppers in olive oil and they worked perfectly. Oh, and I added some crushed red pepper because we like things spicy...and I like to "make it my own" like the kids on American Idol.

My cooking evolution sometimes makes me wonder--could I ever become GardeningGal? I currently don't know a gardenia from a pansy but is it possible that I could transform my dull backyard into a heavenly garden, much like I have transformed our frozen dinner fare into elegant dining? Perhaps. But it will be a long time before I'm stuffing any chrysanthemums...see? I don't even know what that means.