Chicken Cordon Bleu

This is the first time I've ever made chicken cordon bleu, and I was surprised at how easy it was. Also, Gerald and Katelee really liked it, so I think we'll definitely be having this again! I'm really working on getting my freezer stuffed full with ready-to-eat freezer meals for all our late and busy weeknights, and this is a recipe I found in a freezer cookbook called "Fix, Freeze, Feast" by Kati Neville & Lindsay Tkacsik. (I think it's a great cookbook, if anyone is interested. I just found it at my local library.) Anyway, we didn't freeze all of this meal - we saved some of it and took it camping and cooked it fresh in our dutch oven (which worked really well!) - and froze the rest. A great meal, either way.

12 fresh chicken breasts
1 c. flour
4 eggs, slightly beaten
2 c. dry bread crumbs
12 slices Swiss cheese
12 slices deli ham
wax paper
plastic wrap
freezer bags (if planning to freeze)

Rinse and trim chicken as desired. Lay out three shallow dishes (I just used sturdy paper plates for easy clean-up). Measure the flour into one, eggs into another, and breadcrumbs into a third. Lay each piece of chicken, smooth side down, between two sheets of wax paper. Using a rolling pin or a meat tenderizer, pound each chicken piece to 1/2 inch thick. (Katelee thought this step was awesome! We had fun beating up the chicken together. :) Take one piece of chicken, coat with flour, dip in egg and then coat with breadcrumbs. Set aside. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces. Discard remaining flour, egg, and breadcrumbs. Fold one piece of cheese into a small bundle and place in the middle of a slice of ham. Fold the sides of the ham in, enveloping the cheese. Place a ham/cheese bundle on the narrow end of a breaded chicken piece, roll chicken into a packet, and secure tightly by wrapping with plastic wrap. (Note: I created the ham/cheese bundles before dipping any chicken, and also pre-cut a stack of plastic wrap, so I could do the whole process in one fell swoop - bread the chicken, roll, wrap, repeat.) Repeat with remaining chicken breasts. Divide chicken rolls evenly among the freezer bags, seal and freeze. OR, if using some for tonight, throw in the freezer for an hour or two just to help the roll to solidify in place, and then bake as directed. Remove desired number of chicken rolls from freezer, discard plastic wrap while chicken is still frozen, and place the rolls in a greased baking pan. Place in the fridge to thaw completely. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush each chicken roll with 2 tsp. melted butter (I skipped this step and it was still yummy!) and bake for 45 minutes, or until thickest part of the chicken is 170 degrees F. Enjoy!

Side note: Some rolled chicken breast recipes call for toothpicks to secure the bundles. In my experience, toothpicks do not do a very good job of sealing the rolls tight enough to prevent the cheese from leaking out. I like the idea of using plastic wrap in this recipe, because it makes the rolls nice and tight. Take care to pull in the ends to create a snug bundle, and it should stay together on it's own when it comes out of the freezer. Nice!