Side Sensations: Carrot and Bacon Stuffing

A couple of weeks ago whole roasting chickens were on sale for 50 cents a pound. This is every cook's dream: cheap meat. Oh yes -- I picked up 4 chickens. Then I got busy and had zippo time to cook the birds. I opened the freezer after shopping last weekend to store more treasures inside, only to find that I had no room thanks to the 24 lbs of bird. I pulled out one to defrost and got started on the perfect stuffing to shove in its neck come Sunday dinner :D.

Carrot and Bacon Stuffing

1/2 loaf cheap white sandwich bread (I buy whatever's on sale)
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 cup shredded carrot
4 oz Hormel Real Bacon bits OR 4 oz cooked, crumbled bacon
1 small onion, diced
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp Thyme
2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1. Cut bread into 1-inch cubes. Arrange on cooking-sprayed cookie sheet. Sprinkle with poultry seasoning. Spray with cooking spray. Toss to coat. Bake at 450 degrees 15-20 minutes, until crisp. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

2. Pour cooled bread cubes into large mixing bowl. Add carrot, bacon, onion, pepper, and thyme. Stir.

3. Add chicken broth and stir until all bread cubes are moistened.

4. To cook INSIDE 6 lb chicken: stuff into cavity of chicken after rinsing chicken and patting dry with paper towels. Make sure to use meat thermometer; stuffing should reach 180 degrees. Baste any stuffing which is exposed in roasting pan with pan juices every 15 minutes (at same time you baste chicken). Serve by spooning into serving dish before carving chicken.

5. To cook OUTSIDE of chicken: Increase chicken broth to 3 cups and add one beaten egg to mixture. Arrange stuffing in a cooking-sprayed 9X9 inch baking dish. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees, until excess chicken broth is absorbed and stuffing is lightly browned. Do NOT overbake: this will dry your stuffing out!