Jalapeno juice is not an acceptable substitute for eye drops.

So on the menu for tonight's dinner was:
          stuffed chicken breasts with broccoli & cheese
          twice baked potato casserole (Thanks Jim and Traci for the inspiration!)
          corn muffins

We were rockin' and rollin' with the cooking in the kitchen.  The times to cook things were lining up, and all of the dishes were coming together really well.  I had not originally planned on cooking corn muffins but they looked good when I was reviewing our items from the pantry.  As I was scooping the corn muffin mix into the muffin tins I was like holy jeez I should add some of our freshly picked jalapenos to some of this batter for mine and Corry's muffins. 

I quickly scooped out the seeds and chopped them up into small bits, scraped them into the bowl and scooped the remaining muffins into the tin.  I was moving the tin over by the oven to get in line to be cooked in roughly 10 minutes and something in my eye started itching.  Without even thinking about the fact that I had not yet washed my hands I moved my fingers up and itched the corner of my eyelid. 

HOLY JEEZ!!!  I have had a lot of bad ideas in my life, but they all suddenly pale in comparison to the utter horror and stabbing red hot poker-like pain that was radiating from my right eye.  I instantly freak out because I am wearing contacts and I know from a million years in science class that all a contact lens does is hold the offensive liquid closer to your eyeball.  I'm screaming for my husband (where is the camera to be recording this for YouTube when you need it?) and luckily he comes to help me.  I get my contact out, rinse out my eye for what seems like years, and changed into my glasses.  I had always heard don't go to the bathroom or rub your face until you wash your hands after cutting hot peppers like that but have never experienced it until tonight.   

It has been more than 30 minutes since I stopped rinsing my eye and it still feels like I have an awful sunburn on the outside and inside of my eye.  Please God tell me this is going to get better...

On the bright side, we had an excellent meal despite the burned eye situation.   

Bacon wrapped jalapeno bites

I have seen these for years and always wanted to make them.  See my previous confession re: my level of cooking knowledge from prior to a few years ago as the main reason why I did not.  About a year ago my sister, Jessica, brought these to a holiday celebration at my parent's house and my desire to make them was renewed. 

I will forewarn anyone who is interested in making these: bacon wrapped jalapeno bites are labor intensive.  However, they are totally worth it and usually a hit whenever I make them. 



Tips:

1. I do this process in phases. I do all of the cutting and removing of the seeds first, then move on to the next step, instead of finishing one pepper and moving onto the next one. This stops all your tools from being potentially covered in hot jalapeno juice.   
2. WASH YOUR HANDS. I repeat WASH YOUR HANDS. Say it with me now: WASH YOUR HANDS.  Handling jalapenos and not fully washing your hands ensures that you will touch your eye balls at some point in the near future and you are guaranteed to forget that you didn't wash your hands until your eyes are burning off.
3. We use cheap bacon in this recipe and it is just as good as expensive bacon.
4. I use aluminum foil between the broiler pan and the drip pan to ensure easy clean up.  If you like spending time scrubbing greasy pans after you eat, then you can omit this step.   
5. I use a soup spoon to remove the seeds and ribs in one fail swoop instead of using my fingers.  This doesn't stop the juice from squirting in your face so beware.   
6. These are equally as good the next day - cold is ok too according to my husband. 
7. The peppers that I used in these photos were on steroids - normally 4 ozs of cream cheese will be more than enough for 8 peppers.  Adjust accordingly.   

Don't use the same spoon to fill your peppers that you used to remove the seeds and the ribs, or wash it thoroughly.  You don't want to waste all that time removing the seeds and the ribs of the pepper to put the heat back in by getting the jalapeno juice in the cheese mixture. 

Bacon wrapped jalapeno bites
Ingredients:


8 whole jalapeno peppers8 ozs cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
8 strips of bacon









Preheat over to 425 degrees F.  Prepare your pans by putting aluminum foil over your drip pan and heavily spraying your broiler pan with cooking spray. 

Cut the stems off your jalapenos, cut them in half and de-seed each half.

Mix together all cheese and use a clean spoon to fill each half with cheese mixture.

 

 

It should look like this once fully incorporated. 

 

  

And you should have something that resembles this once your peppers are finished being filled with the cheese.  Resist the urge to eat immediately.  They will get even better, because everything is better with bacon!

  

  







Cut bacon strips in half and wrap each jalapeno half with one half of a piece of bacon. 
Place on a broiler pan with a drip pan underneath. 

  

  

Bake 25-35 minutes depending upon how gooey you like your cheese and how crispy you like your bacon.  Rest assured that even if they don't turn out perfect looking that they will still taste amazing! 
 

 

 

-Sara