It's a girl.
The anatomy scan was Tuesday. The base hospital. The cold gel. The wand. The screen lighting up with a baby — MY baby, a real, moving, living baby with a head and arms and legs and a heartbeat that filled the room.
'Girl,' the technician said. And the room changed.
A girl. A daughter. Rachel and Ryan are having a daughter.
I called Ryan from the parking lot (he was on base, couldn't come to the appointment — Marines). 'It's a girl.'
Silence. Then: 'A girl? A girl. Rachel, a GIRL.'
'A girl.'
'I'm going to have a daughter.' His voice broke. 'I don't know anything about daughters.'
'You married one. You're doing fine.'
I called Mom. 'It's a girl, Mom.'
The sound that came through the phone was not a word. It was a noise — a primal, grandmotherly noise that I've never heard before and that I think was joy compressed into a frequency that shattered glass in Norfolk.
'A GIRL, Kevin! IT'S A GIRL! Kevin, we're having a GRANDDAUGHTER!'
Dad got on the phone. 'A girl,' he said, his voice quiet and thick. 'What are you naming her?'
'Hazel. Hazel Marie.'
Hazel. We've been sitting on the name for weeks. Hazel because it's old-fashioned and strong and Rachel-likes-it. Marie because it's Mom's middle name. Donna MARIE Abernathy.
'Marie?' Mom said. 'You're — Rachel, you're naming her after me?'
'After your middle name.'
The sound again. The grandmotherly frequency. The glass-shattering joy.
Caleb's response to the news: 'Baby sister? Baby play with Caleb?'
'Eventually, baby. She has to be born first.'
'Baby come NOW?'
'In February.'
'February FAR.'
February is far. Three months. Hazel Marie Abernathy. Arriving in February, at the Twentynine Palms base hospital, in the godforsaken desert.
Elena described Hazel's birth as 'the only good thing that happened in that godforsaken desert.' I wrote it down because someday it'll be true.
Made Mom's celebration fried chicken tonight. Girl dinner. Pink napkins (from the dollar store). A toast with sparkling cider.
Hazel. Our girl. Named after the color of my mother's eyes and the strength of my mother's spirit.
Welcome to the family, Hazel Marie. Your grandmother is already planning what to cook you.
When I got home from that anatomy scan, still shaky and glowing and completely undone by joy, I knew I wanted to cook something that felt like a celebration — something that honored my mom the way naming Hazel after her does. Mom’s spinach-stuffed chicken is the dish she makes when something big happens, when someone deserves to feel held and fed and celebrated, and tonight that someone was Hazel Marie, who doesn’t even exist outside a dark screen yet but already has pink napkins on the table in her honor. It felt right that the woman who inspired her middle name should also inspire her very first family dinner.
Spinach-Stuffed Chicken Breast
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Toothpicks or kitchen twine, for securing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a baking dish or oven-safe skillet and set aside.
- Make the filling. In a medium bowl, combine the chopped spinach, softened cream cheese, shredded mozzarella, minced garlic, and red pepper flakes. Stir until well mixed and set aside.
- Prep the chicken. Place each chicken breast on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut a deep pocket into the thickest side of each breast, being careful not to cut all the way through.
- Season and stuff. Season the outside of each breast with garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. Spoon the spinach filling generously into each pocket and secure the opening with toothpicks.
- Sear the chicken. Heat olive oil in an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add the stuffed chicken breasts and sear for 2–3 minutes per side until golden brown.
- Bake. Transfer the skillet (or arrange breasts in the prepared baking dish) to the preheated oven. Bake for 22–26 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F and the juices run clear.
- Rest and serve. Remove toothpicks before serving. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes, then plate and serve alongside your choice of sides.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 340 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 4g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 420mg
About the cook who shared this
Rachel Abernathy
Week 294 of Rachel’s 30-year story
· San Diego, California
Rachel is a twenty-eight-year-old Marine wife and mom of two who has moved five times in six years and learned to cook a Thanksgiving dinner with half her cookware still in boxes. She married young, survived postpartum depression, and feeds her family of four on a junior Marine's salary with a freezer full of pre-made meals and a crockpot that has never let her down. She writes for the military spouses who are cooking dinner alone in base housing and wondering if they're enough. You are.
