bbq chicken sandwiches

Tonight we had barbecue chicken sandwiches. I often make these when I have left over chicken, or when I just have a craving for barbecue sauce. I found a recipe for bbq sauce in my Better Homes Cookbook a few years ago and started making it from scratch most of the time because I didn't like that corn syrup was a main ingredient in bottled sauce. Once I discovered Trader Joe's bbq sauce (no corn syrup) I use that if I have it. But I still like to make it myself.

I recently found this recipe that uses agave (on the Xagave.com website) and wanted to try it. It's a lot different from the other one I use, but it was good. It seemed like it was going to be too tangy/vinegary, but it turned out okay. I might decrease the vinegar next time.

2 cups tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup Xagave
1 1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. French’s mustard
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and whisk together. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes.

I left two chicken breasts cooking in the crock-pot all day so it was super tender and just fell apart when I took it out. I mixed it together with the sauce and served it on whole wheat hamburger buns and had corn on the cob as a side.

Chocolate Puddin' ... Surprise!

I heard about chocolate pudding made with avocados. I thought it would be a good way to get the kids to eat some extra veggies and a low sugar, chocolatey treat. So I googled it and found a lot of variations. I decided to try two different kinds and see which I like better. I changed them a bit to my own liking.

I liked the 1st one better. I thought the banana flavor was to strong in the second. My husband even ate it. I didn't think he would since he saw me making it. I know, it sounds weird. But seriously, go buy an avocado and try it. You'll be surprised.

Avocado Chocolate Pudding

2 avocados

1/4 cup coco powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoon vanilla

5 Tablespoons agave nectar

Put it all in the blender and blend until smooth. Chill for 2 hours.

The original recipe calls for 1/4 c water, but I decided to omit it cause I thought it would end up runny. I was having a hard time getting it to blend so I added a couple spoons of plain yogurt and then a couple splashes of milk when that didn't work. Later while eating it I mixed in even more milk cause it was too thick. Next time I'll add the coco powder last. Also all the comments said to make sure and let it chill long enough so the flavors can blend.

Avocado Banana Chocolate Pudding

1 avocado

1 Banana

1/4 c coco powder

1/2 c milk

2 Tablespoons agave nectar

Blend in blender. Refrigerate 1 hour. (I didn't bother cleaning out the blender between recipes.)

Rice Pudding

My mom used to make rice pudding in the crock-pot growing up. We always ate it for breakfast with jam and milk on it, but I guess it's a desert. This is an oven recipe I found that I usually make when I have left over rice from dinner. I figure it's a good high calorie, high protein breakfast for Eleanor. She and Gregory love it.

Rice Pudding

1 1/2 cups milk

3 eggs

1/3 cup sugar (I used 3 T sugar and 2 T agave, sometimes I just put in 1/4 c agave instead)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup cooked rice

1/2 cup raisins (I usually put these in, but didn't have them today)

Cinnamon

Beat eggs slightly, add milk and vanilla. Stir in rice and raisins. (I usually just mix it in the dish I bake it in. One less thing to wash.) Sprinkle with cinnamon if you like.

Put 1 1/2 quart baking dish in a 9x13 glass dish and place in pre-heated oven. Fill 9x13 with 1" boiling water. Bake at 325 for 30 min. Pull out oven rack and stir pudding. Replace and bake 20-30 min more until middle is set.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Right after Eleanor was born my sweet neighbor brought us dinner, it was this recipe. She had no idea it was one of my favorites when I was little. I even requested it for a birthday dinner once. Tastes just like mom's.

(For some reason no store around here carries pineapple tidbits -shocking I know! So I have to stock up whenever I go to Utah.)

Sweet & Sour Chicken

1 Tablespoon oil

1 chicken breast cut in small pieces

1 onion, large diced

1 green bell pepper, large diced

4 carrots, sliced

1 can pineapple tidbits, drained (juice reserved for sauce)

Sauce

Pineapple juice plus enough water to equal 1 1/2 cups liquid (usually about 1/2 cup water)

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 cup vinegar

1/2 cup brown sugar (I used half brown sugar, half agave)

2 Tablespoons corn starch

Heat oil in large skillet. Add chicken and fry until mostly cooked. Wisk together all sauce ingredients. Add sauce and veggies to chicken and cook covered until veggies are tender (I never set a timer, I just poke the carrots). Serve over rice.

Zucchini Muffins

I've never been good at improvising or just whipping a bunch of random ingredients together. I really need a recipe to follow. I think the more you cook the more you learn what works well together though. I also think that the more times I cook the same recipe the more comfortable I am with changing it- just a little. Like this one. I've changed it from the one someone gave me, and substituted part of the ingredients, like whole wheat flour, agave, and flax seeds, to make it healthier.

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil (I use half olive oil)

1 cup sugar

3/4 c agave nectar

2 c grated zucchini

2 teaspoon vanilla

2 scoops (3 or 4 Tbsp) ground flaxseed OR 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (Gregory didn't have teeth to chew the nuts so I decided to sub flaxseed)

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil, sugar, and agave. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. Combine flours, cinnamon, soda, baking powder, salt and faxseed; stir into the egg mixture. Pour into paper lined muffin pan.

Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

*Of course you can always add some chocolate chips if you like. ;)