Oh Sandy!

The rain is starting to come down really hard.



Lots of leaves still on the trees which will make them more prone to breaking. Good
thing we got the pool close last week/

Hello everyone. All of us on the east coast are bracing for Hurricane Sandy. We are in Pennsylvania, but have a summer home in New Jersey.  Both areas are going to get hit hard. There has been mandatory evacuations since yesterday at the shore. Schools are closed until Wednesday everywhere in the area, and the governors of the states of New Jersey, Delaware and PA have declared states of emergency. We are a block from the beach in NJ, but after what is the largest store ever recorded in the Atlantic, we may be beachfront after all of this!!

We've already lost our power here in PA this morning, but it is back on now. It's really raining hard. This  storm is 2000 miles wide and extends from Florida to Canada. It could be devastating to all of us. Here's hoping Sandy leaves before she does too much damage.

I was on a cooking streak yesterday, and made a few  things I want to tell you about. I saw this recipe on the TV show "The Chew" for Sweet-n-Spicy Slow Cooking BBQ Chicken.  I made it yesterday and  it was very good.

 I substituted natures hollow sugar free ketchup for the regular ketchup, but did use the brown sugar. It was a 1/2 cup for a large amount of sauce, and you only use 3/4 cup of the sauce in the recipe. I froze the rest for another time. I did make my husband go out and buy some bourbon, as that is what the recipe called for.

The sauce had a great taste to it. Also when you serve the chicken, if you use a slotted spoon,  you are only getting  very little sauce on the chicken. The sauce becomes watery in the crock pot and unless you want a soggy roll, use a slotted spoon.

It's alittle hard to figure out the S/C/ count for this sauce. I added it up on my fitness pal and included the Italian Dressing. It made 3 cups of sauce and you only use 3/4 cup for the recipe which serves 8. Follow my math here. If the sauce recipe makes 3 cups and you use 3/4 cup for 8, then a whole batch of sauce would serve 32. Am I right? Math was never my strength!!

If so then a one serving portion of the sauce would come out to and S/C count of 4/1
49 calories 4 sugar 6 carbs

You could also try Dawn's smokey BBQ sauce with this recipe too. I'm sure it would work well. The sauce in my recipe however was alittle difffent than a regular BBQ sauce, and had a bit of a sweet and sour tang to it. Maybe it was the bourbon!

I had never cooked with chicken thighs before. This recipe calls for both boneless,skinless breasts, and boneless, skinless thighs. They cook in the crock pot for several hours and then you easily shred them with a fork. They just fell apart.

Serve it on a whole wheat or almond flour roll. I  still have the occasional whole wheat sandwich thin and I know some of you do as well. It works well on those too.  I put a piece of provolone cheese on the bread, top it with the chicken and some of the broccoli slaw right on top. Delish!

Emily Ozga's Sweet-n-Spicy Slow Cookin' BBQ Chicken  8 servings

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
3/4 cup Bourbon BBQ Sauce (recipe to follow)
1/3 cup Italian Dressing
1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper ( * I left this out as there is cayenne in the sauce and I was afraid some in my family would think it was too spicy)
Salt and Pepper to taste      

 Grease slow cooker with butter or non-stick spray. Turn on low and add barbecue sauce, Italian Dressing, cayenne, oregano, salt and pepper. Lay the chicken pieces in the slow cooker, coating both sides with sauce. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 8 hours.

 

30 minutes before serving, remove chicken pieces from slow cooker. Allow to cool slightly, shred meat, and return to slow cooker. If you need more liquid after shredding, add a bit more BBQ sauce and a dash of Italian dressing.

 Bourbon BBQ Sauce

2 tablespoons Butter
1/2 Onion (finely chopped)
3/4 cup Bourbon (or whiskey of choice)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Salt
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
2 cups Ketchup ***( I used Natures Hollow SF Ketchup)
1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 cup Tomato Paste
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

    

 Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add minced onions and cook until softened. Add spices and stir. Add bourbon, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, brown sugar and vinegar. Continue stirring until sauce begins to bubble. Reduce heat to low and cook until slightly thickened. Adjust with extra cayenne or sugar, if desired. The sauce can be refrigerated in a sealed container for future use.

 

Broccoli Slaw      Serves 4

 

12 ounces Shredded Broccoli Slaw (or raw broccoli stalks shredded in food processor)
3 tablespoons Mayonnaise

2 tablespoons Balsamic or Cider Vinegar ( I USED THE CIDER VINEGAR)
2 teaspoons Sugar **  ( I USED SWERVE)
1 teaspoon Dried Dill
Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Combine ingredients in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

 

If using Swerve, the S/C count is  1/0

Calories 74       Carbs   4    Sugars 1

 

I  really appreciate all the nice responses to my Italy photos. For those of you who wonder how these street performers do this, this is what we came up with. We think there must be a metal rod that runs up their leg and is attached to a small round seat that can fold flat against the butt, but open up and they sit back on it. Kind of like a small table. It's so weird to see, and they hold these posed for so long.

This one is even weirder. My theory doesn't seem to work with this because the man is literally holding her up. There is nothing underneath her. My husband says it's all done with heavy metal rods. It is really fun to see the variety of talents all over Italy.

Lastly, some of you make comments and I can't respond personally because the email is not shown. Not sure of your  name, but some sweet person ( Our Family Blog) left a post and said you are frustrated because you lost some weight and then gained. Just keep doing the program. Keep going forward...forward...forward. If you believe that  a low sugar/low carb way of life is the best way for you, then don't stop. Even when you fail or have something you shouldn't, you can always come right back to it. We'll all be here!! I'm not at my goal, but plenty of my fellow bloggers are, so you know it works!

Sending you all love and big hugs!  XO

Thought for the day:

We cannot solve our problems
with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

 ~ Albert Einstein
(1879-1955)