Peach BBQ Pulled Chicken

This is one of the recipes I almost made for the Secret Recipe Club a couple months ago.  There are always so many recipes to choose from, and it's practically impossible to choose just one.  And, of course, there's nothing that says I can't make them all, right?  I ended up making these yummy Frozen Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter and Banana Bites for the SRC Reveal, but I had to go back and make this Peach BBQ Pulled Chicken, too.

This BBQ sauce is sweetened with canned peaches instead of sugar, so it's even quite healthy.  It's definitely tasty!

Peach BBQ Pulled Chicken
adapted from Not Enough Cinnamon

for BBQ Sauce:

• 1 28-oz. can peaches in juice (NOT syrup)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 T spicy mustard
• 1 T apple cider vinegar
• 1-1/2 tsp olive oil
• 1 T paprika
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

for Chicken:

• 2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1/2 cup chicken broth 
• water to cover

Directions:

1. Combine all the sauce ingredients (including juice from the peaches) in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for one hour. Transfer sauce to a blender or a food processor and pulse until the sauce reaches a very smooth consistency. Return to pot and set aside.
2. While the sauce is cooking, place chicken breast in another pot.  Add chicken broth and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes or until chicken is very tender and no longer pink inside. Transfer cooked chicken to a cutting board and shred it using two forks (use one fork to hold the chicken steady and the other one to tear it apart).  Save cooking broth for another use.
3. Add shredded chicken to the prepared sauce and mix well to coat. Serve on buns.

Note: You can use all broth or all water to cook the chicken if you want. I just had 1 cup of broth and only needed half of it for the sauce so I figured I'd use it for the chicken, too.

We added some sweet bread & butter pickles and shredded cabbage for a bit of tangyness and crunch, and it was perfect.  I will definitely be making this again.  The chicken also freezes well.  Just pull it out, thaw, and heat, for a quick and simple meal.

Easy Peach Frozen Yogurt

I saw this recipe on Pinterest, and it looked super simple and good, so I just had to try it.  Frozen yogurt made from a just a few ingredients in a food processor.  Why not?

So I tried it, but the original recipe was more peach than yogurt.  While it was good, it wasn't exactly what I was expecting - so I tried again.  I think the result is pretty good.

Easy Peach Frozen Yogurt
adapted from Just a Taste

Ingredients:

• 1 16-oz. bag frozen peaches (or 4 cups fresh peaches, frozen)
• 1 frozen banana
• 3 T honey
• 1-1/2 cups plain yogurt
• 1 T fresh lemon juice

Directions:

1. Put all ingredients into food processor and process until creamy, about 5 minutes.
2. Serve immediately or transfer to airtight container and store in the freezer.

I also stirred mine every hour or so once I transferred it to the freezer, though I don't know how necessary that was.  In the end, it freezes pretty solid so you'll want to let it sit out for a few minutes before you serve it up.  If you want smooth, creamy frozen yogurt like you'd get at the Frozen Yogurt place, serve it up and let it sit a bit longer, and then stir it to get the creamy consistency you want.  (or start eating it - slowly - and enjoy it both ways)

You get a nice cool treat without a lot of sugar, only healthy ingredients you don't have to feel guilty about.  What could be better?

I'm thinking strawberries would make some good frozen yogurt, too.  What fruit would you use?

Blueberry Peach Buckle

It's time again for  Secret Recipe Club (Secret Recipe Club) reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month was Anna's blog Cheese with Noodles.  I always love meeting someone who shares my name!  I'm noticing more Annas recently, but when I was growing up, it felt like I was the only one.

Anna lives in Alaska with her husband and pets, and we share a love of reading, gardening, and of course cooking.  She's much more crafty than I am, though.  I am completely challenged when it comes to stuff like that.

As with all Secret Recipe Club assignments, I had a hard time picking a recipe.  There were so many to choose from, and they all looked good!  Here are just a few that caught my eye:

• Creamy Salsa Dressing - I've been wanting to try some homemade dressings
• Buffalo Turkey Burgers - yeah, buffalo anything sounds good
• Cinnamon Roll Pancakes - I've been meaning to try something like this for AGES
• Greek Pasta Skillet - I am definitely making this soon!

But, I had some blueberries in the fridge, and since I don't buy blueberries very often, I don't really know what to do with them.  So, I checked to see if Anna had any blueberry recipes on her blog and found this one.  Who can resist making something called a Buckle?  I don't know who names these things, but doesn't it sound fun?  (OK, so I looked it up -Buckle or Crumble - Is a type of cake made in a single layer with berries added to the batter. It is usually made with blueberries. The topping is similar to a streusel, which gives it a buckled or crumpled appearance.)

While I was looking at the recipe, one of my facebook friends posted something about a blueberry peach crisp, and I decided to add some peaches to the recipe.  It sounded like a wonderful combination!

Blueberry Peach Buckle
from Cheese with Noodles

Ingredients:

• 1/4 C butter, softened
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 C milk
• 2 C flour (I used 1/2 white whole wheat)
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 C blueberries, fresh or frozen (thawed if frozen)
• 2 peaches, peeled and diced

Topping:

• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 C flour
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/4 C cold butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg, beating well.  Stir in vanilla and milk.
2. Mix dry ingredients and stir in.  Fold in blueberries and peaches.
3. Spread batter into greased 9" x 9" pan. (will be very thick)
4. To make topping, stir together sugar, flour and cinnamon and then cut in cold butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles course crumbs.  Spread evenly over batter. 
5. Bake 40-45 minutes in 375° F oven or until topping is browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

This stuff is so good!  We ate it all weekend for breakfast.  It's fruit, right?  My husband and I both enjoyed it very much.  The cake is nice and moist with a really good flavor.  Besides adding the peaches, I cut the sugar down a little bit and added some vanilla to the cake.  The star of this cake is definitely the blueberries - lots and lots of blueberries!  The peaches really do complement them very well. 

This recipe is definitely a keeper.  From now on, when I buy blueberries, I'm making this!

An InLinkz Link-up

Peachy Chicken

Image via Wikipedia

When we go to Five Guys for burgers and fries, I always put the malt vinegar on my fries.  And I always think this recipe, found on the back of the malt vinegar bottle, looks so good.  I wrote it down once, but then I lost it, so yesterday we went to Five Guys again, and I wrote it down again.  I'm not going to lose it this time.

 Peachy Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) can peach slices, drained and reserve juice
• 2 1/2 lbs skinless chicken pieces
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
• 1/4 cup malt vinegar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water

Directions

1. In large skillet, brown the chicken in the oil.
2. Combine the reserved peach liquid, orange concentrate, vinegar, brown sugar, basil, salt, cloves, cinnamon, and pepper. Pour over browned chicken. Cover and simmer 25 to 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
3. Add peaches; heat. Combine 2 tbsp cornstarch and 2 tbsp water; stir into sauce. Heat, stirring, until sauce is thickened.
4. Serve chicken and sauce with rice.

I need to buy some malt vinegar, and then I'm definitely making this.  (I started to buy malt vinegar at the store once, but this recipe wasn't on the bottle, so I didn't buy it.)

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