Bourbon Chicken ala Kathi

This dish is a new favorite in our household. I make it at least once a week.

All of the ladies on a bulletin board that I belong to were raving for weeks about Bourbon Chicken so I had to try it also and I'm so glad I did. The original recipe was gfcf except for the soy sauce - which is easy to substitute wheat free soy sauce for - but like every recipe, I tinkered with it and made it my own.

GFCF Bourbon Chicken

20 ounce package of boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs cut in bite size pieces
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Clove Garlic, crushed or finely minced
1 Teaspoon fresh ginger root, grated or finely minced
1/4 cup juice (original recipe called for apple juice, but I just use whatever juice I have in the fridge at the time - I have used apple, grape, orange and raspberry - all worked fine)
1/3 cup Raw Sugar or Rapadura (original recipe called for brown sugar and you could certainly use that if you don't have raw sugar)
2 Tablespoons Ketchup
1 Tablespoon Vinegar
1/2 cup Water
1/3 cup Wheat Free Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Corn Starch
If you want some heat in this, add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red peppers to sauce.

Heat oil in large skillet.
Add chicken and cook until lightly browned.
Mix remaining ingredients in a jar or measuring cup - shake or stir to combine.
Pour sauce over chicken. When sauce thickens and boils, reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

For extra crunch add 1/2 cup of peanuts or other nuts to sauce right before serving.

Serve over brown rice with a side of steamed broccoli.

Serves 4

Attune Probiotic Chocolate Bars

Probiotics - I think we all know that they are good for us. Research has shown that probiotics are beneficial and even necessary for good gut health. Just google probiotics and there are tons of articles and studies out showing the importance of them.

But, have you had your probiotics today?

I don't always remember to.

And for those of us with gut issues - which is a big reason that many of us are gluten free - probiotics are more important than ever.

I was recently contacted by Attune Foods and asked if I would review their Probiotic Chocolate Bars. I had never heard of Attune Foods before - so I did some research and asked lots of questions. They also have granola and granola bars in their line - but those are not gluten free. Their only products that are gluten free at this time are the chocolate bars. And the only ones that are casein free as well are the 3 dark chocolate varieties. If you are also soy free - which I know many of my readers are - this product is not for you - all 3 of the bars I tested clearly stated that they contain soy.

They generously sent me a sample of each of their 3 GFCF bars to try.

The 3 GFCF varieties are Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Dark Chocolate, and Coffee Bean Dark Chocolate. Here is a picture of them so you know what they look like when you go looking for them in your store.

Here is the Raspberry Dark Chocolate unwrapped. It is small - just two squares. But there is a ton of nutrition and great taste packed into those 2 tiny squares.

Here is the underside of the Dark Chocolate Raspberry Bar - those little bumps are crunchy bits of real raspberries! Yum!

And here is a fuzzy (sorry - I really need a better camera) picture showing the inside of the Dark Chocolate Raspberry Bar - those red bits are real raspberries.

The bars are small, but that is good. Like most women my age I am forever trying to lose weight and chocolate is a downfall of mine. This gives me my daily chocolate craving without too many calories (80 in the Dark Chocolate, 90 in the Raspberry and Coffee Bean varieties).

Finding these in the stores isn't the easiest thing to do. They do have a store locator on their website. Whole Foods is the closest store to me that carries them. Once you locate a store with them, you need to know that they are kept refrigerated - with the yogurt. While refrigerating them prolongs the life of the probiotics, once you buy them you can store them at room temperature for up to two weeks so they are much more portable than yogurt. I suggest storing them in the fridge and just taking them out when you want to pack them in your lunch or consume them.

You can also order these directly from their website.

The taste was wonderful. I love raspberries so I tried that bar first and was not disappointed. I had the dark chocolate the second day and it was also good. I am not a coffee lover so I saved the coffee bean for the last day - and I was surprised to find it wasn't bad at all. Personally I wouldn't buy it but if it were the only flavor available I would eat it and it would be okay. If you are a coffee lover you may find you love that flavor. Isn't it nice that we all have different tastes?

These bars are also a great source of fiber - not many candy bars can say that.

These bars are to be savored and enjoyed just once a day for probiotic health.

All of the bars contain the statement that they are manufactured on equipment that also processes milk containing products, peanuts, tree nuts and wheat. I asked Annelies about that. Her response was: Our bars are made of gluten-free ingredients and every batch is tested by an independent lab to verify that our bars meet the standard of testing less than 5 parts per million of gluten. What this comes down to is that once a year one product is made in the factory that is not gluten-free, so there is very little risk of cross contamination. We put the manufacturing equipment statement on our bars as a way to not only be transparent about our practices because we know celiacs often have to hunt down the conditions in which food is manufactured, but also to help them and people with gluten intolerances make an informed choice. We are currently being evaluated for gluten-free certification. All of our chocolate bars are gluten-free. All of the equipment used to make our chocolate bars has been totally washed down. The reason we manufacture our bars on shared equipment is exactly as you stated- we are a small company and cannot afford to have multiple lines. I think that’s a great goal for us in the future though!

I feel pretty safe eating these bars with the disclaimer on them - please make your own decision based on your own health needs.

Here is a link to a coupon that you can print out for $1 off 4 bars.

Click here for Attune Coupon

If you are just looking for a chocolate bar to enjoy, these bars may be too expensive for you. If you are looking for a tasty way to enhance your health, then Attune may be the product for you.

I like that they are made from all natural ingredients.

Try them and let me know what you think.

Here's to good digestive health!