A few years ago when I started to develop my passion for cooking and baking, I began to look for other outlets to help inspire what I was creating in the kitchen.  In the past I had always relied on recipes from my mom, mother-in-law, or old cookbooks that I had received for wedding gifts.  Don’t get me wrong, those three are great resources.  In fact, I think it would be fun to do a string of posts on dishes my mom and mother-in-law make and also on old church cookbooks that I have in my cupboards.  Sometimes those are the best recipes.

However, in an attempt to try something new and different and to learn how to put healthier spins on old classics, I turned to the internet.  Through this exploration I discovered what would soon become a strong passion of mine…food blogs.  I was fascinated by the fact that, being the reader that I am, I could find an exciting recipe I’d like to try, read a short story from the creator that went along with it, and then follow the step-by-step recipe on my laptop (and nowadays on my phone) right in my kitchen.  It made cooking and baking so easy, and I enjoyed getting to know the person who gave me the idea for the recipe through their blog.

I was intrigued by how beautiful they were able to make certain dishes or baked goods look simply by how they were photographed.  Seeing how decadent and delicious they looked made me want to try recipes that I may have otherwise overlooked.

Two of my favorite blogs to follow when I first started reading them were Iowa Girl Eats and The Pioneer Woman.  At that time Kristin Porter, from Iowa Girl Eats, was a relatively new blogger, but since has developed a huge following.  She is a talented recipe developer, writer, and photographer. 

My idol in the food blogging world would have to be none other than Ree Drummond from The Pioneer Woman.  Not only is she a fabulous food blogger and photographer, she writes about her life on a cattle ranch while raising her four children with her husband.  She also has a television show on one of my favorite stations – The Food Network.  During the winter I have to do most of my running on the treadmill, especially during this bitterly cold winter, and Ree is almost always on my TV….especially for my longer runs on Saturday mornings when her new episodes air.  There’s nothing like burning calories while daydreaming about eating the delicious dishes she creates in her beautiful kitchen.

A few weeks ago during one of those runs, Ree (we’re on a first name basis 🙂 ), made a dish I just knew I had to try – Peach-Whiskey BBQ Chicken.  I decided this would be the perfect recipe to try on Crock Pot Wednesday.  So I tweaked the recipe a little bit to scale it down, keep the calories under 500 calories, and make it crock pot friendly.  The result was divine!

Here’s what you’ll need on your grocery list:

**This recipe makes enough to serve 4 people and is 460 calories per serving**

4 (6 oz) Chicken Breasts

Salt

Pepper

2 tsp Olive Oil

1/2 Yellow Onion, chopped

2 Green Onions, chopped

2 cloves Garlic, minced

1/2 cup Whiskey

1/4 cup Peach Preserves

2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 cup Barbecue Sauce

3 tbsp Water

4 cups Carrot Chips

Season both sides of each chicken breast with salt and pepper to taste.  Place in crock pot.

Add olive oil to  a medium-sized skillet and heat pan over medium-high heat.  Add yellow onion, green onion, and garlic and saute until translucent (about 3 min).

Turn heat down to low and add whiskey, Worcestershire sauce, barbecue sauce, water, and peach preserves.  Turn heat back up to medium-high and bring to a boil.

Once sauce comes to a boil reduce heat to low and let simmer a couple minutes while you add the carrots to the crock pot.  Add 4 cups carrot chips evenly over chicken.

Pour whiskey sauce from skillet over chicken and carrots.  Yum!  It looks and smells so good!

Cook on Low 5-6 hours.

Serve and enjoy!