Today's Kitchen Adventures

I'm pretty sure most of my day was spent in the kitchen! I decided that a good use for my leftover roasted chicken was to have barbecue chicken sandwiches for dinner. Two things I didn't have in my possession: hamburger buns and barbecue sauce. However, I did have a recipe for whole wheat hamburger buns, and I found a barbecue sauce recipe online. I highly recommend trying to make your own hamburger buns. The recipe I used made 18 buns! I have frozen the leftovers (already cut in half) so that I'll have them on hand whenever I need some again. The recipe came from www.heavenlyhomemakers.com. They are really good, but not exactly like store bought. I didn't expect them to be the same because mine are made from fresh ground whole wheat, and they don't have all the dough conditioners that commercial bakeries use. That being said, I think they turned out really good! It was my first time making hamburger buns and barbecue sauce! The sauce turned out really good, but next time I will use less cayenne. I think it's a little too hot for the children. Here's the recipe that I used (I chose it because I had all the ingredients already on hand):

1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar (white)
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. paprika (I used a little bit less)
1 tbsp. chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. cayenne (next time I will use a bit less, maybe 1/2 tsp.)

Saute the garlic in the olive oil, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes or until thickened. That's it!!

In addition to hamburger buns and barbecue sauce, I also made regular loaf whole wheat bread and chewy granola bars! Whew! I don't think I want to be in the kitchen anymore today!