Archer Farms Peel-apart Fruit

It's no secret that I have an uncontrollable addiction to sugary candies. Gummy bears. Licorice. Gum drops. Fruit slices. JELLY BEANS.

I don't buy these things because I will eat them until I get a belly ache.

I was buying the Market Pantry golden raisin sours, which were high in sugar but not as bad as candy, and because they were infused with fruit juice they had a ridiculous amount of vitamin C. I haven't seen them in a month or so. Those and the Pétit Écolier cookies have disappeared from my Target universe.

Now as far as processed dried fruit items go, I like the Archer Farms fruit bars. They have a nice amount of fiber and vitamin C, are made with fruit instead of high fructose corn syrup. But just the bars, not the leathers.

They have a new product, pull-apart fruits that remind me of my favorite candy, Twizzler Pull and Peels. They are rather small, don't have nearly the vitamin content of the bars but they taste remarkably candy-like which makes them a healthy replacement for candy in my universe. The fruit bars have a grittier texture, so these are actually more pleasant on the tongue.

They are organic. They have no fat, 4% RDA potassium, 1 g fiber, 12g sugar, 2% iron, 10 % vitamin C.

Chicken "pork with apples" in the crock pot

So, I offered to pop in on a friend who just had surgery and bring dinner. Spur of the moment. And she has this brood of four children that eat like starving piranhas. It's a sign of my friends' superb parenting skills that they haven't eaten each other.

I wanted to make the candy chicken from Sunday because my husband bought enormous amounts of chicken thighs and it's the only think I have enough of to feed this family. I love them, but they scare me with the rate they can obliterate a normal family's groceries.

But, as I collected the ingredients, I discovered that my daughter and husband drank the open can of 7-up/lemon lime soda I needed for this concoction. So, I had to improvise.

Into the crock pot went:
- about one cup 100% apple juice
- about two teaspoons honey mustard
- about 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon country herbs (blend of sea salt, Rosemary, parsley, oregano, basil, mint, sage, thyme
- two tablespoons minced garlic, the kind in oil
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce (low sodium)
- one chopped golden delicious apple
- 20 chicken thighs
- one small box peach-infusions golden raisins from Target
- 1 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon pepper

Oh-- and I found this which sounds worthy of a try:
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/02/tofu-in-peanut-sauce-crockpot-recipe.html