Ooey Gooey Mac & Cheese It’s been rainy and cold here. Comfort food was a must. Ken wanted macaroni and cheese, but it had to be extra cheesy with a crunchy topping. Patti said no problem and added bacon and broccoli to make it tastier and a bit healthy. Our Green Mountain Grill/Smoker added extra flavor along with their Green Mountain “Sizzle Seasoning Blend”. Perfect!…
Guest Chef Dave Benjamin from Hot Box Grills USA Grilled Cornish Game Hens on Hot Box Grills www.hotboxgrills.com Born and raised in Northern Illinois and a passionte grillmaster that loves grilling and roasting almost everything over an open fire. A life long master carpenter and designer and the creator and owner of Hot Box Grills USA. An American made portable grill and smoker with features…
Fiesta Broccoli Bake One of the things we love about our Pacific Living Outdoor Oven is that while Ken is smoking his meat, Patti is making her sides next to him. Plus, we always use the smoke box for even more great flavor. Ken loved the crunchy topping. We love cooking outdoors rain or shine and our Pacific Living Outdoor Oven allows us to cook…
A Chipotle Orange Glazed Bacon Wrapped and Stuffed Pork Loin, Off the Hook We had friends drop in that we hadn’t seen in sometime. Well before long we were talking about BBQ and what’s for dinner. Patti had just picked up a couple of packages of pork tenderloins so that is what we ran with and definitely scored a touchdown. This is a supper main…
Pot Luck Brownies We had friends on the way over and we needed a dessert recipe…fast. There is a list of things we always have in our pantry for emergency drop ins. Chocolate brownie mix is one in case of a chocolate emergency. To make it extra special we borrowed an idea from our Facebook friend Mya Gutweiler. We love our Lodge cast iron and…
Easy Chicken with Peppered Bacon Dumplings We love smoked chicken, it’s so versatile. Patti made this easy stew with leftover chicken we made on our Green Mountain Grill/Smoker. We added lots of fresh veggies from the Murrieta Farmer’s Market. Patti loves dumplings, but Ken said they’re mushy and bland. Not anymore! They were simple with the help of Bisquick baking mix and the addition of…
Bacon Wrapped Pork Kabobs Patti had a couple of nice pork tenderloins that I wanted to do something a little different. The first thought I had was bacon, of course, that’s normal for us so I move on in the thought process. Which sometimes is a painful process for me. My second and third thoughts were more bacon. Ok, I can sometimes take a hint,…
Chick Sticks Chick Sticks are quick and easy to do. We fired up our Green Mountain’s little “Davy Crockett” tailgater. Perfect for tailgating, parties and hungry friends that drop in. Just do a quick dusting on your chicken with your favorite seasoning and put it on a stick. Tonight we went with curry using “Big Dick’s Curry Up”. Easy, simple and delicious… Patti and I…
Pineapple Noodle Pudding Patti’s little German Grammy used to call this noodle kugel, which means pudding. She remembers arguments around the table whether it should be made with chopped apples or pineapple, with raisins or Patti’s favorite dried cranberries and chopped walnuts. Well, it was an easy decision for us because Ken isn’t thrilled with cooked apples. This was always a sweet treat either as…
Just Ducky Breakfast Bowls At our Murrieta Farmer’s Market we got some pretty, sweet peppers, onions and a special treat from Erd Ranch: fresh duck eggs. Duck eggs are especially creamy and these beauties were extra large. Thanks Todd & Nicole! We love breakfast for dinner and this had all your favorite breakfast goodies: eggs, bacon, potatoes, cheese, onions and sweet peppers. It covered it…
Teriyaki Salmon Burgers With the New Year we’re all trying to eat healthier. Fish is always a healthful choice and though we may be giving up some fat, giving up lots of flavor is never an option. Ken loves teriyaki and Patti perked it up with red pepper flakes. We served this on a hamburger bun with low fat mayo mixed with some of the…
Sloppy Joe Pizza As a kid I loved Sloppy Joe’s and I don’t think I’ll ever out grow that love. Poking around in the kitchen I found the making for Sloppy Joe’s except for buns and a pre-made pizza crust. What more can I say. A plan was born and a rich meat and garlicky pizza was for dinner. Patti and I have set one…