Grilled Chicken and Vegetables

For the vegetables...

1 yellow bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

1 zucchini

1 yellow squash

2-3 tbsp olive oil

1/4 c rice wine vinegar

salt and pepper

lemon juice from 1/2 lemon

For the chicken marinate, I used the recipe found for these Cornish game hens. I was going to make this, but they didn't have any hens at the store. Honey Game Hens Recipe The chicken and vegetables were marinated in plastic Ziploc bags.

Before...

During...

After...

Drive your neighbors nuts "chicken"

This was another find from my cooking light message board. Basically, it is another rub. It makes a big batch and I just keep it in my pantry and just use it whenever I need it. Another the recipe calls for chicken, I tend to use it on pork, especially pork tenderloin. Pork chops are pictured here. I usually leave out the lemon rind, but combine all the other ingredients to put on the meat. When grilling, I just throw a handful of woodchips on the fire for just a little extra flavor, and grill like normal.

Drive Your Neighbors Nuts Grilled Chicken
Recipe By :
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Chicken Grilling


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------

Cut chickens in quarters, leave the skin on. Mix together:
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbl salt
2 tbl mild chili powder
2 tbl hot chili powder ( I used Gebherts)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp Mex. oregano
1 tsp coriander
2 tsp dry mustard
1 1/2 tbl minced lemon zest ( I used dried-purchased)
1-1/2 tsp onion salt
1-1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp fresh ground pepper

Loosen the skin on the chicken pieces, and put a generous amount of the combined spices under the skin. Then sprinkle generous all over the chicken, both sides. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hrs, the longer the better. Start up the grill, cook and smoke until done. Use a little pecan, apple or whatever wood to get the smoke going. The rub is enough to do 2 chickens. Also good on pork!

Microwave Popcorn

This post is dedicated to my BIL, B. He loves the corn. He usually pops it in oil on the stove and it is delicious. This must be killing him not to be able to make his popcorn. Perhaps this is a little bit of a "duh" post. I mean, microwave popcorn? Yeah, everyone makes that. But you probably may not have known that you can use regular popcorn in the microwave. Here are your ingredients:



Popcorn, a brown paper bag, salt, and olive oil. I cover the bottle of the bag with a single layer of popcorn, drizzle a smidge of olive oil, and a few shakes of salt.



Then fold the top of the bag over a few times, and place in microwave.



Set your microwave for two minutes. STAY and LISTEN for it to stop popping.



Your popcorn is done. Top your favorite way. I like the white cheddar popcorn seasonings.

Green Chile Cheeseburgers

I mentioned these last month, but they were so good, I thought I would revisit them. I found a lot of really complicated recipes for green chile cheeseburgers, but my method was easy and still pretty tasty. I just got some ground chuck, added salt and pepper, grilled, then topped with a roasted green chile (I used HATCH, but a poblano would also be good) and provolone cheese. Serve on a toasted bun. I used ground chuck which turns out is extremely fatty. I would hesistate to use a leaner cut of meat though, because the grease helps to control the heat of the pepper if you have a spicy one.

I was planning on grilling outside, but it ended up being colder than I was anticipating. Love the grill pan!

Grilled Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Hot Dogs

I just realized. I bet my dad wished I lived closer so that he could eat all the "adventurous" things that I make...by adventurous, I mean unhealthy:) I have 3 more months till baby#3 and I am livin' it up!

At any rate, I knew that my husband and his father would LOVE these. They love bacon. Once, Pops drove to Snook just to have Chicken Fried Bacon. He also purchase a product called Baconnaise to gift to his sons for Christmas(the lite vegetarian version of course). So, when I saw the recipe for Grilled Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Hot Dogs, I knew we had to try it.

We only stuffed ours with cheese, onions, ketchup, mustard, and relish...skipped the sauerkraut. We also used 2 pieces of bacon to ensure that the insides wouldn't spill out onto the grill. They were great!!

Crockpot Lasagna

There is absolutely no way to make this look good in a photo so I am not going to bother posting a picture. If you are kitchen-less this provides a satisfactory lasagna ... but it is in no way comparable to a real lasagna. I made this for dinner tonight but left out the beef so it would be a truly kitchen-less creation and vegetarian. Here is the original recipe, which I received several years ago from a co-worker.

Crockpot Lasagna

1 lb. ground chuck, cooked and drained of fat
1 (28 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
1/3 c. water
8 lasagna noodles
1 (4.5 oz) jar mushrooms
1 (15 oz) carton ricotta cheese
2 c. shredded mozzarella

Note: I used half the amount of both cheeses and it turned out fine.

Combine water with spaghetti sauce. Place 4 noodles in bottom of lightly greased 5 qt. crockpot. Layer with 1/2 of beef, sauce, and mushrooms. Spread ricotta over mushrooms. Sprinkle with 1 c. mozzarella. Layer with remaining noodles, meat, sauce, mushrooms and mozzarella. Cook on high for 1 hour, reduce heat, cook on low 5 hours.

Pork tenderloin with mustard barbeque sauce

It has been so nice this week, a good time to grill.



I am a big fan of the mustard based sauce, but prefer to make a tomato bases sauce at home. I saw this recipe fliping through some issues from cooking light from last year and decided to give it a try.

As for "no-kitchen cooking" I am not sure this counts, because you did have to make the sauce, but the pork just used a nice little rub. CL always says to use direct heat for 20 minutes on these cuts of meat, but I prefer to cook it over indirect heat for about 30 minutes.

Not a bad recipe, but if I make it again I will probably make some changes.