Grill master here! Woot woot!
Since Kyle was out of town last weekend I was left to my own devices for dinner, so when Pattycakes requested BBQ chicken I thought “sure! it’s high time I try to grill on my own!”
And so grill I did. P kept me company in the baby pool while I did my thing. I used this rub again because if it aint broke, right?
Chile lime chicken is where it’s at, yo! I sent Kyle and my dad pics because I was so proud. It was perfect! The middle was m-word and the outside was crispy and lightly charred but not scorched. For my first attempt I’d say I did a pretty awesome job! [Full disclosure, Kyle gave me pointers and I consulted our Weber book so it’s not like I went in blind]
P liked it too even though I accidentally lost control of the cayenne pepper mid pour. Whoops! I tried to give him more inside pieces and reserved the outside with the rub more for myself (we split a breast).
On the side I had leftovers (this vegetable salad that I can’t get enough of). Clearly I have found some favorite recipes since I keep linking to the same ones. If you still haven’t tried these, you’re a fool. That’s on you.
Kyle was home for Sunday’s dinner so he grilled burgers. Ground beef was on sale at WF this week so I got a bunch.
What I’ve come to realize over this past week though, is that I keep grossly underestimating the amount of meat my boys eat.
That’s my plate.
And that’s Pacman’s (first) plate. He had a whole other burger after this was gone! I specifically made two bigger ones and two smaller ones thinking I’d get two dinners for him out of the smaller ones, but in the end he ate them both. Growing boy. I have a feeling I’m in for a rude awakening with regard to our future grocery budget ($$$$).
Kyle wanted “fancy” burgers so I sautéed onion and mushroom for him. P had some too, but I opted out because I’m trying to be mindful of fodmaps in small ways.
P prefers raw mushrooms but he ate the sautéed ones with some coaxing (read burger bribery). He definitely likes sautéed onions. I gave him a few more servings after he polished off what was on his plate above.
Monday was meatless again (in fact I had an entirely veg day – smoothie for breakfast and tofu and kale salad for lunch).
I was feeling a bit exhausted after the not so restorative weekend (the kids are sick on top of the fact that I got zero food prep or housework done), but I still kinda pulled it together for dinner.
Inspired by @rapo4 recent take on the Cobb salad (see this month’s BA) I did a similar thing for dinner. Roasted a green onion and tomatoes, which I added to our bowls of spring greens, basil, tri-color quinoa, cheese (goat feta for me, parmesan for him), and avocado. Drizzled with a touch of olive oil – but it didn’t need much since I was heavy handed with the oil and salt on the tomatoes.
After P was in bed I sucked it up and got some food prep done so I wouldn’t be so SOL for the rest of the week (I didn’t leave the house at all on Monday and was feeling like a prison mate eating ill planned snacks – chocolate and plantain chips and more chocolate – out of frustration and boredom). So did some cooking. And baking. Shredded chicken. Health(ier) chocolate bark. Crackers. Bars. Granola. Plantain “bread”. And I can’t recall what else.
This bark ended up being a mere three servings. Not much healthier in the end…
So back to the week’s dinners.
Tuesday isn’t even worth discussing. Caesar salads. It was a last minute change up from the planned cauliflower biryani I had slated because the day was a dooooozy (no naps and a late soccer practice do not mix). Kyle and I both decided Caesar salads are kinda the best things while we were eating this meal. And then we went on to discuss which meals we’d eaten the most in our entire lives (Caesar salads were really really high for both of us). Another on his list: rice with butter. Not that that’s a “dish” per se, but it’s something he’s eaten a million times in his life.
Wednesday we skipped market because we were all sickies. Kyle BBQ-ed burgers instead (I had meat already so it seemed easy enough). I made the patties early in the day so by the time Kyle got home everything was ready to go. The chips were an impulse buy while I was at WF getting stuff for the next day. They are a perfect burger accompaniment though. Why not?
Kyle went the normal bun route, but I went bun less in the name of chips. Chips > buns.
P had chips too (these ones) although I’m pretty sure the Kettle ones would be safe for him too. The main reasons I didn’t give them to him were (a) they are salty as all get out, (b) Kyle and I are obsessed with them and fight over them already so I may as well save them for our own corrupted taste buds than his virgin ones (which don’t think salt is the best thing on the planet…yet); and (c) he doesn’t care, he’s just happy to be getting chips for dinner!
I stayed up wayyyy too late that night cooking and baking stuff for the next day. On Thursday we were having my parents over to celebrate father’s day with my dad since he will be on call (and we will be away) for the actual day.
For dessert, he requested nectarine pie, so that’s what I made.
I know it looks “rustic” (to put it nicely) but it tasted delicious so don’t judge a pie by it’s crust.
I used the crust recipe from this month’s Bon Appetit but subbed coconut oil for the butter and despite textural issues when rolling it out, it worked fine! The main problem with swapping cocoon oil for butter is that once you chill the dough, you have to let it thaw for an eternity before it gets malleable enough to work with…and then you have a very short amount of time until it gets too soft and melts. Tricky business.
While the pie was in the oven I made a quinoa and black bean salad from The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook.
Can you tell I’m into this cookbook? I had the quinoa already done (started it in the rice cooker earlier in the day), so I whipped up the dressing (jalapeño, cilantro, lime, etc) and tossed it in with everything but the avocado, which I figured I’d add right before serving. I also omitted the bell peppers because my mom doesn’t like them.
The dressing is really that shade of green. So intense.
I don’t really have pics of food from the next day because we were just hanging out relaxing. Here are some from Kyle’s phone.
Happy Father’s Day indeed! Such love.
Oh and this girl! Heart bursting cuteness.
I made chili lime chicken rub AGAIN (so goooood) and bought house made pork sausage from WF. My plate looks a mess because I’d already started eating and I was sharing chicken from my plate with Mr. P. Dranks all around!
This pie!! So good. Nectarines for the win.
Probably could have doubled the amount of fruit, but it seemed to get great reviews so oh well. P had a few bites too (I made sure it was allergy free just in case he was up while we were eating it and wanted to partake).
Which brings us to Fridayyyyy…
We went to a friend’s for a BBQ pool party. I brought a quinoa broccoli salad with sunflower seeds, raisins, and a dijon/mayo dressing.
Yums.
We also had grilled corn, burgers on GF bread, and fruit (plus chicken for P).
What a fantastic Friday.
Kicked off a totally amazing Father’s Day weekend which I will attempt to recap soon-ish (housework > blogging during nap time so we will see when that actually happens).
I work for a grilling company, and found your blog when I was surfing around. Now I get your emails all the time and was thrilled the most by this one. I want to congratulate and commend you for stepping up to the grill and hope you keep grilling. Your barbecue can do more than just burgers and chicken. You can cook just about anything on it. So hopefully you can gain some inspiration from my recipes as I have (for personal cooking, not work cooking that is on the blog) from you!
Happy Grilling and thanks!
~Andrea (AKA – The Sultana of Sizzle)
chips > buns, always!
Awesome Andrea! The nickname the sultan of sizzle is pretty much the most awesome thing ever…haha. I will happily browse your site – what are some of your favorite non traditional things to grill? Pizza? Veggies? We have a rotisserie stake on our grill so I am intrigued by that…feel free to comment with links of your favorites 🙂
Tonight I used the chicken rub recipe. Omg!! It’s a keeper. Instead of making the Black Bean and Quinoa salad we used it as a base for our spicy lime chicken to make a “bowl” dinner out of it. I subbed kidney beans for black because my family doesn’t care for them and I doubled the cilantro in the dressing. It was a hit and so yummy! It will be on our regular summer rotation now.
When I first started reading your blog I was experimenting with becoming vegan and/or vegetarian. Your recipes and reviews lead to me stepping way out of my comfort zone as far as food goes, and I now I know that you really don’t have to sacrifice deliciousness when you choose to eat that way. Unfortunately, my body did not react well to my experimentation (iron transfusions galore, ugh!) but I still enjoyed your blog and your recipes. Recently though, my oldest son has been diagnosed with IBS. He’s been on medication for a year and while it has helped some, he still experiences some really miserable symptoms and episodes of discomfort. Last week I had remembered that you had mentioned your experience with IBS and I dug into your archives and found the FODMAP diet. He’s a teenager but headed off to college in the fall and is willing to give the diet a try in an attempt to lessen his symptoms. I’m so grateful that I remembered this and that you blogged about it!! Thank you! I don’t believe in coincidences and trust that this may be the true reason I was lead to your blog. ☺️
Ammie – I’m so sorry but happy that my experiences may be of help to your family. For me, the realization that FODMAPs were the culprits causing most of my symptoms was a massive shift in allowing me to manage my GI pain…and even though it does demand a level of restriction with your diet (hard for any person at any age, but I’d imagine even more so for a teenage boy heading away from home) I think the fact that it brings a certain amount of control to an otherwise frustrating diagnosis is HUGE. It’s highly individual so encourage him to keep trying and experimenting. Listening to your body is so tough, but it definitely is the way to sort things out.
As far as stepping out of your comfort zone goes…I’m so honored to have been a part of that. I struggle with that frequently, so I can appreciate just how much of an accomplishment that is. Sending good vibes your way!