Grilled Whole Chicken and Grilled Beef Roast

Low and Slow is the name of the game here. For 2 hours, I let the chicken and beef hang out in the middle of a grill with the far left and far right burners on medium low. Indirect heat means no turning required.

The Chicken was seasoned with Garlic Pepper seasoning and the Beef Roast was seasoned with Everyday Grilling Seasoning. I use Tastefully Simple spices and mixes but you can use any seasoning you like.

Grilled Chicken Pesto Pasta with Peas

I made this double for a friend who broke her arm. It was a good dish to double since it was as easy as making one. I would double it again and freeze the second for a future meal. This is also good cold as a pasta salad - I can attest to this since mom and I had the leftovers pool-side on Friday!

Here is the recipe including the amounts to make two casserole dishes full:

4 Large Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
2 T Garlic Seasoning (I use Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic but you can also use fresh or canned chopped garlic, along with Italian Seasoning)
1 Box of Pasta (I used a new shape but you can use any shape that will hold up against the chicken chunks)

4 T Pesto (I used my Tastefully Simple Garlic Pesto mix which made it super simple but you can buy pesto or make some from scratch with pine nuts, salt and pepper, basil, parmesan cheese, garlic, and olive oil)
3 C Frozen Peas
1 C Grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)

So, here is a tip for when you buy bulk chicken (or any meat for that matter). When I come home with an Extreme Value Pack of Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, I separate them, leave some naked, and season separate packets of 3 breasts with different seasoning combos. Some of our favorites are Salsa, Lemon Pepper, Garlic, and BBQ. Be careful not to use too much citrus because the acid breaks the chicken down too much if it is left to marinate. When you are ready for a quick meal, thaw it out and throw it on the grill, in the skillet, or under the broiler. Nuke some sides (Green Giant even does one with rice and another with potatoes) and call it dinner!

I am telling you all of this because I had some Garlic Garlic chicken in the freezer and used it for this. If you don't have such a thing in your freezer, just season your chicken before you put it on the grill.

The Play by Play:
Preheat Grill to medium high, preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and prepare a large pot of salted water for pasta boiling.
Grill chicken breasts until done. While the chicken is grilling; boil the pasta and make the pesto, if necessary.

Once the chicken is cooked through, cut into bite-sized pieces. In a large bowl gently fold together the chicken, pasta and pesto until everything is coated well. Add the peas and stir carefully so as not to end up with mushy peas.


Separate into two casserole dishes and top with the parmesan cheese. If you are cooking one ahead of time, you can go ahead and wrap that up now and put it in the freezer. When you are ready to serve this meal, place the casserole dish in the oven until the cheese is melted. Serve with a side salad.

Since my little one can't do the cheese, we just added the cheese to our individual servings and left it off his. I did melt the cheese for my friend's family, though.

Meatballs

This week, I made Biscuits with Easter Ham for a potluck and we had chicken pot pie again, leftovers and spaghetti with meatballs. Again, it was a light week of cooking...sort of.

I decided that since we have pasta with sauce once a week, I should probably make enough of this sauce for at least 2 meals for us. So, the recipe makes PLENTY

Here is the breakdown for these meatballs and sauce:

As you may have already read in this blog, I try to load up store-bought sauce with more veggies and this time was the same. Carrots and onions were added along with some Italian Seasoning. Cook until the carrots are soft and then use an immersion blender to puree it all together. To the sauce, I added raw meatballs *it is important to note that I use REALLY lean beef so I don't have a lot of grease floating on top of my sauce after the meatballs cook in the sauce. If you would rather drain the fat, you can cook the meatballs in a pan but that makes them lose their shape so I prefer this way.

1lb of ground beef.
2 T Garlic Bread Seasoning* you can use fresh garlic or garlic seasoning
1/2 C breadcrumbs - you can use seasoned breadcrumbs if you want.

Combine together and form into balls - I like making lots of small ones so mine are no larger than quarters. Drop each ball into the pot of sauce and allow to cook for about 20 minutes.
I actually did this process around 3pm and let it cook for about 2 hours on medium-low heat. At 5 o'clock, I took it off the heat completely and let it sit - without stirring. When the grease did pool on the top, I skimmed it off and then stirred it all up when we were ready to serve.

Another tip is: if you boil your noodles and need to reheat them and get them unstuck from each other, you can place your metal colander in a pot with about 2 inches of water. Bring the water to a boil and steam the noodles back to life.



I found a really great mixed lettuce item at BJs Wholesale and have enjoyed using these Artisan Lettuces throughout the last couple of weeks.


My kids aren't into salads yet so I made them veggies with dip as a side to this already veggie-rich meal.


*This is a Tastefully Simple Item and can be purchased from a friend of mine - a link to her web page is on in the Resources section of this blog. I don't receive compensation from Tastefully Simple or Kira Reeves for purchases made as a result of this blog.

Nacho Heaven

One of the very best foods in the whole wide world is Nachos. I truly believe that it unites people and is so varied in its interpretation, it can satisfy all tastes. It is universal, honestly, I believe it! Making a large plate of nachos is one of the stay-in date-night rituals in our house. Served alongside some cold beers or cocktails in front of a flick with my main squeeze...heaven!

Friday night turned into Nacho night and I broke into the stockpile of leftovers and devised this beauty:

Nacho Components:

Store-bought Tortilla Chips
Shredded and chopped Grilled Salsa Chicken (Recipe Below)
Cheese Sauce (Recipe HERE)
Refried Beans (Recipe Below)
Guacamole (Recipe HERE)
Store-bought Sour Cream
Store-bought Salsa
2 T Fresh Cilantro from my garden - chopped and optional

Grilled Salsa Chicken:
Before I froze some chicken breasts, I sprinkled them with 2 T Simply Salsa from Tastefully Simple along with 1 t Olive Oil. I covered them completely with this mixture and froze them. When they thawed, they were ready to go onto the grill. Voila! Grilled Salsa Chicken. If you don't have any Simply Salsa, you can use any seasoning mix that you like or actually toss in some jarred salsa or salsa verde...your call! If you don't have any already marinated, just marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes. If your mixture has vinegar or citrus, don't marinate overnight because that acid breaks down the chicken and makes it mushy.

Refried Beans
If I had known that nachos would be among the menus for this period, I probably would have bought a jar of fat free refried beans. Well, I didn't...so, I didn't. Necessity is the mother of invention and this project has born a lot of homemade things that otherwise would have been store bought. I either make it from scratch or we go without. I decided NOT to go without this time and really wanted refried beans. I also decided to "wing" it. It turned out really good. I guess I am lucky that I stock these things in my pantry. Here is how it went down.

1 Can Light Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed
2 Chipotle Peppers in Adobo (they come in a small can with a flip top)
1 t Olive Oil
1/2 t Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic (you can use real garlic or garlic seasoning)

Mix all of these together and use an immersion blender to puree. It will be the consistency of hummus. Heat in a saucepan over medium heat until some of the moisture is evaporated. Serve warm.

Build a better Nacho Platter:

I always build in layers because I don't like getting to the bottom of a platter of chips to find naked chips with no topping. Spread a layer of chips, drizzle with cheese sauce and some dollops of beans. Make another layer of chips and continue with the cheese and beans but sprinkle some chicken as well. Keep going until you have all of the cheese, beans, and chicken covering many layers of nachos. Finish with rows of guacamole, salsa, and sour cream. If you have cilantro, sprinkle it on top. If not, you can skip it.

Jerk Pork Chops and planning ahead

My husband surprised me with a brand new grill last weekend and I was excited to christen it with pork. I bought a pork loin a while back, cut it into pork chops and froze them into meal servings. While I knew that I would be firing up the grill and spending some time waiting for meat to thaw, I decided to go ahead and pull out some chicken that I seasoned with some Tastefully Simple* Salsa seasoning.


Here is the recipe for the Jerk Pork Chops. Stay tuned for the recipe for the chicken!

6 pork chops, about 1/2 inch thick
1 T Jerk Seasoning (I use McCormick's)
1 T Olive Oil
1 T Soy Sauce
1 t Cider Vinegar

Combine the above and marinate the pork chops for 30 minutes.
Cook them over a preheated medium-high grill, grill pan, or under a broiler. Depending upon the thickness of the pork chop, you may need to go longer or shorter...just PLEASE don't overcook the chops, they dry out and become very tough. They should cook until the juices run clear and there is no longer any pink.


I served them with peas (for the kids), a green salad (for the adults), corn on the cob (which also hit the grill), grilled slices of pineapple, and some leftover orzo to which I added jarred Mango Chutney.


There was no hope in getting my boys to try anything "jerk" so I just grilled pork chops for them and served them with ketchup - you do what you have to.

* I have a friend who sells Tastefully Simple as a home-based business. I have added a link to her website on this blog so if you are interested in buying any of the items I mention, you certainly can. I don't make any money by recommending the items. I just like them and help to support her business by buying from another stay-at-home mom.