Basil Grilled Chicken

I have to apologize for not being around lately.  I am a lazy blogger.  I have been home with the kids again since the beginning of June....and nothing.....
And I have to apologize secondly because this recipe has no pictures.  Partly because of my laziness..see above, and because this did not last long. In fact, the 6 year old told me it tasted better than Chicken McNuggets.  Now THAT is saying something about a recipe that pictures cannot portray.

It's a simple recipe, actually.  Found from my Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book:

Grilled Basil Chicken

Ingredients:

3 TBS lemon juice

2 tsp dried basil

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup olive oil 

salt and pepper

8 chicken leg quarters

Directions:

In a blender, combine the first 3 ingredients until well blended.  With the blender still going (on low) slowly add the olive oil.  

Salt and pepper chicken to taste.

Heat grill.  Place chicken on the grill and mop the basil sauce over it.  Each time you turn the chicken, mop the chicken with the basil.  Grill until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160˚.  Serve with whatever you would like. 

That's it.  Easy Peasy.. 

Note to self...I really need to get my camera out again. :) 

Grilled Baby Back Ribs

Well, I have to admit that we have already strayed from the menu.

It was 106˚ degrees in Texas yesterday.

Well, that, my friends, is hot.

In my opinion, too hot to cook.

So, I opted to make a frozen pizza instead of Biscuit Taco Bake.  (I might add, that my pizza wasn't too frozen from being in the refrigerator freezer outside). It's just that dang hot!

We did have a wonderful weekend.  Not as hot, comparatively speaking.

So, I decided to grill.  No, I decided to have my husband grill.  Good little Maintenance Man.

Grilled Baby Back Ribs

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons cumin

2 tablespoons paprika

1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon salt

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, cumin, paprika, chili powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.

Rub both sides of the ribs with the mixture. 

Like Paula Deen says "don't be afraid to rub your meat, y'all". 

Refrigerate overnight.

Heat grill to med-hot.

Place ribs on grill, making sure to keep the heat on one side and the meat on the other side.  This keeps the meat from cooking too quickly and drying out. 

My husband turns his about every 20-30 minutes, cooking for about 3 hours, until no longer pink. 

Now, we're from Texas, y'all, so we do NOT put barbecue sauce on our ribs.   But, this is where you could brush with barbecue sauce (bottled or home made) for the last 10 minutes of grilling. 

The measurements listed above is enough rub for 3 Spare Ribs, so I had way too much rub left over.

I put the leftovers in an airtight container for later use.

I saw something on Pinterest the other day. (I know you're surprised at my being on that site).  Cute litte glass jars filled with barbecue rub, wrapped with a cute litte ribbon and sealed with a cute little note. How CUTE!!

Oh..if you're on my Christmas list, disregard that last paragraph.

:o) 

Freedom Friday #8, Patriotic Potluck Weekend #24, Church Supper #45, TWC #94

Lime Grilled Chicken

Summer is upon us.  Yesterday, in fact, was the official First Day of Summer!  We had a warm day. Highs in the 90's.  But, there was an awesome cool breeze blowing. 

That is not typical of a Texas June day.  We are usually hot and dry.  If any breeze is blowing, it usually feels like a hair dryer.  Miserable!

When maintenance man got home, I had some chicken marinating in the fridge for him to pop on the grill to take advantage of this wonderful afternoon.

We have used this marinade before...a lot of times.  When we find something good, we stick to it. 

I sincerely apologize for the blurriness of this picture. :(  

You'll need: 

3-4 pounds of chicken.  I use leg quarters any time we are grilling.

Some lime juice

Italian Dressing

Garlic Powder

Thyme

S&P to taste

That's it!  Very easy.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.  In a small bowl, mix: 

1 cup lime juice (I used 1/2 cup ReaLime and then the juice of 4 fresh limes)

1 cup Italian dressing

1 tsp Thyme

1 tsp garlic powder

Place chicken into a large Ziploc bag, pour the marinade in, seal the bag and toss to coat. 

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  I let mine sit for about 3 hours, turning about every 45 minutes.  Well, actually, every time the washer finished it's cycle, I got up and turned it too.  

Grill chicken over medium-low heat for 35-45 minutes or until juices run clear.

Lime Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:

3-4 pound chicken

1 cup lime juice

1 cup Italian dressing

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

Salt and pepper chicken and place in a Ziploc baggie.  In a small bowl, mix together rest of ingredients. Pour marinade into Ziploc bag, seal and toss to coat.  Let marinade for at least 30 minutes.  Grill chicken on medium-low heat for 35-45 minutes, or until juices run clear.

Enjoy!

Linking up: BBQ Bash Link Party
Weekend Wrap Up Party

Honey Pecan Grilled Chicken

I love the grill.  Especially in the summer.  Especially on the weekends when I work part time.  Maintenance Man can grill some serious meat.  I might even call him my grill master. {swoon}

This particular recipe has been hanging around in my handy-dandy purple recipe binder for quite some while.  We should have made it sooner.  We should have because it is grr----eat! {that's my best Tony the Tiger impression.}

Honey Pecan Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:

3 -4 lbs chicken ( I used leg quarters, but it would be great with breasts as well)

Basting sauce

• 1/4 cup or margarine
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper

Honey-Pecan Sauce

• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
• 2 tablespoons chopped pecans, toasted
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Instructions:

Prepare Honey Pecan Sauce by mixing all ingredients together.

1. Mix all basting sauce ingredients together in a small saucepan.
2. Cook over low heat 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Place chicken on grill, skin sides up, and mop or brush basting sauce over chicken.
4. Grill chicken 5 to 6 inches from medium heat 25 to 35 minutes; turn chicken over. Mop with basting sauce.
5. Cover and grill 35 to 45 minutes longer, turning and mopping 2 or 3 times with basting sauce until juices are clear. Discard any remaining basting sauce.
6. Serve chicken with Honey-Pecan Sauce.

Shared with: Weekend Potluck, BBQ Bash Link Party, TWC #94

Summer Grilling

I don't know about you, but we spend a lot of time grilling during the summer.  One of our absolute favorite meal on the grill has to be hamburgers.

We usually just buy the patties already pattied out from the store.  Today, maintenance man wanted something different.  He wanted hamburgers like we used to make them.  Pattied out by our my hands, seasoned by us me and grilled by us him.  I'm partial to my maintenance man so I obliged. 

2 pounds ground meat

1 envelope onion soup mix

pepper

Combine the meat with the onion soup mix; mix well.  I use my hands, but I bet you already knew that. ;) I use 2 pounds of meat for 4 patties.  That's how big our family is now, so that's what we do.  

Patty out the meat. 

Pepper the patties to taste. 

Grab a beverage of choice.  Maintenance Man's happens to be Coke, while mine is Bud Light. LOL!

Grill on medium heat to your liking.  Maintenance Man and the kids like theres well-done.  I'm talking burnt; looking like the charcoal used to make them.  I like my medium rare.

Enjoy with topping of your choice.

Bacon-wrapped, stuffed Jalapenos

These were so good, just the picture makes my mouth water.

We celebrated our 10 anniversary in April.  It had been tough going for awhile, but love can conquer all.  We had help.  The biggest help we had was through God.  We also had help from a couple of gals who are closer to me than my own family.  I consider them my family.

So, they came up and we celebrated our anniversary with a B-B-Q.  The menu for that day consisted of Brisket, beans, bacon-wrapped, stuffed jalapenos and beer.  

Bacon-wrapped, Stuffed Jalapenos

Ingredients:

jalapenos

bacon

cream cheese, softened

green onions

garlic to taste

cilantro

Directions:

Slice the jalapenos and take the seeds out.  

Combine the cream cheese, green onions, cilantro, garlic in a processor and mix well.  We added until we thought it tasted good.  There is no exact measurements,  just taste it until you like it. :)  

Place the cream cheese mixture into a small baggie and cut the corner out.  We'll use that to pipe the cheese into the jalapeno.  

Pipe the cheese into each of the jalapenos.  Wrap each jalapeno with a slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick.  

Grill on medium heat until the bacon in crisp.

I did not get a chance to snap an after picture because, literally, they didn't last long enough. 

Tomorrow is Memorial Day.  As you are out grilling and having some family fun, don't forget to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect your rights and your family.  

Shared with: TWC #94

Grilled Island Chicken

I'm here to tell you, I just combined the ingredients and the chicken breasts are in the bag marinating, and the kitchen smells so wonderful!  I cannot wait to take them out and grill them.

I found this recipe while perusing one of my favorite cooking sites: 

Grilled Island Chicken

Ingredients

1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used Canola)

3T freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2-3 lemons)

1 1/2 T soy sauce

1 clove finely minced (or 1/4 t garlic powder)

1/2 t dried oregano

1/4 t each salt and pepper

4-6 chicken breasts

Directions

Combine everything except chicken in a large bag; shake well. Add chicken and shake until well coated.  Refrigerate for 10 hours (3 hours minimum).

Fire up the charcoal or gas grill to medium heat and grill chicken about 6-7 on each side.

Alt #1 bake chicken at 350˚ for app 45 minutes. 

Alt #2 (which is what I did..never fails, now it rains all the time) Use the George Forman grill to grill until no longer pink.

Linking to: http://www.makeaheadmealsforbusymoms.com/melt-in-your-mouth-monday-blog-hop-62/ and http://everydaymomsmeals.blogspot.com/2012/04/church-supper-37.html