Grilling!!!

One night last weekend, Ryan and I decided to grill out. We stopped at Kroger on our way home from a day at the lake with his extended family. When we walked in we saw some pre-made kabobs so that gave us the idea... we decided to make our own. Nothing to fancy, just meat, peppers, onions, zucchini and squash. As we walked through the produce section, I couldn't resist a tub of fresh pineapple chunks. Grilled pineapple sounded heavenly, and it was.

Here is our basic recipe.

Beef and Veggie Kabobs

1 - 1.5 lb beef (we got the pre-cut kind)

1 zucchini

1 squash

1 green bell pepper

1 sweet onion

2 cups fresh pineapple chunks

Tony's Cajun Seasoning

Garlic Pepper

Worcestershire Sauce

Tabasco Sauce - Smokey flavor

Slice vegetables in bite sized pieces

Season the meat with Tony's, Garlic Pepper, a few shakes of the Worcestershire and Tabasco.

Sprinkle zucchini and squash with Tony's and Garlic Pepper

Skewer all meat and veggies. We have found that skewering with one item per skewer works best since some things take longer to cook. We also have this nifty skewer set with a stand that allows for the food to not sit directly on the grill.

Place food on hot grill and cook until done. I don't know how long, we just watch it and hope it doesn't burn.

This latest "kabobbing" attempt turned out fantastic. Our grill wasn't big enough for both trays of skewers so the pineapple was dessert. Mmmmm, I could eat grilled pineapple several times a week!

When we grill, Ryan likes to make stuffed jalapenos or stuffed mushrooms. He was in the mood for mushrooms so that's what he made. This is one of those recipes that isn't really a recipe. We just make the cheese stuffing up as we go...

Stuffed Mushrooms

Whole mushrooms, stems removed

1 block cream cheese

grated cheese (Mexican blend, cheddar, Parmesan, mozzarella, whatever you like)

garlic pepper

Tony's Cajun Seasoning

Mix the cheeses and seasonings. Our only advice is to start small and add more of each ingredient as you taste test. Don't go overboard on the Tony's because it makes it really salty.

Fill mushrooms with cheese mixture. Leftover cheese mixture makes a great dip with Wheat Thins.

Place on grill, on indirect heat, until cheese is melted and mushrooms are soft.

We are looking forward to our new house, with a nice, new, bigger grill! Too bad that's over a year away!

Admiral Goes to the Lake

We have had our boat for a little over a year now but had never taken Admiral out with us. This is for several reasons -- getting used to the boat, having other people with us, not knowing how he would react, being scared he would go to the bathroom on things or tear things up. We finally gave it a go last night.

We covered the seats with towels as a precaution. He got on the boat with ease and seemed really happy. He of course wanted to jump right in the water so I kept him on the leash. He seemed to like the air in his face but might have also been a little unsure of the bumpy ride. He sat on my lap (not the most comfortable thing for me) for part of the ride out to the island.

He absolutely loved the island, like a little beach which we already knew he loved. Another family was there with 2 dogs so he had playmates which is always fun. He was beat when we left and rode most of the way back to the dock relaxing on the front seat with me. It was a nice Friday evening to be on the water, with my husband and my baby to watch the sun go down.

Edouard...

9:00 am

The news channels are going crazy, I am pretty sure all regular programming has been preempted for the morning. And what do I see out my window... nothing, just some grey sky. I drove into work and it was a pleasant drive. Not much traffic and just a little rain. I hear we are supposed to get some serious rain soon, but still nothing.

I love how they get all in a frenzy about it. The radio station I listen to was making fun of all the hysteria. Listeners are calling in with "weather reports" that pretty much say "oh, its raining a little here". One guy jokingly reported that his lawn chair had blown over. Several minutes later, we got an update that the recovery and clean up effort had begun --the lawn chair had been turned upright.

I guess I'll post updates as I have them. Don't hold your breath, I am sure they won't be too exciting!

12:30 pm update
Still just raining at my office. It's a little windy but nothing to write home about. I think it's worse at home in The Woodlands.

3:00 pm update
Edouard seems to losing some of his organization and the Houston area is about to see a break in the action. The final band should come through this evening. Hopefully I can get out of the office and back home during the little downtime. Hopefully Edouard keeps on moving and doesn't hover on Houston like Allison did.

This storm really didn't pack much punch, definitely not like that storm Mom, James and I drove through in Mobile many years ago... I can't remember which one it was, but I know we were really dumb to leave Pensacola and try to drive home. I believe it was James's fault we left... like a good little sister, blame it on my brother :)