Super Bowl Sunday Cook on a Snowy Sunday in Topeka

Snowy Day for Grilling

Sunday night we grilled out again after what was supposed to be flurries fell earlier in the day on Sunday. Cleared the snow off the back patio so could get to the grill without tracking snow in and out of the house. We did boneless turkey breast again (see Cooking in Late January Boneless Chicken and Turkey Breasts) and then also a pork tenderloin. Yes, it was cold, but it was enjoyable grilling. I took a few pictures before, during, and then the final product. Too cold to spend much time out by the grill. Oliver was having fun running around the back yard as I started, so you can see him in the picture to the left.

Fire is Ready!

We used a seasoning that Carrie got for me for Christmas. Once again, I used the thermometer that I can check remotely with my iPhone. Turned out very nicely!

After the cleanup of the BGE for the cook last week, it started quickly. The temperature got up to about 600 degrees before I started closing vents to bring the temperature down. I cooked right at 350 degrees for both the chicken and pork tenderloin. The chicken breast estimated it will be about fifteen minutes to cook and the tenderloin was about 20. Both took about 30 minutes total to cook. It was not bad though as I was able to watch the Super Bowl during most of the first half. I think I finished about the time half-time was starting, so worked out great!

Finished Pork Tenderloin and Chicken

Enjoying a glass of Johnny Walker, I managed to stay warm and cook what turned out to be a great meal. The temp was perfect with the meat being juicy and tender. I was happy with the outcome of the meal. The rub we put on also worked out great too. Once again, we made enough to have leftovers throughout the week. I think we will have enough leftovers for three or four additional meals during the week. I am hopeful that Carrie and I can continue to plan and prep so I can continue to grill on the weekends. Looking forward to doing whole turkey, pork butt, or smoke on a mild spring day with the Royals playing on the radio. I cannot wait!

Dinner is Served

The meal was good with sweet potato, zucchini and onions, and then sliced pork tenderloin. It was a good evening! Even better later after we finished eating, the Patriots lost. So that was fun and good evening of grilling so we can eat at home and have leftovers for a few nights too.

Have a  great night and I look forward to cooking something new soon!

Cooking in Late January Boneless Chicken and Turkey Breasts

A little late with the update from cook that I completed on January 28. It had been about a month since the previous grill which was in late December. We decided to grill a few boneless chicken breasts and then a few turkey breasts. It would be our dinner for Sunday evening and then for two more nights later in the week.

Boneless Chicken Breasts Following
January 28 Cook

I had not cleaned the BGE since I purchased it back in August, so I decided to clean it out. When I cooked back in December, I had difficulty getting the temperature high and following that cook I accounted it to be because it needed to clean it out. Sunday, January 28 was a cold day and my hands were feeling the temperature. I managed to get all of the old lump removed from the BGE so it could be loaded and prepare for the evening cook.

Turkey Breasts Done Following
January 28 Cook

I only took two pictures of the cook on January 28 of the final product. I did use a new thermometer I got for Christmas. It worked great! It syncs bluetooth to my iPhone and then with my new Apple Watch, I am able to see the temperature for up two two separate cuts of meat. Easy to use and worked out great!

Letting the grill get to high heat to start to cook off previous cooks, I brought the temperature back down to around 300 - 350 degrees. Keeping it around that mark throughout the cook. Turning the meet regularly, it took longer than I had anticipated for the meet to finish and reach being cooked. I was using a menu that I found on a Google search that said about eight minutes each side, but I would say it took probably closer to thirty minutes to cook both cuts of meat. I was afraid it was going to burn, but had no issues with the burn marks.

The meat was extremely moist and cooked nicely. There was not any smokey flavor as the temperature was higher than what would allow the smokey flavor to get into the meat. Overall, it was a very enjoyable process and we enjoyed the meal the cooked meat provided for three additional meals.

I will be cooking this evening after a snow storm came through this morning. Tonight will be a pork tenderloin and more chicken breasts, so I will once again be able to utilize the new thermometer and monitor it from inside.

Happy grilling and I will be back on here soon....

Cook for Start of December was Pork Roast

BGE Getting Ready

On Sunday, December 3, we did a pork roast on the grill. First time I tried doing a pork roast. We did two so we could have extras for the week. I did not plan well, so did not start preparing for the cook until mid-afternoon. I put a nice rub we had from the store.

Took a while to get the grill ready, but worked out as I was preparing the pork roast for the grill. I never did get a high heat going with this cook. I have not cleaned out the lump since we bought the grill. The highest the temperature would go was about 300 and that was not until about the end of the cook. I added more lump before I lit the grill, but still could not get a high temp. I need to spend more time in the forums to see what others say. I am guessing that having the lump in there since the start and sitting in the elements is the issue. Granted, it is covered, but probably moisture still gets into the lump. I need to get some containers to hold new lump (instead of keeping in the bags) and then container to remove lump. I saw someone early on in my BGE experience with someone recommending this technique for dealing with new and old lump.

Pork Roast Ready for the Grill

I let the pork roast sit out on the counter for about two hours with the rub before grilling. I found various recipes that talked about brining the meat the day before or at least 5 - 6 hours before grilling. Not having started preparing the meat until a few hours before it was needed on the grill, I was left with doing a quick prep.

The rub we used was Jack's Gourmet Seasoning. We had picked it up at the store prior to planning this cook. The bottle said it was perfect on steaks, seafood, pork, etc., so figured we would try it out. I thought it had good flavor. It went on nicely and did not add olive oil or anything else to make it stick. Even through the cook, the rub remained on the meat. Gave it a nice almost crust to the finished pork roast.

Reading through how long others had cooked the meat, I thought it was going to take about an hour. It ended up taking about and hour and half. Again, I think this was due to the heat not being as high as I had wanted. Others had said they grilled at about 300 - 350, but the highest the heat would get this day of cooking was only about 300 and again it was at the end of the cook. Most of the cook it was about 250 degrees. Even though it took longer to cook, I thought the pork was nice and moist; easy to cut with a knife or fork with good flavor from the rub. Carrie was a little grossed out at first as she was not sure it was done. The color looked odd in a few places, but the internal temperature was well above what was recommended of 140 internal.

Pork Roast Off of the Grill and Ready to Eat

To the right is the picture of the final product as well as the rub that was used. I think it had nice color inside and the color outside with the rub turned out nicely too. After removing from the grill with internal heat of around 140 degrees, I covered with aluminum foil and let stand for about twenty minutes on the kitchen counter allowing it to cook further.

We served the port roast with a salad although I do not have a picture of the plated pork and salad. It was a good way to start December. I am hoping to do much more grilling before the end of the year.

I still have not cooked a chicken breast, whole turkey, or ribs on the BGE yet. I have so much to learn about cooking and grilling with the BGE... I am having a blast with it so far. No disappointments with anything I have cooked so far on the grill.

Enjoy your weekend and happy grilling!

Cook from October 29 Cook of Steak Filet and Turkey Steaks

After a busy couple of weeks without any grilling, we finally grilled on Sunday, October 29. The weeks leading up to this day to grill were kept busy by completing a eight class which has ended. Still, posting this the week after, I am not grilling as much as I would like. Hoping to do more grilling over the next couple of weeks before the end of the year.

Steak filets and turkey steaks Ready for Grill

It had been a while since I had grilled, so we decided to grill not only for our dinner that night, but to have leftovers to have later in the week too. We went with steak filets for Sunday night and turkey steaks later in the week.

Seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic salt, and Worcestershire sauce. Typical seasoning used that I got from my father-in-law and tastes great with steaks. Usually use soy sauce too, but we were out of soy sauce.

Preparation of the Big Green Egg went much better too. Still takes a little while to get it lit and ready for grilling, but I cannot complain when I have something cold to drink and we are not in a hurry. We had a lazy Sunday afternoon on October 29, so I was able to let the grill reach maximum heat before cleaning and preparing to grill.

Steak Filet Resting

Grilled the steaks first. Got the Big Green Egg nice and hot to around 700 degrees before reducing slightly to about 500 degrees. Put the steaks on and grilled on each side for about ten minutes. Turned out great!

The steaks had been in the freezer and were from Omaha Steaks that my mom had given me for my birthday. I thought they were really good with good flavor although mom said the ones she got from his batch were not good and would not be ordering again from them. Carrie and I really like steaks from Hy-Vee although I cannot complain about the meat from Omaha Steak either. My dad started getting me steaks and other assorted meats from Omaha Steak before he passed and my mom kept it going the past few years. I think last summer was the last time we got steaks from there when she said she would not do them any more.

Steak Filet and Risotto is Served

Carrie made mushroom and pea risotto. Turned out great and went well with the steak. I have not done any vegetables on the Big Green Egg yet, but I plan to do some soon. I cooked on a gas grill the next week at my moms and did steaks then too (no pictures), but we did do veggies on the grill which tasted really good. I need to those on the BGE sometime too. I think the flavor would be really good with the smokey flavor. Usually when we have veggies to cook, we simply do them in the kitchen on the stove, but plan to do then the next time on the grill. The risotto, steak, and a bottle of wine was a perfect night!

Turkey Steak for Later in the Week

After the steaks came off the grill, we put on the turkey steaks for us to eat later in the week. Marinated in the same they tasted very good. I believe we ate these on Tuesday or Wednesday of the next week and tasted very good.

I am hoping in the next month or two to be able to post and document how a whole turkey cook goes for me. We did buy a pork butt that was on sale at Hy-Vee last week, but it will be a little while before I have a chance to cook the pork butt. I cannot wait though to spend a weekend cooking. I am happy with the Big Green Egg purchase and have been pleased with how the food comes off the grill.

Have a great week and hope to have another post of my grilling soon!

Boneless Pork Chops Done on the Green Egg

Boneless Pork Chop from the Grill

Tonight we did boneless pork chops on the grill. Low and slow was the setup for tonight. Kept the grill between 250 - 300 and cooked them for 90 minutes one on side. After 90 minutes, flipped and started lathering on BBQ sauce for another 30 minutes. All told, did them for about two and half hours. We could have left them on longer and turned down the grill a little more to get it below 250, but we were hungry and decided to take them off.

They turned out great! Not as tender as I was hoping, but good flavor. Carrie was concerned about the BBQ sauce I was using, but she liked it in the end. Happy with how they turned out.

This was the sixth cook from the Big Green Egg. Another low and slow cook with another one planned for Sunday. Planning on doing our first brisket on Sunday, so I will be spending time on the Big Green Egg EGGhead Forum gathering hints and information. I see another person just posted that they were doing a brisket and getting a lot of pointers from others on the forum. I believe that will be about an eight hour cook, but need to research further before Sunday.

Starting the fire tonight went much better. Got the temperature hot within about 30 minutes. Stopped by Patio Pool and Fireside on Saturday to pick up another bag of lump along with a new tool to scrape the grill between cooks. The scrapper I have had few a few years is falling apart and the high temps from a week ago (Fifth Grill Opened up Flame and Cooked Steaks) made it about disintegrate from the heat. Bristles falling out of it and no longer useful.

Looking forward to another cook on Sunday. Until then, I will be working on homework with two forum posts due Friday night and a paper due that night too. A lot to do and instead here I am posting an update on what I cooked tonight.

Have a great week and I plan to post pictures of preparation, cooking, and final product Sunday evening.


Fifth Grill Opened up the Flame and Cooked Steak

Fifth Grill Steak Cooked to Perfection with Brussels Sprouts

Following the first four grills of keeping the temperature under 350 degrees, we were finally able to open it up and grill steak. We are actually doing our fifth and sixth grills tonight with another pork tenderloin going on here shortly. After getting the grill temperature up to between 600 - 650 degrees, I realize now I should have done the pork tenderloin before the steaks. Taking a long time for the temp of the grill to come down so we can do the pork tenderloin.

At one point while getting the grill ready, the temperature went all the way around the dial which I am estimating was a 950 - 1000 degree temperature. I had gone inside to prepare mushrooms for the steak and came out and realized the temperature continued to climb after I went inside. Hoping that did not cause any damage as I brought it back down closing vents further and the temp dropped to around 650 - 700. Doing additional fine tuning with the top and bottom vents I was able to keep it between 600 - 650 degrees.

Getting Ready

Still taking me a little while, it seems, to get the grill started. I know some people on the EGGhead Forum suggested getting a weed burner to start the grill. I have not done so yet and using fire starters we got from the shop. They work, but it takes about 25 - 30 minutes to get the grill ready to cook.

After finishing the grilling of steak that took two minutes each side, it seemed odd it took longer to get the grill ready than it did to actually cook the food. Although we are doing another cook tonight with the pork, but seemed odd. I am sure I will get the hang of starting the grill and maybe it will get faster.

Using advise I got from the forum, I did leave the lid open until I made sure enough lump was lit. That did seem to make the process better and got the temperature up. I will continue to monitor and fine tune the process of lighting and see if I can increase the time it takes to get started.

Kept Temp at 600 - 650

I snapped a picture of the temperature gauge simply because it got so hot. I could not believe how hot it got. I had read descriptions of the heat that Big Green Eggs can get extremely high temperatures. As I mentioned earlier, the temp got so hot that it basically circled around and 950 or 1000. The needle on the gauge was pointing at the 200 mark when I closed vents and started taking the temp back down. Again, hopefully I did not cause any issues for the Egg or the gauge by getting it so hot. The plan was not to get that hot. I thought I had it pegged at the 650 - 700 mark, but it started going up and got very hot. As they warn, I did the burp when opening it which is good as a ring of flame came out each time I opened it. I had an oven mitt on which was good because it was very hot even when I got it down to the temp I wanted to cook at for the steaks. Impressive!

Pork Tenderloin Cooked at 300 - 350

I just took off the pork tenderloin. Took a while to get the temp down so the pork did not burn. Looks like it turned out great! Cooked for 14 minutes each side to start. The temperature was about 150, so left on for another minute or two each side. We will have this over our salad tomorrow night for dinner, so decided to take it off before it got to 160. Leave it juicy and then hopefully will not dry out when we heat it up tomorrow.

Impressive evening of cooking. Had a good day! Got up and went for a run. We went shopping and then came home to study a little bit. Finished my reading for the week, but struggling to get writing done for this weeks posts. Hoping to knock them both out tomorrow.

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day and long weekend. Have a  great rest of the week!

Fourth Grill of the New Big Green Egg

Pork Chops for dinner with forth grill

A simple night of grilling. Carrie wanted to cook the pork chops in the fry pan, but I told her I could do them on the Big Green Egg instead. After thinking about it for a little bit, she decided that would work.

Took about an hour from lighting the fire, grilling, to plating the finished product. Not too bad!

I used a new technique that I used that someone told me on Big Green Egg EGGhead Forum with their suggestion being that light the brick and leave it open a bit longer until more of the lump lights. Worked a lot better tonight lighting the grill. Temps before I started lowering it got up to around 400 degrees. Actually, at one point it went up to about 500 as I was inside and came back out to close things up and lower it back down to about 300. The temperature was still climbing when it was at 500, so I have no doubt I will be able to reach high temperatures in a few more grills.

Cook pork chops with a stir fry style veggies. Good way to start the week.

Have a great rest of the week and hope to post more grilling pictures soon. I am off to study and work on my class.

Green Egg First Cook through Third Cook

Picture of me with Big Green Egg
August 19, 2017

Purchase of Green Egg

After years of thinking about getting a Big Green Egg, I finally got one on August 19, 2017. I had been going back and forth thinking about a Traeger Grill or Big Green Egg. Finally, Big Green Egg won out. I like the idea that it is only me cooking and not relying on power to make the thing work.

So far, I have cooked twice on the Big Green Egg. We cooked the day after we purchased and then again on that Monday. The only pictures we gathered were from Instagram where Carrie took pictures of the completed food.

To start, we did a pork tenderloin. It is recommended that the first 4 - 6 grilling we keep the temperature 350 or below. This is to allow the Green Egg to seal and do it's thing. After those 4 - 6 grilling, then we can do higher temps.

We are both dying to do a steak on the grill, but recommended to do those after a few grills as need a temperature of 600 or more. So, we are hoping to be able to do steaks next weekend.

Pork Tenderloin

The pork tenderloin took about 30 minutes to grill. It took me a little bit to get the grill started, but once it lit it was easy to keep the temperature targeted right around 200 degrees. Open vent a little and it would shoot up or close it and it would go down. It will take me a little bit to get use to how it works.

I thought the pork tenderloin turned out really well. Especially for my first try and using the Green Egg.

Grilled pork tenderloin, roasted brussels sprouts, potatoes. #whole30supper #whole30 #whole30food #whole30dinner #whole30meals #biggreenegg #whole30af

A post shared by CarrieloulouEats (@whole30loulou) on Aug 20, 2017 at 6:37pm PDT

Chicken Breasts

Monday night, we grilled four chicken breasts with bone in. This night, it took me a long time to get the fire started. I had watched videos on YouTube about lighting and did exactly what they said not to do... I got the starters going and poured more charcoal and put out the starters. So, that extended the grill time a bit. Because the time was extended we did not eat until about 8:30 or 9 that evening. The only picture we got was of the chicken salad we made with the grilled chicken. Let me tell you, that was delicious though as the smokey flavor could be tasted in the chicken salad.

Chicken salad, sugar snap peas, honeydew and cucumber. #50shadesofgreen #whole30dinner #whole30supper #whole30 #whole30food

A post shared by CarrieloulouEats (@whole30loulou) on Aug 22, 2017 at 6:22pm PDT

The grilling of the chicken breasts was also fun because with about twenty minutes left in the grill, it started to downpour. I had an umbrella and continued to cook. The rain did not seem to have any effect on the grill as it kept the same temp and I continued to grill. It was worth the wait as the chicken was moist and delicious.

Chicken Breasts Part Two

Chicken Breasts Bone-in... Ready to Prep for Lunches

Catching us up today, August 27, I started off the afternoon doing four large chicken breasts bone-in. I did these at 300 degrees over indirect heat. They appear to have turned out perfectly. Internal temp got to about 160 before taking them off of the grill. These are actually for lunches this upcoming week.

We used a simple salt and pepper coating on these and put them on the grill. When we did these the first grill last week, we coated them in Olive Oil and then coated in salt and pepper. That was recommend as we were using direct heat. This afternoon, we were able to skip the Olive Oil and use only salt and pepper with it being indirect heat.

Carrie will take these and make chicken salad. I am not sure what else she has planned for these, but she said cook and I cooked. 

The indirect heat was done using the convEGGtor. First time trying it. I also used a drip pan. Smelled really good as they were cooking and I could hear the grease being caught by the drip pan as these cooked. Odd to be grilling and hear the sizzling of grease. The only thing we were wanting was the skin to be a little more done, but not sure how I can get that done with the indirect heat being used. I will browse the forums to see what people suggest to get a crispy skin for future grills.

Leg Quarters 

Leg Quarters Final Few Moments of Grilling

Finishing off the afternoon grilling were the leg quarters. Another hour and half grill. Set the Green Egg and forget about it. Turn every 45 minutes. These are dark meat, so we need to make sure the internal temperature is at least 200 degrees. The grill is set as before with indirect heat and a grilling temperature of 300 degrees. Early in the grilling the temperature did get to as high as 350, but the past forty minutes it has been right at 300.

This finishes up the third grill for me on the Big Green Egg. It was a fun afternoon of grilling and after lots of chicken is done, we are ready to eat.

Dinner is Served with Leg Quarters, Brussels Sprouts,
and potato salad. It was good!

Final dinner picture from the leg quarters tonight and they were delicious!

Let's Feast

Fun day and I learned more about how to grill on the BigEgg. This finishes up our third grill using the Big Green Egg. Two or three more to go and I can open up the heat to see how hot I can get it to go. So far, not very hot even when preheating. I was warned to keep the temperature below 350 as I mentioned, however, even when preheating the hottest I have seen it go is 400 and not much over it.

Until next time, have a great rest of your Sunday and I look forward to grilling again soon!

Wings for the Super Bowl... More Grilling!

We had a lot of food for Super Bowl Sunday.  I managed to grill some wings as well.  We were no where hurting for something to eat or drink that evening.  Nothing too fancy in regards to what was grilled.  My main problem was keeping the grill going.  I had problems lighting it and then half way through the grilling of the wings I had to swap out propane canisters.  When doing so, I could not get the flame high enough to get heat in the grill.  I had to disconnect everything and hook it back up to get it going again.  It was odd!

Anyway, regarding the grilling, this is what we did for simple wings that I think are pretty good for quick and easy (when the grill works).  Grilled the wings without any sauce or rub directly over medium-high heat until done.  Once they were done cooking, put them in a container, poured a little Frank's Red Hot Original sauce into the container, put the lid on, and shook it up to coat the wings.  The picture above is the finished product.

While they do not look hot, they had a nice kick of heat without a lot of sauce.  It was a quick and easy recipe for game night.  We have some other recipes for wings that I will post later this year.

Don't forget the Ranch with your wings and a ice cold beer!  Enjoy!

Tuna steaks on the grill... Turned out Great!

Prepped Tuna for Grill

Picked up tuna steaks from Hy-Vee on Saturday.  I got a new grilling cookbook for Christmas and this is my first attempt at grilling using one of those recipes.  I received the book "The Cook's Illustrated Guide to Grilling and Barbecue".  Tonight, I tried the recipe for Grilled Tuna Steaks with Watercress, parsley, and spied vinaigrette (page 244).  We changed the recipe slightly as we were unable to find the watercress at the store (not in season).

The preparation for cooking was fairly easy. Blend everything in a bowl, grill the tuna, combine ingredients in a bowl, place cooked tuna on top of leafy parsley.  We loved it!  Turned out great and it was simple to cook.  I cooked the tuna for about seven minutes.  We have some friends who will really enjoy this sometime later this year.  I am hoping to be able to grill more and more this year.  Like last year, I plan to post blogs about my grilling and it will also help me to remember which recipes we like.  As you may recall, I did not post many blogs or updates regarding the grilling I did last year.  Hoping to change all of that this year.

We are trying to eat healthy (see my Life Style posts) to lose weight.  So, many of the recipes we will pick out will be low calorie or easy split.  This recipe tonight was perfect for a Sunday night and turned out great!

Tuna Steak Hot off the Grill

The finished product was exactly what I was hoping to accomplish.  Pink in the middle and nice grill marks on the tuna.  The bed of parsley was perfect with the cooked tuna.  I cooked two tuna steaks.  Carrie and I split one and we will have the second one tomorrow night with a pasta dinner.

The tuna with the parsley was good and to split the portions was only 536 calories.  I definitely like this new book that I received.  Made a note next to this recipe and I see others that I want to try.

Carrie has bunco this Friday and I think I am going to grill again.  I picked up another gas tank from the store today.  So I am ready for more grilling!

Primarily it has been Carrie who has cooked our meals.  Unless we are grilling of course in which case I have done the grilling.  While I enjoy grilling, I also enjoy cooking in the kitchen too.  Although, I have not had the need to cook my own meals for the past ten years.  I told her I would love to cook our meals at least once a week.  More than simply grilling, but to actually cook in the kitchen.  All preparation and then cleanup.  Give her a night off.

I am looking forward to cooking our meals each week.  I did let Carrie know that I might need help cooking.  Since I have not cooked much in the past few years, I forget things that I use to know.  Still, I expect her to simply help, give direction, or recommendations on how to do things better.  I would like to be able to get to the point where I can cook the whole meal.  More than just a simple sandwich, but things a bit more complicated.

My first blog of the 2012 year regarding grilling.  I hope to have many more throughout the year.  Maybe not all with pictures, but at least my posting about recipes I like or recommend.  Until next time, have a great week!

Grilling and other Ramblings.... Long time Since Last Post

Well, it has been a long long time since I have posted. I had great intentions starting the grilling season. It did not turn out the way I had intended in regard to grilling. So, finally, one single steak grilled to perfection along with a simple salad and a beer. Good night of watching a movie and eating dinner. Hung out with our new puppy Oliver and missed our Carrie. Oliver and I needed some guy time though.

I had to go back and look when the last time was that I posted anything on here... It was clear back in June. Wow! That is horrible! Believe it or not, I have done a lot of grilling since June. Last weekend probably being the most cooking brats, wings, and then steaks the next night. Cooked for about 25 - 30 people. It was a blast!

Another excellent steak meal we had was back in late June when we were in New Mexico. Ah, it was so good! We ate outside and everything was cook perfectly! It went well with the wine we were having too. We love it out there, so it is always a good time.

We grilled a few times while we were in New Mexico. We did wings, steak, and a few others which escape me at the moment. Lots of good food and a fun time with friends!

The other thing that I started clear back in March, I believe was running. I loved it! During the course of the summer into the fall, I ran in a total of three 5K races. I really enjoy the feeling of running and of course dropping the pounds made me feel good too. During the time of my running, I lost a total of right around 25 pounds. It made me feel great and I look forward to the next race or run.

Well, my last time to run was back in September. I have not run since that time. The biggest reason is that we also got a new puppy. I ran in a Washburn 5K Fun Run and that day we bought a puppy. That was basically the end of my running after work. I have not minded because we love our new puppy and we are so happy to have him in our lives. (More on that later along with pictures...) But I do miss running after work and I am hoping that once he is potty trained and can just hang out, that I will once again go back to running and I will be running in more 5K races in the Spring. I do enjoy it and I cannot wait to get back in the swing of running.

The summer is basically a blur and I am still trying to get over the fact that Thanksgiving 2011 is just a week and half away. I never did listen when I was little and my parents and grand parents would tell me that time flies. Wow, does it ever! Hard to believe that the year is coming to an end.

As I mentioned, we got a puppy back in September. It was not planned at all. Our friends, Shayne and Autumn, said after we ran the 5K race at Washburn and ate breakfast that they wanted to stop by Pet Smart to check the puppies. Carrie of course was all over it and I said sure. Well, that was the start of a new relationship with us and our new family member, Oliver. Wow, he is so great! The last time I had a puppy, I was in grade school. So, I did not have to worry about training, punishing, or being a good example.

We are of course taking a lot of pictures of our new puppy. Most of those pictures can be found on Flickr with more added each week (or day). He is so cute and fun to play with that we cannot resist to take pictures and have fun with him. We do still think about, talk about, and miss our kitty Sidney [pictures]. We sometimes feel that we did not grief long enough for him, but I think he would be happy that we have a new pet in our lives that is making us happy.

One of the things that drew us into Oliver at the pet store was that his tonge sticks out sometimes and he does not even know it. Sidney would do this all the time especially after sleeping. Oliver does it too and we love it! We are so lucky to have Oliver in our lives and we hope he is happy that we are in his life.

My golf game did not happen nearly as much as I had hoped over the summer. I played probably about 10 - 12 times total this whole year. Not much at all or at least compared to last year. Funny because this year my elbow and wrist was feeling a lot better, but then I was not playing as much either.

Well, until next time, I better head to bed... or let Carrie use the computer. Maybe one day, we will have two computers in our house so we do not have to share this one computer. Might be another reason why this blog is not updated on a regular basis. Maybe one day.... At least that's the excuse I am using now.

Later....

Grilled BBQ Chicken Tenders Saturday Night

Again, I do not have any pictures from grilling last night. I think this is primarily due to the fact that after grilling I am starving and want to eat. So, no pictures from last nights feast!

It was a basic grilling of chicken tenders. I did them over high heat burning in the grill marks on each side. As they were about done, I slathered on BBQ sauce. They turned out very nice with Carrie and our friends enjoying them to the point of finishing them off completely.

We also did corn on the grill. Again, very basic with corn wrapped in foil. Nothing else on the corn. Threw them on the grill for about 30 minutes and they turned out great! I enjoy corn on the cob anytime, but on the grill it really brings out the flavors.

I think I said in my last BBQ post that I would take some pictures. I promise there will be pictures with the next BBQ.

Happy grilling!

Grilling Time... Chicken

I got my 28 minute run (12 min mile) in last night after work. It was a good run and I felt good afterwards. Following my run (and a shower) I grilled a little bit. We grilled simple chicken on the grilled and then as they were almost done I slathered BBQ sauce on them. Oh, they were so good... if I do not say so myself. We also did squash on the grill. We did the squash in aluminium foil and they also turned out great! The last thing we grilled, but we did not eat last night, was asparagus on the grill. We will have that one night this week.

Overall, it was a good grilling experience as none of the chicken stuck to the grill. I have started a new technique that I believe is helping a lot. I am not sure if I read this somewhere or not, but I get the grill as hot as it can go before putting the meat on the fire. I leave it this way for a few minutes to sear the meat before turning down the flame. I repeat this process again after flipping. So far it has been working very nicely. I use to lose half of the whatever I was grilling by it sticking to the grill. This is much easier and gives a better appearance.

OK, you knew I could not post a new blog without talking a little about our boy Sidney. Well, last night was the first time we grilled since we put him down. Yes, it was odd! For eleven years now, whenever I grill I have had to try and keep Sidney inside while I go in and out grilling. From our house in Lawrence to this house in Topeka, he has always tried to escape while I am grilling. Often times this causes me to be carrying whatever we are grilling outside and jumping on one foot as I try to keep Sidney inside.

He would get so excited when we would let him outside while I was grilling. He almost had that look on his face like he won. Well, I guess he did in those times when he got outside to eat grass and sniff around the back patio. I missed battling the boy while I was grilling. I missed hearing him meow and purr as he stood inside the house watching me through the door. Each time I move towards the door he would meow. Ah, yes, I miss all of that....

It was a pleasant surprise last night as I was grilling with my sister Dina calling me. We chatted for a bit and it was just her calling to check in on what was happening. After I hung up, I told Carrie it was odd not to talk Kansas basketball with her in our phone conversation. It was also very nice and I hope something we all continue to do with one another in our family... check up on each other and stay informed of what each other are doing.

I had another pleasant surprise just as I was getting ready to head to bed with my brother Tim calling me. We chatted for a bit and it was very nice! He was calling to see how Carrie and I were doing a week after we put Sidney down. He said he was sitting on his back patio smoking a cigar and relaxing in the nice cool weather we were having last evening. We had a good chat and it was nice!

Both of these conversations reminded me that my sister Jennie called on Saturday just as I was headed out to play golf. I told her I would call her on Sunday.... I forgot! Opps! I am going to try and call her tonight to catch up and see how she is doing.

That is all for now... Have a great Wednesday! About a week until I leave for vacation and I can hardly wait! So much to do at work, but I think I can get it all in before we leave.

Grilling on a Tuesday Night

Last night we decided to grill mushrooms and asparagus on the grill. This was the second time we have done mushrooms on the grill and they turned out great! No pictures this time, but we did have more grill action. The mushrooms are large, so we eat them on hamburger buns. the asparagus also turned out great!

Tonight, no grilling, but it is once again raining. Hopefully more time for grilling this weekend. More later....

Grilling and Other Adventures

Time marches along... The semester comes to an end. Wow! I cannot believe that spring is already here and we are gearing up for everything that is going to take place this summer.

Although, I have grilled a few times, nothing too exciting until a few weeks ago over Mother's Day weekend. I finally had the chance to grill some interesting items on the grill. We grilled swordfish, tuna, and pineapple. Everything turned out great!

A picture of the feast is to the right. We were very pleased with how everything turned out. Oh, I forgot about the scallops that we did on the grill too. Everything was great if I do not say so myself.

I still have not grilled as much as I would like leading into the Spring, but we are starting to pick up the pace. Last Friday Carrie had something going on with her girlfriends, so I decided I was going to cook steak and watch movies. I had a great night! No pictures, but it was so good! A Omaha Steak wrapped in bacon on the grill along with grilled asparagus which turned out great! I promise to try and take more pictures of future dinners done on the grill.

My golf game has not been anything at all. I have only played once this year and that was for the faculty/staff golf tourney. We came in last and I played like crap! We had a good time, but I have not been out to play at Shawnee Golf Club at all this year. Tonight would actually have been a good night to go out, but no going for me. It is not that I do not want to get out and play, but it seems we have something going on every weekend and then when I would be able to play we are having bad weather.

Well, I will start making it a point to get out to play golf soon. If not, then there is not really any good reason for me to keep my membership to Shawnee Golf Club. I enjoy it out there and I want to start playing more. If nothing else, possibly twice a week nine holes each night. I enjoy those short games and playing right after work. The nine holes help to clear the mind and prepare for the next day of work.

Well, until I grill again, I will talk to you later. I will hopefully also post some golf updates before the end of June.

Grilling Recipe... Greek Seafood Salad

This is a follow up to Grilling Ideas that I posted back in early March.

While the weather has not been great for grilling, I have been out once to grill. I went out on Sunday, March 27 after Kansas lost to VCU. It was snowing most of the afternoon and we had planned on doing steaks after KU won... Well, I grilled in the snow and enjoyed our steak dinner after the loss. Other than last Sunday, I have not been out to grill.

Jerry sent me a recipe via email that I wanted to make sure I held on to. He found it on the Weber web site and it sounds really good. I plan on giving it a try. Recipe can be found at http://tinyurl.com/4922oh2 and it looks great! Once I give it a try, I will update to say how it went. It looks fantastic!

Hopefully here soon the weather will get nice again (it has to) and I will be able to golf, grill, and be outside. Until then, have a great day and I will talk later....

No Grilling Yet... Odd Weather!

No, I have not done any grilling yet. I have some recipes and I am ready to go, but the weather here in Kansas has not been very good. Cold, rainy, and not very good to be outside. I do plan on taking some ideas I gathered from the status replies I received from FaceBook (see Grilling Ideas) and using them once it warms up.

The weather through the weekend does not look good at all! Rainy and cold! I am so ready for Spring to continue what it had started a few weeks ago. We did see some nice weather for a few days.... Some days I should have found time to get out to play golf, but as it were, the NCAA tourney was in session and I wanted to watch basketball.

The grilling will begin and I think it will be soon! Along with it, I do plan on starting my golf game too. More on that in another post....

Now, back to watching the Kentucky vs. Ohio State NCAA basketball game. KU already advanced to the Elite Eight.

Grilling Ideas

I wanted to grab a few of the ideas, books, and suggestions on a post I put on FaceBook last week. Collect ideas and hopefully post back on my blog pictures of completed recipes, trial and error, or other issues. This was taken from replies to my status update.

Below are the list of ideas or comments with the names of the submitter removed:

1. Use http://www.allrecipes.com is a good site!


2. http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/grill/


3. Grill zucchini as it is the best!


4. Anything from Bobby Flay from the Food Network is great!


5. Use pineapple to grill. It works on anything... two different people suggested pineapple saying how great it is to grill with. Of course, peppers, onions, etc., are also good to grill with. I have done these in the past, but as a side dish.


6. http://www.weber.com or https://www.kingsford.com


7. The book "Primal Grill" by Steven Raichlen is good!


8. Other books recommended include: BBQ, BARBQ Kansas City Style,SMOKE&SPICE,THE BBQ QUEENS BIG BOOK BARBECUE, and my favorite CHUCKWAGON COOKING FROM MARLBORO COUNTRY
   
   
9. Watch Hy-Vee ads. Chef Alli teams up with Rob Russell to teach amazing BBQ classes.

A lot of information to go through, but I wanted to make sure I had it all recorded so I can go through it later. I plan to use some of the books, web sites, and recipes of course through this Summer. I will take pictures and post my reactions to the recipes.

What to do first, that's the question! Something different I have never done before on the grill I hope!

Happy grilling!