End of summer BBQ and a giveaway!

So, Loblaw sent 2 great little packages, one for me, and one for a lucky reader! Perfect additions for one last BBQ before the coldness consumes our fair country.

Ingredients:
chillies
garlic
honey
soy sauce
Diana Gourmet bbq sauce
chicken
avocado
cucumbers
tomatoes
romain lettuce
Kraft Ranch dressing
grilled shrimp

Guidelines

For the Chicken:
Mash the garlic and chillies together

Then add the mixture to the bottled bbq sauce with some honey and soy sauce.

Add your preferred seasonings to the chicken, I just kept it simple with a few herbs and garlic seasoning, then put the pieces in the oven until about 3/4 cooked.
We used a small coal grill, and I must admit that the taste was better than using a gas powered grill! Once the chicken is almost fully cooked, paste the sauce onto each piece until fully cooked.

For the salad:
Mash an avocado and mix into the Ranch dressing.
Add the chopped cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes together in a bowl, add sliced avocados.
Mix the salad dressing into the salad, and garnish with the grilled shrimp.

Serve with Tostitos, Cranberry juice, and have some Jello for desert!

For the giveaway…
courtesy of *Eat Well Save More from Loblaw*

Open to Ontario residents only, email me for a chance to win in a random draw next week Monday!

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Snackalicious - Top 5 of my favorite “easy-to-perpare” snacks

Wasabi Peas (although the ones that I have seem more like chick peas than green peas) are quite interesting tasting and somewhat addictive.

Hershey’s premium dark chocolate chips – these are not very sweet, and makes a very yummy treat when you’re craving chocolate.

Blue Corn Chips and Spinach dip – umm, YUM! And as a side note, that spinach dip can be used for practically everything, from stuffed eggs, to noodles for the kids!

Miss Vickies Sweet Chili & Sour Cream – Quite frankly the best chips in the world!

But best of all, is this lovely little dish, thanks to my sister’s co-worker, it’s Vinta crackers with a mixture of Light cream cheese and orange marmalade... friends, you really MUST try this, it’s the-best-snack-evah!!!

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Roasted Veggie Sandwich

I am not really a sandwich person – I am one of those few people that do not particularly enjoy bread – but if I do make sandwiches, they have to be good sandwiches! Grilled Veggie Panini is my favorite, but as I don’t have a Panini maker, nor the time to grill my veggies, I made roasted veggie sandwiches on toasted onion buns.

Ingredients
Onion buns
Portobello mushrooms (which happen to be my favorite, but you can use which ever type you prefer, just please do not used canned ones… in fact, please don’t even buy that stuff!)
Red bell peppers
Zucchinis
Onion (Vidalia is good)
Pimentos (or real peppers, depending on how hot you want it)
Vine-ripened tomatoes (or, you know, regular ones)
Olive oil
Dijonnaise (or Mayo with honey mustard, or dijon)
Cheese (whatever kind you desire)

Guidelines:

Chop all the veggies into a glass baking dish, add salt and black pepper to taste, then drizzle a generous amount of olive oil over top.

Broil the veggies, uncovered, at 300 degrees Fahrenheit, for about 2 hours, or until roasted (but NOT burnt – ovens behave differently, so you’ll have to keep an eye on it).

Once veggies are done, place strips of cheese over top.

Paste Dijonnaise on the toasted buns and add the roasted veggies.

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Strawberry & Portobello Salad

I don’t know about you, but to me, summer means barbecue! And, well, sun and all that too, but mostly a grill! Not that I personally grill anything, because, seriously, this why we have men right?! I don’t think I have ever met a man that didn’t like to grill stuff… I think there was one summer where my husband was forced nicely asked to literally grill dinner every single day, you know, for like the month or so that it was actually warm here in the great white north!

Anyway, I also really love summer salads, I tend to make a few different ones, but this one had to be one of my favorites, especially because I love portobello mushrooms (on a side note, portobello mushroom soup – totally yum!!).

Ingredients:
Baby Spinach (any type of greens, Romano lettuce, or Arugula – I like to use bitter greens for this)
Strawberries
Portobello mushrooms
Vidalia Onion Dressing (I bought it in a bottle, but if you feel adventurous you can make your own!)
Cucumbers

Guidelines:

Toss chopped strawberries, cucumbers, and greens together in a bowl.
In a saucepan, saute the mushrooms in olive oil, until cooked to your liking.
When you’re serving the salad, add the dressing and then add the mushrooms on top (you could let it cool for a bit, but I actually prefer it warm).
Done!

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Spicy Tomato Lamb

I love lamb, I must have mentioned that previously, and as a result, will try almost any lamb recipe… I saw one for Lamb shanks in spicy tomato sauce, which of course I just had to try, albeit modified from this version (her photo is sooo much more appetizing!).

Ingredients:
Lamb pieces (I used small chops, because I feel like they cook faster and taste pretty good)
canned tomato sauce
tomatoes
garlic
onion
honey
rosemary
thyme
peppers
olive oil
peppers (I used cherry peppers)

Guidelines:

Add the herbs, chopped onions, and crushed garlic to the lamb, add a little olive oil and rub into the meat
Add in a little honey, the tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, chopped peppers and salt (according to your taste) and mix well
In a covered, glass baking dish, bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour, then uncover the dish, and cook for another few mins until the lamb is fully cooked, or to your liking

I served with rice and salad. You could also add a little curry to it (which I tend to add to many dishes, but I didn’t add it to this one), instead I added a little honey, which, together with the pepper and salt tends to counteract the “tomato-ish” taste.

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