Watermelon, Feta and Arugula Salad #CookoutWeek

It is almost the weekend and a long weekend at that.  The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. I am hoping to get some fireworks in but not sure if Miss O will be OK with all of the loud booms.  Other than the fireworks there will be walks, playing at the beach and lots of cookouts. 

I am hoping this salad will make an appearance. I first tried a watermelon, feta, arugula salad when we were on vacation in Disney. It was amazing with a bit of sweet and a bit of salty.

This salad is perfect for picnics or any gathering because you can make it ahead of time.  arugula is a bit bitter.  The watermelon pieces help with the bitterness but so does the salad dressing. I like to dress the salad about an hour before serving. This lets the flavors soak into the watermelon, feta and wilts the arugula just a bit cutting the bitterness.  

This is the last post for #CookoutWeek 2016 and the last chance for you to sign up for the giveaway from all of our cool #CookoutWeek sponsors.

• The French Farm
• True Made Foods
• Swine Dining
• Perfect Pickler
• Fungus Among Us
• Dr. Praeger’s Sensible Foods
• Maple Leaf Farms

What are you plans for the 4th of July weekend?

Watermelon Feta Arugula Salad

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Keywords: raw salad watermelon feta arugula

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Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (2 lemons)
• 1/4 cup minced shallots (1 large)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 cup good olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 cups baby arugula, washed and spun dry
• 1/8 th seedless watermelon, rind removed, and cut in 1-inch cubes
• 12 ounces good feta cheese, 1/2-inch diced

Instructions

Whisk together the orange juice, lemon juice, shallots, honey, salt, and pepper.

Slowly pour in the olive oil, whisking constantly, to form an emulsion. If not using within an hour, store the vinaigrette covered in the refrigerator.

Place the arugula, watermelon, and feta in a large bowl. Drizzle with enough vinaigrette to coat the greens lightly and toss well. Taste for seasonings and serve immediately.

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Spicy Smoked Chicken Legs #CookoutWeek

We are having so much fun with the new smoker. To be honest, I kind of poo pooed it at first. Although we have a small one it is still quite a big space hog in our garage.  Plus it is time consuming to use. When we are going to use it we have to plan out the afternoon or even day to make sure we are around to monitor the smoker. It was just another thing to think about and deal with...I am trying really hard to minimize what I deal with these days.

Well we made these chicken legs and I went to heave. They were so good. The flavor of the smoking process made these chicken leg irresistible.  Never, ever will I criticize the smoker.

We seasoned the chicken with a wet slurry inside the chicken skin and then added additional seasoning on the outside of each leg before smoking.  The wet slurry really infused the flavor into the chicken and kept the meat moist.

We like a bit of spicy heat in our food and these chicken legs at a bite with the addition of paprika and True Made Foods Veracha sauce.  The Veracha sauce as you probably guess is a variation of Sirracha sauce only so much better.  True Made Foods makes their sauces using real vegetables, real food. Since having Miss O we have become even more adamant about eating healthy, particularly limiting the amount of processed foods. True Made Foods fits the bill with using real food, no additional sugar. Plus it is made in the US by Veterans.  How's that for a 4th of July recipe. 

Being just 3 of us this recipe made a ton.  However a couple of days after cooking these chicken legs I found myself eating the last leg, much to Mr. J's dismay.  I cannot wait for another lazy weekend to smoke so more of these chicken legs.

Smoked Spicy Chicken Legs

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 15 minutes, plus smoke time

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Keywords: smoke grill bbq chicken

Ingredients (serves 8)

• 2-3 Lbs of chicken legs
• 2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 2 teaspoons pepper,divided
• 2 Tablespoons garlic powder, divided
• 2 Tablespoons onion powder, divided
• 2 Tablespoons paprika, divided
• 1 cup True Made Foods Veracha sauce

Instructions

In a small bowl mix together 1/2 each of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and True Made Foods Veracha sauce to create a slurry mixture.

In another small bowl mix together the remaining 1/2 of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika.

Spread spice slurry beneath the skin of the drumsticks.

Season outside of drumsticks with the other bowl of remaining dry ingredients.

Smoke at 160 degrees for 2 hours (We used alder chips.)

Transfer chicken to preheated grill and cook at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Brush on True Made Food Veracha sauce in the last five minutes of grilling.

Serve immediately.

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Strawberry Cheesecake Popsicles #CookoutWeek

This is the third recipe for #CookoutWeek 2016. Be sure to check out the giveaway for some cool, summer cookout supplies.

Wednesday! Hump day!  This week needs to fly by.  The last two days have dragged on a bit. It must be because I am looking forward to the long holiday weekend.

I needed to make a quick trip to Florida this week.  Boy is Florida hot. I don't even think it was so hot for them but I couldn't take it. As soon as I went outside I wanted to run back into the A/C.  All this hot weather made me crave any and everything that would help me cool off.  

I got a popsicle mold this year and have been hankering for the chance to whip up my first batch of popsicles.   Well after sweltering in Florida for a few days I knew the time had come. Being my first attempt I went with a pretty easy recipe.  We had fresh strawberries and I wanted something creamy.  Thus these strawberry cheesecake popsicles fit the bill.

There are no crazy ingredients.  Everything is thrown into the blender and then whipped up together.  So easy!  To make it more cheesecake like, I added some graham cracker crumbs to the top (bottom?) of the popsicles after the mixture is poured into the molds.  I think that is my favorite part.  

I had such a good time making these popsicles. I have about a million more recipes ready to go on a Pinterest board. I cannot wait to try them.

Strawberry Cheesecake Popsicles

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: Freeze for 4 hours

Keywords: no bake dessert strawberry summer

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Ingredients (makes 10 popsicles)

• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
• 2 cups strawberries, halved
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter until a crumbly, moist mixture forms; set aside.

In a blender or the bowl of a food processor, combine cream cheese, strawberries, confectioners’ sugar, milk and Greek yogurt.

Scoop the mixture evenly into popsicle molds, leaving 1-inch for the crust. Press graham cracker crumb mixture over the top of each mold, using your fingertips to gently press the crumbs into the batter. Add popsicle sticks to the center of each cup.

Place into freezer until fully frozen, at least 4 hours.

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Pulled Pork Sandwiches #CookoutWeek

We made the ultimate pulled pork sandwiches this weekend.  They were good for so many reasons. First the recipe for the pulled pork is for a crock pot.  You basically do two steps and you get a pot full of pulled pork.  

When making the pulled pork we used a new BBQ sauce from True Made Foods.  I think it might be a new favorite.  True Made Foods uses vegetables to make their products taste better and to sweeten them naturally, cutting added sugar in half. Have you ever look seen how much sugar is in BBQ sauce? Even thought there is half the added sugar of leading brands, the BBQ taste is amazing.

Second, the bun is brioche. Love brioche.

Finally the sandwich is layered with cheese and broccoli coleslaw.  This adds some crunch with the pulled pork.

Best. Sandwich. Ever.

*True Made Foods provided me with a sample pack of three sauces, including this BBQ.  All opinions are my own. 

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: plus 15 hours in the slow cook

Keywords: slow-cooker bbq pork

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Ingredients (Makes 8 sandwiches)

For the Pulled Pork:

• 4 lbs pork roast (shoulder or butt)
• 2 large onions
• 1 bottle True Made Foods barbecue sauce
• Extra barbecue sauce, for serving

For the Sandwiches:

• 8 slices sharp cheddar cheese
• 8 brioche hamburger buns
• 1 lb broccoli coleslaw

Instructions

For the Pulled Pork:

Put in the roast and cover with water. Cover and cook on LOW for about 10 hours overnight.

Remove the meat and discard all liquid. With two forks, shred the meat, discarding any remaining fat, bones or skin. Most of the fat will have melted away.

Put sliced onion into the clean slow cooker bowl. Return the shredded meat to the bowl and stir in the barbecue sauce. Continue to cook for another 3 to 4 hours on LOW.

Assemble the sandwich:

Lightly toast brioche buns.

Place a slice of cheddar cheese on the bottom of the bun. Top with a large pile of the BBQ pulled pork. Add broccoli slaw and cover with top of bun. Serve immediately.

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Smoked BBQ Ribs #CookoutWeek

Welcome to day one of #CookoutWeek! If you haven't seen the giveaway going on, check it out here.  There are all sorts of cool BBQ prizes to win.

It worked out well that #CookoutWeek coincided with us using our new smoker for the first time. Mr. J has been hankering for some BBQ and there was no time like the present to give ribs a try.  We used country style bone-in pork ribs but you could use any type of pork rib. (You may need to adjust the cooking time accordingly)

Before smoking we covered all of the ribs with Swine Dining's Wimpy BBQ rub.  This rub was perfect for us since we were going to share with Miss O. Although most of the time she likes hot and spicy food,  you never know with a toddler.  With this sweet rub we didn't have to worry about her closing her mouth and shaking her head "no" at dinner time.

You can make your own rub but when you are trying to prep for dinner it is easiest to go with a pre-made mixture.  Swine Dining makes every batch by hand to ensure quality and freshness.  You only need to open the container and smell to know this is true.  

We have a smaller electrical smoker. It doesn't get hot enough to cook the ribs thoroughly enough to eat right from the smoker so we grilled ours to finish them off.  Of course, I think grilling also adds another flavor dimension to the ribs so we probably would have done so anyway.

After about 5-7 minutes on each side we added BBQ sauce and the meal was done.

Smoked BBQ Ribs

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours, plus grill time

Keywords: smoke grill pork bbq summer

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Ingredients (serves 8)

• 2-3 lbs country style pork ribs
• 2-3 oz Swine Dining Wimpy's BBQ rub
• 1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce

Instructions

Rub liberally with Swine Dining's Wimpy's BBQ rub seasoning.

Smoke with hickory chips for 2 hours at 160 degrees.

Grill at 400 for 5-7 minutes per side.

Finish with your favorite BBQ sauce and serve immediately.

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* I recieved a sample pack of Swine Dinig's rubs and seasonings for this post.  All opinions are my own.

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Annoucing #CookoutWeek 2016 and a Giveaway

I am so excited that it is finally summer, and you know what that means - picnics, BBQs, camping, pool parties, and... cookouts! This year, we've got something special to celebrate! I've joined forces with around 50 of our blogging friends to bring you #CookoutWeek - an entire week filled with yummy summer recipes perfect for your next cookout, along with a fun giveaway, courtesy of some awesome sponsors. It's super easy to enter, and one lucky winner will get:

• Char-Broil American Gourmet 600 Series Charcoal Grill (see specs here!)
• Edmond Fallot Dijon Mustard, French Farm Butcher Salt Box, & Confit of Figs & Balsamic Vinegar from The French Farm
• Sauce 3-Pack (Ketchup, BBQ, Veracha) from True Made Foods
• Wimpy's BBQ Rub, Dilly Dust Seasoning, and Cheryl's Jamaican Me Hungry Seasoning from Swine Dining
• A Perfect Pickler Kit from Perfect Pickler
• A gift basket of products from Fungus Among Us
• A gift bag of products from Dr. Praeger’s Sensible Foods
• All Natural Boneless Duck Breasts, Fully Cooked Roast Half Ducks w/Orange Sauce, Duck Bacon, Duck Wing Drummettes from Maple Leaf Farms

It's pretty much everything you need to host an awesome cookout this summer. It's a prize pack worth over $300! Thank you so much to all of the wonderful sponsors listed above, who have made #CookoutWeek possible. Enter now: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Don't forget to check back throughout the week with all of the bloggers participating to get some yummy #CookoutWeek recipes. Here's the full list of participating bloggers: The PinterTest Kitchen • 2 Cookin' Mamas • A Day in the Life on the Farm • addicted 2 recipes • Aimee Broussard & Co. • Amy's Cooking Adventures • Angels Home Sweet Homestead • Bakin' and Eggcerpts • Balancing Motherhood • Body Rebooted • Cheese Curd In Paradise • Cindy's Recipes and Writings • Cook With 5 Kids • Cook. Craft. Love. • Cookaholic Wife • Cricket's Confections • Crumb: A Food Blog • Eat, Drink, Be Healthy! • Everyday Eileen • Fairyburger • Food Parsed • Get the Good Stuff! • Goodie Godmother • Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks • Home in the Finger Lakes • Jennifer Cooks • Jessie Weaver • Kate's Recipe Box • Life on Food • Little House Big Alaska • Little Scratch Kitchen • Making Miracles • Moore or Less Cooking • Rhubarb and Honey • Savvy In The Kitchen • Seduction in the Kitchen • Simple Food 365 • Style Island • Thanks for Cookin'! • The Food Hunter's Guide To Cuisine • The Hungary Buddha Eats the World • The Spiffy Cookie • The Weekday Gourmet • This is How I Cook • Tramplingrose • Vintage Kitty • West Via Midwest Looking forward to sharing some yummy recipes with all of our readers. :)