Backyard BBQ Recipes

I absolutely love barbecued food and just even the essence of backyard barbecuing. BBQ's are a great way to entertain family and friends, while also making great food. This summer I came across a few recipes that are not your typical barbecued food but they are to die for. And that's saying a lot from me considering i’m a very picky eater. Enjoy!

Entrée: 
Grilled Brushetta Chicken
Time: 3 hours to marinate + 20 minutes to grill
Yield: 5 servings 

Recipe 
4-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 C Kraft Light Zesty Italian Salad Dressing (or any other Italian dressing you’d prefer) 
1 pint grape tomatoes 
3 cloves of garlic
1 T olive oil
2 t balsamic vinegar
freshly cracked salt and pepper 
1 1/2 T fresh basil
2 C mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 C Parmesan cheese, grated
8 oz. spaghetti noodles 
2 T butter
salt and pepper 

Directions

1. Throw your chicken breasts and 1 C of the salad dressing into a gallon sized ziploc freezer bag. Carefully seal the bag and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.  

2. Just before you are ready to grill your chicken, make the Bruschetta. Chop all the tomatoes in half and toss them into a medium sized mixing bowl.

3. Peel your garlic and chop it into rough pieces. Then also chop your basil. 

4. Pour in your balsamic vinegar and then drizzle the olive oil over the top. 

5.  Sprinkle some freshly cracked salt and pepper, stir it all up and then taste it. If your tomatoes are lacking in sweetness then add just a bit of sugar, but don’t over kill it with sweetness. Adjust the salt and pepper as well if needed. 

6. Grate the mozzarella cheese.

7.  Head out to the grill and cook your chicken up over medium high heat. While it’s cooking boil some water and cook your spaghetti noodles.

8. When the chicken is cooked through, turn the grills temperature down to low. Place a disposable 9×13 pan onto the grill. Put your cooked chicken into the pan. Cover the chicken with the Bruschetta.

9. Sprinkle it with the Mozzarella cheese and then cover the grill.Let it cook for 7-10 more minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese in nicely melted.

10.  Toss your cooked pasta with 2 T butter and sprinkle it with salt and pepper to taste. Cover the pasta with this beautiful chicken and bruschetta. Sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately. 

Sides: 
Roasted Root Vegetables 
Time: 15 minutes prep + 30-40 minutes to bake 
Yield: 8 servings

Recipe
1 medium sized yam
4 red potatoes
3 large carrots
1 medium onion 
3-4 T olive oil
salt and pepper 

Directions

1. Peel and chop all of the vegetables.

2. Spread them out evenly on a large cooking sheet.

3. Pour the olive oil all over the top of the veggies. 

4. Sprinkle with fresh ground salt 

    and pepper.

5. Using two spoons, toss the vegetables making sure they are all evenly coated with olive oil, salt and pepper. 

6. Bake at 350 degrees, until the vegetables are crisp and tender. This

should take 30-40 minutes. 

Bacon, Cheese and Pea Salad
Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 8 servings

Recipe 
3/4  head iceberg lettuce, chopped

5 strips bacon crumbled
1/2 C peas
1/2 t sugar
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
3/4 C Swiss cheese sliced
2/3 C chopped green onion
1/4 C Miracle Whip Salad Dressing
1/4 C Mayonnaise

Directions
1. Chop up the lettuce. Put it in a large mixing bowl. Put the peas, green onions, and cheese on top. 
2. In a small bowl combine the Miracle Whip and mayonnaise. Add the salt, pepper, and sugar and stir until well mixed. 
3. Just before you are ready to serve the salad add the dressing mixture and bacon to the the lettuce, cheese, peas and green onions. Mix it all up with a large pair of tongs. 

Dessert
S’mores Cookies
Yield: about 90 minutes
Yield: 48 cookies

Recipe 
1 package graham crackers 
6 T butter, melted
1 T sugar
dash salt
1 C butter, softened
2 C brown sugar
2 eggs
2 T milk
2 t vanilla
1 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
3 1/2 C flour
2 1/2 C milk chocolate chips
24 large marshmallows
4 small 1.55 oz Hershey bars 

Directions

1. Break the graham cracker crumbs up into pieces. You can crush your crackers into crumbs by placing them in a gallon sized ziploc bag, sealing the bag securely and then smashing the crumbs with a rolling pin.
2. To your crumbs add 6 T melted butter, 1 T sugar, and a dash of salt. Set aside. 
3. Place your softened butter and brown sugar into a large mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until the ingredients are nicely creamed together, about 2 minutes. 
4. Add your eggs, milk and vanilla and mix for another 2 minutes. 
5. In a separate bowl combine your baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour. Add it to your creamed mixture and mix until combined. Toss in your chocolate chips and mix yet again, just until the chips are evenly distributed.
6. Grab your graham cracker crumbs and pour them into the cookie dough. Using a wooden spoon, or your hand, smash them into the cookie dough.
7. Roll the dough into 2 inch balls, place them on a lightly sprayed cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 6 minutes, or just until the cookies begin to crack. 
8. While your cookies are in the oven, cut the large marshmallows in half.
   
9. Press a marshmallow piece into the center of each hot cookie. Return the sheet to the oven and bake for about 1 1/2 more minutes allowing the marshmallows to puff up.
10. Remove the sheet from the oven. Let the cookies sit for about 2 minutes, then press one Hershey bar piece into the centre of the marshmallow.
11. Remove the cookies from the sheet and allow them to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Indoor Outdoor Living

The natural elements are great inspiration for designing rooms. Earth, wood, water, and fire are four key elements used in design to help balance a space. By taking these natural elements, you can bring the outdoors inside, making a room feel refreshed and calm. An obvious way is to just directly bring plants into your living space to create an outdoorsy ambiance, but here are a few more ideas to add more of a natural setting to your home. 

Fabrics, Textures, and Patterns

Using natural materials made by nature, such as Wicker, Hemp, and Rattan, will give a more comfortable and relaxable vibe in a space.

Natural Flooring

Installing natural cork, bamboo, linoleum, or wood materials into your home will bring a pure, warmth, inviting aroma in your space. Natural flooring is also sustainable, so it's eco-friendly. 

Colours Inspired by the Outdoors

Grass, water, and fresh flowers can all influence natural interior paint colours which will help create a light and fresh feeling in your bathroom, living room, or kitchen. The more well known term “Earth tones”, which is a colour scheme that consists of the colour palette of browns, tans, warm grays, and greens, exemplifies this. 

Natural Lighting 

Not only is natural light free and vitamin D enriched, it is a great way to pour the outdoors into your home. Lighting is also key part of a design and can instantly set the mood of a room. 

Nature as Decor

The littlest things from a wooden framed mirror to jars of beach sand bring the elements of the outdoors in. Photographs are also a great substitution for some elements are not in reach. 

The Rain Chain

Living in Vancouver it can get pretty wet. Annually, we receive about 1117 mm, or 44 inches of rain per year. This is equivalent to the average height of a seven year old boy or girl (Sasamat Outdoor Centre, 2010). Dealing with the rain in style may be tough, but here’s a trendy way to upscale your old gutter downspout in your yard. 

What is a rain chain? A rain chain is an appealing yet functional alternative to the more traditional gutter downspout. Guiding rainwater from your roof to the ground, this method creates a pleasing water feature with its lovely waterfall sound. 

How does a rain chain work? A rain chain works the same as a gutter downspout. Rainwater will travel down to chain where the downspout is located. From there, the rainwater will continue to travel down the chain into copper or brass cups. These cups and chains can come in many different shapes, truly making each rain chain unique. The rainwater follows the continuous pattern of traveling down from chain links to a cup until it reaches the ground. 

Why should I get a rain chain over a gutter downspout? Rain chains create a visual experience. They can be very mesmerizing and add a nice charm to your outdoor space. Also, rain chains are much more functional as they do not clog your drain system with debris and will not leave you with that annoying droplet sound. 

These little waterfalls are great for places like Vancouver who get rain 9 months out of the year. They are a great accessory for any outdoor living space. Here are a few websites that I found had the best designs: 

-   rainchains.com
-   rainchainsuperstore.com
-   hayneedle.com/rainchains

Citation
Unknown . "Get Outside - It’s Raining!" Sasamat Outdoor Centre. 20 April 2010.<https://sasamat.org/cgi/page.cgi?aid=63&_id=29&zine=sh>

5 Ways To Reuse Fall Leaves

Since Fall has arrived and leaves are falling like rain, here are three ways to reuse those leaves in an eco-friendly manner.
   
 1. The Leaf Latern

This is a project I remember doing for arts & crafts in elementary school. It’s very fun and easy, and the final product creates a warm glow making the perfect fall decor. For this project, you will need:

• dried, pressed fall leaves
• regular Mod Podge
• a jar 
• a brush

Step 1: To create dried, pressed leaves, place them in between the pages of newsprint and let them sit for about a week (the longer the better). If your leaves are wet, dry them off before placing in newsprint. 

Step 2: Apply Mod Podge all over the sides of the jar. Do not apply to the bottom or the grooved lid area. I recommend using a foam brush to cover large areas like this. 

Step 3: Place your dry leaf onto the jar and press into place. Brush over the leaf with more Modge Podge until it is covered. 

Step 4: Continue to add leaves and Modge Podge until your jar is covered. Keep in mind that if you do overlap leaves, that will reduce the light that can pass though.

Step 5: Let the jar dry for several hours or overnight. Overspray with acrylic spray to set everything in place and give it that glossy coat. When done, place a tea light in the bottom and you are done! 

2. The Fall Leaf Wreath

Wreath’s are a great way to bring the lovely colours of autumn to your home. It can add warmth and vibrance to any space. For this project, you will need:

• preserved leaves (about 5-7 stems of leaves)
• a basic wreath frame (from grapevines, a coat hanger, styrofoam, etc..)
• floral wire or hot glue gun 
• ribbon (optional)

Step 1: If you wish to make your frame out of a coat hanger, simply stretch the coat hanger out into a circle. Pull the wire down from the middle of the straight part of the hanger, and then gently push the sides of the hanger inwards to make the wreath frame as circular as possible. Leave the hook part of the hanger intact so you can use it to hang the wreath up. You can purchase a grapevine or styrofoam frame from your local dollar store or craft store. 

Step 2: Attach the leaves, by branch or individually, to the wire base. This can be done by hot gluing the stems onto the frame or by using floral wire and tying the leaves to the frame. 

Step 3: Continue to attach the leaves all around until you can no longer see the frame. 

Step 4 (this step is optional): Make a bow out of ribbon and attach it over the the section where the the hook or any other hanger is located. This will give your wreath a more finished look and hid the remaining wire. 

  3. Leaf Art

This is a great arts & crafts project for kids. I always used to do this activity with the kids I babysit as it is super easy and allows them to be creative. For this project, all you will need is:

• soft, not too crisp leaves
• any size/colour paper 
• a black marker
• glue stick 

Step 1: Collect different coloured and sized leaves. 

Step 2: Glue leaves down on your piece of paper with and animal or person in mind. 

Step 3: Now add more leaves on top to create the features, or use a black marker.   

4. Stuff-a-pumpkin

Just in time for Halloween, this is a great way to get rid of those leaves that are stacked up in your yard right now. All you need for this project are Halloween leaf bags, which can be purchased at your local dollar and crafts stores, and a rake. With a few simple steps, your yard will become spooky in no time!

Step 1: Rake leaves into piles. The more leaves you rake, the more fuller the objects on the bags will become.

Step 2: Stuff the Halloween bags with the leaves to create simple Halloween decorations. 

If you like this idea, but cannot find the right Halloween leaf bags, simply take a garbage bag (and follow the same steps above) and you can spray paint a jack-o-lantern face on it to get the same effect. 

5. Leaf Silhouette 

This project can create great fall artwork for your home. I love silhouette’s because they can be so simply and featureless, but make beautiful compositions. For this piece, you will need:

• a canvas or piece of paper
• dry leaves
• paint (colour of your choice)
• toothbrush

Step 1: Cover your work surface with old newspaper and place the leaves as you wish on your canvas or paper. 

Step 2: Dip a tooth brush into paint. Hold over your project and use your finger to brush across the bristles, splattering the paint onto the canvas or paper. Splatter a good amount of paint across the leaves. 

Step 3: Carefully remove the leaves and leave to dry. 

Personal Paradise

Growing up surrounded by luscious green forests has defiantly influenced my outdoorsy personality and style. Natural environments can create such a serene and refreshing setting to one’s home. As a true extension of a home, a backyard can create a warm, cozy, inviting space providing additional outdoor living space. 

Although backyards can be often overlooked as a part of a home, if properly landscaped, backyards can encourage to spend time with family and friends through conversation and relaxation. Outdoor living spaces have become areas for recreation for all ages as well as relaxation. We have a world of enjoyment only a few steps away, in which is an important escape for everyone not just kids. 

Backyards have become a great multipurpose area for entertaining, relaxing, and recreation. Today, many features that used to be just for the indoors, such as fire places and kitchen equipment, are finding their way into backyard designs. Provided being well planned, designed, and constructed, a backyard can become simple yet picturesque, adding additional financial value to your home. 

So whether it’s a family BBQ, or just another sunny day, create the backyard you need for your everyday life.