Things I’m into right now:

Eye cream

Champ Cones

Ann Taylor Loft sales

Patios

Humidity

Shorts

Oil of Olay Moisturizer

Mangoes

Flavored beers

Lone Survivor

Pretending I don’t like candy anymore

Grilling

Yes, apparently I’m into grilling so much that in the past two weeks I’ve used up all the propane in my grill’s gas tank – before the season has really even begun! I fired that baby up for a BBQ feast tonight, went to check on it 5 minutes later, and found it cold. Dead. Lifeless. NOOOOOO!

Thank goodness for Griddlers!

In just about the same amount of time, I was able to whip up the exact feast I had planned on giving a good kiss with the grill tonight, right inside my kitchen. BBQ Chicken & Roasted Potatoes.

The basis for the BBQ was this, um, JUG of Big Daddy’s BBQ Sauce that’s currently hogging what I swear feels like 1/4 of our fridge.

Ben picked it up at the BBQ Festival we went to last week, and is a wee bit obsessed.

Case in point: I found a rack of ribs in the freezer earlier this week and said, “Hey maybe I’ll bake some BBQ ribs this week!” to which he replied “BUT NOT WITH MY BIG DADDY’S SAUCE RIGHT? RIGHT?!” Woah, woah, woah…relax!!

I mean!

Eventually he permitted the use of a small portion of the sweet, smokey, spicy sauce to marinate some chicken breasts in, then toss ‘em on the grill Griddler.

Talk about summer classics! This was finger lickin’ good! I can see why Ben is so possessive about that Big Daddy’s sauce – it’s phenomenal.

Oh, want to know my secret for tender, uniformly cooked chicken breasts each and every time? Just pound it out!

Simply use a heavy-bottomed glass, pan or um…something else heavy?…to pound the breasts to a uniform thickness.

It’s the best way I know how to avoid the dreaded cooked-on-top-but-overcooked-on-bottom chicken dilemma.

Works every time!

Now let me tell you about these roasted potatoes – they are so stinkin’ easy.

Print this recipe!

All you do is cook a pierced potato in the microwave until it’s soft all the way through – about 6-7 minutes total, flipping over every 1-2 minutes.

Cut the potato in half, then cut each half into squares. Don’t cut all the way through, just down to the skin.

Season with butter, parmesan cheese and Lowry’s seasoning salt, then pop them into the middle rack of your oven set to broil for 10-15 minutes. Print this recipe!

Crispy, cheesy, salty & creamy.

You can eat these with a fork, but it’s more fun to pull apart the squares and eat them with your fingers. Why not?

Per my love list above, I chopped up a fresh mango for a sweet side to my ‘Q.

Did you know mangoes are the most popular fruit in the world? I believe it. I. am. ob. sessed. Obsessed!

Oh, I’ll give you three guesses as to what Ben wanted me to make him with his griddled chicken breast. Can you say…

BBQ

Chicken

Quesadilla?!

Talk about obsessed!

Well I am off to spend the rest of the evening getting acquainted with my new bike! You know, riding up and down the street, learning the gear and brake quirks, and thinking up cool names for it. I’m thinking…Karen. I have NO idea why.

See ya’!

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What are you into right now?