Spicy Sausage BBQ Packets

Oh BBQ season. Probably the favorite season in our household. It might have to do with the fact that we have no air conditioner and hate heating up our house with the stove or maybe that I need quick meals to feed Chris before he heads to one of his ball games. Either way, this super quick meal does the trick!

This can basically be done with any protein or even just vegetables if that's your style! Digging around in my freezer after work I found a package of spicy Italian sausage. So that's what I used!

Start with laying out a peice of tin foil and giving it a little oil. Two feed the two of us (with leftovers for lunch) I grabbed 3 russet potatoes and sliced them into rounds. Make a layer of potatoes directly on the oiled foil and season with what you like best. In this case I gave them a bit of seasoning salt and fresh dill and Italian parsley. The sausage is quite salty, so season accordingly.

Fresh Dill and Parsley from the garden too!

On top of the seasoned potatoes I sliced up one small onion and added that to the mix. This onion made me cry like a heart broken school girl, mascara running and all. But I powered through!  Layer the onion on top.

Using the thawed, but raw, sausage, I cut it into nice bite sized pieces. Set those on top of the onions and that is it! Peppers or mushrooms would have been great to add, but I didn't have any so it was just meat and potatoes for us!

Mmm, raw meat!

Tear off another, smaller, piece of foil and place it directly on top of your layered mixture. Roll of the edges to give yourself a nice tight little BBQ packet.

Place these on your medium preheated BBQ (after the wedding I hope that our BBQ has actual temperature setting *hint hint*) and leave them for about 30 minutes. They should puff up pretty good and look like hot little tinfoil pillows! Remove from the heat and enjoy!

*Do not rest head on these pillows*

I topped mine with a nice dollop of sour cream (another favorite of ours). Delicious!

The Rules

Ingredients - 3 or 4 medium to large potatoes,  washed with the skin left on
- One medium onion
- 5 spicy Italian sausages
- Herbs and seasoning to your preference

Directions
- Oil a large piece of tinfoil.  Slice potatoes and make a thin layer on the foil. Season with seasoning salt and fresh herbs. Slice an onion and layer on top. Chop up the sausage in bite sized pieces and place on top. Add another piece of foil to the top and roll the edges inwards.

- Place BBQ packets on a medium temperature BBQ and coom for 30 minutes.

- Remove packets from the grill and enjoy!

Happy summer!

Love,  Jen

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Hello! I have missed you!  Sorry I haven't been around lately, I have been a really busy lady! I have been planning a wedding.  My wedding!  I have been DIYing, planning, and hopefully creating the perfect day.  Hand made invitations, centerpieces, decor, even a veil! It all has kept me very busy, and after the big day in July I will share some of what I did.  I can't wait!

In the interim, here is a favorite recipe for when you need to quickly whip up something for a when a sweet tooth hits!  If you are like me, you double the recipe and end up with 80 cookies.  My friends, family, and coworkers (and family's coworkers) were all very happy with me.

Most people are likely to have all the ingredients needed for this at home, so it doesn't really have to be a plan ahead cookie.  Plus, no bake = easy! Butter, cocoa, milk, peanut butter, vanilla, sugar, and oats.  That is all you need for these!

Start off by lining baking sheets with wax or parchment paper.  If you are doubling up, might just be easier to line an entire counter top with parchment since you will end up using every last cookie sheet, pizza pan, and eventually the counter anyway.

Melt your butter in a large pot and add the sugar, cocoa, and milk.

I didn't say these were good for you...

Bring this to a boil (but watch closely; this is very easy to burn).

Once you are at a boil, add the peanut butter, vanilla, and oats, remove it from the heat, and mix it up really well.  If you think that it looks a little too runny, add more oats.  When you spoon it out, it should flatten slightly, but you still want to be able to pick it up like a cookie.

Warning: Too hot to eat!

Make the cookies whatever size you feel like you want, but a regular batch should make about 40 decent sized cookies.  Grab a spoon, and spoon it out onto your covered counter/cookie sheets.  You will want to leave these to completely cool before moving as they will fall apart when warm (but feel free to taste test).  Once mine were completely cool, I transferred in to Tupperware and popped them in the freezer.  We ate them frozen more than taking them out to thaw.  They don't freeze completely solid, so the perfect little cool sweet treat!

Cookie sheet, pizza pan, silicone mat.. anything goes!

The Rules:

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Butter

2 Cups Sugar

4 TBSP Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1/2 Cup Milk

1 Cup Peanut Butter

1 TBSP Vanilla

2 Cups Oats

Directions:

Line cookie sheets with wax or parchment paper.

Melt butter in a large pot.  Add sugar, milk, and cocoa powder.  Bring to a boil.

Add peanut butter, vanilla, and oats and remove from heat.  Mix until completely combined.

Drop spoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet and allow to cool completely.  Keeps great in the freezer!

Enjoy!

- Jen

Rustic String Art Deer

This fall when I was visiting my mom at her place in Nipawin I made a stop in at Twisted Tree.  It is one of my favorite places.  It is full of housewares, clothing, purses, and some pretty cool art.  While I was there I saw this tiny little 8x10 string art.  I thought, "man I could make that!"  Off I went back to my mom and Bernie's (who are currently building a beautiful house and happen to have their own lumber mill) and found some cedar planks to take home.  They are actually from an old cedar power pole!  A quick stop at Canadian Tire for some nails and jute and a little help from Chris and voila!

I had Chris's help with the base.  I measured the planks to the length I wanted and had him cut and then lined them up so they fit the best, I was going for rustic and imperfect which I think I achieved! We took a large piece of chip board left over from some other project and secured the cedar planks to it.  We went a little overboard which made things a little heavy, if I were to do it again I would maybe make three small strips of chipboard to attach the planks to.  We covered the whole thing and left about a 1 inch border.

These boards aren't going anywhere!

I have seen different techniques for laying out the nails and I probably used the most difficult way.  While some people are smart and print out some kind of stencil to use, or use some kind of projector to throw the image on to the boards, I pulled up a silhouette on my phone and free handed it with a giant pencil.  My boards totaled in at about 3 feet high by 2 feet wide (roughly) and I though it would be smart to just draw it.  My proportions were off three or four times before I finally got it.  Pencil and light marks are important here.  While most of it will get covered with string or nails, you dont want to be able to see your sketch.  Especially if this will be more of a desk or nightstand project.

Close enough.

None of this project is hard in a technical sense, everyone can stencil and hammer, but this step was the most tedious.  Get yourself a box of finishing type nails, they sell them in different finishes so pick whatever you like, and start nailing.  Pick any spot and hammer the nails about 1/3 of the way into the wood.  You will need enough out to wrap multiple strings around, but also enough in to hold everything in place with the tension from wrapping.  Place them evenly spaced apart, about an inch (depending on the size of project). Have fun around those tight places!  When you have a lot of detail in one section, place the nails a little bit closer.

More nails.

More nails.

Phew.  That should do.

The next part is pretty fun.  There are no rules to it.  Tie a little knot with the jute around a single nail and start criss-crossing and winding and wrapping.  Every nail should be wrapped more than once, and going in a row for a little bit around detailed sections helps create a shape.  Every now and then I would do a total loop around one single nail to lock everything in place.  I used just over one roll of jute (way cheaper at Canadian Tire than at a craft store! Plus same aisle as the nails. Win.) and when I ran out I tied the end of the new roll to it and kept winding.  I didn't take any photos while I was winding (hands were too busy with all the string) but here are some close ups of different sections so you get the idea.  When I thought it was full looking enough for me I just cut the jute from the roll and tied a tiny knot on one of the nails.  If you tuck the knot in beneath some other string you can't even see it.

Antler Madness!

Yeah, check out that neck curve.

Complete!

Have fun and be creative with this one! You can do almost anything and they look amazing once finished!

Supplies Needed:

- Wood for base and for securing together.

- One or two rolls of Jute (depending on the size of the project)

- Box of finishing nails

Love,

Jen