Livin' the Dream in Lima

So today totally felt like summer. Besides that whole I-had-to-work-today  thing. No worries guys... only 50 days of school until sweet, sweet summer. Not that I'm counting. Seriously! Today was 72*F and sunny! I met a friend to run this morning, and we had an awesome run. But then the weather was just perfect after school so I had to head out again. First double in quite some time... college perhaps? (We used to do 2-a-days every Tuesday & Thursday.) We even broke out the grill tonight... and grilled up some BBQ Chicken Quesadillas. Another twist on a classic. Charred to perfection. Just some grilled chicken breast, monterey jack cheese, Sweet Baby Ray's, and leftover caramelized onions. And a bit of cilantro. YUM! I'm thinking we'll have another variation on these 'dillas tomorrow night... buffalo chicken, perhaps?  In other news, can anyone guess what important holiday is tomorrow?! Hint hint - I'll be celebrating with some of this . And...

Ehhh... I know. Lame title. But we grilled quesadillas ! Which then makes it a quesa-grilla! Ever since we got our new grill, I've been super excited to grill some non-traditional foods. Fruit, romaine, and pizza are all on the "must-try" list. Last night we thought we'd try our hands at grilled quesadillas. I found a recipe for S teak Teriyaki Quesadillas in the latest Taste of Home magazine and went with it. The steak is marinated in a teriyaki style marinade, then grilled to perfection. It's then sliced and combined with chopped green pepper, red onion, and fresh pineapple.  Then stacked onto a tortilla and topped with mozzarella cheese! (And some bacon because we had some in the fridge... mwa ha ha...) Then, it's just returned to the grill for a few minutes to melt the cheese. Oh, and get those beeeautiful grill marks. Sweet from the teriyaki, smoky from the steak, crisp on the outside, gooey cheese on the inside...

Exciting times are a'happening here in the Bean Town. Summer is in full swing, and with it the heat and humidity have arrived. So we did what most normal people would do when it's 91*F with 91% humidity - buy a new patio set so that we can spend more time outside! :-P Not that we didn't like our old patio set; it just wasn't all that practical for entertaining. (The old one is still hanging out in the garage for those times when we have lots of people over.) Pretty! And very comfortable, if I do say so myself. New blogging station? There's even an outlet! And we finally upgraded from this guy: Cute baby grill! To this guy! Grown-up manly man grill! And of course we had to christen our new grill with our dinner selection tonight... Mango Mahi Mahi Tacos . AH!! MANGO! There's really not a recipe for these tacos, but we looove them. You have to live near a Meijer , though. We use their pre-marinated mango mahi mahi, then top it wit...

One of my favorite things about summer is grilling. It just screams summer.  Since we've been gone most of the month of June, we haven't gotten to use our grill very much yet. (And yes, we are still using the baby grill that can hold about 4 burgers. Plans to get a big boy/grill are in the very near future.) That all changed last night, with a twist on the classic burger. After seeing so many Greek-ish recipes floating around the internet, I decided to do a Greek-inspired burger. And yum-O! These were fabulous! The burger is made up of a mixture of beef, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, oregano, parsley, garlic, and breadcrumbs. Pretty nutritious, actually. It's topped with a feta aioli, which complements the burger perfectly. We topped the burgers with some spinach, more sun-dried tomatoes, and grilled onion rings. Served on pita or naan bread, it's a winner! And yes, it's all pretty lying on the pita bread like in the pictures above, but not rea...