Jamaica

Some model I took a picture of to the left. People at the resort said she didn't look old enough to retire!!

Our favorite 4 chairs poolside. got up early every morning to reserve and had some excellent quite reading time at sunrise.

The pool view from our room. However, we spent more time at the other pool as this one was more kid friendly.

There she is again! and with a strap down!!!

Anyway, just a few pics from the trip. We had a great time, and could have stayed a couple more days, I'm sure.

Fabulous low-carb, low-fat grilling

Here are the recipes from what Casey and I grilled tonight:

Grilled Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms

2-3 large portabella mushrooms (4 inches wide)
1/2 can artichoke hearts, drained & chopped
1/4 c. cream cheese (we used low-fat)
1/8 c. sour cream (we used fat-free)
1 T grated parmesean cheese
1 T lemon juice (fresh is best!)
1/2 T minced garlic
1 T chopped fresh basil
1/2 large green onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. hot sauce (optional, for you mom!)
salt and pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients except mushrooms. "Clean out" mushrooms...get rid of stem, inside matter so you can stuff them. Spray bottoms of mushrooms with cooking spray. Divide stuffing among the mushrooms. Grill for 7-8 minutes or until mushrooms are soft and topping is hot.

Grilled Rainbow Bell Peppers

1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 c. olive oil
1/2 c. fresh basil, finely chopped
3 large sweet peppers - red and/or yellow

Place all ingredients but peppers in a blender. Blend to a saucy consistency. Cut up peppers into quarters. Place peppers into gallon-size bag and pour oil mixture over it. Close bag and shake, then let sit to marinate until grill is ready. Grill 7-8 minutes until skin is lightly charred.

Grilled Tilapia on Cedar Planks

1-2 cedar grilling planks, soaked in water
2-4 pieces of tilapia
1 T olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 T lemon pepper seasoning
1 T dill seasoning (i use Pampered Chef Dill mix, but dried dill works, too)
1 T garlic salt
Pinch of kosher or sea salt

Soak grilling planks up to 2 hours before grilling. We soak for about 45 minutes usually giving time to get rest of food ready and they are just fine and don't burn up. Mix up the ingredients except tilapia. Place tilapia in gallon-bag and pour mixture over it. Toss lightly, then flatten out and let it marinate a little while until grill is ready. Place planks in grill for 3-5 minutes to heat up, then place fish on planks, cover, and grill for 20 minutes.

Tonight, we put fish on and let cook for 12 minutes, then added the peppers and mushrooms to the grill. All were done at same time and were fabulous!!!!

Few more from O'Fallon

A few more pictures to share

Visit to the Brueseke's

Just wanted to post a few pictures we've taken while visiting Boden, Claire, and family. We've had 2-3 days of nice weather, and even gotten to go out with Claire.

Our Labor Day Painting Project

Well, we have had this paint for about 8 months and finally got around to painting the office. I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out. We used a "paint stick" which allows you to keep painting and it pumps paint into the roller as you go. It was wonderful and I can't imagine not using it every time we paint from now on. Though, I really DIDN'T use it because Mr. Gadget (Casey) was so excited to use a new "toy" that he ended up doing the whole room while I did the trim work. Oh well, we had fun and had the whole thing done start to finish in 3 hours. Hope you all like it!

Painting Update 1

Mom & I decided to go with Winter Wheat and Apple-A-Day for our paint colors. The winter wheat will go though the house and should work with the blue in the living room, the green in the dining, and the Apple-A-Day red in the kitchen. We started in the kitchen, so here's a few pics.

Update on the remodeling...

Here are some pics of the scrapbooking and craft area in the laundry room. Still a work in progress but I am so glad to finally make some more headway this weekend.