Miracle Grill Mat Review - Lil' Smokies and Beans Recipe

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This is not a sponsored post. I just love QVC. I recently saw an on air demonstration for these grill mats and I fell in love with the idea! 

You can now cook veggies on the grill without a grill pan, without the fear of veggies or foods falling through the grates, without all the leftover mess on the grates. You can fry an egg right on the mat, fry cheese right on the mat. That's right I said fry cheese! 

Cheese came right off!

It is non stick so it cleans right up. And when you grill a steak on it, you still get great grill marks without flare-ups. This was all done on a QVC on-air demonstration, so I got to see it in action on live T.V. but since it is still a bit warm here in California, I am going to grill some food to try it out for myself.

I found them very easy to use, just place them on the grill before turning on grill.

When grill is warmed up just place meat and veggies as you normally would on a grill. Everything cooked so well and the finished food  looked even better than cooking on a grill without the mat. 

Now you can fry bacon on the pit!

The food was absolutely tender and delicious , and the mess cleans right up, just use a wet towel to wipe it off.

The veggies never fell through the grates and they cooked beautifully.

You can cook bacon and eggs right on the grill with these mats!

Check out my bacon and eggs happy face:)

Everything came out wonderful 

Here is a bacon egg burger. YUM!

From QVC website:

Get out of sticky situations with this set of nonstick mats. The two grill mats are designed to reduce flare-ups and burns, while helping to keep foods juicy, tender, and with great grill flavor. The ultimate baking mat allows for cooking and baking with no sticking and no need for fats and sprays.

Includes two grill mats and one baking mat

Microwave-safe; oven-safe up to 500F

PTFE-free nonstick fabric

Measure approximately 13"W x 15-5/8"L

5-year Limited Manufacturer's Warranty

Made in China

This comes with two grill mats and one baking mat which I tried out with simple pumpkin cookies and when the cookies cooled I tried to lift one with my hands. That did not turn out so well. The bottom of the cookie stuck to the baking mat and while removing the cookies with a spatula worked a little better, I still prefer parchment paper to this baking mat:( 

I had high hopes for the baking mat but for now I am sticking to parchment.

The grill mats make up for the baking mat. And I feel that it was still worth buying.

Yes these mats need to be cleaned by wiping them down with a wet cloth then when they have cooled, take them into kitchen and clean them well with a dishcloth and warm water and soap. But compared to scrubbing down grill grates, this is a breeze. 

And the best part is, it is only  $19.86 for two grill mats and one baking mat! 

How awesome is that!

We made some bacon and egg burgers!

http://www.qvc.com/The-Ultimate-Grill-and-Baking-Mat-3-pc-Set.product.K39683.html

Now for the recipe:

To go with our barbecue, I have prepared some barbecue baked beans. This dish is a regular when we grill, as it goes with EVERYTHING!

And even though I did not bake them, I am still calling them that because it sounds better than cooked beans:)

I love the way these beans taste. They are smokey with a spicy kick from the heat of the Serrano and crushed red pepper, and when dipped into with a tender piece of steak, your in heaven!

They do not take long and I usually make them while the hubby bubby is grilling, so everything is done at the same time.

Lil smokies or cocktail smoked sausage about 4 oz

2 15oz cans van camps pork and beans

Half a small onion sliced

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Serrano pepper sliced

1/4 Teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 Teaspoon crushed red pepper

In a saucepan on medium high heat, add olive oil and cook sliced onions and sliced Serrano pepper until translucent. 

About 5-7 minutes. Add ground pepper and crushed red pepper and cook about a minute more. 

Add lil smokies,Stir to combine and cook on medium low a few minutes more or until sausages have browned just a bit. 

Add both cans of beans, stir and cook on low simmer for about 20-30 minutes.  

Serve warm.

This dish is best served with steak and some sour cream, fried pork chops, hot dogs or even fried eggs!

You can add other meats to these beans like bacon, hot dogs too!

So this is me last barbecue before the cold weather really starts to come around and I hope you like it.

Do you still que in the fall?

Grilled Chicken Fajitas

I love a lot of things in my small kitchen. I love my new wooden salt box, it makes me feel like I am a chef on the food network. And who doesn't want to be a chef on the food network.  I also love my indoor griller. It is one of my favorite kitchen appliances. I use it often for sandwiches as a panini maker, I use it to grill indoor veggies, I use it to grill buttered sourdough bread and I use it to grill chicken and it comes out so perfect and tenderly grilled.

I start by placing a few boneless skinless chicken breasts in a plastic zip top bag and pound them thin.

I did not have a meat pounder, so I used a heavy, big spoon!

I think it did a great job...for now.

I then make my marinade of olive oil, chicken fajita spice, Italian seasoning, salt and ground black pepper.

While the chicken marinates, I start slicing my vegetables.

Add them in a pan along with a bit of olive oil. 

Sprinkle a bit of chicken fajita spice on the veggies and stir.

These vegetable are so delicious, even the kiddos love them!

This grill is perfect for fajitas!

I love the flavor of the different spices.

Ingredients:

2 large boneless skinless chicken breast

1/3 cup olive oil 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 

1 tablespoon fajita seasoning  ( found in spice isle of grocery store )

1/2 teaspoon fajita seasoning 

Salt 

Ground pepper

4-Flour tortillas 

Begin by placing chicken breast in a zip top plastic bag and pound chicken breast to about 1/2 inch thick. In a separate zip top bag, place 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon fajita seasoning, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, generous pinch of salt, dash ground pepper. Place chicken breasts in bag of marinade, close zip top bag, and move bag around to mix chicken with marinade. Place bag of chicken in fridge and let marinate for about half an hour (more if desired) up to 24 hours. In the meantime, slice bell peppers, onion into strips and place in pan that is coated with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and cook on medium heat. Sprinkle vegetables with 1 teaspoon fajita seasoning, and a dash of salt. 

Continue to cook until translucent and tender, about5-7 minutes. Remove veggies from pan and place in serving dish or bowl, set aside. Remove bag of chicken and place on indoor grill and cook for 7-9minutes or until chicken has an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. Place chicken on chopping board or dish and slice into thin strips. Assemble fajitas by placing a few strips of chicken, cooked peppers and onion in a warmed flour tortilla. You can add extras like lettuce, guacamole and cilantro if desired. I made a simple guacamole with avocado, a pinch of salt and a dash of garlic powder. Simple and delicious!

Serves 4

Grill Master Salisbury Burger

We as a family, love to grill. My husband considers himself to be a grill master. My husband will try to grill anything.

From steaks to whole tomatoes, tis the season for grilling.

A new concoction that has become a staple with grilling, is the Salisbury burger.

This developed when I was using this recipe to make Salisbury Steak, and my husband says "hey, can I have a few of those patties and place them on the grill?" So he did, and the flavor was FANTASTIC! So much so that now, it has become our go to burger when grilling. Recently we had a houseful for a family visit, and this seemed like the easiest recipe to throw together for a crowd.

So while I am showing a recipe for about 10-11 servings, you can easily halve the recipe for 4-6 servings.

As you can see, my onion is a bit on the BIG side,

So I halved it and placed one half away for another meal.

I like to chop my onions small, and then separate the 

Stuck-together pieces before adding to ground beef.

Ok, everybody in the pool! I use 70/30 ground beef mixture 

For added flavor. 

Be sure to place a thumbprint in center of patties to prevent bulging. You can season with extra

Salt and pepper if desired.

I love my big grill!

I love grilled zucchini!

Almost done!

Grill Master Salisbury Burgers

For 10 servings:

3 pounds ground beef

Small onion

2 eggs

1/4 cup Italian or plain breadcrumbs

2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 

1 tsp Salt 

Black pepper 

1/4 cup warm water

First begin by finely chopping small onion

Place ground beef in a very large bowl. 

Add chopped onion, eggs, breadcrumbs, 

Worcestershire sauce and I like to season mixture with

1 tsp Salt and sprinkle black pepper.

Combine mixture well and form into 10 patties. Place indent into each 

Burger patties with your thumb.

Heat grill to high heat, place patties on grill and cook for about 4 minutes per side for medium, 5 minutes per side for well done.

Serve patties on buns along with lettuce and tomato. I went ahead and added a grilled zucchini slice to mine.

Just slice zucchini and place in a pie plate or casserole dish and season with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Place on heated grill for about 2 minutes per side, or more if desired until tender and has nice grill marks.

Place atop burger and enjoy!