Picnic Ready Lettuce Wraps

       Happy Memorial Day weekend! We are kicking our weekend off with a picnic at Lake Audobon in Reston. Tomorrow Brandon is swimming a 5k there and then on Sunday he is swimming a 2miler and a 1 miler. We headed there tonight to check things out before we have to be there at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning. Since we both worked today and wanted to get to the park fast, I stopped and grabbed a Rotisserie Chicken from Giant and a few other goodies for our picnic dinner at the lake. 
Tonight I made Lettuce Wraps, grabbed some Food Should Taste Good Sweet potato chips (kinda hardly made it to the lake since I started eating them in the kitchen!!) and some fruits and veggies. 
       When I got home I got straight to work on trying to get something that would be packed full of protein and carbs but easy to picnic with. Here we have Picnic Ready Lettuce Wraps. Enjoy!


Picnic Ready Lettuce Wraps


Ingredients: 
4 Large Romaine Lettuce Leaves
Thin slices of: Cucumber, Tomato, Onion, Carrots and Avocado
4 Strips 
Chicken Breasts or a Rotisserie Chicken
Dijon Mustard if desired


Process:

1. In a skillet, Cook bacon to a crisp.
2. Slice carrots, onions and Cucumbers into long thin slices (this will give it a nice crisp in every bite.)
3. Slice thin slices of tomato and avocado.
4. Prepare 4 Big leaves of Romaine for wraps
5. Cut chicken breasts into bite size pieces. 
6. On one Lettuce leaf, stack your ingredients in the center. Then top it with a 2nd lettuce leaf.
7. Roll it into a burrito shape and eat or roll it into tin foil for a picnic meal. 

     For our picnic dinner we had these wraps, a bowl of strawberries and blackberries and sweet potato chips. We enjoyed a nice walk along the lake and some bird and people watching on a bench while we ate. I hope that Brandon's  pre-race nerves were calmed and he is all set for his Swimming weekend. 

Lovely Lemony Meal

Today I came home and had this fabulous recipe in my head. When I came into the house and looked in the freezer, I was out of Chicken. I went into the garage freezer and found some Pheasant from Brandon's winter hunt. I was excited but knew that I would have to make a marinade and let it soak a bit longer. Pheasant is a bit tougher than chicken and it takes longer to soak in the flavors but if you do it correctly, it tastes like moist chicken. Fortunately I had time because Brandon was finishing his swim at the gym and he still had to heat up the grill. I got to use Fresh Rosemary from my garden so I spent a little bit of time weeding  while the pheasant marinated and I even experimented with a lemon bread.


Lemon Rosemary Pheasant


Ingredients: 


3 small Pheasants cutlets, thawed
1/2 Lemon, juice only
1 sprig Rosemary, broken apart
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Sea salt
2 TBS Olive Oil


Process: 

1. Place Pheasant in a bowl. 
2. Add all ingredients to the bowl and let marinate for 45-60 min in the refrigerator. 
3. Remove pheasants and place on grill (Grill heat about 275 degrees). 
4. Cook for 5-8 minutes on each side until the center is no longer pink. Watch the meat, you do not want to overcook pheasant as it will get dry and tough if overdone. 

Smelled amazing on the grill and it was so juicy and flavorful!

Grilled Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients:

Brussel Sprouts
3 Tbs Olive Oil (enough to coat the sprouts)
1 Tbs Sea Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 tsp Garlic Powder
(All seasonings are to our taste so add the seasonings you like best, Brandon adds old bay or Cajun seasoning at times. )


Process:

1. Slice the ends off of the sprouts and place them on a Grill tray lined with tin foil. 
2. Coat Brussels with olive oil and seasonings. 
3. Place on the grill at about 275 degrees for 30-35 minutes until Brussel sprouts are soft. I like mine crispy on the outside but watch them and cook them to your liking. 

They are really good when the leaves fall off and get burnt- tastes like a  Brussel sprout chip! 

Lovely Lemon Bread

Ingredients: 

3 1/2 C. Almond flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

1/2 Lemons Zest

2 Lemons, juice

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/3 Cup +1 TBS (or 6 TBS) Honey

5 Eggs

Process:

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
2. In a mixing bowl, combine Eggs, Lemon Juice, Vanilla and Honey. Mix on Medium speed until well blended.
3. In a separate bowl, combine Flour, Baking Powder, Sea Salt and Lemon Zest. Mix until well blended.
4. Pour dry ingredients into mixing bowl with egg mixture. Mix until well blended. 
5. *Optional- Fold in Blueberries for a sweeter treat. 
6. Grease a loaf pan or make as muffins. 
7. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 40 minutes. *Muffins for 30-35min. 

Mix until well blended

Blueberry Lemon Muffin option- great for breakfast or a light treat!

Lemon Muffin

Blueberry Lemon Muffin

Lemon Muffin

Lovely Lemon Dinner!