DIY Cross with Marbles

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Good morning!

I have made many DIY crosses in the past (Stackable Wooden Cross 1 , Stackable Wooden Cross 2) and given them as gifts. This time, I wanted to make one for my husband and I. Have you seen those CUTE wooden crosses covered with different marbles at antique, craft and gift stores? I figured out how to make them and it was fun to make. :)

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Grilled Vegetable Skewers

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Happy Monday!

In the summertime my husband and I cook on the grill a lot. We live in a one bedroom apartment right now so using the kitchen when it is 100+ degrees outside (we're in Texas) can make it miserable inside. We're always trying to cook healthier and actually enjoy eating our vegetables. Sometimes vegetables can get boring and we try and come up with ways to make them even better. Tonight's post is a vegetable skewer recipe that we came up with one day while walking through the supermarket.

We made two different skewers - a tomato and potato skewer and a brussel sprouts skewer.

Our first skewer had a mixture of baby potatoes ("fingerling") and cherry tomatoes.

All you need to do to prep these little guys is wash them. Feel free to snack on the tomatoes while you are prepping! :)

 These brussel sprouts are fresh and can be found near the lettuce section of the produce part of the grocery store. Some come in clear plastic containers or even loose and you can buy them in bulk.

 To prep brussel sprouts first carefully cut off the little stems.

 Then remove all the outer leaves. These come off very easily and are usually a little darker in green color. After you've done this to all of your brussel sprouts wash them in a strianer. I used about 8 brussel sprouts per skewer.

After cleaning and pruning my brussel sprouts I brought a pot of water to a boil and boiled the brussel sprouts for 3 minutes and blanched (tossed them in a bowl of ice water) them right after. The tomatoes and potatoes didn't need any pre-cooking before being put on the grill.

Now you can start making your skewers. You can make them all on one but I liked making two separate skewers. The top skewers are all brussel sprouts and the bottom skewers use white fingerling potatoes, tomatoes, red fingerling potatoes and then I continued that pattern.

Before putting them on the grill I sprayed them with a cooking spray and seasoned them with some pepper and garlic salt. You can really be creative here with your seasonings or just use what you like. :)

 On the grill cook the skewers over medium high heat for about 10-12 minutes, turning them over for even cooking about half-way through. 

 Yum! While cooking you're really just looking for the brussel sprouts to get some color and the potatoes to cook through (which is easy since they are so small).

Here are the skewers ready to eat!

 The potatoes and tomatoes skewers were so good. If you love grilled tomatoes you'll love the baby ones! The potatoes were great, too!

 The brussel sprouts taste just as good as if you were to bake them in the oven. Yum! I loved the lightly charred edges.

This is a really easy meal for the grill. It adds so much color and makes your meal much healthier by adding in those extra vegetables. I like that we used baby potatoes instead of baked potatoes because you are eating a lot less starch but feeling just as satisfied.

We've made the baby potatoes before using small boiler onions next to them (we've found the little tiny white onions at Central Market before) and it was delicious. We've also used mushrooms on here. I love that you can just switch out the vegetables with whatever you have on hand or are craving for the night.

Bon Appetite! :)

Cassie



Man Bouquet 2 :)

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Hello!

Tonight we are going to my sister and brother-in-laws to celebrate his 30th birthday. I have been wanting to make another man bouquet and I thought he would love one too. I've made a man bouquet before and loved it the first time (so did my husband!). This time I thought I would use a beer mug instead of a flower pot. It looks even better!

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