This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SummerOfGrilling #CollectiveBias
Grilling out was always one of my favorite things growing up, and it became even more special once my hubby and I began cooking out at the park starting when Bella was about 6 months old. Now that she's almost 2 and a half, it's one of our most favorite family activities! There's nothing in the world like the smell of meat and veggies on the grill.
So when I found out about this amazing opportunity to talk about one of our most loved family activities, show you all some amazing new recipes and showcase the store we shop at most often, I decided to jump at the chance!
Barbeque is one of my most fondly remembered childhood meals, my Dad is the barbeque master, and this super simple recipe is one he actually passed down to me (Thank you Dad!) and might actually just be one of my most favorite foods in the entire world!
Bacon Burger Roll-Ups! And they're so easy to make! Fresh burger, onion, bell pepper, bacon and of course barbeque sauce!
And luckily, since we have a Giant Eagle nearby, we were able to find all the ingredients easily! Okay, and if I'm completely honest with you... we find ourselves at Giant Eagle, well, usually anywhere between 3 and 5 times a week, sometimes more than that and sometimes even multiple times a day! My hubby and I sometimes joke to each other that we're at Giant Eagle more than we are home haha. Giant Eagle is definitely the one stop place to go for all the cookout needs you have this summer and literally the headquarters for grilling. Meats, veggies, breads, desserts, kerosene, charcoal, snacks, drinks... they carry everything you could possibly want or need to grill out and so much more! There's no need to go anywhere else.
We found the Market District Gourmet Seasoned Beef Burgers (it's Certified Angus Beef ya'll) in the meat department display, super easy to find and so fresh, they wrap them up right before your eyes! They have several different seasoned kinds to choose from, and the meat was such a good quality of meat, very lean and so tasty! The pepper and onion mixed in so well too.
The onion and bell pepper we mixed into the Market District Gourmet Seasoned Beef Burgers were extremely easy to find in the produce area, you can't miss them! We also decided to grab some of our favorite veggies to throw on the grill as well, mushrooms, zucchini and peppers, all conveniently found in the fresh produce section as well, or you can purchase one of the several offered prepackaged veggie mixes for grilling (also found in the produce section).
Near the condiments (such as ketchup and mustard) you'll find all the Heinz barbeque sauce (they sometimes have them on the end caps too). There were so many yummy looking flavors to choose from so it was hard to make a decision, but I decided to go with the Kansas City "Sweet & Smokey" flavor. The sweet barbeque sauces allllllllways get me lol, and I love the smoky taste as well. Now honestly I'll admit I was a bit skeptical to try the Heinz Barbeque sauce at first, I didn't even know that Heinz made barbeque sauce. But my husband and I were wanting to try something new and he convinced me to try the Heinz brand. I must say that... WOW!!! I am so seriously impressed! It is actually one of mine and my hubby's new favorite barbeque sauces, and we'll most definitely be purchasing it on the regular for all of our cookouts now.
And I'll say it now, I'm an ice cream lover, I'll eat it ALL, ice cream is kind of my kryptonite haha, but instead of being an ice cream hog (and just eating it with a spoon from the container... c'mon, it's pretty safe to say that we all do it lol) I decided to share (aren't I so nice? hahaha).
Because Pepsi Floats you guys!
I mean seriously, it was even better than I expected! My hubby loves Pepsi, he should be the spokesperson for Pepsi I think, so he was all for this new idea that we'd never had before! I used the Breyer's Extra Creamy Vanilla ice cream, easily found in the frozen treats aisle with all the other ice cream and such. One of the biggest reasons I love Breyer's is because of their Milk & Cream Promise, which means that no artificial growth hormones were use don their cows... Omg! Breyer's ice cream is healthy you guys! Instead of using regular Pepsi, I spied a new Pepsi, Pepsi 1893 in a display by the frozen food aisle that had been newly set up and was immediately dawn to it. Not only because of the cute can, but because the sugar used in it is fair-trade certified! Yay! Goodness you guys, this Pepsi is GOOD! And it mixed perfectly together with the Breyer's Ice cream to create such an amazing flavored float and I also melted a Hershey bar and drizzled over top, you can find the Hershey bars in cute s'mores displays throughout the store or you can grab on in the line as you're checking out. So much nommmmm.
We also grabbed some foam plates and napkins from Giant Eagle before we left the store and headed to the park to do our grilling.
BACON BURGER ROLL-UPS
WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
1 bell pepper
1 red onion
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
toothpicks
DIRECTIONS:
Chop the onion and bell pepper into tiny pieces (you can usually purchase them pre-chopped in the produce section at Giant Eagle, but we bought whole vegetables in the produce section and chopped them in a food processor). Add both together into a bowl with your Market District Gourmet Seasoned Beef Burgers and mix together. Add salt and pepper. Shape them into little round patties, wrap with Oscar Mayer bacon (1 to 2 slices for each), keep the bacon in place with toothpicks (you can take these out once they're done and you're ready to eat). Place your bacon burger roll-ups on your hot grill and keep a close eye on them. --- If you're using charcoal the more smoke gets on them the better since that makes them even tastier (we like to use a few small fruit-wood branches with leaves, crab-apple actually works beautifully), if you're using propane you can always brush the bacon burger roll-ups lightly with liquid smoke seasoning. --- Once your bacon burger roll ups start to cook start basting them with the Heinz barbeque sauce, you'll want to do this two or three times on each side as you keep turning them over periodically as they cook. Cooking time will vary depending on the temperature of your grill but typically once the bacon is done and the pink is gone from the meat they should be done. Baste them once more with Heinz barbecue sauce and they're ready to eat! I like extra sauce with my barbeque so don't forget to get an extra jar of Heinz barbeque sauce for the table! Oh, and you won't be able to stop eating them!
OLD FASHIONED PEPSI FLOAT
WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
4 mason jars
4 straws
DIRECTIONS:
Rinse your mason jars with water and put them to chill in the freezer for a few hours prior to making your Pepsi floats, I find the floats don't melt as fast on a warm day if you follow this step. When you're ready to make your floats, put 2 scoops of Breyer's ice cream in each jar, fill it up to whatever level you'd like with your Pepsi 1893. Add another scoop of ice cream. Drizzle the tops of your floats with a melted Hershey's bar (I used one bar, melted for about 45 seconds in the microwave). Add a cute straw and enjoy!
Now who's ready to grill out and spend some quality family time all at the same time? Head to your local Giant Eagle to grab all these items and get your grill on!