GrillMates meets burger and veggies and tenderloin, and salad, and...#crowdtap #grillmates

 We had a birthday celebration in the afternoon and decided to take the party to the evening with some friends and the BBQ thanks to Crowdtap and Grill Mates.

I started off with 2 lbs of ground beef we recently purchased from a Washington Ranch. Added Grill Mates Brown Sugar and Bourbon BBQ Sauce and divided it up for burgers on the grill. It really was that easy and since this is very lean beef the sauce mixed it helped keep the patties together.  

I added a quick cabbage salad using olive oil and sesame ginger dressing and served the adults' with a frozen  margarita and the kids' with some simple grape juice.  A simple yet yummy BBQ dinner!

Part 2 of our Grill Mate experience was a little more detailed.

Beef Tenderloin with Memphis rub, zucchini with Bacon and Molasses seasoning and Baby potatoes with Olive Oil and Montreal Steakhouse Seasoning. 

I marinated the tenderloin steaks over night in the Memphis Rub
Seasoned the Zucchini with the Bacon and Molasses seasoning, and marinated the potatoes in olive oil and Montreal Steak seasoning all day.
Grilled to perfection and served a our family outside for a perfect evening!

Needless to say my boys are LOVING these GrillMates seasoning and the outdoor cooking just adds to the enjoyment. Bring on the fall grilling season! Yes we BBQ year round here at Unionvale Mom's Spot.

Thanks to Crowdtap and GrillMates for the amazing package of goodies I received including the various spices mentioned in this post. All other Food and Beverage items were purchased by this blogger and not compensated for.

Strawberries , Sun, and Salad with a Mission for Organic

June and July in Oregon means one thing, Strawberry season. OK maybe a few other things, but the strawberry season in Oregon is a welcome event. Local strawberries are super sweet and hit the spot.  When we were asked to try out the new Mission brand Organic tortilla chips I knew I was going to have to use Strawberries in there somewhere.  The other thing that goes perfectly with summer in Oregon is local produce and grilling. With that in mind I created a grilled vegetable salad and a strawberry chips sundae for dinner one evening when we actually had a break of nice weather.

I started the evening with grilled peppers, onions, asparagus, and sausage on a bed of salad topped with cheese, salsa , and yellow peppers and trimmed with Mission Organic Blue Corn chips. The perfect combination of warm, cool, soft, and crunchy.

We followed that with 2 choices for dessert.... Strawberry / rasberry sundaes with blue corn chip trimming or

Coffee ice cream with cinnamon sugar and corn chips .

This was the perfect combination of crunchy and healthy along with a not so healthy moderate ice cream treat. The sweet flavor of the blue corn added to the mix in a perfect blend. Even the boys who weren't sure about chips and ice cream loved it.  I love the Organics side of the mix as I was able to get most of the salad and veggies from local markets or the organic section of our local Safeway store.  As the summer rolls on we will be able to enjoy garden fresh veggies and more fruits and will be watching for more of the Mission Organics to go along with our salads and treats.
For more great recipe ideas check out Mission on Facebook

Thank you to Mission for sending us the bags of chips to create these treats in exchange for our recipes and opinion. No monetary compensation was received.

Lunch Dates are always fun especially when you check out something new.

Looking toward Downtown Portland from the Ross Island Bridge

When I learned to drive I spent tons of time driving to Portland to check out new places, now that I have 2 kids and live in the Willamette Valley I don't get to Portland as often, but for a lunch date with my oldest I'll go a little farther to check something new out.

Clay's Smokehouse 2932 S.E. Division St, Portland, Oregon

This past Friday, Cameron and I ventured into S.E. Portland to check out Clay's Smokehouse Grill a local BBQ restaurant specializing in onsite smokey barbecue. Clay's Smokehouse is a welcoming spot along SE Division that boasts a fun decor and amazing Happy Hour deals.

From their website a bit about the owner and chef:

Chef Michael Slyman received his formal education serving his apprenticeship with Westin Resorts at Hilton Head Island, in South Carolina. But he mastered the barbecue as a youth working at his uncle's rib house in Oklahoma.

$5 menu for Happy Hour was a good sign as we arrived. By the time we got to Clay's Cameron was crazy hungry and would have eaten whatever I put in front of him.

We checked out the outdoor seating but decided it was too chilly for outdoor seating (summer in Oregon doesn't always mean sun, we had a thunder storm and rain off and on all day)

Inside the restaurant we were greeted by a neat wall chalkboard with the specials, fun decor, and a warming atmosphere.
In typical small restaurant style we were offered glasses of water and menus right off the bat. I appreciate the little things in a small setting.
We ordered off the Happy Hour Menu after seeing that the prices were so close to the Children's menu.

Cameron ordered the Brisket Sliders and chips while I ordered the Chicken Basket with cole slaw and homefries. When we received our food I noticed the familiar basket instead of the plate for my order. I used to work in a short order restaurant and remember those baskets because they were easier to clean up then the plate. I'm sure Clay's uses Cash & Carry for the simple things that make it easier to a small local business.

We also tried their Red Bean and Grilled Vegetable chili, it was too spicy for Cameron so we brought it home for Daddy's dinner in a small plastic lidded container just the right amount to add to a burger for Daddy.  

Finally we added a Mud Pie for dessert, I wasn't sure if Cameron had anymore room for dessert but turns out this kid can find room when offered a Mud Pie.
We ended up spending under $30 and that included a root beer and a lemonade. This was more than I usually spend on "lunch" but this was a date and the quality time with my little dude is more valuable than a fast food lunch any day.

After lunch we made a quick trip to visit my older sister who was watching her granddaughter so it was a added bonus. On our trip home I let Cameron watch the GPS for traffic updates and I gave him the camera to see what he else he could find, well he found a hidden tree house along Barbur Blvd. It was pretty cool and I bet it has some of the best views in the city being high above the highway and set out over the hill a little.

We also stopped at the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge as Cameron was getting ansy in the van and needed to stretch our legs. We will be making a field trip and returning to the refuge later in the year, but for now our date was a lot of fun, we enjoyed a new to us restaurant and had good quality time together. 

You can check out our full adventure in photos here.

Clay's Smokehouse #cbias

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