Disclosure: This shop/post has been compensated by Collective Bias, INC. and The Coca-Cola Company, all opinions are mine alone. #CokeDGSupportMilitary #CollectiveBias
Saying thank you to our members of the military in our community is a standard practice in our home. After all, it’s the least we can do for those who defend our nation’s liberty and freedoms. This practice of gratitude for our men and women in the Armed Services is very personal to me.
You see, my husband, Daniel, is a former Sergeant in the United State Army and a veteran of foreign war. When it comes to honoring our veterans, it’s a matter very close to my heart and I take pride in honoring my soldier every chance I get. Especially each Summer season.
I believe a lot of people feel the same way during the Summer season too. Which is why I am so excited to share that everyone can go online and send a thank you to service members through the USO! Please join Dollar General, the USO, and Coca-Cola™ by helping them reach the goal of sending 25K messages of support to our nation’s service members and their families this summer.
The message you send will go directly to service members around the world a simple way to say ‘thanks’ to those who serve our country with dedication and honor each day. I love simple ways to say thank you so the Dollar General, USO and Coca-Cola partnership is the perfect simple way to say thanks to those who serve our country with dedication and honor each day. So don’t forget to send a message of support to the military and be sure to click here for more ways to support the USO!
Another way we love to show our soldier how much we appreciated his service is by purchasing products that support our active military. I recently made a trip to Dollar General to pick up the exclusive 5-can limited edition series highlighting: Veterans, Service Members, Military Spouses, Military Moms, and Military Dads.
I love the new packaging highlighting different people connected to the military, I had to collect all 5! I was able to find the exclusive 16-ounce 5-can limited edition series cans at the end of my local Dollar General’s Beverage Section in a limited edition glass Coca-Cola case. My favorite can is the Veteran one because it reminds me of my husband, Daniel.
After my trip to Dollar General to pick up the exclusive 5-can limited edition series featuring the Veteran, Service Member, Military Spouse, Military Mom, and Military Dad cans, I went home to plan a little surprise dinner to go along with our weekly family game night. I decided we would put together a super simple spread of Caesar Salad and Gumbo, both of which feature my husband’s favorite smoked Summer recipe, Cajun Smoked Chicken Breast. I also thought that a family project to go along with our family game night would be a blast, so we elicited Daniel’s help to create a DIY Patriotic Pallet Ball Game. Here’s how we put everything together.
How to make a DIY Patriotic Pallet Ball Game:
Materials Needed:
- 1 Heat-treated pallet
- 3 Game balls or bags (per person playing, in different colors)
- Jigsaw
- Jigsaw blades
- Pry bar
- Large cup or bowl
- Measuring tape
- Pencil
- 24 2-inch galvanized nails
- Palm sander
- Fine-grit sander sanding pads
- Red, blue, and white acrylic paint
- 3 foam paintbrushes
- Microfiber cloth or dust pan and whisk broom
- Glue gun
- 3 Glue sticks
- 6 Wooden Star Shapes (optional)
- Cardboard or newspaper.
- Acrylic Spray Sealant (optional)
How to assemble the Patriotic Pallet Ball Game:
1. Disassemble The Pallets: Using a jigsaw, cut the pallets apart until they are fully disassembled. Carefully remove any old nails with a hammer or pry bar as needed.
2. Build The Frame: It’s worth noting that these frames won’t be regulation size but they are packed with vintage charm. To build each frame, use the pallet’s notched side boards. Then measure, mark, and cut these into sections into (2) 39″ pieces and (2) 21″ pieces. Assemble the pieces into a rectangle, placing the 21″ boards inside the two 39″ pieces. Secure with galvanized nails.
3. Clad The Game Frames: Measure and mark the flat pallet boards at 24″ across, then cut with a jigsaw; a miter saw can also be used for this step. Then using galvanized nails, attach boards atop the frame until completely filled in.
4. Add Legs: Using scraps from when you cut your flat pallet boards, measure and mark each board to create legs for your game frame at 10″ long, and then cut one end at a 90-degree angle and the other on a 15-degree angle. This will allow your game to stand above the ground for easier playing distance. Then using galvanized nails, secure the legs to the top corners of each frame, with the angled sides facing down.
5. Cut Out Your Hole: Mark the spot for your game board’s center playing hole’s location by first measuring horizontally to find the center, at the 12″ mark, and then drop down vertically about 6″ from the top of the board to make another mark. This marks where the top of the hole will go. Finally, trace around a 6″ diameter bowl or large cup with a pencil and cut out your circle with a jigsaw.
6. Prep Your Game Board: Using a palm sander and fine-grit sandpaper, sand the rough spots of your game board surface so the game balls will slide a bit when they hit the boards. Dust off boards after sanding with a microfiber cloth or whisk broom and dust pan.
7: Paint Your Game Board: Paint two coats of red, white, and blue acrylic paint to your game board, allowing one hour to lapse between coats. You can add spray sealant to finish your board if it’s to be kept outdoors uncovered or in high-humidity areas. Once our game board was dry we added painted white wooden stars to our board, which were adhered to the gaming surface with a hot glue gun and glue sticks. Once dry, position your game board in a shady, backyard location and it’s time for a game!
Daniel likes to play the DIY Patriotic Pallet Ball Game with juggling balls, but feel free to use bean bags, dried corn filled bags, balls, or whichever item you and your family feel most comfortable playing with. Then while Daniel was busy creating our DIY Patriotic Pallet Ball Game, and then playing a few fun rounds by himself and later with the family, and everyone just loved playing! Meanwhile, I started prepping out smoker so we could both start making dinner.
Here’s how I made our Smoked Cajun Chicken Breasts:
1) Start with a clean slate: We start each smoking session by thoroughly cleaning his electric smoker by pressure washing the inside of the main barrel the night before cooking and allowing it to air dry overnight.
2) Marination is key: The night before smoking session we like to marinate our chicken breasts. We do this by first removing any excess skin or membranes from the underside of each breast. We then create a fresh marinade of fresh garlic, ginger, spices, and one 12 ounces can of Coca-Cola. Then the breasts are added to the marinade, covered with plastic wrap, and refrigerated overnight.
3) Prep for success: An hour we start smoking, we assemble the smoker and set the external thermostat to 200 degrees Fahrenheit; you’re looking for a low and slow cooking process. For added flavor, we use Coca-Cola soaked hickory chips (that have been soaked for up to one hour in Coca-Cola) to the internal smoking boxes. Filling each box completely before placing each box inside the smoker’s furthest bottom compartment. The Coca-Cola gives the chips a deeper, sweeter flavor. Remember, while smoking chicken breasts to be sure to replenish your wood chips hourly while to ensure even heat and consistent smoke. A quick tip: adding an additional 12 ounces can of Coca-Cola and any leftover marinade to the internal smoking infusion bowl will help to keep even moisture to your ribs while smoking.
4) Give it a rub: My husband is a Memphis-style BBQ man. So to keep our soldier happy we add a rub mixture to our chicken breasts before smoking. After removing the chicken breasts from the fridge, and allowing them to come to temperature on the counter for ten minutes, we pull the breasts from their marinade bath, pat them breasts dry with a clean kitchen towel, and rub each slab with a Cajun seasoning blend.
5) Check your chicken breasts hourly: your breasts will need to cook for 2-3 hours. Check your breasts hourly. You’ll know your breasts are done when they reach an internal temperature of 203 degrees Fahrenheit and have a visible smoke ring around the entire perimeter of the each breast.
6) Resting: When your breasts ribs are finished, remove them from your smoker and let them rest an additional ten minutes on a cutting board before cutting into each breast.
To finish our dinner, after letting our smoked chicken breasts rest, I used the Smoked Cajun Chicken Breasts to create our entree of Cajun Chicken Gumbo, here’s how we made it.
How to create the Cajun Chicken Gumbo:
- To begin, add equal parts olive oil and flour to a skillet.
- Stir together for 5 minutes over medium-high heat to create a buttery brown rue.
- I then added my rue to my pressure cooker.
- I then combined stewed tomatoes, diced green bell pepper, Cajun seasoning, chicken broth, chopped celery stalk, salt, and pepper to the rue in the electric pressure cooker.
- The gumbo then cooks on high for one hour.
- After an hour, I add diced smoked chicken breast chunks and andouille sausage to our gumbo.
- The gumbo is then cooked for an additional twenty minutes and served immediately.
- You can serve your gumbo over steamed rice, cornbread, or serve with a baguette. We prefer our gumbo in summer as is!
We then paired our Gumbo with a Smoked Chicken Caesar Salad. Here’s how we made it.
How to create the Easy Chicken Caesar Salad:
- In a small bowl, whisk together all of the Caesar Dressing ingredients (linked below).
- Store in a glass and chill for one hour.
- To assemble your salad, place your romaine lettuce in a large bowl. Drizzle with dressing and toss to coat.
- Serve with salad croutons and additional cheese, if desired.
- Quick tip: Caesar dressing can be made ahead of time, jarred, and stored for up to a month in the refrigerator!
Right before sitting down to dinner I arranged the smoked chicken, gumbo, and Caesar salads onto an informal military-themed table scape. It added a little cheer to how we would be able to celebrate our soldier this day. We loved both the Gumbo and Caesar Salad.
These chicken breasts lent a sweet, smoky flavor to both dishes and we the perfect pairing to the exclusive 5-can limited edition Coca-cola military can series from Dollar General. We then spent the next hour playing rounds with our DIY Patriotic Pallet Ball Game and just had a ball!
While my family loves to celebrate our soldier at home with family game nights, DIY game boards, and awesome smoked dinners (which the recipes for both will be listed below) there are tons of other ways to celebrate military families and veterans in your own community as well. Some other ways you can help support military families are:
- Write to the military member. Currently, you can join Dollar General, the USO, and Coca-Cola in writing digital thank you cards to service members here!
- Is a family traveling to see their service member? Give them a gift card for food on their trip. Offer to pet sit or water their lawns while they are gone. Help them help their loved ones serving.
- When a service member is deployed, military spouses often become single parents. Help deployed military members by checking on their spouses and children.
- Honor veterans in your area by taking them freezer-ready meals that they can eat at their convenience.
- Call you local USO office and see what volunteer opportunities are available in your area.
- Know an elderly veteran? Ask them about their days of service. Sometimes listening is the best way to give back to those who served our nation.
This is how I honored my soldier this past week. With the 4th of July just around the corner, I know I will be back to Dollar General to pick up more of the awesome exclusive 5-can limited edition series highlighting: Veteran, Service Member, Military Spouse, Military Mom, and Military Dad cans for our next family game night at home.
Friends, I encourage you all to check out these limited edition cans as well as to help Dollar General, the USO, and Coca-Cola™ reach their goal of sending 25K messages of support and thanks to our nation’s service members and their families this patriotic summer season! Now I have to ask, how will you be spending your 4th of July celebrations this summer and how will you be honoring your soldiers, veterans, and active military at home this patriotic season? I’d love to hear about it below!
- 12 can of Coca-Cola
- Juice of 1 organic key lime
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 3 tablespoons organic coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon pickling salts
- 2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 tablespoon ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 3 tablespoons organic coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon pickling salts
- 2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 tablespoon ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
- 12-ounce can Coca-Cola
- Assembles the smoker and sets the external thermostat to 200 degrees Fahrenheit; you’re looking for a low and slow cooking process.
- For added flavor, add Coca-Cola soaked hickory wood chips to his internal smoking boxes, filling each box completely before placing the boxes inside the smoker’s furthest bottom compartment for 30 minutes.
- Remember, while smoking chicken breasts be sure to replenish your wood chips hourly while smoking to ensure even heat and consistent, lasting smoke to your to your finished ribs.
- Add an additional 12 ounces can of Coca-Cola to the internal smoking infusion bowl will help to keep even moisture to your chicken breasts while smoking.
- After removing the chicken breasts from the fridge and allow them to come to temperature for 10 minutes.
- Remove excess marinade from ribs by patting down each chicken breast to remove excess moisture with a paper towel.
- Incorporate all rub ingredients in a bowl together and rub the blend into each chicken breast.
- Allow breasts to rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes before smoking.
- Add your chicken breasts to your smoker, making sure breasts have one inch of pace around perimeter.
- Smoke chicken breasts at 200 degrees for two hours.
- Check chicken breasts hourly.
- Replenish chips as needed.
- When your chicken breasts are finished, remove them from your smoker and let them rest an additional ten minutes on a wooden cutting board before cutting into each breast.
- Quick tips: You'll have the best tasting chicken breasts when you start with a start with a clean, dry smoker each summer cooking session!
- 2 pounds diced skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- 1 cup diced andouille sausage
- 1/2 cup flower
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 quart filtered water
- 1 pint chicken stock
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
- 1 tablespoon mined garlic
- 1 (14 1/2-ounce) organic stewed Italian tomatoes, undrained
- 1/2 cup chopped turnip root
- 1/2 cup chopped turnip green bell pepper
- In a skillet, combine oil and flour.
- Cook 4-miuntes on medium-high until a buttery brown rue forms.
- In your pressure cooker add your rue, water, chopped celery stalk, garlic, bell pepper, salt, chicken stock, Cajun seasoning, and salt in a large electric pressure cooker.
- Stir well to combine.
- Set to cook for 1 hour.
- Add the smoked chicken and sausage.
- Cook for an additional 20-minutes.
- Serve immediately.
- Enjoy!
- Quick Tip: You can pair your Gumbo with steamed white rice, corn bread, or with a baguette as well!
- 2 cups smoked skinless boneless chicken breast, diced
- 1/4 cup grated Cacique cheese
- 1/4 cup Greek Yogurt
- 2 tablespoons half and half
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 tablespoon Cajun mustard
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- Dash cayenne pepper
- 1 bunch romaine, torn
- Salad croutons
- Additional grated cheese for topping (optional)
- In a small bowl, whisk dressing ingredients together.
- Store in a small glass bowl.
- Refridgerate 1 hour to chill.
- Chop entire head of Romaine lettuce.
- Compost end pieces.
- To assemble, place your romaine lettuce in a large bowl.
- Drizzle with dressing and toss to coat.
- Add chicken to top of salad.
- Serve with salad croutons and additional cheese, if desired.
- Quick Tip: Mexican Cacique Cheese adds a great zing to this classic salad!
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Edifier Powered Bookshelf (R980T):
Edifier Foldable Puresound Headphones (H850):
The BioLite BaseCamp:
Aer Drone:
Wireless Sports Headphones (W295BT):
Olympia Provisions Salami Bouquet:
