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The Weekly Plan {May 28th}: The Grilling Edition I

(The Perfect Burger)

Last week brought me a whole new cooking challenge!  I made our weekly menu on Monday and prepared what I had planned for that evening's dinner.  I was using our broiler to make fajitas.  Well, I pulled the pan of fajita meat with onions and peppers out of the oven when it was finished (thankfully!) and turned the knob on the stove from *broil* to *off*--just one little click.  When I did there was a loud *POP* and then smoke came out from behind the knob.  Yikes!  Later that evening when I was finally brave enough to try turning it back on nothing would come on, not any of the stovetop burners, not the oven, not even the oven light.  :(  So....I have been stoveless and ovenless all week long.  Hopefully this week we can get a repairman out to check it out and see if it is salvageable.  It's sort of old, although not that old, so I really don't know.  

Vince says we just need to work harder to win our friendly Biggest Loser competition with our friends so one of us can win the "pot" and buy a new stove.  I'm all for that, especially if I can get the one on my wish list!  However, the competition doesn't end until July 9th...that's a pretty big cooking challenge for me.  I need to get really creative with just using the crockpot, microwave, bread machine, and...the grill.  The grill has been our lifesaver this past week!  

We have grilled burgers, potatoes (two different ways), bacon, grilled tuna melts, even pizza on the grill.  I am now *forced* to try some things on the grill that I've been saying I wanted to try for a while:)  Here are a couple of new recipes we really enjoyed: 


Campfire Potatoes
1.  Chop up desired amount of potatoes (with or without the skin)
2.  Chop up a small onion (or desired amount) and add to the potatoes. 
3.  Place them on a large piece of foil.
4.  Add a pat of butter or two and sprinkle with seasoning
(I used seasoned salt).
5.  Wrap foil around to form a packet.
6.  Place on top rack of grill for 30-45 minutes or so
(we rotated the pack just a bit for even cooking).
7.  Enjoy!  They were delicious!
(a big Thank You to my friend Becky for sharing this one!)


3-Cheese White Pizza with Spinach
1 lb. refrigerated fresh pizza dough
2 tbsp. olive oil, divided
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
6 cups fresh baby spinach
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
2 oz. grated Romano cheese
3 tbsp. milk
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp. cornmeal
*****

1.  Combine 1-1/2 tbsp. olive oil and sliced garlic in a large skillet.  Heat over med/hi heat 1-1/2 minutes or until garlic begins to sizzle.  Add the spinach; saute 2 minutes or until spinach wilts.  Set aside.  (I did this entire process in a bowl in the microwave--no stove, remember? :)
2.  Combine the cheeses, milk and minced garlic in a bowl.  

3.  Roll dough into individual sized pizzas (the recipe I used makes about 4) on a lightly floured surface.  Using a pizza peel or the back side of a round pizza pan, sprinkle surface with a little cornmeal and use this to carefully slide your pizza dough onto a heated grill.  
4.  Grill dough until the surface is just seared and starting to lightly brown.  Remove from grill, placing the seared side up.  
5.  Spread the cheese mixture over the dough, leaving a little border.  Top with the spinach mixture and then place pizza back onto grill.  Cover and let cook for about 5 minutes or until the bottom of the crust is beginning to brown.  
6.  Cut into pieces and dig in!  

This had such an amazing flavor--like being cooked in a wood-fired oven!  I also made some with marinara, cheese and pepperoni for the kiddos and they loved them.
*****

And now for my next week of the ovenless challenge: 

Monday: 
{Happy Memorial Day!}
Dinner:  Grilled (turkey) Burgers and Grilled Potatoes with Sour Cream Sauce

Tuesday:
Dinner:  Grilled Balsamic Chicken, Grilled Balsamic Carrots and Grilled Squash

Wednesday:
Dinner: Grilled Chicken Tostadas

Thursday:
Dinner:  Grilled Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Hot Dogs with Baked Beans

Friday:
Dinner:  Steak and Veggie Kababs  

Saturday:
Dinner: Grilled Pizza

Have you got any great grilling recipes you'd like to share with me?  I'd love to hear them--just leave me a comment!!


This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.
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