Summer Grillin'

I love summer and one of those reasons is because I can use the grill...a lot!  Out of all the meals that I have planned *for last week and this week*, only two of them did not include the grill.  I love using the grill because it is so versatile and you can do just about anything on it.  Last summer I made a roast chicken on it, but it wasn't a favorite.

So what have I made so far?  This week we had on the grill:  chicken, hot dogs, beef sausage kabobs *with apples, summer squash & onion*, and pizza.  Yes, I said pizza.

When I was menu planning, I was getting ready to axe our weekly pizza night, but wondered about making it on the grill.  Some restaurants serve 'fire-grilled' pizza, so why couldn't I make pizza using the grill?  Google to the rescue!  What I came up with was this recipe.  When I looked more closely at it today, I decided to just make my own pizza dough like I normally do in the bread maker.  I always add my own homemade pizza seasoning and garlic, but this time I added in some fresh chopped basil.  While my dough was being made, I went for my walk *if you didn't know, I'm kickin' 7 miles now...who would have thought that I'd ever be walking that long??*

I came home from said walk, did my stretching, tracked my calories on MFP, chugged some ice cold water, vegged for a few minutes, and got busy making our pizzas.  I lit the grill, rolled out my first piece of dough into something that resembled a rectangle.  I then wrapped it around my rolling pin *loosely* and carried it out to my already lightly greased grill.  My dough puffed nicely and once it was brown *and I had put my oil on the up side of the dough*, I carefully flipped it over.  I put a light basting of my olive oil/garlic mix on the now browned up side, put a light coating of sauce, and then put my toppings on.  Once the cheese had melted *just a few minutes*, I pulled it off the grill.

Hubby and I both agree that it was better than oven made pizza.  It was the bomb!  Seriously.  The crust was fluffy.  The toppings weren't overly cooked...they were just right.

Here is my first one:

This week, we're planning to have turkey burgers in addition to other yummy things.  When we cook boneless, skinless chicken, they turn out so tender.

I'd also like to give cooking fish in foil packets on the grill this summer a whirl.  It.  Will.  Happen.  It's just another adventure in food prep in our house.  And, it's fun!

Step out of your comfort zone and try something different on your grill this summer.  You won't be sorry!