Way late, but I do have a plan

At least I have a menu plan this week! Just finding the time to post it seems to be difficult.

We are still working on the finer points of eating big on a small budget, but I am getting better at it. I did the shopping by myself this week and bought the basics with a few meals in mind and figured we could get creative and make something up from what we have on hand. I am actually hoping to stretch my last shopping trip into next week, we'll see how that goes.

So the weather is HOT, HOT, HOT and we are cooking accordingly. Most of what I have planned will be cooked outside on the grill or baked in the roaster downstairs.

Did you know: If you have one of those big electric roasters you can use it as a small oven to bake in. I plug mine in down in the basement or sometimes outside and then we don't have to heat up the kitchen while we bake.


And now it seems that we have grown to a 3 grill family! With 8 people here we just didn't have enough room on the big grill so we sometimes have to fire up the gas grill and another small Weber to get a meal together. At least we have enough cooks to man/woman all the grills anyway!

For breakfast: waffles, cereal, bagels and cream cheese or eggs and toast
Lunch: ham, turkey, cheese or PB&J sandwiches, or hot dogs and mac and cheese

Sunday: Chicken under a brick, grilled corn on the cob, grilled potatoes, salad

Monday: Grilled pizza (recipe below)

Tuesday: (leftover chicken) Fiesta Salad with black beans and corn salsa and salsa ranch dressing

Wednesday: (beach day) chicken salad sandwiches, chips, fruit, brownies

Thursday: grilled steak, baked potatoes, salad

Friday: chicken enchiladas, refried beans, lettuce and tomatoes

Saturday: grilled chicken with penne pasta and alfredo sauce, garlic bread

How to Throw a Grilled Pizza Party!

Prepare dough:

In food processor or electric mixer:
3-3 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 package rapid rise yeast (or 1 Tablespoon dry yeast dissolve in 110 degree water)
1 cup very hot (120 degree) water
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Mix all ingredient to form a ball. Knead about 10 times on floured board. Shape into ball and drizzle a little olive oil in bowl to prevent sticking. Cover and let rise about 30 - 40 minutes

Divide dough into 6 portions. Roll out each portion on well floured board to make a thin circle about 8" diameter.

Move hot coals to one side of grill and place one or two pizza doughs on opposite side of grill for indirect heat. Allow crust to bake slightly, then spoon sauce on, add any desired toppings then top with mozzerella cheese, fontina and parmesan. Cover grill and bake for 5 minutes, rotate the pizza and bake a few minutes more until crust is browned and crisp and cheese is melted.

We always make a party of this, let everyone pick their own toppings from a topping bar and serve them up to order.

I am linking this post to:

Organizing Junkie Menu plan Monday