Pizza on the Grill

Seeing as I get asked quite frequently for my favorite, family-friendly recipes, allow me to share with you a brand new favorite.... Pizza on the grill!

Can I just tell you this was, by far, the best pizza I've ever made? I've made pizza in the oven for several years and it's just alright. I'd still rather order pizza, but the homemade is alright when we're being cheap. This pizza last night though I think I'd gladly make over ordering take-out pizza! The crust was a perfect, light-brown color and had just the right amount of crunch to it. The toppings were heated perfectly. I seriously am salivating right now and wishing there was some left over in the fridge!

Ok, so on to the how-to. Understand that this was my first time ever cooking pizza on the grill, so some of it was winging it and some of it was using bits of advice I received from various Facebook friends. The crust recipe came from The Pioneer Woman. (If you've never visited her site, prepare to be hooked. Did I mention she also gives away the coolest stuff?!) The pizza crust recipe can be found at the bottom of this page. She recommends letting the crust sit for at least 24 hours, but I didn't have that long so only let it sit 2 hours. It still tasted fantastic!

For the "sauce" I drained most of the water out of a large can of petite diced tomatoes and then dumped the tomatoes into a sauce pan. I added some seasonings (onion powder, garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt, pepper and sugar) and cooked it for about 30 minutes. Then I scooped the tomatoes (leaving as much liquid as I could in the pot) onto the crust and spread them out. Added some pizza cheese and some sliced, smoked sausage (the only topping type item I had in the house).

As you can see, I cooked it on my pizza pan, which has holes in the bottom. I think that helped with the crisp crust, although my crust has never been that crisp in the oven. Others have said they used a pizza stone, but I don't have one of those.

I had all four grill burners on and turned to low and I cooked the pizza for about 15 minutes. I used tongs to lift the edge of the crust every so often to see how the bottom was looking. This pizza was seriously perfection! I have the other half of the crust in my fridge for now and will move it to the freezer in a day or two, and I cannot wait to make it again!

Oh, and we also had the very first cucumber from my garden last night. Yum!

Most Requested Recipe

Technically, my most requested recipe is my Whoopie Pie recipe. However, considering that's now how I make a little extra cash, I don't share the recipe. You can find random variations of it online, but you won't find my tweaked-over-the-years-to-perfection recipe! (Speaking of Whoopie Pies, I have a yummy Just For Dad combo in my Etsy Store just for Father's Day!)

Second to my Whoopie Pie recipe though, I often receive requests for my Chicken Enchiladas. Now, if you are into authentic Mexican food you may want to divert your eyes... This is hardly authentic and it's something I just kind of came up with based on what was in my pantry at the time, but boy does it taste good! Sadly, I didn't have the foresight to take a picture last time I made them, so you'll just have to imagine the cheesy goodness.

Helen's Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked, chopped chicken

2/3 brick of cream cheese

1 can of semi-drained diced tomatoes

1/2 packet of taco seasoning

1 can of drained corn or about 1 cup of frozen corn

Tortillas (I can usually fill 8)

Shredded cheddar cheese

1. Spray a 9x13 baking dish (or similar shape) with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl (I use my kitchen aid), combine the cream cheese and taco seasoning. When combined, add the chicken, tomatoes and corn and mix.

3. Spread filling into tortillas and roll closed and place in the baking dish.

4. If you have any extra filling, feel free to just spread it on top!

5. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

6. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

This dish is also fantastic to make ahead and stick in the freezer. Just stop at step 4, cover tightly with plastic wrap and tin foil. Let it thaw in the fridge for a day, add cheese and bake! You may need to add a few minutes to cooking time, but because the chicken is already cooked all you need to watch for is the inside to be hot enough to eat.

I'm the guest blogger today over at Multiples and More, my favorite multiples related blog! Multiples and More republished my Marriage Enrichment post from this winter. You can check it out HERE!

What We Eat

As mentioned in my Saturday Savings post yesterday, I've been getting meal plan requests. I used to be great at meal planning (actually writing out what we would eat for dinner each night) but lately I've been more into winging it. The following is an example of things we may or may not eat this coming week, using the variety of foods I've bought over the last couple of weeks.

Tonight: It's too hot for me to turn on the oven, so I'll be doing pasta and salads!

Monday: I'll stick about 5-6 pounds of chicken leg quarters in the crock pot around lunch time. Cook on high for 5-6 hours (usually about an hour per pound is how it works out). Sometimes I'll season the chicken somehow, but I don't think I will this time as I'll want the leftovers for casseroles and chicken enchiladas. I'll microwave a few sweet potatoes (which I bought at a bargain at the Farmer's Market this weekend) and may have a salad (I bought some lettuce at the FM too!).

Tuesday: It's supposed to be cooler, so I'll fire up the oven and make oven fried chicken. I just make my own coating using some breadcrumbs and crushed crackers. Sometimes I'll use quick cooking oats in place of the crushed crackers. I'll also make some sweet potato fries and serve it all with some fresh fruit.

Wednesday: Pork Loin cooked in the oven with salad and some frozen veggies

Thursday: Home made pizza! I'll use that shredded cheese I bought this weekend and make my own dough (super easy to make and most cookbooks have a recipe for pizza dough).

Friday: Rice and Beans. It's been a while since we had this, so I think it's time to make this cheap and easy meal. I buy bags of dried beans and just cook them on low (covered in water) in my crock pot for most of the day. The boys especially like it when we make mini burritos for them using rice, beans, corn and cheese!

Saturday: I usually like to use the crock pot on Saturday because we don't get home from church until well after the normal "dinner time". By using the crock pot, dinner is ready for us when we get home! On this night I'll make a whole chicken in the crock pot. It's a family favorite and SO easy!

• Rinse and pat dry a whole chicken (4 - 6 pounds in size works best)
• Place 3 or 4 balls of tin foil on the bottom of your crock pot (You can also just wrap potatoes in the foil that way your potatoes cook at the same time!)
• Spray crock pot and foil with cooking spray
• Spray your chicken with cooking spray and then shake seasoning salt all over chicken (Lawry's seasoning salt is good, but so is a combo of onion powder, garlic powder and paprika)
• Place chicken breast side DOWN on top of the foil balls
• Cook on high for 4-6 hours (again, 1 hour per pound seems to do the trick)

This chicken comes out a lot like the rotisserie chickens found at grocery stores, but will cost about half of what you'd pay if you buy the whole birds on sale! The only difference here is the skin isn't crispy, but if you're watching your weight you probably don't (or shouldn't!) eat that part anyway. The foil balls help keeping the chicken up out of the dripping fat.

Bonus recipe:

Super Easy Chicken Enchiladas

• This recipe utilizes leftover chicken you've already cooked up. You can often find small containers of diced or shredded, cooked chicken in my freezer. It's nice to have ready to use at a moments notice!

1. In a bowl beat a brick of softened cream cheese.
2. When mostly smooth, add half a packet of taco seasoning and a can of un-drained, diced tomatoes.
3. Mix in chicken and frozen corn.
4. Spoon mixture into flour tortillas, roll up and line up in a baking dish (spray dish with cooking spray).
5. Cover mixture with shredded cheddar cheese and cover with a piece of foil sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes (you're just heating it through seeing as the chicken is already cooked)

• This is also a great dish to freeze for later. Just omit the shredded cheese on top and add that when you're ready to bake. You will likely need to add 15-30 minutes extra depending on how cold your freezer is.
  

Hope you found this helpful! I'll try to remember to do this periodically (or more often if you all would like - just let me know).