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Hi Friends!

Allie and I have been working diligently this weekend to get Foodie Penpals up and running and we’re so excited to share the details with you.

Here’s how it’s gonna work:

-On the 1st of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact each other and get mailing addresses and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.

-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! I realize it probably won’t take 2 weeks for you to get your goodies, but this will ensure we can have everyone publish their post on the same day.

-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!

-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)

-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. *US Residents only please at this time- hopefully we can expand soon!*

So that’s the deal, friends. If you’re interested, email me at [email protected] by August 15th. In the email please include:

-your full name
-your email address
-your blog name (if applicable)

The first penpal matches will be sent September 1st. Please only sign up if you truly intend to participate. We don’t want anyone to not receive a box!

Side note: If anyone likes designing buttons and wants to make one for foodie penpals, let me know!

Please help spread the word if you know of any other bloggers/readers that might be interested! The more the merrier 🙂

Hi Friends!

I’ve had this idea floating around in my head for a while now and I’m super excited to share it with you!

Everyone likes getting mail right? I know I do! And we all know how I feel about food….put those together….food in the mail!!!

Allie of Healthy Balance, Healthy Life and I are looking to put together a group of people that are interested in being Foodie Penpals. We’re still hammering out the details but the basic gist is that once a month you would be assigned a penpal and you’d gather up some of your favorite local/healthy/foodie things and exchange them with your penpal for the month. It’d be an awesome way to try some new products, especially things local to your penpal that you might not otherwise be able to get!

After tweeting the idea on Friday, we’ve already got 10 ladies who have expressed interest!!

If you think this is something that might interest you, send me an email, leave a comment, tweet me or something to let me know. I’ll add you to the list and keep you updated as we figure out the details- like the $ limit. From there, you can decide whether or not you want to participate! Feel free to spread the word on your blog or tweet about this. The more the merrier 🙂

Happy Saturday!
–Lindsay–

This weekend we were out of town remembering and celebrating the life of my grandma.

We enjoyed our time with family members- eating, drinking and reminiscing.

We looked at pretty flowers and saw beautiful sunsets, all the while celebrating a beautiful life.

We gathered together as a family and laughed over the antics of a crazy dog.

We played Grandma’s favorite game and revisited our childhood.

And we looked at hundreds of pictures and remembered all the beautiful things grandma was a part of and gave thanks for the wonderful years we shared with her.

 

We didn’t always live close by, but she was always there for me. She watched countless soccer and basketball games, hosted a million birthday parties and holiday dinners, and she was there for every single milestone in my life- my Confirmation, all of my graduations, my wedding….She was a beautiful person, inside and out and she will be missed.

I love you Grandma.

And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to make some of Grandma’s jello and a big bowl of Turkey Dumpling Soup.

~Lindsay~

 

 

Recently I got a reader request for a post about eating healthy on a budget, specifically including tips for grocery shopping. Lots of bloggers have written posts about this topic but I thought it might be fun to do one of my own!

So here we go:

1.  Plan, plan, plan.

-Never go to the grocery store without a list….and stick to that list! (My hubby made me a checklist that lists foods by aisle. I can circle what I need and makes it really easy to make sure you don’t miss anything on your list when you’re in the store!)
-Plan menus that use ingredients more than once so things don’t go to waste.

-Use grocery store ads to plan your meals around what’s on sale
-Use coupons, but only if they’re for things you would normally buy. There’s no sense in getting $1 off Swiss cheese if you don’t even like Swiss cheese. In the end you won’t be saving money because you’ll probably end up throwing those things away
-Same thing goes for 10 for $10 sales, don’t buy something just because it’s included in the sale if you’re not going to eat it!
-Realize that most coupons are for processed foods, which you should try to limit in your diet.
-Be realistic. Most people will always have some amount of processed food in their diet. Focus on choosing wisely for the ones you do include.
-Never grocery shop hungry. It leads to more impulse purchases!

2. Keep a well-stocked pantry
-See the post I wrote about my pantry staples for some ideas to get you started. It will be an expensive one-time investment and then it’s pretty easy to keep stocked by just replacing things one at a time as you run out

-Know what you have on hand. Don’t buy tomato sauce every time you go to the store if you already have 6 jars in your pantry.
-Keep a running list of things you run out of throughout the week so you don’t forget anything.

3. Shop in season

-Shop your local farmer’s markets in the summer and plan your menus around the things you find there.
-Grow your own vegetable garden. Seed packets are cheap and with a little planning, you can have fresh herbs and produce several months a year for a very low cost.
-Buy what’s in season. (Here’s a great list by state) Don’t try to buy strawberries in January if they’re not in season where you live. Instead, go strawberry picking in June and stock your freezer so that you can enjoy berries on the cheap all year round.
– Check out the frozen section for fruits and vegetables. The produce is usually flash frozen at its peak and therefore can be just as beneficial nutrition-wise as fresh produce.

4. Only buy organic when it matters.
-Memorize the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen (Check out my friend Jenn’s post for a great visual guide!) . In other words, don’t waste your money on organic sweet potatoes. As for meat and milk, do your own research and decide if it’s something you feel strongly enough about to spend the money on.

5. Unit cost/Buying in bulk
-I cannot stress this enough. I look at the unit cost of every single thing I buy, especially things like spices, peanut butter and chips.  The price may seem higher at the time, but it will save you money in the long run.
-On the other hand, don’t buy something in bulk just to save money if you can’t eat it or freeze it before it’s going to spoil.
-Buy and cook a whole chicken. It’s way cheaper than just buying the breasts or legs, and then you can use the bones to make stock. All it requires is a little extra time cutting.

6. Make your own
-There are TONS of things you can make at home that require very little effort and yield products that are similar to and often better than store bought (Read cheaper and healthier). Some examples: hummus, tomato sauce, crackers, bread, pizza crust, trail mix, granola, bagels, broth, lean pockets….

7. Eat less meat and more beans and other legumes
-Meat is expensive. For the most part, grains, beans and legumes are not. Buy bags of dried beans, peas, lentils, rice, quinoa, barley and cook them yourself. Most require no more than a hour of soaking before cooking, if any at all.
-Cook a whole bag of black beans at once. Portion them into Ziploc bags and store them in the freezer. When you’re ready to use them, just pull some out and defrost them n the microwave or add them directly to whatever dish you’re making.

 

8. Know your portion sizes

-If you’re eating 6 ounces of meat at every meal, of course you’re going to spend more money than you should at the grocery store. Learn to eat correct portion sizes and your food will last longer. (Click here to see portion sizes in pictures with everyday objects).
-Fill your plate the right way.

9. Just drink water
-Don’t waste your money on soda, juice and sports drinks. They’re fine to have occasionally, but if you don’t buy them every time you shop, you will save money. If you have a hard time drinking plain water, add citrus fruits or frozen (unsweetened) berries to a pitcher of water for a twist of flavor.

10. Limit processed foods

-Packaged foods are notoriously overpriced. They’re also filled with stuff you don’t need in your body. Stick with fresh, natural foods that you can combine yourself into tasty meals, rather than buying pre-packaged meals filled with who knows what.

11. Read the labels. I buy Kashi 7 grain crackers instead of Wheat Thins. Are they more expensive? Yes. Are they better for me? Yes. They have less sodium and sugar and more fiber and protein. Is that worth the extra money to me? Yes.

12. Stock up when things are on sale. Check the expiration dates and the amount of space in your freezer and then buy several when things go on sale. This can save you a lot of money, especially on things like meat, as long as you have a place to store it!

13. Consider store brand products.
I’ll be the first to admit that there are definitely some things that I refuse to buy store brand. However, for the most part, store brand products have the exact same ingredients as name brand and can usually be found at a MUCH lower price! Just remember to check the nutrition facts and compare between brands as usual.

So there you have it. Eating healthy on a budget can be a challenge, but with a little effort it can be done.

Some other posts that may be of interest:

Cutting Down our Grocery Bill from The Avid Appetite
Grocery Budget from Yes I Want Cake
Saving on Groceries from Faith, Fitness, Fun
Getting it Under Control from AliGirl Cooks
Eat Well, Spend Less from GoodLife Eats

Any other tips that I might have missed?!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Recently, I cooked up a whole bag of black beans to restock my freezer supply. Usually I try to undercook them just a bit because when I add them to different dishes, they tend to cook a bit more.

However, I accidentally overcooked this batch a little bit. They’ll still be fine, and I still put most of them in the freezer…but I decided that since they were a bit mushy, they might be good in a dip.

Honestly, I’m not a big fan of black beans by themselves. So I didn’t want to make just a plain old black bean dip because I knew I wouldn’t like the flavor. I had an avocado that was nice and ripe and I found myself wondering what a mix of those two flavors would taste like.

I put some beans in the food processor, added an avocado, a little bit of Greek yogurt and the juice of one lemon and gave it a whirl. I made mine pretty smooth, but you could achieve a similar, yet chunkier, result by simply mashing the beans and avocado by hand and then mixing in the yogurt and juice.

Since I do prefer a chunky guacamole, I added some red onion and tomato to the mix for some texture.

I also added some cayenne pepper for a little extra kick!

It turned out great! The avocado flavor definitely covers up the black bean flavor and adding the beans and yogurt help boost the amount of protein! Protein and healthy fats? Yes please!

Printable recipe below- quantities are estimated since I didn’t measure anything!

 

 

Eating this with some Food Should Taste Good jalapeno chips was pretty much the best thing ever! By the way, have you entered my Food Should Taste Good giveaway for your chance to win five bags of chips?!

What’s your favorite way to eat guacamole? Mine is probably on a chicken and guac panini! YUM!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

For my last birthday, my sister got me this cookbook.

Since my birthday happened to fall right in the middle of my busiest quarter at school, I haven’t had much time to look through it until recently. After spending some time browsing the recipes, one really stood out to me.

Crockpot Granola.

Does that sounds genius or what? I don’t know about you but I always seem to burn granola when I make it in the oven. I get annoyed that it takes so long and I slowly keep turning up the temperature on the oven…and then BAM! it burns. and then I’m sad.

So I decided to give it a dry. The cookbook suggests cooking it on high for an hour and a half and then turning it down. It also suggests melting the liquid stuff like honey and peanut butter in the crockpot and then adding the other stuff. I opted to just melt the peanut butter and honey in the microwave, then mix in the oats and other stuff and dump it all in the crockpot. I cooked mine on low because my crockpot tends to run hot.

A couple things to remember:

1) You do have to stir this granola….about once every half hour. That makes this a great recipe for a Sunday afternoon when you’re hanging around the house anyways…perhaps doing some food prep for the week?

2) Watch your granola carefully. I only cooked mine for about 3 hours even though the recipe said almost 6 hours. It definitely depends on your crockpot.

3) After reading some other recipes online, I left the lid cracked on my crockpot even though my recipe didn’t say to. Leaving the lid on can lead to some soggy granola!

So let’s get started shall we?

The best thing about granola is you can put in pretty much whatever you want….and you don’t need exact measurements. Use your favorite recipe or check out one of mine. This time I used oats, raw, unsalted sunflower seeds and almonds, wheat germ and flax seed. In a small bowl I warmed up some honey, peanut butter and vanilla.

Spray your crockpot, stir to combine and pour into the crockpot:

Cook on low, with the lid tilted for 3-4 hours, stirring every half hour until golden brown. Remove from the crockpot and spread on a sheet tray to cool. Stir in your favorite mix-ins! I added raisins, craisins and a few chocolate chips.

If forget about your granola and don’t stir it, some will burn. Just scoop that out and move forward 🙂

Store in an airtight container for up to a month.

And might I suggest making a batch of granola cookies with your new homemade treat?!

Do you have a favorite granola recipe? Share it with me!! I love putting vanilla in mine!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Last week I made a trip to a new-to-me farmer’s market that was opening for it’s first week of the season. I wasn’t sure what to expect since it’s a smaller market, so I tried not to get too excited…but to my delight, I came home with two bags stuffed full of goodies.

First up, my absolute favorite peaches. It was their first pick of the season and I immediately grabbed a bag.

Next up, potatoes. The hubby and I absolutely love roasted potatoes and when I was these tiny little butter potatoes I knew I just had to have them.

At the next stall there were some beautiful green onions. Since I was fresh out at home, I snagged a bundle:

Finally, I picked out some sweet corn and tomatoes…then I hit the road. My mind was racing the whole way home about what I could make with all of these delicious goodies.

Here’s what I did:

I washed the potatoes, then halved or quartered them depending on their size. I put them on a pan with a couple strips of turkey bacon. (You could definitely pick up some great bacon at the Farmer’s Market, but I happened to have some at home already from last week!). Turkey bacon doesn’t produce a lot of grease, but it does make some, and I knew the potatoes would be delicious if they took a little tumble in some of that grease after the bacon was done cooking 🙂

Next I chopped the green onions and set them aside:

Next up, corn. I love grilling corn in the summer to give it a deeper flavor so I prepped three of the ears for the grill by pulling the husks back carefully and removing as much silk as possible. Then I grilled them for about 10 minutes, turning often.

 

 Once the corn had cooled enough, I sliced it off the cob and into a big bowl. I chopped up the bacon and added it to the bowl, along with some black beans that I defrosted from the freezer and the green onions. When the potatoes finished roasting, I added them as well.

If you want, you can add a little of your favorite Parmesan-type cheese. Stir to combine and serve while still warm.

 

 

We ate ours for dinner with some BBQ Babyback Ribs, and then enjoyed the leftovers for breakfast!

For dessert, I suggest you throw some of those peaches on the grill. Top with ice cream or yogurt and enjoy 🙂

What’s the best thing you’ve created with your farmer’s market finds?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

 

Last night I made one kick-ass dinner. *Not to toot my own horn or anything…* But seriously, it was really good! Let’s recap, shall we?

We picked up some ribs at the grocery store earlier this week. This is important 1) Because I’ve never bought ribs before. 2) Because I’ve never made ribs before and 3) Because I don’t even eat them that often. HOWEVER, I did grow up in Kansas City- hellooo BBQ – so I’ve eaten some pretty good BBQ in my time. In addition, my mother-in-law makes great ribs, which the hubby is used to eating, so….

I felt like I had some major shoes to fill and I’m not gonna lie, I was a little nervous about it.

A while back, Tina posted this recipe for Crockpot BBQ Ribs and I immediately bookmarked it because I generally feel that even if it’s something I’m not familiar with, if it’s done in the crockpot, I can handle it.

After talking to the hubby about it, he expressed his concern that sometimes meat cooked in our crockpot gets a little dried out. AND it just so happened that my crockpot was already in use yesterday because I was making some crockpot granola (recipe coming soon!). So, I decided it would just be better for everyone if I started the ribs in the oven.

After a quick text to the MIL for a time and temperature check, I got to work. Besides subbing the oven for the crockpot, I pretty much followed Tina’s recipe.

I made some of her BBQ spice rub, but I cut the recipe in half and made a few slight adjustments. Here’s the recipe I used. It made about 1/2 a cup of rub and I only ended up using about half of it and saving the rest.

 

[print_this]

BBQ Spice Rub
2 Tbsp Cumin
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Paprika
2 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground Black Pepper
1 tsp Garlic Powder

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and stir until well mixed.

[/print_this]

 

Next, I followed her directions to doctor up some regular BBQ sauce. Normally I would have been lazy and just used all KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce…but I was running a little low and her way seemed like a good way to bulk it up a little bit!

 

[print_this]

Doctored Up BBQ Sauce
1 cup bbq sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup mustard
1/4 c white vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.

[/print_this]

 

With my rub and my sauce ready to go, I took the ribs out of the fridge and got busy. I patted the ribs dry with paper towels and then liberally rubbed the spice mixture all over both sides. Even with my liberal application, I still only used about 1/4 c of the spice rub and I think that was plenty. So, if you don’t want any leftovers, you could halve the recipe above. *Also note that I only had one rack of ribs, about 2.4 pounds. If you had two racks, 1/2 c of spice rub would probably be just the right about.

Next, I covered a jelly roll pan in foil. I laid out two more pieces of foil and transferred the ribs to the foil. I poured half the sauce on the ribs and used a brush to spread it all over one side. Then I carefully flipped them over and poured the rest of the sauce on the other side. Finally, I wrapped the loose foil around the ribs to make a rib packet of sorts. I put the foil packet on the foil covered tray (for easy cleanup in case any sauce leaked out of the packet) and put the whole thing in the oven at 300 degrees for 3 hours.

 

After three hours, I took the ribs out and unwrapped the foil packet. Then it was time to finish them on the grill. I timed it so that the hubby could light the grill about 1/2 an hour before the ribs were ready to come out of the oven. Then I just unwrapped them, pulled them into sections for ease of flipping and put them on the grill.

I grilled them for a few minutes, flipped them and then flipped them twice more (only about 10 minutes total on the grill since they’re already cooked) and then I transferred them to a nice big platter.

 

Just before serving, I brushed on another layer of KC Masterpiece sauce. These were delicious! The meat was fall-off-the-bone tender and had great flavor. The hubby said, “My only complaint is that you only bought one rack.” That’s a win in my book, friends 🙂

Oh and if you’re wondering about that nice little potato hash you see on the side there, that was another winner! Stay tuned for the recipe 😉

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

 

As promised, here’s the recipe I used to make the delicious plum sauce for the chicken that accompanied our grilled mexican veggie boats!

Here’s the thing. I never buy plums. Until a few days ago, I wasn’t even sure if I liked plums. Turns out I do. I picked up a few at the store just because they smelled SO GOOD that I couldn’t resist.

Here’s what you do:

Peel the plums. Remove the pit and put the pieces in the food processor. Add some soy sauce, sweet chili sauce and orange juice and give it a whirl.

Turns out black plums are YELLOW on the inside. To counteract my disappointment that my sauce wouldn’t have a nice plum color, I added a splash of red wine that just so happened to be in my glass on the counter. After tasting the sauce, I may have added a bit too much soy sauce, so I needed something to counteract the flavor. I settled on fresh ginger. I may or may not have gotten a little excited with my microplaner so I probably ended up adding about 1 tsp fresh ginger. It balanced the sauce perfectly and gave it a spicy kick!

Now comes the tricky part. Pour the sauce into a sauce pan, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. *Sidenote: this is not tricky unless you go outside and forget about your sauce while it’s coming to a boil and then have it boil up all over your stove…then the cleaning part gets tricky 🙂

 

[print_this]

Ginger Plum Sauce

2 large plums
3 Tbsp orange juice
1 tsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sweet chili sauce
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
splash of red wine (optional)

Directions

1. Peel and pit the plums and place in a food processor.
2. Add chili sauce, orange juice and soy sauce and pulse until smooth.
3. Pour into a small saucepan and add grated ginger and wine.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

[/print_this]

 

The hubby and I both enjoyed this sauce on our chicken. The hubby’s only comment was that it could be a little bit thicker. One of the recipes I looked at for inspiration included applesauce which I think would be a great way to thicken it up without adding any overpowering flavor. However, it was also fine just the way it was 🙂

How do you feel about plums?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Zucchini boats are nothing new. It’s one of the easiest ways to use up the astounding amount of zucchini that I seem to amass every summer. Last night I set out to change mine up from the usual by making them Mexican-inspired.

I started by preparing the zucchini. Simply slice them in half lengthwise and then using a spoon, or a melon baller, scoop out the flesh to make something that resembles this:

I chopped up about 1/3 of the zucchini innards to add to my filling and saved the rest for another dish.

Next, the filling. Along with the zucchini, I chopped up some onion, garlic and one jalapeno. I sauteeed these in a hot pan and then added some black beans, cumin, chili powder and the juice from one lime..

While that was cooking I pricked a sweet potato all over and microwaved it for 5 minutes. Then I cut it in half, scooped out the insides, diced it up and added it to the mixture, along with some tomato and leftover wheatberries.

Here’s where ingenuity struck. I thought, “I like sweet potatoes better than zucchini anyways so why not make some sweet potato skins too!” I knew I would have extra filling because I always seem to make too much. For the other half of the sweet potato, I scooped out less of the innards to make the boat more stable. If i’d had this idea in the beginning, I would have cut the sweet potato lengthwise as well.

When all your boats are ready, pop the zucchini boats on the grill for 10 minutes or so to help them cook about half way.

Remove from the grill and stuff. Sprinkle with cheese and put them back on the grill. This time I used a grill pan to catch anything that fell out. Put the lid on the grill and let them cook until the zucchini is tender and the cheese is melted.

Serve and enjoy!

They were both good, but the hubby and I agreed that we both liked the sweet potato boats better!

See that piece of chicken hidden in the middle there? That’s grilled chicken with a quick plum sauce I whipped up. Recipe coming tomorrow!

Have you ever made veggie boats?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Last night’s recipe was another that just kinda popped into my head randomly. I have no idea where it came from! I pulled some meatballs out of the freezer on Sunday without giving any real thought to how I would use them…and when I woke up Monday morning, I had a plan.

Baked ziti was one of my FAVORITE dishes as a kid. I ordered it every single time we went out to eat at in Italian restaurant. This time I decided to put a bit of a non-traditional healthy twist on an old fav!

I started by sauteing some onion and garlic in a large pan. I chopped up some previously cooked turkey meatballs that I made a couple months ago and added them to the pan. Then I added some crushed tomatoes, basil and oregano and lots of fresh baby spinach.

Next I added some rigatoni (I cut the noodles in half to help them fit into the peppers better) and a little bit of low-fat cheese.

Finally, I prepped some red peppers. I cut just enough off the bottom to let them sit level in the pan, and then I cut out the stem and seeds. I stood them in a small pan side by side and scooped in the filling.

I baked the peppers at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

This was an easy way to sneak an extra serving or two of veggies into one of my favorite pasta dishes! Using low-fat cheese and adding spinach also help boost the nutritional value!

Having a bite of red pepper in every bite was a great addition!

What’s your favorite way to stuff a pepper?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

This past weekend I graduated from college for the second time. I’m now one step closer to becoming a Registered Dietitian. Only one year left!

I was the valedictorian of my class of 770 students. I had to sit on stage during the graduation ceremony.

I gave a speech in front of 2,000 people.

I got a medal to wear.

My family sent me flowers.

My hubby was by my side.

We had a party. It was a good day 🙂

Now it’s time to enjoy my week off before summer classes start. The hubby is on vacation too! And my parents come to visit on Thursday. Yippeee!!!!!

–Lindsay–

 

So remember yesterday when I posted about all the dough I made for my homemade lean pockets? Well, since that was just a test recipe, I had plenty of dough left over to make my first attempt at grilled thick-crust pizza!

I’m happy to report it went well!

I split the dough in half and used my hands to form it into two rectangles. Since I knew we’d be using indirect heat on the grill, I thought a rectangular shape would fit best after we pushed the coals to both sides. I brushed the top with olive oil and then threw it on the grill oil side down.

Lesson #1: Don’t freak out if the dough bunches weirdly or becomes a big mis-shapen when you throw it on the grill. It will still taste good.

Lesson #2: The dough will quickly puff up a bit. Don’t leave it on the grill too long because it will get brown very quickly.

I like my crust this way, but if you prefer it more lightly browned, just check it a minute or two before you think it should be ready to flip over.

Next, remove the crust from the grill to put the toppings on. If you want, you can try to top it while still on the grill…but it gets pretty hot reaching over this coals and the hubby and I found it was easier to just take it off and put it back on.

Add your toppings on the grilled side. Then return to the grill and put the cover on for a few minutes to help melt the cheese.

Remove, slice, enjoy!

Somebody enjoyed it with some ice cold home brew 🙂

And now for the most important lesson:

Lesson #3: Don’t take the dough out of the fridge until the grill is ready to go. If you form your crust before you light the grill, it will warm up and be much harder to transfer to the grill when the time comes!

While I do enjoy a good slice of thick crust every once and a while…I must say, thin crust is my favorite and i’ll probably be turning to my grilled flatbread pizzas more often this summer.

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Last week I got an email from a reader (Hi Erica!!!) about homemade lean pockets. These have been on my to-make list pretty much since I started this blog and I’ve just never gotten around to making them.

I considered this to be the perfect opportunity!

Best of all, they’re super easy. I decided to use my go-to whole wheat pizza dough recipe for the crust. It’s not 100% whole wheat, but it’s 2/3rds…which is pretty good in my book.

The timing on this was also perfect because it gave me the opportunity to try the grilled thick crust pizza I have been pondering.

I made a big batch of dough using this recipe:

Anyways, since I was just testing out this whole lean pockets idea, I only made one. You’ll have to excuse the horrible pictures. Next time I won’t try to photograph white dough on a white counter.

Moving on….I decided to make a mexican themed lean pocket for the hubby’s lunch. I broke off a piece of dough about the size of a baseball and rolled it out pretty thin on the counter. I knew it might puff up while baking and I didn’t want this to be all crust and no filling. You’ll want to roll the dough into a roughly rectangular shape.

Then I chopped up 1/2 a leftover chicken breast and placed it down the middle of the dough. I added some onion, green pepper and black beans and topped everything off with half a slice of reduced fat pepper jack cheese. Then I folded both edges of the dough towards the middle and pinched the seams together tightly. I did the same thing with the ends. I flipped the pocket over and placed it seem side down on a silpat covered baking sheet.

To avoid a lean pocket explosion in my oven, I cut two small holes in the top to let steam escape and baked the pocket at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes.

The hubby inhaled his lean pocket and promptly asked where his next one was! I consider that a success.

The cheese stayed inside…probably because I used a healthy amount! And the bottom browned but didn’t burn.

Even though I only made one of these, you could easily make a big batch and store them in the fridge for a few days, or even freeze some and thaw them out later. To pack them in a lunch box, let them cool all the way, then wrap in foil or saran wrap and place in a ziploc bag. Remove the wrapping and heat in the microwave when ready to eat!

The filling possibilities are endless! Just make sure to add lots of veggies and don’t go overboard with the cheeses and sauces!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

 

Last week, I finished up my classes for Spring Quarter! To celebrate, the hubby grilled a delicious dinner for me 🙂

I wasn’t home to take pictures, but he did remember to snap a few of his own!

He grilled stuffed mushrooms, potatoes, meatloaf and flatbread pizzas! We recently acquired a second little grill and it’s perfect for veggies 🙂

Check out this setup the hubby had going on:

Clearly these two characters were a big help!

Everything was delicious and we enjoyed the leftovers for lunch the next day. Then we decided to recreate the pizzas for dinner the following night!

Flatout wraps are the best for making pizzas! We made some with tomato sauce and some with garlic and olive oil and it couldn’t be easier! First get your toppings ready:

Then hopefully it won’t start pouring down rain for you like it did for us!

The key is indirect heat on the grill! Move the charcoal to either side, leaving room in the middle.

The bottom crisps up nicely and the cheese melts but nothing burns.

Our next challenge is thick crust pizza on the grill! Have you ever done it? Any tips??

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–