Grilled Pizza

 It is super hot right now (90's) in the Sacramento area, and the last thing I want to do is turn my oven on. "But Mom, how are we going to have Pizza? We LOVE Pizza." If anybody asks my kids what their favorite meal is, Pizza and ice cream will be their answer. So when I heard of Grilled Pizza, I was very excited to try it out. My first thought when I heard of putting pizza on the grill was "Isn't it going to stick to the grill and be a super gooey mess?" If anyone else is having those same fears, try out the recipe below. You will have great results! I was pleasantly surprised how very simple the process was, and I didn't have to turn my oven on. Big bonus.

Spinach and Walnut Pesto

This is by far my favorite go-to sauce of the summer. So easy to make, just throw everything into a food processor and Voila...dinner is served in less than 15 minutes. There are SO many ways to use Pesto. Pour the sauce over some whole-wheat spaghetti, brush it on your pizza, use it as a dip for veggies, lather it on BBQ chicken, use it as a sandwich spread on a grilled sandwich with artichokes and fresh mozzarella, and I could go on and on.  There are also many variations of pesto, but I stuck to a no-fuss recipe that incorporates raw spinach and walnuts (pine nuts are just too expensive!). Have fun with the recipe, and check out the Change it Up section below for new ideas.

Eggplant-Almond Enchiladas

    My daughter is starting Kindergarten in 2 1/2 weeks!! Aaahhh, where has the time gone? To keep this summer fun and far from boring, we started doing an activity called Alphabet Adventure. Four days a week, we learn a new letter of the alphabet. Although my 5 year old already knows her alphabet (actually she's reading!), I made it age appropriate for her (she writes in her journal about something that starts with the letter, etc.) and my two kids have really been enjoying it! We made this Eggplant Enchilada dish on "E" day, and everybody helped make it.

Potato and Cauliflower Burritos

   Anybody else LOVE cauliflower? It's one of my favorite vegetables. You can eat them raw with a yummy dip (like hummus), cook and mash them to make "mock" mashed potatoes, or just put them in a burrito like I did here. Scrumptious! The sauce is a little on the "spicy" side because of the chipotle chile, but our family doesn't tolerate a lot of heat and we gobbled these guys up.