Summer Days and Grilling

A few days ago my husband and I decided that for the rest of the summer we are not going to do any cooking indoors. Our stove and oven give off so much heat that it negates any cooling that the unit and fans accomplish.

I'm sure this has been done before, but I decided that I am going to do my next blogs on what we discover to cook on the grill. We started a few days ago, my husband is an excellent cook, and I will give an overview of some of the things he has come up with.

I am a vegetarian and my husband (D) eats meat sparingly. That said, you can see how difficult it may get to be creative enough to find things to make. In addition to this, we also make our own bread products, other than pastas. We haven't gotten there yet, but I have a recipe for flat bread that cooks on the grill. Anyway, D has come up with some inventive things. My favorite so far is the asparagus stir fry (frozen vegetables) and pepper jack cheese wrapped in leafy green lettuce. The day before yesterday I made rice and lentil stew. I added green onion from our garden and a couple of carrots. I seasoned it with a mixture of spices, it's never the same. I love rice and lentils because they are easy to make and give me some necessary protein. On the grill, or camp stove, you just add your ingredients and water as normal and bring them to a boil, cover, and simmer until done; about 45 minutes, give or take. Yesterday we had stuffed summer squash. The squash was from my dad's garden and the stuffing was left over rice and lentils. We cooked on the grill until the squash was tender and browned around the edges. We had never had summer squash cooked on the grill, it was very tasty!

Today, our lunch experiment was pizza. Every once in awhile we buy a frozen cheese pizza and add our own fresh vegetables to it. Today I added tomato, green onion from our garden, mushrooms, and fresh parsley and basil from the garden. I put it on a medium heat grill and cooked until the veggies were done and the cheese was brown around the edges. We aren't sure what we are going to do for dinner, but so far the day is successful.

Let's all save a little energy, dip into our creativity, and enjoy some outdoor cooking everyday. Create your own outdoor oasis where you and your loved ones can relax and unwind.