Adventures in Cooking - Volume One

Earlier this year we bought a TV and Direct TV DVR for the kitchen. Little did I know that would take Mike's cooking adventures to a whole new level.  

Ever since he started staying home with the boys he started taking on more of the cooking.  He was definitely inspired by my Dad who has been cooking great things for years. This past Christmas when Dad and Evelyn came to visit, Mike even asked my dad to supervise his first turkey on the grill.  They had fun and the turkey was great (almost as good as mine) Ha!

After the TV purchase Mike started recording several shows on the Food Network and we have been eating wonderfully,  At times we have to get creative with recipe modification. We started Weight Watchers in the middle of April, and I have managed to still lose about 2 pounds a week while eating all this yummy food.  I am really learning portion control. 

Sometimes I send him recipes I find like this one from Zesty Cook for Garlic Basil Cheeseburgers

Or maybe an idea from Cooking Light Magazine for pizza on the grill.  This one was for the kiddos, I guess I forgot to take one of the salmon pizza we had that night.

But the cheese pizza was a hit for Nicholas, who loves to be served milk and food at the BBQ bar.

Then there was Mother's Day when I requested fajitas.

And I made this Mojito Melon and Mango Salad to go with the fajitas.  I was trying to replicate something similar I had eaten at Chelsea's Kitchen in Phoenix )while seated a table away from Danica Patrick, who is quite tiny by the way).

Then there was the weekend we went out to Schnepf Farms and picked peaches and Nicholas had a ball.

And Jackson, my wild boy was a bit shy

But all was good because we had a ball that day and went on the train...

and then we had peaches to make this delicious peach and tomato salad (that is now a favorite).

that went perfectly with Jamaican Jerk Chicken, corn on the cob and a bit of wine.

Then Mike decided that the grill wasn't just for dinner.  And he made breakfast.  Bacon on the pizza stone, an idea from Becky Higgins blog, I figured if it worked in the oven, it would work on the grill.  And we finally figured out that the flat part of our grill could really be used for something...pancakes.

And I do think the scrambled eggs are better when cooked over the grill then on the stove.

We still had peaches so the next weekend we made, grilled chicken tacos with peach avocado salsa. 

So now that you are probably hungry for some yummy food, I will end this installment of Adventures in Cooking.  I have lots more to come, since Mike comes up with at least one new thing every week.