Menu #61

Woohoo. . .my weekly menu is actually being posted on a Monday!  I owe it to our fun and relaxing weekend, beginning with X’s  first soccer game of the season, followed by a visit to our friends’ for a belated birthday BBQ and swimming, and ending with Football Lounge Sunday.  By the way, whoop whoop for the 49ers!!! 

Last week I made a simple focaccia with leftover pizza dough and it was wonderful!  The whole family loved it and it was great packed in X’s lunch the next day also.  Tonight I’m going to try grilling it and I’m betting it will be even better.  Although I only used half a dough ball, I’m going to give you the recipe using a 1-lb pizza dough ball, and here it is. . .

Simple Whole-Wheat Focaccia

Whole-wheat flour & cornmeal, about 1 Tbs each

1 lb prepared whole-wheat pizza dough

1 T extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 C grated parmesan cheese

1 t garlic powder

1/2 T dried Italian seasoning

Salt, to taste

Adjust your oven rack to the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425.  Add a pizza stone to preheat also, but if you don’t have a baking stone just use a baking sheet with cooking spray. 

Lightly sprinkle the flour and cornmeal on the surface you will be stretching your dough.  If your dough seems a little hard to stretch let it sit at room temp for about 10 minutes and try again.  Stretch into a large oval and transfer to baking stone or sheet. 

Drizzle the olive oil onto the dough and massage it into the dough making dimples throughout the dough. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and salt. 

Bake the focaccia about 20 minutes, until golden brown. 

This week’s menu . . .

Monday:  homemade SpaghettiO’s/grilled focaccia/salad

Go Chargers!!!  Although I am a loyal 49ers fan, I have a soft spot for the Chargers since I lived in San Diego for many years.  :-)

Tuesday:  fish tacos w/ peach salsa & avocado/rice & black beans

I have peaches leftover from last week, so I’m going to use my mango salsa recipe and sub peaches. 

Wednesday:  B4D—French toast/omelets/fruit & yogurt smoothies

Thursday:  chicken & veg quesadillas w/ peach salsa & avocado/rice & black beans

Friday:  Family Game Night!  crispy Chex chicken fingers w/ honey-mustard sauce/veg platter w/ garlic-herb yogurt dip/apple slices w/ caramel sauce

X-man’s teacher sent a family activity list in his monthly homework folder and 10 of the activities must be checked off by the end of the month.  Board games are on the list, so family game night has replaced family movie night for the month.  Tasting different kinds of apples is also on the list, so I bought an array of apples to set up with caramel sauce for our dessert.  J

Saturday:  Date Night! 

Xavier is heading to our friend’s, The Browns, for a sleepover and we’re heading to Brew Legion for a tasty dinner and even tastier beer.  After dinner, we’re meeting a bunch of friends at a comedy club. 

Sunday:  Football Lounge Day!  grilled mussels/grilled Spanish chorizo/crusty bread

I’ve always steamed mussels on the stovetop but we thought we would give grilling mussels a shot.  We’re going to set them in a large pan with white wine, lemons, garlic, & herbs and cover tightly.  I’ll post all about them next week.  J