Grill your next Pizza!! Its the Best!!

For those of you who have been following this blog for a while, you know I promised to grill some pizzas to show you how its done.  I just wish you could smell and taste these, too!  After a very stressful day at our new office trying to get our phones and Internet hooked back up - only to find out the problem was with our carrier and not our equipment - I knew I had better plan something to end the day on a high note. Talk about frustrating!!  You have no idea.  Anyways...turns out it was a lovely day for grilling...

We got started with a fire in the firepit.  There is nothing like a crackling fire outside...You will notice we have not opened up the pool yet, or done the general yard work and gardening out there yet either...but here in NY State, there is no rush...its too cool to swim yet and keeping the dark cover on it helps the water absorb some of the sun's heat.  I do plan to start some of the gardening soon...so in time I'll share photos of the finished area.

On to the pizzas...I use store made pizza dough. One pound of regular for the boys and one pound of whole wheat for us WeightWatchers.  I cut each mound of dough into fourths...making each pizza crust 8pp.  Keep the dough covered until you are ready to use it.

Next, I cut up and prepare all the toppings pretty quickly...and opened a can of crushed tomatoes with Italian spices and also a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes with basil and oregano.  Put everything on a tray so its really handy...

Counterclockwise from bottom: crushed tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, sliced pepperoni, fire roasted diced tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, green peppers and spices - dried oregano and crushed red pepper.  The sky is the limit with these...you can totally make white pizzas, bbq chicken pizzas, buffalo chicken pizzas...you are the boss here! Keep your tray handy by the grill, but keep the spoon handles pointed away from the grill...we learned the hard way! They really got hot!!  On the other side of the grill was the bowl of pizza dough and a small bowl of olive oil and a basting brush.

Next, take one portion of the dough and an oiled baking sheet...press the dough out on the baking sheet to make a thin, round-ish crust.  Don't worry about perfection...freestyle is great.  Carry it carefully to the hot grill and place it oiled side down.  Don't worry about the edges falling in between the grate...the dough stiffens up pretty quickly.  Next take a basting brush and brush the top side lightly with olive oil.  Close cover for a few minutes to toast the bottom of the crust.

The crust will bubble a little, and get brown-ish along the edges.  This one is ready to flip...

You can see we already started the "happy hour" without you...sorry...

Ladle some sauce or diced tomatoes onto the cooked side - totally your choice which you'll use.  This one is our friend Mike's pizza...he's 18 yrs old, and goes for the 'normal' stuff...

Mike added some fresh basil...then some pepperoni slices...

Then a little cheese...

He was a little shy about the cheese, so when he turned his back, I heaped more on top!  Here are a few more shots of our pizzas in no particular order...

The one on the left is made with the whole wheat crust...mmm...see it below, too...

Did someone say "happy hour"?  Of course, we needed something refreshing to go with the pizzas...

Gin and Tonics, anyone?  4pp for the gin and we used diet tonic water...so it was a great choice!

Wait a minute...you have to measure it so you know how many points you're drinking!

It was a tough day, so Chuck certainly earned an opportunity to relax tonight...
                                            On to dessert....

 I love these jumbo sized mallows when near a fire...

Yummy - and only 2pp per Jumbo marshmallow - good deal.

Points Plus for Grilled Pizzas - depends on how you make them, but here is a general guide:

1 oz refrigerated pizza dough = 2pp...I made ours 4 oz each...so 8pp each for the crust

Tomatoes, onions, peppers, mushrooms - all ZERO pp

Pepperoni - 1/2 oz = 2pp

Part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded - 1 oz =2pp

I definitely would save this meal for after your weigh-in...By the way, Chuck was down 0.6 lbs today and I lost another full pound!  I love that we can eat like this, enjoy ourselves, and still lose weight.  Like the Weight Watcher slogan says...Its a New Day!!  I'm loving it!!