How to stay healthy during summer BBQ season
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1. Go Lean - For ground beef or turkey burgers, choose 90% or higher lean. Choose “loin” and “round” cuts of red meat and pork.
2. Watch Your Portions - It becomes so easy to "munch" on snacks when bowls of chips and dip are spread across the table. There are 125 calories in just 10 tortilla chips! Avoid loading up on high fat dips such as sour cream & onion dip or queso dip, and go for fresh salsa instead.
3. Eat More Veggies - Fill up on grilled vegetables or fresh salads. You can also opt for using fresh, crunchy veggies instead of chips with the dips!
4. Watch out for Excessive Carbs - This is one of the biggest problems with BBQ's. Rather than having several high-carb dishes on your plate, choose your favorite and only have one serving. For example, if you need a bun with your burger, eat the bun and leave the chips, potato salad, pasta salad etc. off your plate.
5. Curb your Sweet Tooth with fresh, in-season fruits - summertime is the BEST for fresh fruit. Have a nice side of fruit salad for dessert while they're freshest, rather than eating the packaged cookies, brownie, and cake mixes you find sitting on shelves year-round! You can also bring along a healthy dessert like these Chocolate Chip Cookies, Cranberry Pistachio Cookies or Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins.
6. Be active! Bring a ball to play a game such as volleyball or soccer. Or get a workout in before you head to the BBQ.
7. Avoid drinking too many calories - stick to water or unsweetened tea as much as possible. If you want an alcoholic drink, skip the beer and rum cocktails and go for vodka & club soda or water sweetened with lemons and limes.
Many BBQ's are potlucks - meaning you have the opportunity to bring something healthy! Here are some additional cooking tips & recipes to cook up for your next BBQ:
Think baked, not fried!
Prepare homemade wings and fries at home before coming to the BBQ. Bake/roast potatoes, wings, and sweet potatoes on high heat in the oven for a “fried” taste.
Add veggies to the grill along with herbs and spices for more flavor - Roasted Rosemary Carrots
Go “lean”:
Swap burgers and hotdogs for grilled chicken and turkey burgers…make them fun with kabobs and veggies. Choose ground beef or turkey that is at least 90% lean (90/10 ratio). (See my Chipotle Turkey Burger recipe here - or Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers for a vegetarian alternative.)
Dip Substitutions:
Swap out Sour cream based dips with plain Greek yogurt or cottage cheese
Choose Hummus or homemade guacamole instead of nacho cheese or 7-layer dips (Dip recipes: Tzatziki Sauce, Garlic Hummus, Honey Yogurt Fruit Dip)
Instead of potato chips, dip with baked pita chips, whole grain crackers, whole grain tortilla chips, and veggies.
Make homemade salsa rather than buying canned salsa and cheese dips. They are quick and simple to make and taste great with added mango and pineapple..like this peach salsa recipe!
Get festive over Memorial Weekend or July Fourth with this simple red, white, and blue breakfast!
1/2 cup dry old-fashioned or steel cut oats - cooked in water
1/4 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 a banana, sliced
2 large strawberries, sliced
2 Tbsp crushed walnuts