Tag Archives: summer

Summer’s Final Fling: Our 13 Most Popular Recipes of the Season

The results are in. We have our top 13 spectacular recipes for the 13 weeks of summer. From standards like pickles and sandwiches to more adventurous fare like caprese salad and quinoa donuts, we’ve taken existing recipes to a healthy new level. For years, we’ve proved that the robust qualities of some of our nation’s most beloved dishes don’t have to suffer when made healthy.

These 13 recipes have been our most popular this summer, but they’re only the tip of our recipe iceberg. With only days remaining before autumn, try to fit a couple of these delicious recipes into your weekend cooking schedule, they’ll surely surprise and delight your friends and family as you toast the end of the sunshine season.

best club sandwich

13. The Best Club Sandwich Ever

The best part about a club sandwich is that you don’t have to be a member to enjoy its delicious crunch and juicy mouthfeel. Whether you’re at a deli, brunch spot, or gastropub, if you see a club sandwich on the menu, you know it’s a solid choice. But you also know it will probably have ungodly sodium levels and contain meat from who knows where. That’s why our recipe uses humanely sourced meat from Applegate that’s organic, low in sodium, and hormone free. Once we subbed in fresh avocado slices for the usual mayo and stuck it all between two pieces of sourdough, this sandwich reached enlightenment.

rainbow smoothie prep

12. Rainbow Smoothie

The CDC says only 14 percent of adults get their daily recommended dose of fruits and vegetables. Reality makes participating in a plant based diet quite a challenge, that’s why our Rainbow Smoothie is such a gem. The concept is simple: choose one fruit or vegetable from each color family—ROYGBIV—combine with yogurt in a blender and BAM, you’ve got seven servings of fruits and veggies in your cup. It’s fun, easy, and healthier way to taste the rainbow! (more…)

Posted on September 19, 2023 by Patrick

Pick a Peck of Homemade Sweet and Spicy English Cucumber Pickles

I will never buy pickles from the grocery store ever again.

I’ve seen the light.

I’ve tasted victory.

Why didn’t I figure this out sooner?

When I remember the summer of 2024, it will be the Summer of the Pickle!

My grandfather planted a beautiful garden in his backyard this spring. We’ve been reaping the benefits of his hard work all season and I couldn’t be more thankful. My house doesn’t allow for a garden, so when he emailed and asked, “what would you like me to plant?”, I sent him a list that probably took him by surprise.

At the top of that list were English cucumbers. A thinner skin, sweeter taste, and fewer seeds, English cucumbers are a much better eating experience than the ‘ole standard cucumber. While not an issue when grown in the backyard, when bought at the store, English cucumbers typically come without the layer of wax found on regular cucumbers. And they’re prettier. For what that’s worth!

Grandpa’s harvest has been good, which means we’ve had English cucumbers out the wazoo. A girl can only eat so many before she starts daydreaming about getting rid of cucumbers. So I asked my three-year-old sous chef, and pickle aficionado, if she’d like to spend a Saturday making pickles. She was delighted at the invitation and we set to slicing a heaping pile of cucs. (more…)

Posted on September 8, 2023 by Natalie K

Finish Summer with a Tabbouleh-Inspired Freekeh Salad Using Garden-Picked Ingredients

It’s very encouraging that we all continue to demand fresher, simpler, healthier recipes, and that they actually exist! Summer tends to inspire this more than other seasons, with the bounty of fruits and vegetables in season this time of year. As we stand to enjoy a few more sweltering weeks of summer sun before the first day of fall on September 22, we present a recipe that meets all of the aforementioned criteria.

This Tabbouleh-Inspired Freekeh Salad, crafted by guest chef Adriene Rathbun, is a fantastic way to use up the last of your summer garden harvest, as most of these ingredients could be plucked right out of your backyard (or even the farmers market).

We start with all-natural freekeh, pronounced free-kah, a roasted green wheat with a heartier, nuttier taste than bulgur with a texture and appearance similar to other whole grains like rice. It’s as easy to prepare as a pot of rice – you’ll just need a half-cup for this recipe boiled with water (or broth for more flavor) for about 20 minutes. We like ours on the chewier, al dente side, so we reduce the cooking time by a few minutes.

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Posted on September 2, 2023 by Natalie K

iCan Bike Lets Kids With Different Abilities Grab Life by the Handlebars

When the iCan Bike program rolled into the Wichita Ice Center last month, 40 youth with varying disabilities grabbed life by the handlebars. The week-long camp is designed to teach cycling to children with developmental disabilities to ride a bike. For many, riding a bike is entrenched as a youthful rite of passage, an expected childhood development filed in between learning to read and losing baby teeth. But even with all the worthwhile services provided to people with different abilities, the teaching of the most essential recreational activity was being overlooked. Learning to bike is a portal. It’s the intersection of sport and independence, it’s in the doorway of competition and confidence.

iCan Bike is under the larger iCan Shine umbrella, a national organization that “provides quality learning opportunities” for a host of recreational activities. iCan Shine sent two staffers, Donovan Bryan and John Reyes, and their custom designed bikes and equipment for the Wichita camp, hosted by the Independent Living Resource Center. (more…)

Posted on August 5, 2023 by Patrick

Crazy for Caprese! 17 New Ways to Make a Classic Caprese Salad

Basil.

Mozzarella.

Tomatoes.

Are any three foods more perfect on their own? But then when combined can take the food center of your brain to a new euphoria? No. The answer is definitively no.

The caprese is so simple, effortless, satisfying, and a must-eat during the summer. You’re doing yourself a disservice if you skip this quintessential summer food. On those nights when you don’t want to cook, or it’s too hot to cook, but you don’t want to go out, and you want something healthy, and blah, blah blah, this is the answer. Appetizer, lunch, entree no matter how you slice that sweet mozz and those juicy fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes it’s perfection.

The ingredient colors reflect those in the Italian flag, the origin of this recipe. As with any classic, the variations are plentiful and all equally delicious or capable of taking your familiarity with this food to a new level. We’ll introduce you to a mere 20 that we were able to say we absolutely have to eat!

For starters, our all new Peach Caprese Salad by Adriene Rathbun. (more…)

Posted on August 1, 2023 by Natalie K

Finish Summer Strong with a Beach Ball Workout by Patricia Friberg

Award winning fitness guru Patricia Friberg has shared a hot new beach workout for the home stretch of summer. The Beach Ball Workout strengthens the glutes, abs, thighs and arms, and all you need is a beach ball—a beach doesn’t hurt either.

You’ve gotta mix up your fitness regimen if you want to avoid the workout doldrums. So seek out a sunny spot and try this great new workout from Patricia.

Beach Ball Lateral Squat

Benefits: Tones the bottom, inner thigh, legs and waistline. This is a one stop shop for exercises.

Set up: Wide stance with legs, holding the ball in the hands. Draw the abdominals inward and upward.

Step 1: Hinge at the right hip and bend your right knee. Take the ball down to the ground by your right foot. Firm the right glute and keep your abdominals drawing in.

Step 2: With the strength of your right leg, push into the ground to straighten the leg and lift the ball up and side bend to the left. 12 reps each leg. (more…)

Posted on August 1, 2023 by GuestBlogger

The Best Club Sandwich Ever is Made with Cleaner, Fresher Ingredients You Can Feel Good About

If I see a club sandwich on a menu, I’m ordering it. End of story. No matter how you stack it, I rarely find a sandwich that has a better combination of ingredients that meld so perfectly together. That first bite through the crisp lettuce, juicy tomato, sweet ham, and salty bacon sends the endorphin center of my brain to the realm of utter satisfaction.

Eating these sandwiches at a restaurant is anyone’s gamble. It’s all pretty processed, and I know that. The salt is higher than it should be, the meat came from God knows where, and all in all it’s never quite as good as anything I make at home. So I try to take my own sandwich makings to the office to build my own for lunch. It’s always a far better option than what the corner deli is dishing up.

That better option, for me, is Applegate. I’ve been a long-time consumer and fan of their cleaner approach to meat products. How could anyone not be? They source humanely-raised animals to craft quality meat products that are organic and hormone free. The sandwich meats are tender, juicy, and never overwhelmingly salty. For pre-cut sandwich meat, it’s truly as good as it gets. (more…)

Posted on July 29, 2023 by Natalie K

Empty Calories Comic: Mom’s Summer Rules Backfire

video game comic

See more Empty Calories right here in the blog. (more…)

Posted on July 26, 2023 by Health Buzz

Your Ultimate Guide to Greens: 15 Greens, What They Do, and How to Eat Them

Growing up, most of us were told at some point to “eat our greens.” We may not have listened at the time, but maybe we should have. As a group, leafy green vegetables, or “greens,” are known for their bounty of health benefits. As a whole, they are great sources of vitamins A and C, and each green has its own broad nutritional profile.

We share 15 greens, why you need to eat them, why they’re so good for you, and even recipes to best prepare and enjoy them!

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Posted on July 25, 2023 by Elizabeth

Beat the Heat with These Simple Yoga Techniques

In many parts of the country, temperatures are on the rise. While it’s typically a slow time of year for yoga studios, I can’t imagine hot yoga studios staying in business during high-degree weather. Even though yoga is enjoyed best in a warm environment, the heat of summer brings thoughts of cooling off rather than sweating it out.

If you struggle with making it to yoga because the heat of day has you wishing you could fit in your icebox, try heeding the following yoga advice. The practice doesn’t always have to heat your body. It is possible to cool down with the right yoga practice.

image via satyaliveyoga.com

Cooling Breath

As called in Sanskrit, shitali pranayama has got to be the number one yogic activity you can do when you are in need of lowering your body temperature. While it may not cool you off like jumping into a frigid lake, it will help assist your body with some evaporative cooling. (more…)

Posted on July 23, 2023 by Jill

Mosquitoes are More Attracted to People Who Exercise

Feeling a little itchy this summer? Then you may be one of the estimated 20 percent of people who are extra attractive to mosquitoes. The attraction can be temporary, based on the color of clothing you’re wearing, or a more long-term relationship because of blood type and genetics. Or the mosquitoes could be attracted to you for a completely different reason, your exercise habits.

Studies have shown that mosquitoes are attracted to sweat and body heat. What happens after exercising strenuously? You sweat and have a higher overall body temperature. Mosquitoes are able to detect heat, which makes anyone who has a higher body temperature than those around them a prime target for biting. Combining higher body temperature with the extra sweat you produce when exercising can turn you into an insect buffet. Sweating is how your body temperature is regulated, which helps cool you down during and after a workout. Unfortunately, even though your temperature may be dropping, the sweat you’re producing will still summon mosquitoes. They are attracted to certain chemicals in sweat, as well as lactic acid and carbon dioxide.

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Posted on July 17, 2023 by Elizabeth

Tag Archives: summer

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