Tag Archives: grilling

5 Deliciously Healthy Summer Party Themes

lemons-summer-food

Lisa Johnson blogs at TrueFoodMovement.com, where you can find healthy recipes and fun ideas about food.

Hot dogs, burgers, ice cream…summer parties can wreak havoc with your waistline. We’ve got five summer party themes that let you kick back and enjoy yourself instead of counting calories.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

FIESTA

Think more salsa, less queso. Mexican food comes from fresh ingredients and simple preparations. There are a lot of healthy Mexican dishes such as ceviche, a taco salad, and fajitas with whole wheat wraps. There are only 146 calories in a Corona, so you can even enjoy a little beer.

Try this: Roasted Tomatillo and Pineapple Salsa (more…)

Posted on June 19, 2023 by Health Buzz

14 Patio Perfect Memorial Day Recipes Your BBQ Can’t Live Without

It’s officially the unofficial start to summer that we’ve all been craving! You know, that time of year when people start getting extra friendly with a neighbor or pal with a swimming pool. Memorial Day is here and, like most Americans, you probably have plans to spend the sunny day-off outside, on a deck, by the water, with good food, drink, and better friends.

Remember, these aren’t the cookouts of your youth; don’t allow your buddies to grill packaged weenies and frozen burger patties. This is a new era; your golden age of Memorial Day cookouts. We’ve compiled the very best of our cookout-inspired recipes — simple, delicious summer foods that may even be good for you (shhh!)

sam adams summertime lemonade

Sam Adams Summertime Slush

The flavor combination in this beer cocktail tastes exactly like summer is supposed to taste — light, sweet, refreshing, and maybe just a little bit boozy! We made our own fresh-squeezed lemonade, slushed it up in the blender, and topped it off with ice cold Sam Adams Summer Ale.

bayou kabobs

Bayou Kabobs

Add color, spice, and a little flare to your cookout spread with this Cajun-inspired recipe. We layered Andouille sausage with shrimp, peppers, and sausage for something like a shrimp boil on a stick! Serve with grilled corn and potatoes to really pull the theme together.

Roasted Tomatillo and Pineapple Salsa

Are you tired of bland, store-bought salsa, but intimidated about making your own homemade chip-dip? This roasted tomatillo and pineapple salsa is sweet and refreshing, with a perfect amount of spicy bite. It’s full of complex flavor notes and a breeze to make. The tomatillo is tangy, the pineapple saccharine, and salsa staples like cilantro, lime juice, garlic, onion, and salt strike a harmonious balance. Throw this salsa down with some blue corn tortilla chips and watch your guests lick the bowl clean.

Talenti Frozen Sangria

With great entertaining comes great responsibility, so make sure your Memorial Day guests have a tasty bev to wash down your delicious food. The only thing better than a cool summer cocktail is a frozen summer cocktail. The Talenti Sorbetto in this recipe is brilliant in color and light in calories. All you need is your favorite bottle of cheap cab sauv, a little lime juice, mixed berries, and a blender. With only 222 calories per 8 oz serving, it’s the perfect summer cocktail. (more…)

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Health Buzz

Healthy Dinner Menu Plan for the Week Featuring Easy Weeknight Favorites

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When it comes to the what’s for dinner? question, the struggle is real folks! We’re taking most of the guess work out with our new weekly meal plans! Turn Sunday in to Plan Day and you’ll be set right on through the weekend. (more…)

Posted on January 18, 2024 by Natalie K

Be the Hostess with the Mostess: Grilled Pork Tenderloin and Goat Cheese Sandwiches Recipe

The more the merrier is my food philosophy. I love hosting and I really get my jollies by sharing dinner with as many friends and loved ones as I can. That, to me, is the soul in food.

I never like to serve the same thing twice. Who would ever want to come over when they know it’s Chicken Something again? But when the menu is always a little unexpected, it makes the invitation that much more enticing.

Pork tenderloin has been an easy go-to for my menu planning for some time now. It seems strange to say I’m obsessed with this tender cut of meat — but really, I am. I’ve grilled it and served as medallions, shredded for pulled pork sandwiches, sauteed with veggies for fajitas, cubed for pork and veggie stew, and so much more. The question is — what haven’t I used pork tenderloin for? (more…)

Posted on December 9, 2023 by Natalie K

The 5 High Tech Gadgets Your Summer Adventures Can’t Live Without

Regardless of where in the country you live, Summer is the season we all find ourselves outside more than any other time of year. I put together this list of gadgets that will help you make the most out of your time outdoors, and you’ll find something for everybody.

Jawbone JAMBOX Bluetooth Speaker ($150 $115)

Whether you’re doing laps in the pool, soaking up the sun at the beach, working in the yard, or taking your yoga to the park, you’ll appreciate being able to blast your tunes from something more than the tiny built-in speakers of your smartphone. The Jawbone JAMBOX consistently gets rave reviews and it’s usually on sale at Amazon. (more…)

Posted on July 14, 2023 by Mike Beauchamp

Win This Big ‘Ole Applegate Weinervention Sweepstakes to Save Your Hot Dog Lovin’ Soul

This sweepstakes is done in partnership with Applegate, but is not sponsored. We were provided complimentary product for review, but were not obligated to enjoy the ever loving heck out of it. Since we did, they said we could share the love with you.

Hot dogs. Bare feet. Summertime. It’s a perfect recipe for the best three months of the year.

Unfortunately, the recipe in most hot dogs looks more like the seedy bowels of a dark, cold winter. Who knows what is actually in those things?!

But the folks at Applegate get it right. Super right. It’s like they invented the hot dog. Sadly, they did not. They did, however, make them so much better. Like way better, better enough that you won’t cringe watching your kids bite in to them.

“Looking more like strawberry frosting than blended meat and bone bits…” writes Treehugger about what’s actually inside the standard hot dog, “the country’s most beloved tube of meat.” There’s mechanically separated meat (or pink slime) from a few animals that could include cow, pig, chicken, or turkey. Don’t forget the corn syrup, flavor additives, tons of sodium, and a whole host of other preservatives and the like. Yuck.

Applegate Naturals Beef Hot Dogs are “cleaner weiners.” They have a super simple list of uncured beef, water, and six seasonings. That’s it! Even my four-year-old can digest this list (and so can her tummy!). They’re tasty and juicy, the way a hot dog should be. They also don’t have that typical gnarly hot dog smell, phew! We felt better eating these since they weren’t stocked with nasty junk. (more…)

Posted on June 30, 2023 by Health Buzz

6 Secrets for a Healthy Backyard Cookout

By Team Best Life

Spring is in the air and so is the smell of smoky, mouth-watering barbecue! As you prepare to pick up your spatula and fire up the grill follow these six barbecue basics for a healthy and tasty meal:

Look for lean.
Opt for lean meats to keep calories and fat in check. Try burgers made with lean beef (95 percent), buffalo burgers with naturally lean ground buffalo meat, turkey burgers, or veggie burgers (try this tasty recipe). As for steak, look for T-bone or different cuts of sirloin and flank steaks, or buffalo steaks, which are naturally lean. And don’t forget to remove the skin from poultry; it’s loaded with fat.

(more…)

Posted on May 13, 2023 by BestLifeDiet

Make This Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad with Blackberries and Grilled Baguette Croutons

Don’t you love those moments in the kitchen when inspiration strikes and the result is a meal or dish so outstanding that you have to shout it from the rooftops…or at least from your blog?

This salad is my most recent moment of a) we have nothing to eat, b) those tomatoes are going to go bad soon so I should use them, c) and I guess I have some greens, too, d) and what about blackberries…

You know the drill. This time, a Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad was the result of desperate brainstorm. And if this is the result, let desperation be your muse always!

I had these baby heirloom tomatoes just begging to be eaten and every time I looked at them – so tiny, so juicy, so pretty – all I could think was how incredible they’d be roasted. Drizzled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and crushed garlic, my hypothesis was on the nose. The entire house was filled with their tantalizing aroma, their tender skins burst just right, and they became the shining star in an otherwise ordinary salad.

On a bed of fresh spring greens, I chopped bites of baby mozzarella. I like to buy as close to fresh as possible, which is the containers of mozzarella balls soaking in water. (more…)

Posted on April 21, 2024 by Natalie K

5 Fall Fruit Desserts to Bake, Poach, and Grill Your Way to 5 a Day

By Team Best Life

You already know that fruit is loaded with good-for-you nutrients, including fiber, vitamins and phytochemicals, all of which can keep you healthy, so we’ll save that lecture again. Choices certainly become a bit more limited in the fall and winter (unless you want to shell out for expensive imports), but there are plenty of in-season fruits that totally satisfy your sweet tooth. Our favorite way to get our fruit fix: Have it for dessert. Fruit is the perfect base for desserts because it’s naturally sweet. So this season, grab your favorite fall or winter fruit and bake, poach, or even grill your way to five a day.

apples pears

Bake It

Pop some fruit in the oven for a warm, melt-in-your-mouth treat. You can make a fruit crisp or crumble, which features a crunchy, sweet topping, or a fruit slump, which boasts a moister topping that literally slumps into the fruit while it’s baking. Or top your baked fruit with a little chocolate, as in this Baked Pear with Chocolate Sauce recipe.

Poach It

Simmer your fruit in liquid with a bit of sugar to create a juicy and mouthwatering dish. Want a little more flavor? Try adding some of your favorite spices, as shown in this recipe for Poached Fall Fruit: Grapes, Apples and Pears with Cinnamon, Cardamom and Anise. (more…)

Posted on November 20, 2023 by BestLifeDiet

Balsamic and Rosemary Grilled Pork Tenderloin and Honey Thyme Mashed Sweet Potato Will Happily Feed a Crowd

Today, I’m not just giving you the entree, I’m giving you the side to go with it. Because otherwise, this meal would be like giving you the macaroni without the cheese, or the Thanksgiving turkey without the stuffing; they are just meant to be together!

No where near as complicated as it may sound, after this Rosemary and Balsamic Grilled Pork Tenderloin you aren’t going to want to eat anything else ever again. But when you pair a bite of the tenderloin with a bite of the Honey Thyme Mashed Sweet Potatoes, you will reach a level of mouth-feel, flavor euphoria you didn’t even know possible. Food shouldn’t make us happy, but this will.

I love cooking with pork tenderloins. This cut of meat cooks quickly, has tons of flavor, and makes plenty of leftovers. At least in our house with a family of three, one tenderloin will cover dinner and a few lunches, too! One added bonus, the tenderloin is leaner than a skinless chicken breast! For real. A three-ounce serving of pork tenderloin has 120 calories compared to 139 calories in the same serving of chicken breast. The chicken has .1 grams more fat than the pork, and 11 grams more cholesterol than the pork.

And tender. Oh me, oh my, oh mama. It’s right there in the name, and it’s not a misnomer. (more…)

Posted on November 11, 2023 by Natalie K

The Cleaner Wiener: Our Quintessential Applegate Recipe Collection

While we respect and often adhere to both vegetarian and vegan pursuits alike, we’re not afraid to celebrate our inner carnivore, too. Just as veggos demand the most sustainable and healthy ingredients for plant-based meals, we share the same mentality when it comes to our meats. This summer, we showcased healthful, meatful recipes, and a few of those dishes were among our most popular of the season. Some were variations on classics, others came from left field in a “did they really do that with a donut?” kind of way. But the one thing our favorite carnivorous dishes had in common was Applegate’s meats.

Their bacon is slow cooked, their chicken sausage is savory and well seasoned, and their deli meats are lean and low in sodium. Most of their meat is organic and natural, and the overwhelming majority of the Applegate product line is antibiotic-, nitrate- and nitrite-free. Applegate sources humanely-raised animals and even feature some gluten-free products, because, of course they do. Below, we’ve trotted out our quintessential Applegate themed recipe collection, all in the hopes that you too will open the gate and enjoy their clean meat. It’s why their current campaign talks about cleaner wieners!

Here are five recipes we created featuring Applegate’s more sustainable meat products.

Bayou Kabobs with Applegate Andouille Sausage

Channel Bayou vibes with these succulent Applegate Andouille sausage kabobs. Known for their “cleaner weiner” chicken sausages, Applegate is committed to sourcing organic, hormone-free, and humanely-raised animals. This means their meat is lean, low-fat, and nitrate- and nitrite-free. The Andouille sausage has the perfect amount of spicy bite, and the kabob only contains three other ingredients: plump shrimp, crisp bell peppers, and sweet yellow onions. Fire up the grill one last time and get your Cajun on.

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Posted on September 25, 2023 by Patrick

Tag Archives: grilling

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