Everybody talks about the holidays, but there are other difficult times of the year. Easter happens to fall within the time period of birthdays and spring celebrations. Burgers, steaks, sauce-slathered chicken, potato salad, pasta salad, and even ripe fruits (if you are tempted to sprinkle sugar over strawberries, eat berries with whipped cream and shortcake, etc) can be just as hard to pass up as ham, creamy mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. That's my opinion, anyway.
Today's subject: Summer BBQ, Utah/Western style (Southern slathered shredded deliciousness is simply not allowed. Sorry!)
Of the beefy burger substitutes, we've only tried a few. Original Boca burgers we picked up at Costco were only 100 calories and tasted delicious. Spritz with liquid smoke and Yoshida's Gourmet Sauce, Teriyaki sauce, or a dash of soy sauce and they taste wonderful on a bun. Gardenburgers are healthy, but didn't impress me as much as Boca burgers. Sadly, Costco hasn't (at least yet) put out Bocas this year. SAD! I hope they come along soon. Meanwhile, I'm anxious to barbecue so I forked out the extra money and picked up a few new flavours at Target. ($2.54 for 4 which isn't that much, but I don't like spending money). I'll critique the taste of each flavour as we try them, but what we picked up were Grilled Vegetables, Mushroom Mozarella, and Cheeseburger. Sounds yum, right? Add some low calorie cheese and don't forget this important tip! Near the bread and hamburger buns are some sandwich thins. They come in multi-grain and wheat (we prefer multi-grain) and are 100 calories each. I like them toasted on one side. Garnish with free stuff like mustard, pickles, lettuce, onion, bell pepper - I don't count a slice of tomato although I know I should - and you can still enjoy some of the other foods, too. You can't really guess how many calories might be in homemade potato or pasta salads, but if you have just 1/4 cup of no more than three of them, you can bet a 30 minute walk and getting back on schedule the next day will keep you from seeing any damage on the scale.
I've started taking my dill dip with a vegetable tray and either veggie chips or Baked Lays to each occasion. Even if no one else touches them, I know I can fill up on things guilt free so I won't be tempted to eat much of the creamy or saucy foods. Pasta salad can be somewhat nutritious (I'm working on a recipe for this summer!) but people these days are fond of adding cheese chunks, chopped ham, and corn which can all hurt your health without you realizing it. I love the new salads with gorgonzola or blue cheese chunks and craisins with nuts, but by adding too many of each or all three can make a 1/2 cup salad enough calories to be an entire meal when you are watching what you eat. Scott promises a post about deceiving side dishes which will make you think twice about not being careful when you go to the next family barbecue.
Basically, you can still enjoy barbecue even at lower calories as long as you're careful. Diet and vegetarian/vegan foods have come such a long way that there really isn't a sacrifice!
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