Cocktails and Cookouts CAN be made a little healthier 😉
Tasty food, refreshing beverages, and good company are what summer is for; however, as you?re spending time with friends and family, it?s easy to overindulge and sabotage your goals. But there?s good news!?You don?t have to cut your fav foods from the standard cookout menu to make it a healthier affair!
Let’s check out some cocktails!
??Pi?a Colada ?
Made correctly, a pi?a colada is the taste of summer. If not made correctly, it tastes like suntan lotion in a glass. This recipe replaces sugar and cream with fruit and skim milk.
Ingredients
- 1 8-oz can pineapple chunks (with juice)
- 1 tsp coconut extract
- 1 cup nonfat (skim) milk
- 1 cup ice cubes
Place ingredients in the blender and blend well; then, (mentally, at least) escape to the Caribbean! Calories before: 297; Calories now: 146.
? Margarita ?
Your biggest caloric enemy in the margarita is prepackaged margarita mix. Sure, there are ?light? versions available? but their taste is less than spectacular. Here?s another option that will cut your calories in half without sacrificing flavor.
Ingredients
- Juice of 1? limes
- 3 oz water
- 2 oz tequila
- 1.5 oz triple sec
- Ice
- Salt (to taste)
Mix lime juice and water together. Add tequila and triple sec; then, either pour over ice or put in blender with ice. Add salt to taste. Sip while looking amazing in your swimsuit, pretending you?re on a beach in Mexico. Calories before: 435; Calories now: 180.
Which cocktails do you prefer?
What?s a bbq without a burger?! It?s time to ditch the plain ground beef burgers and up your meat game. Roasted garlic and fresh rosemary make these burgers extra flavorful.?
Adding grated zucchini to the lean ground beef helps keep the burgers moist (plus it?s an inexpensive way to add bulk). It?s basically undetectable, so it?s a clever way to sneak extra veggies into your diet!
Pro-tip: Try this recipe with turkey meat, too!
What topping do you HAVE to have on a burger?
? Burgers with Roasted Garlic and Rosemary ?
4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 whole garlic bulb
- 1 lb 95% lean ground sirloin
- 1 medium zucchini, coarsely grated
- 6 fresh rosemary sprigs, leaves removed and finely chopped, stems discarded
- ? tsp sea salt
- ? tsp cracked black pepper
- 4 whole-grain hamburger buns
- 4 slices medium tomato
- 4 lettuce leaves
- 4 red onion slices
Preheat oven to 400? F. Remove outer papery later from garlic, keeping each individual clove covered, and keeping cloves attached to the bulb. Cut off top ?-inch of bulb. Place on a piece of aluminum foil; wrap to completely seal. Bake for 45 minutes, or until tender.
Preheat grill to high. When garlic is cool enough to handle, peel away foil. Squeeze garlic into a large bowl. Add sirloin, zucchini, rosemary, salt, and pepper; mix well. Shape mixture into four patties.
Grill for 4-6 minutes on each side, or until desired doneness. Top each bottom bun with a patty, tomato slice, lettuce leaf, onion slice, and top bun.