Summers First BBQ

With life whizzing by at full speed ahead it’s nice to take some time to just relax with. We had friends over for a barbeque this past weekend which was so much fun! Having people over was also a great push to get Andrew to finish assembling our new patio furniture! very exciting! The only problem with having patio furniture is that Annabelle’s beloved covered patio has gotten smaller. I’ve been trying to take Annabelle out as much as possible to enjoy the muggy Texas heat, letting her run around naked so we can work on Elimination Communication since we haven’t been doing so good on diaper free time for a while. Since I have much more time at home with Annabelle now that it’s summer I’ve been trying to keep her very entertained, she is very easily bored and doesn’t like spending all day running errands with me. We’ve been using Play at Home mom to come up with some great activities while getting in our outdoor diaper free time. It’s such a great site and I must admit I’ve become mildly obsessed with it.

Anyways, back to the bbq. Making a healthy bbq menu can sometimes be challenging but this one turned out pretty well. I tried to keep it as healthy yet traditional as possible.

I made 2 different kinds of burgers, both with grass-fed organic beef.

One batch was mixed with Organicville bbq sauce, red onions, smoked cheddar, salt and pepper.

The second batch was a healthier version and is a fantastic way to keep traditionally heavy bbq’s a little lighter. I put some organic spinach and carrots in a food processor and then mixed about 60% spinach and carrot mixture with 40% beef and added a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Couldn’t be any simpler.

I also made one of my very favorite summer salads with steamed broccoli and avocado 

I even made popsicles! I’m working on some pospicle recipes inspired by Casa de Campo so I used our guests as guinea pigs (thank you!!). I have to make some tweaks and as soon as they are perfect I’ll post the recipes! We had a bottle of Skinny Girl Sangria which I loved and am thinking that next time I’ll just pour some of that into a popsicle mold for a yummy treat!

What are some of your favorite summer recipes? Do you have a favorite recipe that you want a lighter, healthier version of? Post the recipe on my facebook page and I’ll lighten it up and healthify it for you!