Memorial Day

I really sucked it up at taking photos this weekend, but we had a fabulous time! Yesterday our friends Jon, Courtney and their daughter Caitlyn came over for a cookout and some swimming. Scott was able to use his smoker again and boy it was good! He smoked two slabs of ribs for 5 hours and they were clean the bone delicious!

He started with putting some honey dijon mustard on the ribs and then put on his rib rub:


Looks a little like something Fred Flinstone would eat, doesn't it? Then they smoked for 3 hours just like that, he put them in a slow cooker bag next with some apple juice and steamed them in the smoker for 2 hours and then opened that up and smoked them for another hour.

Even baby Caitlyn loved these ribs! Scott also made a BBQ sauce to go with it that was super yummy. After all of the food we had this dessert I made, it's a watermelon granita and was the perfect way to end the day:


All you need is 4 cups of watermelon (seedless), 1/2 cup of sugar and the juice of one lemon. Combine everything in a food processor and puree. Pour the contents into a shallow dish and put in freezer. After one hour rake the puree and then let freeze another hour and repeat. It was so good and refreshing after the ribs!

I hope you had a fantastic holiday weekend!

Blueberry Health Muffins

Blueberries are at their peak right now, so I want to take advantage of these little bites of heaven. Thankfully, Whole Living had this recipe in August issue:

Here's what you need:

• 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup of all purpose flour (white flour)
• 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup of brown sugar
• 3/4 cup of 2% milk
• 1/4 vegetable oil
• 2 eggs (lightly beaten)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup blueberries
• additional 2 tablespoons of toasted wheat germ
• additional tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup rolled oats

What to do:

• Preheat oven to 375
• Line muffin pan with paper liners (spray them with Pam for baking so they don't stick)
• In a bowl whisk together the wheat flour, all purpose flour, wheat germ, baking powder, salt and brown sugar
• Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla.
• Fold in the blueberries
• Divide batter among the 12 cups
• In a small bowl combine the additional wheat germ, brown sugar and rolled oats
• Top each muffin with the mixture
• Bake for 20-22 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean)
• Let sit in pan for 10 minutes then transfer to cooling rack

Per serving: 196 calories, 1g saturated fat, 5g unsaturated fat, 36mg cholesterol, 30g carb, 138mg sodium, 5g protein, 2g fiber

Here's a tip on taking advantage of berries this season: Buy them while they are at these rock bottom prices and freeze them yourself for use later on when they are sky high. Line cookie sheets with the berries and flash freeze them for a few hours in your freezer. Then put them in containers to use later. They work really well with baking or for smoothies.

Fresh Fruit Salad with Mint

With the 4th tomorrow I figured this would be a yummy recipe to share. It's really refreshing and super easy to make.

What you need:

• 1 1/2 cups hulled and sliced fresh strawberries

• 1 medium mango, seeded, peeled and cubed

• 1 cup fresh blueberries or blackberries (I did half a cup of each)

• 1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

• 2 tablespoons orange juice

• 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh mint

What to do:

• In a large bowl combine strawberries, mango and blue/blackberries

• Just before serving add raspberries, orange juice and mint

Easy, right? Enjoy and have a safe weekend!

Chicken Noodle Salad

I don't know what the weather is like by you, but here in super sunny Florida it is beyond hot. The last thing I want to do right now is crank up the oven, so we're eating a lot of salads. This one is Scott's favorite, I make him a big batch for him to take for lunch.

Here's what you need:

• 2 carrots diced

• 2 celery stalks, diced

• 1 red bell pepper, diced (you can really use any pepper here, I've mixed stoplight peppers for it too, super yummy!)

• 2 cups small pasta noodles (shells or elbows) cooked

• 2 cups of cooked chicken (I've also used tuna, again, super yummy)

• 3 cups of romaine lettuce, chopped

• handful of tomatoes (optional)

What to do:

Mix it all up, it's that easy! Then add either your favorite dressing, or this really yummy one I've made...

BBQ Honey Ranch Dressing

• 4 tablespoons low fat ranch dressing

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

• 2 tablespoons store bought BBQ sauce

• 1 tablespoon honey

Mix everything together, add to salad and toss. Enjoy!