Summer sun, fun, food….all balanced and blended for a happy – and healthy – life. Join me on my summertime journey filled with delicious, decadent seasonal foods and treats all balanced and blended exercise, activity and recipe tips. I’m one of the most practical dietitians you’ll ever know. Nothing, absolutely nothing…no food, no drink…is off limits. It’s all about the balance and blending. Balance decadent choices with daily activity and exercise and blend, add or boost nutrient-rich ingredients in summertime recipes.
Take cobblers and crisps, for example. Absolutely love them. So when I make them, I boost nutrients by adding extra fruit and using whole wheat flour and oats instead of white flour for the cobbler or crisp topping. I love grilled burgers, too, and use ground chuck instead of super extra lean ground beef because I balance that burger with whole wheat hamburger buns, lettuce, tomatoes and a big serving of grilled carrots, asparagus or eggplant.
And at least once or twice every summer I have to grill BBQ pork ribs with my terrific husband Jeff. I just make sure we blend those higher fat ribs with a hefty helping of grilled veggies and a mixed greens salad with fresh garden tomatoes. Well, no fresh tomatoes for him – he only eats cooked tomato/pasta sauces and salsa. A real dilemma for me since tomatoes are one of my top five favorite foods. But we both love our traditional soft-serve cones or gelato at the local ice cream stand. On those treat-days, I just walk extra minutes to balance it all.
This summer, in between all my cooking, eating and reading, I’ll be lifting weights and taking extra long walks in either my downtown Indianapolis neighborhood or along the beach in Jacksonville since I live in both cities.
Looking forward to a happy, healthy and great-tasting summer!