Author Archives: DANNY German

Slimming Summer Barbecue Dishes

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If you want to keep your bikini body but don’t want to spend your summer searching for Medifast coupons 2012, it’s time to get serious about low-fat, low-calorie meals. Fortunately, there is a bounty of fresh produce and seafood in the warmer months that will help to keep you slim and trim.

If you want to keep the calories down but don’t want to give up on your favorite barbecue meals, there are a few tricks you can use to cut fat and calories from some of summers traditional dishes.

Protein

You don’t have to give up on char-grilled steaks when you’re dieting. The USDA has designated several cuts of steak as extra-lean, including top sirloin and sirloin tip side steak. Grilling is the perfect preparation for these steaks, as the little fat they do contain will drain off during the cooking process.

When you’re planning the main star of the meal, think lean all the way. Pork is a traditional barbecue dish, but many of the cuts, such as pork butt, are high in fat and calories. When in doubt, stick with pork tenderloin — one of the leanest cuts of pork. While you’re thinking lean, also think seafood and chicken — skinless, of course.

Instead of burgers made from beef, go with ground turkey, veggie burgers or portobello mushrooms set on whole wheat buns.

Sides

Unfortunately, many of summer’s popular side dishes don’t mesh with a low-calorie diet, but you do have other options. Traditional mayonnaise-based potato salad weighs in at a whopping 358 calories per cup. Serve mayonnaise-free German potato salad instead at only 240 calories per cup.

Instead of baked beans, which are 250 calories per cup, serve a fresh, black-bean salsa at only 99 calories. Use fat-free mayo in your cole slaw, and you will have just saved over 100 calories per serving. Even summer’s favorite veggie, fresh corn on the cob, can be disastrous to your diet, as every pat of butter you add to it adds roughly 100 calories to the 77-calorie ear.

There are plenty of low-calorie sides you can serve, such as fresh salads with fat-free dressing, cucumber salad with some Spanish onion or grilled veggies.

Southern Coleslaw

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What goes perfectly with awesome southern barbecue? You’ll need some great sides like coleslaw, baked beans, and potato salad. To be perfectly honest, I can’t imagine having pulled pork without a generous helping of coleslaw, and my North Carolinian husband can’t eat a barbecue sandwich without piling on the slaw. Of course there are plenty of other sides that go great with southern barbecue, including pasta salad, fruit salad, baked potatoes, scalloped potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and French fries. All of these are wonderful, but nothing can take the place of good ol’ southern coleslaw.

Southern coleslaw recipe

What you’ll need:

1 medium head green cabbage

1/2 cup minced sweet Vidalia onion

1/3 cup chopped bread and butter pickles, with some juice

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup bottled ranch dressing

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Salt and pepper, to taste

paprika

Directions: Rinse cabbage and remove outer leaves. Cut cabbage into four equal quarters. Shred the cabbage and place in a large bowl. Add minced onion and chopped pickles.

Whisk together mayonnaise, sugar, ranch dressing, and vinegar. Pour this over the cabbage and toss. Add salt and pepper and taste. Adjust seasonings. Cover container and refrigerate slaw for two hours or more. When ready to serve, sprinkle coleslaw with paprika.

The Barbecue Camping Checklist

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There are many elements that make up camping a blast, but perhaps none is more enjoyable than food. There something magical about being able to go back to the basics while preparing food surrounded by the wonders of nature. The fresh somewhere blends seamlessly with outdoor cooking and family time. These are the things that great family memories are made of, and you should spare no expense when it comes to what you eat on a camping trip. After all, how many other opportunities do you get to enjoy food like this? You should take every advantage of your surroundings and downtime to fully enjoy the experience. As any good camper nose, preparation and organization are keys to having a successful trip. Here is a quick barbecue camping checklist to ensure you are fully prepared for the experience of a lifetime.

A Good Cooler – it’s not about fancy gadgets or elaborate appliances when it comes to wholesome barbecue cooking. Stick with the basics and you’ll be fine every time. For camping, it starts with a good cooler so that you can ensure your ingredients they fresh until ready to cook. This is one area where you should definitely not skimp so make sure to spend enough on getting yourself a cooler (or two) that will serve you well. In general, filling your cooler with block ice works better than chips because it lasts longer. You can also pre-freeze certain items like soup or stew to act as cooling agents as well.

A Great Grill – one problem associated with portable gas grills is their flimsy nature and tendency to crumble under weight. This is why you might want to go with a larger model with a durable design. These days there are wonderful choices in terms of more portable grill to give you the same type of performance as a backyard model. Make sure that you understand how to operate your grill while maintaining it properly in the outdoors.

Ample Food – here is where the fun begins because it’s your chance to go all out with your menu planning. Just remember to stay organized so that you don’t run out of food before your trip ends. It’s a good idea to plan out each meal in advance while leaving room for extras at the same time. Don’t forget about peripheral elements such as beverages and snacks either.

A Backup Plan – one important aspects of camping is being prepared for any contingency. Hopefully everything turns out fine, and chances are they will. But in case of an emergency you should always have extra food rations on hand. These days you can find prepackaged emergency food that come in handy portable kits. You’ll likely never have to dig into one, but it’s nice to know you have reserves just in case.

Educate Yourself – information is your best friend when it comes to camping so don’t be afraid to explore different techniques and grilling basics. It’s not just about throwing food onto your charcoal grill and leading a cook until it’s done. There are exciting ways to make food tastier in addition to incorporating more health into your menu planning as well. In general, the more you know about basic cooking, the more you can expand your overall routine for exciting results.

Overall Safety – food safety is always a concern in outdoor environment because you don’t have the amenities of a modern kitchen. Remember to handle your food safely at all times especially when it comes to uncooked meat. If something has thawed, then make sure to cook it as soon as possible without trying to refreeze it. Also make sure that you preserve your campsite while keeping the integrity of the area intact. Keep a careful watch on your barbecue to avoid complications with forest fires or too much smoke wandering over to your neighbor’s campsite. When you take care of these basics, it allows you to have a lot more fun without having to worry about an accident or unforeseen event routing your entire trip.

Smoking Meats Adds Nice Variation To Your Diet

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Let me just start off by saying I love smoked Barbeque.  I grew up on a little farm and we always raised our own meat.  Then when I was in my teens I worked in a grocery store in the meat market and helped my uncle cut up beef on the weekends.  As you can imagine we always had a lot of meat to eat and I guess you could say, “I have meat in my blood.”

That is why I was so excited about getting started on a no carb foods diet in order to get rid of the spare tire that had developed around my middle.  Eating meat is the key to any good low carb diet but my problem was I always ate it with lots of potatoes, bread, and sweets.  That is a no-no and really packs on the pounds.

Since being on the diet for the last month I have lost almost 20 pounds and feel great.  One of the keys to my success has been varying the types of meals I have.  That is where my smoker comes in.  Every weekend I smoke a turkey and a ham then I can have these for lunches and dinners throughout the week.  The smoky flavor not only tastes good but I also think it helps to curb my appetite later on.  Of course we also use the smoker to cook hamburgers and steaks during the week.  I’ll tell you, a good steak with a salad and some grilled veggies really makes a great meal and I don’t even think about those fries or mashed potatoes I would have had to have just a few months ago.

I use a propane barbeque which a lot of people frown on but the reality is the ease of use is so nice that I don’t even think about briquettes.  My smoker has a tray to add flavor chips so I can smoke with hickory, alder, or mesquite without waiting an hour for the coals to get hot.  I just pour some chips in the pan and light the propane.  The chips will smoke the whole time I am cooking and I get that great wood smoke flavor without having to deal with the ashes later.

This Will Help Make Your BBQ Sauce

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Who doesn’t like a good barbecue? Just thinking about it gets me hungry. The thought of meat and veggies on that grill and the smell traveling through the air is a beautiful thing. We try to grill every weekend when we have time to do it. We also like to tailgate with friend at the football games too. Dang I’m getting hungry as I write this.

Something that is very important with barbecue is having the right barbecue sauce. That can really make or break your meal. Now some people will just buy any old bbq sauce that is on their local stores shelves. Others will go online and look for specialty stores that sell their own brand of barbecue sauce. For the truly adventurous, they will make up their own recipe. I have a friend who does this and I have to tell you it is some of the best I have ever tasted.

Now like any good chef, he won’t revel his ingredients. I’ve watched him whip this up, but I have no idea what he puts in it. I do know he uses the Cuisinart SmartStick Hand Blender to blend it all up. He searched allover for one and found the lowest price Cuisinart SmartStick Hand Blender over on Amazon.

Posted in BBQ

Hamburger Recipes: Teriyaki Burgers

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My family and I enjoy all kinds of hamburger recipes. Sometimes nothing seems as good as a plain ole grilled burger, but at other times, we prefer burgers that are a little different. Some may even call them unusual. These burgers are really delicious! The sweet pineapple and the teriyaki sauce go great with the beef, and the bell pepper adds a nice crunch.

Teriyaki Burgers recipe

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup soft bread crumbs
  • 2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce (thin kind)
  • 2 tablespoons pineapple juice
  • 1 beaten egg
  • 1 ½ pounds ground chuck
  • 1 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 12 pineapple rings
  • Olive oil
  • Green bell pepper strips
  • 1 dozen Hawaiian rolls
  • Teriyaki glaze (thick kind)

Directions: In a large bowl, combine bread crumbs, teriyaki sauce, pineapple juice, and egg. Let stand for five minutes. Mix in ground chuck, garlic salt, and black pepper. Divide mixture into 12 balls. Flatten balls to make 12 patties that are slightly larger than the Hawaiian rolls. Place burgers on a plate and refrigerate for an hour or two.

Grill hamburgers over medium coals to desired doneness. While burgers are cooking, brush pineapple rings with olive oil and grill fruit until grill marks are left on both sides. Grill peppers, too, if desired.

Place cooked burgers on rolls and top with pineapple, bell pepper, and teriyaki glaze.

 

 

Sweet and Spicy Pulled Pork Recipe

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This is a wonderful pulled pork recipe that’s sweet, spicy, and delicious. If you’re looking for a no-fail pulled pork recipe that everyone will love, look no further. For the very best pulled pork, you’ll want to use a pork shoulder – a Boston butt. Choose one that has some fat on it so the meat will be super juicy and tender. Boston butts usually weigh between four and eight pounds or so, so choose one that matches the number of folks you want to feed. To smoke the meat, you’ll need a smoker or a grill that closes tightly.

Sweet and Spicy Pulled Pork Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1 pork butt (five or six pounds)
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon apple juice
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 2 teaspoons black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ginger
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • Hickory chunks or chips

Directions: Rinse butt and pat dry. In a small bowl, combine vinegar, apple juice, and olive oil. Blend in dry ingredients and let sit on the counter for about thirty minutes, then stir again. Rub mixture all over pork butt. Wrap rubbed butt and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Soak the wood chunks or chips in water for an hour, then add to smoker. Fire up the smoker and heat it to 220 degrees. Smoke the rubbed butt for about two hours per pound.

Remove the smoked pork shoulder from the smoker or grill and let rest for thirty minutes. Pull the meat and add barbecue sauce, if desired.