Celebrate With Food—and Without the Guilt!

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Independence Day usually means barbecuing, which is often a feast of indulgence. By eating healthily, you will have more energy to enjoy holiday activities and not feel sluggish. And eating healthy doesn’t necessarily equal restrictive eating. Sometimes the healthier options are just as, if not more, great tasting as the junk-food staples. Make this Fourth of July about indulging in creativity.

Get the whole family involved in food preparations because kids are more interested in eating something they helped create, says Nestle USA’s Culinary Center Manager Christine Garboski, who is also the mother of six-year-old triplets. “The key is having healthy, flavorful food available,” she says.

For popular barbecue foods, here are some healthier options.

Meat
Judi Adams, president of the Grain Foods Foundation, recommends buying ground beef that’s at least 94 percent lean and removing the skin from chicken.

Chef Jill Houk from the Centered Chef Food Studios, a wellness-focused catering company, recommends using game meats, such as buffalo or venison, because they taste similar to beef but are lower in saturated fat. Another tip she recommends is to mix whole grain breadcrumbs in meat, known as a panade method. It lowers calories, adds fiber and makes for a juicy burger, she says. For Centered Chef’s hamburger recipe, check out the Recommended Resources section below.

Registered dietitian and certified holistic chef Elizabeth Brown says mixing meat with vegetables, such as shredded carrots or minced celery, is also a good displacement method for decreasing calories and increasing nutrients. Brown also advocates using free-range, organic, grass-fed selections of meat because they usually have no hormones.

Salads
Salads usually have a healthy connotation, but the ones you find at barbecues, such as potato or pasta salad, are likely laden with mayonnaise. Brown recommends using some mayo for taste but replacing the rest with plain yogurt. She says a half-and-half ratio can significantly decrease calories while satisfying the taste buds of even avid mayo lovers. Brown also suggests using canola mayo to get omega-3 fats. For coleslaw, she uses a mixture of one teaspoon of Dijon mustard for every cup of plain yogurt, and salt and pepper to taste.

Fruit and Vegetables
Have an abundant supply of fruit and vegetables, which are nutritious and low in calories. Just try not to counteract their nutritional value with too much ranch or sweet dip.

Bread
Using whole grain bread is a good choice, Adams says, because it is not only low in calories, but also provides nutrients and fiber that helps lower blood cholesterol. Enriched grains have folic acid, which can help lower the risk of heart disease and some cancers.

Sauces
We usually love to smother our burger or hot dog with barbecue sauce or ketchup. But have you ever considered making a fruit-based barbecue sauce? Houk recommends peaches, plums and apples as excellent sauces filled with nutrients, such as Vitamin C and fiber. And the flavors can range from sweet and tart to sweet and smoky. Try Centered Chef’s Fresh Blueberry Relish and Mango Barbecue Sauce.

Chips and Dips
Brown recommends baked chips and even suggests making your own chips with either whole grain pita bread or corn or flour tortillas. Garboski says homemade sweet potato chips are a more nutritional substitute to regular chips because they provide Vitamins A and C, as well as fiber, protein and complex carbohydrates.

For Brown’s recipes for homemade chips, onion dip, roasted red pepper hummus and black bean salsa, as well as Nestle’s recipe for homemade sweet potato chips, check out the Recommended Resources section below.

Beverages
Lemonade is a popular summer drink but often has way too much sugar. Garboski recommends non-alcoholic sparkling sangria, which is seltzer water mixed with fresh fruit and 100 percent fruit juice. Brown suggests making your own lemonade with real lemons and using agave or some natural sweetener.

Dessert
“Fruit is nature’s candy,” Brown says. “You can make wonderful fruit salads out of fruit cut in various ways to increase texture. Add mint for taste and appearance. Also add some chopped nuts for good fats.” For Brown’s recipe for creamy fruit salad, check out the Recommended Resources section below.

There are also healthier options for the chocolate addict. Garboski recommends fruit dipped in chocolate for a good sweet-nutritious combo. And don’t worry, you can still have that traditional apple pie, but Garboski recommends making individual apples pies for portion control.

Recommended Resources:
Basic Hamburgers
Recipe courtesy of Centered Chef

Mango Barbecue Sauce
Recipe courtesy of Centered Chef

Homemade Chips
Recipe courtesy of Elizabeth Brown

Onion Dip
Recipe courtesy of Elizabeth Brown

Black Bean Salsa
Recipe courtesy of Elizabeth Brown

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Recipe courtesy of Elizabeth Brown

Homemade Sweet Potato Chips
Recipe courtesy of Nestle’s

Creamy Fruit Salad
Recipe courtesy of Elizabeth Brown

Apple Coleslaw
Recipe courtesy of Nestle’s

Fruit With Apple-Maple Syrup
Recipe courtesy of Nestle’s