Australia Day – A Guilt-Free BBQ
As we head into a long weekend filled with Australia Day BBQ’s and booze, you’re probably a little worried about sticking to the healthy stuff, here are a few great BBQ recipes to get you through the weekend, and have you come out on top, ready for another strong week of training. Swap the fatty burger patty for a chicken breast filet and the cocktail sauce for a dressing, voilá – a gazillion calories saved.
A. THE ENTREE: DIPS VS SKEWERS
The classics are generally what ever is on special at Woolies, honey soy chicken, BBQ chicken, hummus and tzatziki dips etc. But you will save yourself a bucket load of money, if you whip them up yourself. Bonus: you will know exactly what is in the marinade. Grab some green banana prawns, garlic and lemon and you will have an entrée to die for! Extra fancy points especially if you leave the tails on when you cook them…
B. THE MAIN: THE BURGER
Everybody loves a good burger. Unfortunately a quarter-pound beef burger with all the frills will set you back round about 500 calories (30 grams of fat). Take off the cheese will save you about 100 calories. Swap the beef patty for a chicken breast fillet and you save another 200 calories. The burger bun has around 130 calories, so opt for an open sandwich to halve the intake. But if you can’t give up the old burger bun go for a high seed wholemeal variety with a low GI.
C. THE SALAD: POTATO VS CABBAGE
All time classic: the potato salad. Being full of calories (mayo, yum!) it won’t make the top spot on our healthy-eating-list, although it’s full of fiber and Vitamin C. Using full-fat mayo will set you back about 360 calories per cup, but that’s still better than using no or low-fat mayo, which is full of other, ridiculously unhealthy ingredients, such as conservatives, synthetic sugars and so on. Instead, opt for coleslaw with a vinegar based dressing. Red cabbage, white cabbage and carrots are low in fat, packed with vitamins and anti-oxidants and the dressing is low in sodium – which makes it a perfect side.
If you’re not into creamy salads at all, but still want something potato-y, try this: a fresh sweet potato, apple and walnut salad. Find the recipe here: http://bit.ly/1JqxGus
D. THE DRINKS: COCKTAILS VS BEER
Regarding fat, with cocktails you’re on the safe side. Unfortunately the booze and the mixers are what gives your drink additional calories. A standard drink will easily get 160 extra calories on your meal plan. Better: stick to low-calorie light beer (less than 100 calories).
E: THE DESSERT: ICE CREAM VS ICE CREAM
Well, well, chocolate ice cream – delicious 125 calories and 57 grams of fat per serving. Isn’t it tragic? There is literally nothing you can do about the recipe that would lower chocolate in calories without somehow messing up the classic chocolate-flavour. So, simply forget about it all together. Instead, try self-made fruit ice-blocks: swirl up some kiwi fruit, mango and passion fruit in a mixer and a tiny bit of caster sugar, freeze it to ice sticks and enjoy your (almost) guilt free dessert. Find the recipe here: http://bit.ly/1Bd9j1F