BeautyRevealed | The Blog of Melissa J. Dillon

Along with the warm, summer evenings comes the wonderful aroma of smoky barbecues wafting through the neighborhood. Mark and I are not expert grillers by any means, but we are learning… and are so enjoying the process (as we must taste-test all of our experiments).  I am trying to cut back on the amount of carbs that I eat, so grilling is a good way to try new things with protein: salmon, tilapia, shrimp, chicken, turkey, etc.  I have been enjoying a magazine called Clean Eating, and have been trying out some healthy recipes that we really enjoy. We’ve even been grilling our dessert! Last night we tried grilling pineapple, bananas and mangos to make a Tropical Vanilla Fruit Salad. Soooo yummy! But I’ll save that for another night. 

Grilled Shrimp

Ingredients:

1 T. olive oil, 3 T. lemon juice (about ½ a lemon), 2 garlic cloves (minced), and 1 pound of fresh medium-sized shrimp. 

Instructions:

In a small bowl, stir together olive oil, lemon juice and minced garlic well. Place shrimp in another bowl and pour marinade over top. Let sit for 15-20 minutes.

Thread shrimp onto 10-inch skewers (previously soaked in water for 10 minutes) or put into grilling basket. Place over medium-high heat for 4 to 5 minutes, turning halfway through cooking time. Serve immediately. 

Ultimate Turkey Burgers

Ingredients:

1½ pounds ground turkey, 1 medium red pepper (diced), 2 garlic cloves (minced), 1 T. parsley, ½ t. sea salt, ½ t. freshly ground pepper.

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients together well. Make into patties (should make 6). Grill over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes on each side (or until burgers are golden brown and firm in the middle).

Serve burgers on whole grain buns with lettuce, tomato and onion. 

Well, hope you enjoy these as much as we did! What are some of your favorite grilling recipes??

“What a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about

three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap.” 

- Robert Fulghum

I think our great-grandma’s were on to something when they set aside a day a week for their homemaking duties (Monday: wash day… Tuesday: Ironing… Wednesday: Sewing… Thursday: Market Day… Friday: Cleaning Day… Saturday: Baking Day… Sunday: Rest). Of course we all need to adjust ours to our own schedule and needs, but I’m finding that it really helps. I started a baking day every Wednesday a few weeks ago, and its really simplified my life. I make my kitchen a gigantic mess and bake 3 or 4 different things for the week. Then I clean up, put everything in the freezer and we’re set. Then I don’t have to buy the preservative-filled things at the grocery store. I am trying to develop healthy recipes for muffins, cookies, breads, etc, so if you have any good ones, let me know. My mom has been teaching me how to substitute healthy ingredients in my recipes… I’m still working on cleaning out the junk from my pantry and replacing it with organic, nutritious ingredients. If anyone has some good health tips for me, let me know! 

Here’s a cookie recipe that mom and I adapted, and they turned out really good. Mark really likes them, too, because they are soft and chewy. 

Now I just need to pick out my days for laundry… gardening… grocery shopping… cleaning… sewing… and the list goes on and on…