Sorry this is late, but I wanted to give a special shout to all of you Dads out there! Happy Father's Day!! And to all of you ladies out there who are single Mother's having to play both roles as "Mom" and "Dad"...Keep doing your thang Sis. and blessings to you along the way. We hosted a Dinner in my home to celebrate the occasion. (Honoring my husband, bro in laws, and step dad.) When getting together in the summer we typically BBQ - Beef & Pork Ribs, Burgers, Brats, Chicken and with all the sides Mac and Cheese, Potato Salad, Baked Beans, Etc. I decided to switch things up with the menu this year. Because I am becoming increasingly more aware of what I put in and on my body, I remixed the menu and replaced it with a healthier version. Instead of a BBQ w/all of the meats, we grilled Chicken breasts seasoned with garlic and various herbs. Instead of Potato Salad i prepared a fresh, crisp, rotini pasta salad, filled with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, red onion, chilled shrimp with some Italian & salad dressing blended in. Instead of Mac & Cheese I had my mother prepare her famous spaghetti and ground turkey meat sauce. She used fresh tomatos in her sauce. We also had a Salad of Spring Leaves with walnuts and golden raisins among other healthy toppings (instead of Collard Greens & HamHocks). Last but not least, instead of chips we had a wonderful veggie tray will all of the favs (carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.) I got everybody involved in this and We switched out the desserts too! Instead of all of the heavy cakes and pies we had fresh fruit covered in lite Whipped Cream in a graham cracker pie crust and topped with chopped pecans. Very light, and sweet. My aunt was able to modify her CheeseCake recipe to allow for lower fat and lower sugar or sugar free ingredients (we kept this fact a secret until after it had been eaten...Nobody knew the difference!). Us women kept all of these switcharoos a secret from the men. When those men came in rubbing their hands together for the feast...lmao!!! the LOOK on their faces when I informed them of our new leaner menu...Priceless! We had a fun healthy meal in the Georgia Summer sun and weren't left feeling lazy and lethargic afterwards aka "The itis". This was my way of honoring the men in our family, by serving them a meal that won't kill them!!! :-)Stay tuned for some of the recipes from this wonderful feast!
