Here are some quick tips to help make cooking and preparing certain
dishes less stressful this Summer.

The dishes:
Potato salad
Lemonade
Herbs
Corn

First up, potato salad.
This dish is from cookbook author, country singer, T.V. host (Food Network)
and wife to Garth Brooks.
Yes, It’s Trisha Yearwood’s and her potato salad has 45% less fat.
Her secret: Sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes have less calories and more
antioxidants.
Trisha Yearwood’s Slimmed Down Potato Salad!
To make:
Peel, cube and boil 4 sweet potatoes for 5 minutes or until slightly tender.
Drain and cool. In a large bowl, mix 1/2 cup of mayonnaise, 1/2 cup of
Greek yogurt, 1 Tbs. of diced scallions, 1 diced red or green bell pepper,
2 Tbs. of chives, (minced) 2 tsp. of orange zest, 2 tsp. of apple cider vinegar
and 1 tsp. of hot sauce. Add the potatoes, stir well and place in the refrigerator
for a few hours or overnight.

Calories cut-45
Fat grams cut-8
Protein grams cut-15

Second Tip- Herbs!
You love that you’re able to buy (or grow) all types of fresh herbs now that it’s
Summer, what you don’t love: Cutting them up.
To prevent the sprigs from flying all over the place, just tuck some herbs into
a basil leaf, roll tightly and slice. The herbs will stay in place and they’ll all be the
same size for optimal flavoring.

Third Tip-Lemonade!
You want fresh lemonade, but you don’t like juicing all of those lemons.
The quick fix: Wash 10 lemons, quarter them and place them in a stand mixer.
Using the paddle attachment, mix for 2 mins. The paddle releases the juice
and essential oil extract from the rinds, adding flavor you don’t get from squeezing.
Strain; add sugar and water to taste.

Fourth Tip- Juicy Corn!
You want tender and juicy corn, not chewy corn on the cob.
The simple fix: Soak all of the corn (husks as well) in salted water for 10
minutes before grilling. The salt water acts as a brine to keep corn plump
and juicy when you cook it. Plus, the salt brings out the kernels’ sweetness.

Fifth Tip- A Simple Dessert!
Yes, you can have a Sno-cone, an Ice Cream cone or a bowl of fresh fruit,
in the dog days of June, July and August, but if you want something a little
sweeter and less caloric than cake, try this Graham Cracker cake.
To make:
Get out a container of whipped cream (reg. or low-fat)
12 Graham crackers and 3 cups of raspberries and blueberries.
Place a few graham crackers on the bottom of a cake pan or pie plate,
then top it with whipped cream, then the berries. Repeat each step
until all of the ingredients are gone. Top the cake with whipped cream
(it looks like frosting).
Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight.
Helpful hint: Make this dessert with cut up strawberries as well
and serve it on the 4th of July, consider it a red, white and blue
or patriotic dessert.
For more red, white and blue desserts, click on buy recipes at the top,
and search for our E-Doc, Red, White & Blue desserts, Patriotic desserts
for the 4th of July.

Sources:
* Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood, Cookbook
* A Taste of Home Magazine
* The Complete Summer Cookbook
* The Food Network Cookbook
=====================================================================
Don’t forget to pass this article along to friends and family, especially those who love
grilling during the Summer. Share it over at Facebook, Tik-Tok, Pinterest, Reddit,
Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter.