BBQing Guilt Free!

It is officially the BBQ season! I don't know many people, if any, who don't like a good BBQ with family and friends. The only problem I see with BBQs is that it can get pretty high in calories. I started a biggest loser competition about a month ago. The first week I lost 10 lbs and that put me in the lead. Then since then I have held on the the second place spot on the leader boards. So I have been trying to eat healthy and exercise everyday.

Normal BBQs have hamburger, steak, sausage, tons of snacks like chips and even salads that are all high in calories like potato salads and the like. So I have been thinking of what I could do to still enjoy the time around the grill with friends and family but still eat healthy and not go over my calorie allotment.

This is what I have come up with. Corn on the cob! Most BBQs have corn on the cob already but normally we slather on the butter. But I like to eat my corn on the cob pure. Nothing added. Now, I do think they are kinda high in calories all on their own, about 120 in one cob but I think this is a good snack or addition to the menu.

Here are a couple other veggie options for the grill. Kabocha. KABOCHA!!! I love kabocha. It is a Japanese pumpkin and the outer skin is green. I like to slice it up in little steaks and put them in a gallon Ziploc bag and put a tsp of oil and some salt and pepper and mix it all up. When you get to the grill you can just throw these on on the outside and let them cook. They get a little chard sometimes but its ok as long as it is cooked all the way through. Very tasty and not too bad in calories, around 50. You can have a few if you want. When I grill my kabocha I eat the skin as well as the meat. When I put my kabocha in Thai curry, I cut off the skin.

The other veggie idea I have for the grill is zucchini. Now you can cut them in slices length wise and put it on the grill like that but there have been times in the process of flipping or putting on or taking off the grill that they fall through the cracks. So what I like to do is cut in half length wise, then in half the other way and make little slivers and put them in a sheet of foil with a tsp of oil and salt and pepper. I also put quartered mushrooms but you can put whatever you want. Onions, yellow squash, tomatoes, eggplant you name it! Then just close up the foil and put it on the grill with the corn and kabocha.

Now meat. This is something that I, an omnivore, have a really hard time with. I love beef and pork but since I have been counting my calories I have noticed they are so much higher in calories than say chicken or fish. But never fear, they can still taste good at the grill. What I used was tilapia. One serving of 3-4oz is just over 100 calories. You can have twice as much fish for the same amount as one serving of beef or pork. So what I did was before heading out to the grill I rinsed the fish and dried it in a paper towel. Then packed it that way.

I also made a little rub to put on before I put it on the BBQ. I put salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder. Then I put that in a separate Ziploc bag and headed on out. At the grill I cut a lime and squeezed in over the dried fish then dipped that in the rub. Then on to the grill.

It doesn't take too long to cook so I would wait till everything is about ready to eat. I am making the fish into tacos or you can just eat it as it is. So when I put the meat on the grill I also put on my tortillas to heat up.

When the meat is done build your tacos, all I put on mine were a squeeze of lime, some sliced up cabbage and some avocado. So very yummy and low in calories. If you eat a corn on the cob, two kabocha slices, zucchini and two tacos the total calorie intake it a whopping 438 calories! That is awesome if you ask me. I have watched Hell's Kitchen and when they have a challenge to make a healthy low calorie dinner the goal is 750 calories! My meal is a little over half of that! That leaves room for watermelon or even seconds! Who doesn't like seconds?