Easy Summer Food Roundup
Do you have a favorite summer song? Mine is the one that starts Summertime and the living is easy… Even the tempo is relaxed!
But, well…, summertime doesn’t always feel that easy. So today I am doing a roundup of easy summer food. Can you use a helping hand?
The sailing is easy…
I am a big proponent of cooking from scratch — how else can you support all those local farmers? But when things get busy, I am excited to have products that compliment, rather than compromise my goals.
Here are some of my favorite finds this summer. Samples were provided by the companies for purposes of this review.
Gold’n Plump Pre-Cooked Chicken Sausages
Grilling Sausages
Gold’n Plump is one of my favorite companies because they source from Midwest family farms, are hormone and antibiotic free — and their products are always delicious! I never saw spaghetti get UN-rejected as fast as when I tossed in some of their (pre-cooked, so super easy) meatballs.
For the July 4th weekend, we have a crowd visiting and tested two of their five flavors of pre-cooked sausages. I loved serving a quick and easy lunch and both the Bacon Gouda and Jalepeno Cheddar were delicious. I just grilled the sausage then scooped out coleslaw and potato salad for a complete meal. It was especially nice getting extra flavor right in the sausage since so many people skip the bun now!
Easiest lunch EVER!
The packages come with recipe ideas and are available at many Target stores.
Moore’s Marinades & Sauces
Marinades and sauces are a great way to add flavor to your foods–and (okay) I admit that it’s not that hard to make up your own marinades. But on days where you are running from beach to fireworks, who wants to take the time. Moore’s Marinades come in a wide variety of tantalizing flavors like Zesty Garden Herb, Teriyaki and Spicy Habenero!
Buffalo Wing Sauce
This weekend we tasted the buffalo wing sauce which I used to give some pizazz to our lunch. Who wants grilled chicken breast when you can have buffalo wing chicken breast sliders! Just top grilled chicken breast with buffalo wing sauce and blue (or feta) cheese and everyone will think you are the perfect hostess!
Buffalo Chicken Breast Slider
Think Jerky
When I switched to eating grass-fed beef, I thought I would never eat beef jerky again. That is until Think Jerky sent me packages of pasteured turkey and (yes!) grass-fed beef jerky!
The company was created after founder Ricky Hirsch was shocked to learn that most jerky products are pumped full of sugar. So he partnered with top chefs to create a jerky that is both healthy and delicious. Think Jekry products use 100% grass fed beef or pastured turkey, are antibiotic and hormone free as well as non-GMO, gluten free and paleo friendly.
Tuck into your beach bag!
In flavors like Classic, Sweet Chipotle and Ginger Honey, the jerky was the hit of the weekend. (In fact, when it arrived my youngest texted me saying she couldn’t wait ‘til I got home—could I puh-leeze let her open one). Snacking has a bad reputation, but tuck some of these into your beach bag, or glove compartment and you won’t give it a second thought.
Fireworks
Happy 4th of July!
Yes, the livin’ is easy… and our kitchen work should be, too! Thanks for the reminder.
Happy 4th!
Hope you have a wonderful 4th of July! The marinades sound like a delicious way to serve a shortcut meal.