Must-Try End of Summer Grilling Recipes

My clients often ask me about what the types of food they should be eating. Once you build a rapport with your clients and give them results, it’s not surprising that they want you to guide them in other areas of their wellness. Following restrictive diets or having to measure each and every ounce of food you consume is not sustainable. I’m a big believer in teaching moderation while still getting people the results they’re looking for.  My online clients as well as some of my local ones rely on me for meal ideas and I LOVE sharing with them recipes that are simple and made with mostly all natural ingredients and condiments. Like the ones below!

Summertime means lots of grilling at the Hickman House. Even though my hubby is the Grillmaster of the house, I’m usually the one finding or creating the recipes and doing the prep work. I love finding easy, healthy yet flavor-packed meals that can be easily modified. To my luck, I came across Madison Park Foods, a local brand of seasonings and rubs and, after a quick look at their website, I knew I had to try them out. I have partnered with them to create the recipes below. As always, all opinions are my own.

The first recipe here is a Bloody Mary encrusted chicken with sweet corn on the cob. Frank loooves Bloody Marys (the spicier the better) so I was excited to create a meal using this lovely red rub that could work double duty. Please note that both of these recipes make about 3-4 servings.

Bloody Mary-Encrusted Chicken with Sweet Corn on the Cob

Bloody Mary Encrusted Chicken with Sweet Corn on the Cob

Ingredients

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Instructions

  1. Drizzle olive oil on chicken breasts, then season generously with Madison Park Foods Bloody Mary seasoning. Cover and place in fridge for 1 hour.
  2. Preheat grill on high, 5 minutes. Once hot, carefully use tongs to rub an oiled paper towel over grates to clean and ensure no food residue or dirt.
  3. Using long tongs, place chicken breasts on grill and cook, covered on high, 3 minutes. Flip breasts and continue cooking on high, 3 more minutes.
  4. Reduce grill heat to low and flip chicken again. Place ears of corn on grill. Cover and continue cooking, 3 minutes more. Flip chicken again and cook 3 more minutes on low.
  5. To serve, remove chicken and corn to plate. Squeeze lime juice on chicken.

We served this with a Greek-style salad made with spinach, cucumber, tomatoes and olives; inspired by a salad my friend Nisha brought over for dinner recently. I drizzled a little extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and a dash of salt on it, but I would even do a sweeter dressing to offset the spiciness of the Bloody Mary rub. And we rimmed our tequila glasses with it as well.

To my delight, Madison Park Foods also has a Chimichurri rub that I knew right away I would try on my next asado. Before I even tasted it, I loved looking at the colors in the tub. This versatile mix has garlic, onion, salt, red bell pepper and parsley and cilantro as some of its ingredients. Don’t be shy to try Chimichurri on other types of meat though; we love it on white fish too!

Beef Sirloin Asado with Chimichurri

Beef Sirloin Asado with Chimichurri

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 pounds sirloin steak
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil

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Instructions:

  1. Season both sides of steak with 1 teaspoon of Dos Gauchos mix and let sit for 1 hour.
  2. Prepare the grill on high heat. Mix olive oil and remaining Dos Gauchos mix and grill the steaks to desired doneness, about 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium-rare, turning steaks 1/4 turn after 1 1/2 minutes to form crisscross grill marks, if desired.
  3. Transfer steaks to cutting board; let rest 5 minutes before serving.

We served the asado with a side of store-bought French fries (can be substituted with sweet potato fries or forgone altogether) which we also threw on the grill. You can certainly brush your steak with a little more olive oil but we chose to take it easy as we were having not-so-healthy fries as our side. We did do a chopped salad made with cabbage, romaine lettuce, some kale, green onions, carrots and a sprinkling of sunflower seeds and used a sweet onion dressing over it.

Both of these recipes are simple and perfect to make for these last summer grilling days with the all natural seasonings from Madison Park Foods. I can’t wait to try more of their products soon!

Xo,

Julia

Cape May Summer Memories

We just got back from a few days down in Cape May, NJ. This was our second trip this summer with the previous one being back in June. I had a lot going on with my online training and FitCamp and didn’t get a chance to blog about the first trip so I will talk a little bit about both now.

Our getaway in June came in at a great time, giving us the opportunity to treat my Mom to a little road trip with us (although all her help with Frankie really was a treat to US), celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary and a mini birthday celebration for me as well. We stayed at my sister-in-law’s house that is just a short walk to the Cape May Cove making it easy to get to and from the beach with little Frankie. As a fact, everything is pretty walkable in this charming little resort town.

Our first night, the 4 of us had dinner at The Rusty Nail where I ordered a delicious lobster roll with a side salad, naturally. Frank and I indulged in a couple of dark and stormy drinks and we enjoyed the live music playing in the background. Eventually my mom took Frankie back to the house for bedtime while Frank and I took a drive out to Sunset Beach to take in the views.

All of us at The Rusty Nail


Beautiful sunset!

Aperitifs at The Ebbett Room

Fun at Congress Hall

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Cape May Zoo

 

The following day, we headed down to the beach for some fun in the sun and then Frank and I had a fancy date night at the Washington Inn while my mom and Frankie enjoyed some yummy local takeout. Great spot for a more upscale night out – we had great service too.

The 3rd day we had another beach day and then ventured to Congress Hall in the afternoon.  They were hosting their Carnival On The Lawn event- face painting, balloon animals, games for kids and parents of all ages, including a mini train ride. Frankie had the time of his life running around the lawn while the 3 of us took turns chasing him around. Unfortunately what was supposed to be a relaxing, lazy night later on, did not end without a little scare. Frankie woke up about an hour after falling asleep, crying hysterically. Thinking he was potentially sick, we decided to not take any chances and took him to the ER 20 minutes away. All ended up being well but I was so glad my mom was with us. The Dr believed it was some discomfort caused by gas but it was one of those things we’ll never know for sure. Our boy was back to his usual happy self the next morning and we were able to quickly pack up our things and head back home.

I was able to keep up with my marathon training schedule and do some running while down there. I did a 6 mile run to the Cape May Lighthouse with Frank on Saturday and a long run consisting of 2.5 miles with my mom, 6 miles with Frank and a couple more on my own on Sunday.

Our latest trip last week was unique in that we had 2 family members from Seattle also there. They are here for my in-laws’ 50th wedding anniversary party next weekend. This time we stayed in a motel just 2 blocks from my sister in law’s house and one block from the beach. The staff was very friendly and our room was kept very clean. I was nervous about sharing a room with Frankie but he did great about sleeping in his portable crib- he slept for 12 hours every night!

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The quiet street where The South Winds was located.


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The South Winds Motel


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Walking on the beach with Daddy

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My absolutely handsome boys

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Leading me on more adventures


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And the kid ran away with the spoon…

Our first night there, we decided on take-out from The Rusty Nail –once again I got the lobster roll and salad combo. Frank also got the fish tacos he so much enjoyed the previous time. The 2nd night there, we did our traditional date night at 410 Bank Street while our nephews babysat Frankie after his bedtime. I can’t even tell you what else is on the menu because my eyes instantly search for their Voodoo Shrimp, which I have gotten now every single time I’ve been there. I think it’s been 4 or 5 times now. It might be time to try to recreate it at home soon! The new thing we noticed this year is that they now carry Cape May wine. We opted for their chardonnay which was delicious! After sharing a scrumptious bread pudding dessert, we settled up and walked back to our Motel, taking the time to walk by Congress Hall and the night scene.

The 3rd night was the big family dinner at the Merion Inn, home to the oldest bar in NJ. everything on their menu will make you drool. I got the sea scallops with jasmine rice and vegetables. A bottle of 2016 Argentinian Malbec Rose by Altavista was shared with my mother in law and sister in law.  This historic restaurant was fantastic for our large party and our waitress was lovely with Frankie. Speaking of whom, he had a small taste of chocolate (perhaps only his 2nd time ever) and we now understand what parents refer to a “sugar rush”- we took him out of his stroller during our post-dinner passeggiata and he took off like a little bird freed from a cage! It was so cute and funny and people walking on the promenade couldn’t help but smile as he ran by them.

One of the most memorable parts about the trip was how much he enjoyed his big cousin Emmy’s company. He’s at the stage where he calls every kid (and sometimes adults) “the baby” so he kept referring to her as that. Endless hours were spent coloring with chalk on the sidewalk- and maybe even the front steps too. Oops. He has nearly perfected making circles, which are “bubbles” and he even learned to color them in.

My marathon training once again continued- 6.7 miles on Saturday and 11+ on Sunday. Since my sister in law does a lot of running when they’re down there, she took me on a couple of routes I probably wouldn’t have done on my own, which was great.

We enjoyed all the great things that Cape May brings: fun times together, delicious cuisine (umm hello Jersey Shore seafood!) and the carefree, simple life that the beach brings.

We look forward to more adventures down at Exit 0 again soon! I can’t believe how much more we did with Frankie this year compared to last year’s trip. He’s growing so fast!

Does your family do a beach vacation every year? If so, where?

Xo,

Julia