Celebration Food

I was having a difficult time figuring out what to do for our 4th of July celebration menu. I kept it super simple this year. I think super simple was super weight watchers friendly, and that makes me happy!

We grilled lean pork. It was awesome! I did a super simple seasoning of soy sauce, the they went on the grill. Our sides were so easy.  We had fresh corn on the cob, watermelon, cantaloupe, cherries, and a lot of fresh veggies, and a bean salad.

I usually serve up an antipasto salad, with olives, artichokes, pepperoni slices, chunks of cheese, and top it off with wishbone Italian salad dressing. For our 4th of July dinner this year, I made a simple vegetable salad and let everyone chose their dressing. It always tastes so fresh and cool. I love all the red from the tomatoes and the red bell peppers.  My dressing of choice is nonfat Greek yogurt with some dry ranch mix stirred in. It is really thick and creamy. YUMMY.  

Patriotic funfetti cupcakes with the patriotic funfetti frosting. I mixed the frosting with fat free cool whip and spread it on very thin. Again…. yummy.  I have made these fat free cupcakes twice now, and they received good reviews by everyone.

Oh my goodness… these roasted chickpeas (garbanzo beans) are so good! These are my new go-to snack when the family is sitting around eating chips, peanuts, or  M&Ms. This batch is slightly sweet with cinnamon. YUM! To roast the chickpeas, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Then simply open a can of chickpeas, drain, and rinse, then pat dry. Spread them out on a foil lined pan. Put them into the hot oven for 15 minutes. Shake the pan after 15 minutes, then put them back into the oven for about 15 more minutes. (30 – 40 minutes total baking time). Shake the pan every few minutes. Watch carefully as they may start to burn.  You do not want them to burn. When they are dry roasted like this, they tend to pop, so be careful you do not get burned by a popping chickpea!

To make the sweet cinnamon chickpeas shown here, simply put the hot roasted chickpeas into a bowl and mix in 2 teaspoons of oil, a teaspoon of cinnamon, and a light sprinkle of brown sugar. You can use any seasoning you like. I like garlic and a sprinkle of season salt.  They are best eaten fresh. However, once cooled, you can store them in an airtight container for a couple of days.

My 4th of July celebration wasn’t as hard on my diet plan as I thought it would be. My daughter in law made her baked potato salad, but I didn’t go near it. I had so many fresh food choices on the table and in the fridge, I didn’t feel the need to eat the high calorie foods I use to go for.

This  is one of the reasons why I like the weight watchers plan so much… I have great options to chose from, and I did not feel deprived of anything.

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July celebration!