When mike’s LITE hard lemonade reached out to me about creating healthier takes on summer fare, I was more than up for the challenge! I decided to revamp two appetizers, one entrée and one dessert and did my best to make dishes made with wholesome, healthy ingredients that we can all feel good about eating!
And stay tuned at the bottom of this post (it’s a LONG one!) for an awesome giveaway!
Appetizers
For the appetizers, I created two different creamy dips that utilize Greek yogurt as the main ingredient: An almond butter and honey fruit dip and a savory veggie dip!
Both dips come together in a flash and can be made with ingredients you likely already have on hand. No fuss!
First up is the almond butter and honey fruit dip!
I served this dip with crunchy apples and sweet strawberries.
It was a hit!
Cinnamon Almond Fruit Dip
Ingredients
- 2 cups fat free Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup all-natural almond butter
- 2 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons sliced almonds (+ more for garnish, if desired)
Directions
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir together until completely combined
- Top with additional sliced almonds, if desired, and serve with fresh fruit
The veggie dip is super simple to make and only requires one mixing bowl, so dishes are minimal!
A quick note about this veggie dip: It’s also delicious as a sandwich spread! I love it on top of a whole wheat roll with avocado and turkey.
Savory Veggie Dip
Ingredients
- 1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh chopped scallions
- 1/4 teaspoon dried chives
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
- freshly ground pepper to taste
Directions
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir together until completely combined
- Serve with fresh vegetables and enjoy
Entreé
When I set out to create a healthy entrée, I wanted to make a delicious burger. I decided to use lean ground turkey as a base and knew I needed to add a lot of spice and flavor to the turkey to kick it up a notch. The end result was a tasty southwest burger that Ryan and I thought was fantastic!
I made these burgers for the first time over Mother’s Day weekend and again during a casual cook out at our house in Ocala. They were a hit on both occasions!
A little sliced avocado on top of the burgers make them even better!
Southwest Turkey Burgers
Makes 4 burgers
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
- 3/4 packet reduced sodium taco seasoning
- 3 tablespoons salsa
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup chopped scallions
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 avocado, sliced
Directions
- Combine all ingredients except for the sliced avocado
- Using your hands, squish everything together and mold into four patties
- Coat a sauté pan with olive oil and bring to a medium-high heat
- Place the burgers in the pan and cook for 5 to 6 minutes on each side
- Top burgers with sliced avocado and desired toppings and enjoy
During our Sunday afternoon barbeque with friends, we all ate our burgers with the mike’s LITE hard black cherry lemonade. This flavor was new to me and I was excited to try it since I’ve enjoyed the original mike’s hard lemonade for years. (I’ve been using it to make an awesome sangria since college!)
After one sip of the mike’s LITE hard black cherry lemonade, I absolutely loved it! It’s sweet, refreshing and reminds me of the perfect poolside beverage.
It’s light and crisp and sweetened with a bit of honey which is right up my alley.
And here’s the quick and easy sangria recipe I’ve been making with mike’s hard lemonade for years, though I made it with mike’s LITE hard lemonade this time to stay with the “lightened up” theme of today’s post!
It’s incredibly easy to throw together in a flash and is a refreshing summertime sangria!
Lemonade Sangria
Ingredients
- 1 bottle white wine (Riesling or Moscato work well)
- 3 11.2-ounce bottles mikes LITE hard lemonade
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 1 lime, sliced
- 1 pint fresh raspberries
Directions
- Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher and refrigerate for approximately two hours.
- Pour into glasses, garnish with a lemon slice if desired and enjoy!
Note: You may also add lemon-lime soda or lemonade to taste for additional sweetness and lemon flavor.
Dessert
Dessert! My favorite course!
When I think of summertime desserts, ice cream immediately pops into my mind. I could easily eat a bowl of ice cream after every meal and never get sick of it, so that was the dessert I decided to tackle to try to make a little healthier. By using my favorite banana “soft serve” as a base, I added cacao powder and almond butter to the cold and creamy banana to make a dessert that only tasted indulgent!
Ryan and I both gobbled this up in no time at all and it definitely satisfied our sweet tooth in a healthier way!
Chocolate Almond Banana Soft Serve
Ingredients
- 5 frozen bananas, sliced (the riper the better!)
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- 3 tablespoons cacao powder
- 3 tablespoons almond butter
Directions
- Place bananas and almond milk in a large food processor and blend until creamy, approximately 5 minutes
- Add cacao powder and almond butter and blend until combined
- Top with desired toppings and enjoy immediately
And now you’re hopefully all feeling a little hungry and ready to get cookin’ in the kitchen, so let’s move right along to the giveaway portion of this blog post!
Three PBF readers will win a $100 gift card to use at the grocery store to pick up the ingredients you will need to make your own lightened up version of your favorite summertime recipes.
Awesome, right!?
To enter this giveaway, simply comment on this post by answering one (or both!) of the following questions:
- What is your favorite dish to enjoy at a summer cookout?
- What healthy dish do you like to bring to a summertime barbeque?
I will randomly select a winner on Monday!
Good luck!!!
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My favorite dish to enjoy at a summer cookout are jalepeno poppers! Now that I’m a vegetarian though, I haven’t tried making these with “vegetarian bacon” so I’m not sure how much I’ll enjoy them anymore lol.
I love bringing baked beans to a barbeque, it just seems to go well together! 🙂
I haven’t tried Mike’s Hard LITE lemonade, but I look forward too!! I’ve always enjoyed the regular Mikes, so I’m sure this will be no different – especially with that delicious sangria recipe you have there!
My favorite summertime food is guacamole.
My go-to healthy dish to bring somewhere over the summer is always fruit salad. So many great choices of mix-ins over the summer!
watermelon is my fav!
I love a simple fruit salad, but burgers and hot dogs are always my go-to’s!
I love salmon burgers during the summer!
I love cooking on the grill in the summer, we have a green egg and it makes everything delicious. I always take a fun salad to cookouts and gatherings since they are usually heavy in chips and dips!
Smores around a fire are my favorite summer eat!
I love to bring a type of salad or hummus to outings!
My favorite dish at a BBQ is homemade potato salad! Yum!
My favorite healthy dish to bring is a fresh fruit salad!
Grilled salmon and veggie kabobs!! Mmm!
My favorite dish to enjoy at a cookout is a traditional salad with tons of veggies. I love how fresh a salad is, especially in the summer. Thanks for the giveaway!
I love enjoying a refreshing fruit salad while being outdoors enjoying the summer weather
I love enjoying a refreshing fruit salad while being outdoors enjoying the summer weather
Potato salad!
Mmm watermelon. Delicious and refreshing.
I love turkey burgers & corn on the cob! I love taking a spinach salad topped with strawberries, avocado, almonds, and poppyseed dressing to cookouts!
Watermelon is my fav!
I love fresh fruit salad at a BBQ (makes me feel better after devouring all the junk beforehand 🙂
I love shrimp off the grill and I always make a watermelon feta salad. It’s easy and refreshing.
I love to have shish kabobs for a healthy summer time meal!! You pack in a lot of veggies and usually use meats like chicken or shrimp. Yum, mouth watering.
I have a cucumber, red onion, tomato salad that is very healthy and refreshing at summer cookouts that I like to bring. Always a hit, too!
I am recently loving spicy black bean burgers topped with provolone and avocado. It has become my new summer staple!
My favorite dish would be potato salad. My healthy dish would be a cucumber tomato salad.
I love to bring fresh fruit to any cookout, its light and refreshing!
I am a sucker for baked beans!! My healthy dish to bring would be this quinoa and bean mix I make with homemade salsa… served hot or cold, it’s delicious!!
I love any chip and dip combination at BBQs!! I always try to bring a healthy version of Brownies!
Sweet corn is my favorite summer food!
And thanks so much for sharing about the Mikes Hard Lemonade! I’ve been looking for an alcoholic drink with less calories!
Oh gosh, I haven’t had Mike’s since college! haha I like to bring this potato salad recipe that calls for a mustard/olive oil/white wine vinegar vinaigrette instead of mayo. It’s always a hit!
I love briniging cucumber, corn, and red onion salsa. Mixed with a little Italian dressing, it’s light and fresh on tostitios.
Yum!
I like to bring a veggie plate or fruit salad for cookouts. It gives one healthy option that you can choose to take. I love a hamburger or hot dog at a cookout, though. It just screams cook outs!
Picnic food such as grilled meat, potato salad, and baked beans!
For BBQ’s. I either do a veggie tray with homemade hummus or a fruit salad with tons of watermelon and strawberries!
Watermelon and corn on the cob are my absolute favorites in the summer!
All these recipes look yummy! I plan on making the burgers and fruit dip for my son’s first birthday party that will include a BBQ!
I love burgers topped with avocado for cook outs!
Hello!
I love those dip recipes!
My favourite BBQ meal is grilled corn and turkey burgers with creamy guacamole on top!
I love to bring a fresh salad with me to BBQ’s like watermelon feta or baby spinach with blackberries!
Emilie
I’m looking forward to trying Mike’s Lite!
Mike’s is always a great summertime go-to drink. I was just talking about how I wish they had a ‘skinny’ version of it the other day, I’m glad to know its finally out there 🙂
My favorite dish to bring is a fruit salad – strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberry’s with yogurt on the side. It’s light and refreshing on a hot summer day!
My to go BBQ dish to bring would be a quinoa/beans salad! Healthy, fresh and refreshing !
Thanks for these awesome recipes !
My favorite to enjoy is pasta salad, but it isn’t always the healthiest. I always like to bring a healthy fruit salad 🙂
I love making and bringing turkey burgers! I think they are a great way to still enjoy a good burger while being on the lighter side!
I really love corn on the cob but that turkey burger looks amazing–going to attempt to recreate next week!!
I love a salad at a summer BBQ and turkey burger (can’t wait to try the recipe you just gave) and I like to bring a salad to a BBQ
Grilled corn on the cob is my favorite!
I always bring a fresh fruit salad- so refreshing. Cant wait to try your sangria recipe!
Watermelon feta salad is light, yummy and refreshing– perfect for summer BBQs!
I love bringing fruit salads to summer cookouts– what could be easier and more seasonal? I also have a garden and grow cucumbers and tomatoes, so it’s fun to make Mediterranean cucumber salads which are also quick and easy!
Definitely watermelon but if I’m really hungry, I can’t turn down a cheeseburger from the grill!
Can’t beat a burger on the grill!
I loooove bringing fruit pizza! While it’s not the healthiest, it’s certainly better than a lot of the desserts I would find myself eating!
I love ice cream and fruit!