I was laughing with my husband on the way to church this morning, wondering what the sermon topic would be for Father’s Day.

It seems that on Mother’s Day, we moms are highly esteemed and congratulated on being so self-sacrificing, stable,loving and long suffering. (I wonder how many other mothers join me in sitting there and remembering all of the times that we weren’t so much that way)

Fathers, on the other hand. on their special day, are generally are issued some sort of a challenge on how to do a better job at being a Dad; How to be more involved.  How to take their leadership role in the home more seriously.  How to love their wife more and therefore be a better dad. etc.

The teaching was on peace  (We’re in the middle of a sermon series on the Fruit of the Spirit. ) Consequently, we came away from church with the message that peace doesn’t rely on our outward circumstances.  It can be had in the midst of strife.  As all you parents know, parenthood can be tumultuous at times!

Afterwards, my husband decided he didn’t want to go out to a restaurant to celebrate (we hate lines), but instead he opted to grill!  The kids were so excited as this is the first time the grill has been out this summer!  So, on Father’s Day, my husband worked and sweat over a hot grill while our children swam, anticipating the fabulous meal he was preparing.

The food was fantastic!  It was beautiful!  It was healthy!  So, I decided to take a few pictures and send you all the “recipes” on how to create a Healthy Cookout!

Grilled Vegetables:

This is a fantastic way to use up the veggies you have in the refrigerator!  We needed to use up some eggplant, green, red and yellow peppers, onions, and asparagus. This is SO easy, it really doesn’t count as a recipe, but it was absolutely delish!

Cut into the desired size and toss in 1/4 cup coconut oil and seasonings of choice.

Place on Grill to cook until fork tender and tantalizing with golden brown edges.

This can also be done in a 350 degree oven on a cookie sheet.  Cook until golden edges appear on the veggies.  Absolutely delicious, but missing that “char grilled” flavor.

Turkey Burgers

These burgers are surprisingly better than their saturated fat counterparts by far!

Consider using Ezekiel Bread Buns or even Large Romaine Lettuce Leaves as a wrapper!

I made a huge batch of these.  We grilled enough for our lunch and then utilized the rest to prepare for the week:  1 dozen muffin cup sized burgers and 1 meatloaf (I will probably freeze).

Here’s the recipe:

2 pounds of Ground Turkey Breast (Make sure it’s Turkey Breast! Many brands incorporate dark meat and skin into their “ground turkey”.)  Read your packaging!

2 packages of dry Zesty Italian Dressing Mix.  Mix this into the meat.

1 sweet onion,  1 bunch of fresh parsley, 1 bunch of fresh cilantro, salt and pepper to taste.  Blend in food processor until finely ground.  Add into meat mixture.

Add 2 Eggland’s best eggs

Add 1/2 cup dry oatmeal.

Mix together and form into patties, muffin burgers or meatloaf.

Grill until cooked through.

Bake muffin burgers or meatloaf at 350 degrees until inner temperature reaches 165 degrees.  Approximately 55-60 minutes for the meatloaf or 20-30 minutes for the minis.

Let it rest for 5 minutes and enjoy!  See above for serving suggestions!

Chopped Salad Delight!  (My current favorite)

Place all ingredients into food processor:

As many spinach or collard greens as you can fit.  (3-4 cups)

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon honey or agave nectar

dash of himalayan sea salt

juice of 1/2 lemon

Pulse until greens are chopped but still dry.

Pour into bowl and top with:

1 Tablespoon of Craisins

1 Tablespoon of Nuts

1/2 Haas Avacado chopped

1/2 ounce of your favorite cheese.  Mine is currently an herbed goat milk cheese called Rosey Goat (covered with dried Rosemary)

Enjoy!

For all you dads, have a great day!  For all of your children, (adults included) find a way to make your father feel special!

Enjoying the journey,

Whitney