Picnic at Cape Spear

There's nothing like eating a good meal in the great outdoors! A couple of weeks ago we packed up our picnic basket and headed to Cape Spear National Historic Park for dinner at The Most Easterly Point in North America.

We don't use my picnic basket very often but I love the darn thing. Millard bought it for me at a store in Lynnhaven Mall, Virginia Beach. I've had it for maybe 10 years, but it is still in great condition. It actually came with its own cutlery, plates, cups and salt & pepper shaker, but I hadn't taken the time wash them all up after taking it out storage therefore I used real forks, paper plates and canned coke and disposable cups.

For the meal we had chicken and veggies. I'm sure you heard of Beer Can Chicken, well we did Diet Coke Can Chicken. Same idea, just a different beverage. We filled up Rubbermaid containers with the chicken, the veggies, and cantaloupe. We sat at the picnic table just next to the parking lot and had a great view of the ocean and the whales blowing near the shore... and most importantly a great meal!

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Mango-Avocado Salsa with BBQ Chicken

One of my favorite foods in the whole wide world is avocado. It's a great thing to love because they have nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins, and folic acid. The only thing that I need to be careful with is that they are loaded with calories as well. One whole medium sized avocado is a whooping 250 calories! I was recipe searching back in April and came upon a mango-avocado salsa that I just had to try. We've had mango salsa many times before, but adding avocado was a whole new ball game. It was quite simple... cubed avocado, mango (I used frozen), and tomato, plus some diced red onion. Mix it all up and there you go. I served it over BBQ grilled chicken. Usually we have our chicken smothered with BBQ sauce, but this time I only marinaded it in some Budwiser brand BBQ sauce. Millard put it on the grill and held off on the extra sauce. It was a good choice. Our sides were sauteed a mix of fresh and frozen peas and asparagus.

BBQ Chicken Rub

Yup, chicken again! Don't be surprised if we start clucking soon. We do tend to eat quite a lot of chicken anyway, but we recently hit a good sale on whole chicken legs so we took full advantage of it. What's bbq chicken without seasoning? Only thing is we are cutting our sodium intake these days. Most bought mixes are absolutely full of sodium... not heart healthy! So... I searched online and found a low sodium rub at www.LowSodiumCooking.com : Rub #2 - The Mild One A sweeter, less spicy rub for grilling and smoking. 1/2 c Paprika 2 T Black Pepper,Freshly Ground 1/3 c Brown Sugar 2 T Chili Powder 2 T Onion Powder 2 T Garlic Powder Mix well, store in a cool dark place. Yield: 22 Servings 'The Mild One' was rubbed on the chicken and grilled to perfection. Of course I took the fat off first! It was very tasty and crusted nicely on the outside, but was moist and tender on the inside. I served it with Corn on the Cob with just a little chili seasoning sprink...

Yummy Salad

Salad can get boring so today I got creative... romaine lettuce, a little ranch mixed in with the lettuce... then shredded cheddar, raspberries, grape halves, strawberry, and just a few almonds. A nice fresh salad for a warm day. Yum!

Healthy Family Hangout

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