Summer time BBQ drinks

As you know summer is almost here and it's rumoured that there's going to be a heatwave in the next week or so so what does that mean, the BBQ's will be out, a few burnt bodies and maybe some food poisoning from poorly cooked BBQ food (but hopefully not!), this is where a massive risk to fall off the wagon happens DON"T DO IT, will it take you one step further towards your goal or away from your goal?

OK so assuming you're using some nice chicken drumsticks, some lean steaks, some great kebab sticks, some home made burgers (recipe coming soon) and lots of salad (no bread!!) some lovely home made coleslaw (this like will take you to coleslaw recipe) and some home made tomato relish (take you to the recipe)

Here are some drink ideas for you so that you feel as though you are enjoying a glass of bubbly with everyone else but you know that you won't get the awful hangover the next day (thanks to Caroline Radway at Fit Body Fix for sharing her idea's):

1) sparking mineral water with a squeeze of lime (great for detoxing the body and also a great way to alkalise the body and bring it to a more neutral state)

2) sparkling mineral water with frozen raspberries (lemon/lime optional), this adds a subtle flavour to the water and a little bit of colour

3) Iced herbal tea, choose your favourite herbal tea, make a big jug of it and put it in the fridge then add a load of ice to it and enjoy with your food.

4) sparkling mineral water with a shot of apple juice (preferably freshly juiced), this will add a slight apple flavour and make you feel like you're drinking apple cider, fair enough not quite the same but a great alternative.

What about your ideas, what summery cocktails have you made?

Please share your idea's below

Guilt Free Tomato Relish

In a food processor add:

a few handfulls of cherry tomatoes,
add 3 x sun dried tomatoes (that have been soaked in olive oil for an hour or so),
1 red pepper (de seeded)
add half an onion,
one clove of garlic
Squeeze of lemon
sprig of basil

whizz together until it makes a tomato relish, this is great for adding to home made burgers, chicken and all other foods for the BBQ!!

Home Made Coleslaw and Mayonnaise

OK so here's how Gordon Ramsay has done his mayonnaise



I used the same recipe but used olive oil which added a slight flavour, any good quality cold pressed oil (ground nut/olive) should be fine, I also used mustard powder instead of paste but either is fine just check the label,

if you haven't got a food processor they are a MUST - they are fantastic for making anything from hummus, salad, coleslaw etc

For the coleslaw
Finely chop (I use the grater piece on the food processor), 3 carrots, 1/2 an onion and half a green cabbage.

In a bowl mix all the ingredients then spoon in the mayonnaise and keep mixing, keep spooning in until you find the desired consistency!

So there you have it - much better than the shop bought crap and only takes a little bit of time :o)