Check out these great recipes that let you welcome in summer in style -without completely blowing your healthy eating habits!

Vacations, holiday cookouts and fun in the sun are all great ways to celebrate the dog days of summer. As we remember those that fought for our freedom and celebrate our nation’s birthday, we find ourselves indulging in festive fare as if it’s Christmas in July. Remember folks: the freedom bell is not the free-to- eat-whatever-you-want dinner bell. Keep your summer fare simple and wholesome, so you can sport that bikini all summer long.

These recipes are made with five ingredients or less for a healthy twist on the customary cookout:

Sizzling BBQ Chicken Salad

Invite some friends over (this recipe serves 6) and fire-up the grill.

You’ll need:

Directions: Reserve about ¼ cup BBQ sauce in a bowl, set aside. Marinate the chicken thighs in the remaining sauce for 2 hours in the refrigerator. Remove chicken from the sauce and grill thighs for 6 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. Brush each thigh with the reserved sauce. Toss spinach (or mixed greens) with diced onion and pineapple chunks. Divide the salad among six plates and top each with one or two chicken thighs.

*Note: For a more integrated salad, cut up chicken meat after grilling; then mix shredded chicken with reserved BBQ sauce and toss with salad.

Sweet Potato Pseudo Fries

Baked sweet potato “fries” are a nutritious alternative to the yellow, crinkle-cut frozen kind. With a little extra effort, you can serve up a sweet and spicy side.

You’ll need:

Directions: Preheat oven to 400˚F. Toss sliced sweet potatoes with olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle on chili powder, salt and pepper, and stir until fries are evenly coated with spice. Spread fries onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes. Cooking times may vary depending on your oven, so keep a close eye on the fries.

*Note: For crispier fries, boil unseasoned potatoes in water until soft (not fully cooked). Drain carefully and mix in oil, chili powder, salt and pepper before baking. You’ll bake these for no more than 20 minutes – just until crispy enough to crunch your teeth into.

“You Butter Nut Tell” Cookies

This is a gluten-free dessert, made with almond butter for a twist on classic peanut butter cookies. They’re so simple and scrumptious that you may not want to share. (This recipe makes about 20 cookies.)

You‘ll need:

Directions: Preheat oven to 350˚F. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix until smooth. Use a melon scoop or your hands to shape the dough into balls or discs. Drop onto an ungreased cookie sheet, spacing about one inch apart. Press a fork in a crisscross pattern on the tops of each cookie. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Let cool and enjoy.

Min-tea Quencher

The refreshing mint flavor may trick your taste buds into thinking you’ve got a mojito in hand. Alcohol or not, this mint-flavored iced tea will serve as a spiri-min-ted cooler on hot summer days.

You’ll need:

Directions: Place tea bags (paper tags removed and strings tied together) in a 2-quart glass pitcher. Bring water to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and immediately pour water over the tea bags. Let steep for 15 minutes. When removing tea bags, squeeze out any excess liquid. Pour in ice cubes, then add water to fill pitcher to the top. Pour tea into glasses and top with mint sprigs for garnish. Drink up!

*Note: For a sweet Min-tea Quencher, add desired amount of sugar or sweetener to the tea concentrate, just before adding the ice. Be sure to stir the sugar until it completely dissolves.

This article has been provided exclusively for MomsGetReal by the folks at Vitacost.com. Vitacost.com has been selling discount vitamins since 1994. Since then it’s grown into one of the biggest online marketplaces for healthy living essentials-with vitamins and supplements being just one of their many helpful categories! Get the best price on vitamins, nutritional supplements, whole foods and diet products. Vitacost.com’s goal is to provide you with the best nutritional supplements, natural foods, sports nutrition and products like green coffee bean extract to help with your health and wellness. Vitacost.com is not affiliated with this blog, and isn’t responsible for content outside of this article.

Getting Real With Shadra Bruce

Six soft-foam cards in a small canvas bag. It’s Zats simple. ZatsWho is a unique and wonderful learning product for young children.

The cards can be filled with pictures of people important to your child but can also be used like flash cards with pictures of letters, numbers, or just about anything to help increase your toddler’s vocabulary.

The back of each card has a shape -  star, circle, or heart – to teach your child shape recognition. The frames are each a different color – pink, purple, orange, blue, green, and yellow to teach your child colors.  A simple product developed by an innovative grandma who was trying to teach her grandchildren concepts like colors and shapes as well as more crucial concepts such as the importance of family.

What I love about ZatsWho is that the cards wipe clean, so sticky fingers are no issue, and the pictures in the cards can be replaced over and over again.  Because they come in a cute little travel bag, they’re perfect for keeping little ones busy when traveling.

I don’t necessarily recommend them for the car – the cards are loose and a frustrated child screaming for 20 miles because he cannot reach the orange card is worse than a bored child. But in hotels, restaurants, airplanes, and any other place you need to keep your child occupied (doctors offices, meetings, appointments of any kind) but ZatsWho does a great idea for using the cards while traveling, as a scavenger hunt where the kids look for pictures and once they’re found they get put into the card.

Product was provided to MomsGetReal so that we could provide an honest review. FTC disclosure.

Getting Real With Shadra Bruce

Living out of a suitcase and traveling for more than a month might be a simple adventure for a solo traveler, but when you’re traveling as a family with three kids in tow – tween, pre-teen, and adult disabled child in a wheelchair – every little convenience helps. Here’s three things that make life on the road easier, whether it’s for a week, a weekend, or a month-long road trip:

The ShaveWell Fog Free Shave Mirror is the ideal solution for getting the closest possible shave. While Dave has a beard and only shaves once a week, having the luxury of shaving in the shower (at home and on the road) ensures an extra moment of privacy, a closer shave, and the best visibility possible. The ShaveWell Company uses technology that ensures the mirror stays the same temperature as the water, preventing it from fogging up. The mirror retails for $9.99 and makes a great Father’s Day gift.

Clipa, the Instant Handbag Hanger means that the bottom of my purse will not be picking up the germs from every bathroom I visit in my 6,500 mile journey this summer. Unlike old-fashioned purse clips, Clipa was created with modern woman in mind – it holds up to 45 pounds, it comes in a variety of styles to match your purse, and instead of storing it inside your purse where it will inevitably get lost (like socks in the dryer) this little life saver can be hung on the outside of your purse or worn as a bracelet (you should see some of the beautiful jeweled clips Clipa offers!). In addition to being a germ saver in the bathroom, you can use Clipa at the movie theater or to clip your purse to your grocery cart. Clipa retails for $18.99-$39.99 depending on the design chosen.

Royce’s leather passport holders keep your passport safe and protected when traveling. Even though we’re spending the majority of our summer travels traversing the states, we will be tipping up into Canada toward the end of the trip. Royce Leather Gifts offers a variety of high quality, genuine leather passport holders. The quality of the construction is truly extraordinary – the leather is supple and the stitching is secure. Perfect for travel but a superb idea for Father’s Day and holiday gifts, this is one of my favorite travel items. Not only does Royce Leather Gifts offer stamping to personalize leather products, but many of the items they sell, like my Royce Leather Debossed Passport Jacket, come in PURPLE. Purple! It holds the passport on one side and cash on the other, making it a convenient and safe way to store the most important items. In addition to Passport holders, the company offers briefcases, luggage, and cases for digital devices like tablets and Kindles.

100% natural Melansol sunscreen from Ocean Naturals is a great alternative to commercial sunblock lotions. Designed for use on the face and body, Melansol sun screen comes in a variety of SPFs and is chemical-free. Made with the antioxidants Bio-Melanin, green tea, and Vitamin E, in addition to protecting your skin from UV ray damage, this lotion also gives your skin a boost. The product is biodegradable and gluten free; no animal testing was done for the development of this product. What I really love about Melansol sunscreen from Ocean Naturals is the light citrus scent. The lotion goes on smoothly and does not leave a greasy film on your skin like some sun blocks can. Because it is so lightweight to wear, I can use a thin layer of the Melansol sunscreenunder makeup when I wear it without feeling like my skin is suffocating. This is a great product for everyday sun protection, offering medium UVB and high UVA protection.

What kinds of travel items make a difference when you travel?

Products were provided to MomsGetReal so that we could offer an honest and thorough review. You can review the official MomsGetReal FTC policy here.

Getting Real With Shadra Bruce

I’ve been Spring cleaning. It’s one of those things I do, not because it’s Spring but because it’s been four years since we moved and I’m feeling restless. Normally, every few years, our family has moved. It hasn’t been purposeful; it’s just been part of life. We moved East to raise our family, West to care for my ill mother, East to start again. I’m used to moving. Since I can’t – and don’t really want to – move, my urge to roam is being satisfied by a 33-day road trip.

But I’m not moving, which means I’m not spending the weeks and months leading up to the trip packing everything. So I’m antsy waiting for this trip. And since I can’t pack up and move (and really, really don’t want to), instead, I went through the house with a critical eye, focused on simplifying and finding creative spaces to breathe. Then we had a yard sale to get rid of everything we’d collected.

And I cleaned.

I cleaned out drawers and cupboards. We scrubbed floors. We reorganized rooms and even changed furniture around in my office.

Spring cleaning is restorative. It changes my perspective. That’s why I was so excited to receive my KLUTCHclub Spring cleaning box.

I haven’t seen many of the members of my family that I will be seeing this summer in years. They all live out West and I, in my audacity, moved to my husband’s hometown in New York. While we’d all like to visit each other more often, plane tickets and fuel prices are ridiculous.

I am going to be seeing them ALL this year, and while I wanted to arrive making a dramatic “Look, I’ve lost 60 pounds and look 10 years younger” entrance, I’ll be lucky if they don’t all wonder just how harsh our New York winters are.

But the KLUTCHclub Spring cleaning box may just be my salvation. It’s the perfect kit for Spring cleaning not your HOUSE but your SELF. Included in the box is everything I need to Spring clean the drawers and closets of my body, mind, and soul.

Included in the KLUTCHclub Spring Cleaning box are the following amazing products:

• A detoxifying Yoga workout from MTV Power Yoga star, Kristin McGee. Unlike traditional Yoga, McGee helps even inexperienced Yoga wannabes like me improve balance without feeling like I’m in a monastery.
• An energizing drink product to kick-start your workout that offers you the boost you need to get off the couch and get moving
• Post workout coconut water hydration to replenish electrolytes
• Soothing teas with plant based anti-oxidants to improve your skin
• A cleansing organic deep-pore facial wash that may actually make my friends and family believe I look ten years younger. It’s AMAZING.
• Organic omega 3, flax and fish oil supplements cleverly disguised as a smoothie that tastes really, really yummy
• Satisfying healthy snacks and nutritious treats, including the most delicious Kind Plus Gluten Free Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate bar.
• A gift certificate for $25 off your purchase at hyde

Klutch Club is a membership service, and each month they prepare a new box to send. Focusing on providing you superior health, exercise, and nutrition products and introducing you to other like-minded companies, Klutch Club helps women stay motivated, fit, and in tune with their bodies.

A KLUTCHclub Spring Cleaning Box was provided to MomsGetReal so that we could provide an honest and thorough review. You can review the official MomsGetReal FTC policy here.

Getting Real With Shadra Bruce

One of the worst things about extended road trips is finding ways to eat well. When you’re trapped inside a car for 6-8 hours, not only do you miss out on the physical activity you need but the tendency is to stop for fast food along the way. Our kids watched “Super Size Me” in health class, so we’re one step ahead in the battle against daily fast food meals.

Dave and I like to eat light on the road, but we also need to keep our energy up. Coming up with healthy foods when on the road can be difficult and costly…or so I thought.

Then I was introduced GoPicnic.

GoPicnic offers full meals in a box. These are not your every day lunchable-style meals. These meals are healthy, filling, high quality and priced better than most meals you’d find in a fast food restaurant.

Quite simply described in my favorite term for stuff that’s really awesome, GoPicnic ROCKS!

The GoPicnic meals address all of my nutrition concerns: They contain no high fructose corn syrup; they have no trans fat; they do not have to be refrigerated; each box is a complete, well-rounded, glucose-balancing meal.

My favorite is the salami and cheese meal, because the asiago cheese spread was to die for. I know, cheese spread that doesn’t taste like it was sprayed out of a can onto a cracker? Really, though, I felt like I could have been on a picnic in the French country side. The other meals we sampled – hummus and crackers, sunbutter and crackers, and salmon and crackers were all equally as delicious.

Each meal comes with a main course but also includes an energy-boosting trail mix, a nutrient rich side (such as real fruit bites) and a small-but-delicious satisfier for the sweet tooth (a square of dark chocolate, a small piece of almond rocha, and scrumptious dark chocolate cookie.)

When you’re on the go and don’t want to spend money on fast food that will simply drain your energy as it packs fat in all the worst places on your body, consider GoPicnic. A meal from GoPicnic for each member of our family- they range in price between $3.00 and $4.99 – costs MUCH less that feeding our family at McDonalds, Burger King, or any chain restaurant – and we can eat on the go with no guilt about what horrible things we might be putting in our bodies.

GoPicnic lets you be on the go without sacrificing health, nutrition, or flavor.

Oh-and the kids like them too.

GoPicnic provided MomsGetReal with meal boxes so that we could provide an honest and thorough review. You can review the official MomsGetReal FTC policy here.

Getting Real With Shadra Bruce

My kids are full of energy and incredibly draining. I love that about them, actually. I thrive on their energy. But between the pounding drums of my son’s music practice and the clacking of my daughter’s tap dancing practice, the cacophony alone is enough to introduce insanity.

I get to the end of the day sometimes, and all I want to do is sit down on the sofa, open a bag of Doritos, and wash them down with a glass of wine or three. Of course, I DON’T do that. Well, I don’t eat the bag of Doritos, but I’m pretty happy to relax with a glass of red wine on my front porch.

It’s a very big glass.

I am, however, always looking for ways to improve my energy level and find ways to improve my lifestyle. My husband and I have already given up the microwave, stopped eating fast food (for over a year now), eliminated high fructose corn syrup and trans fats from our diet, and try to exercise every day.

But motivation is sometimes hard to come by. Especially when there’s a lot of work to be done and I start at 5am and don’t end til nearly the same time in the pm.

Dustin Maher’s “Fit Moms for Life” is so helpful – it’s like a mom fitness bible, covering everything from diet and nutrition to exercise to motivation for lifestyle changes. Dustin’s plan is built on five pillars:

• Mindset
• Nutrition
• Strength Training
• Burst Training
• Environment

Environment is the most important component from my perspective. Any mom can have the desire to change, can change her diet, can do exercises that will burn calories – but if she does not have a supportive environment, it’s almost impossible to really be successful.

What Dustin Maher points out, however, is that in most cases, moms have LOTS of control over their environment, having a say in the family’s activities, the family’s groceries, and the family’s social activities. In other words, moms have the power to mold their environment to help them be successful.

And when you add Dustin Maher’s “Fit Moms for Life” to that environment, your chances of success simply get better.

In honor of Mother’s Day, Dustin is generously giving one MomsGetReal reader a free copy of his fabulous book.

To enter to win “Fit Moms for Life” leave a comment below telling us what your biggest health challenge is.

For additional entries, you can:

1. Tweet the following message and leave link to your tweet in a comment:

Happy Mother’s Day from @MomsGetReal and @DustinMaher. Enter to win #FitMomsforLife! http://bit.ly/JzmiPs #moms

2. “Like” MomsGetReal and Dustin Maher on Facebook and leave a comment below confirming.

3. Share this post on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Pinterest. Each share will count as an additional entry.

A copy of “Fit Moms for Life” was provided to MomsGetReal so that we could provide an honest and thorough review. You can review the official MomsGetReal FTC policy here.

Getting Real With Kim Winsch, Destination Mom

Some of the fondest vacation memories I have from childhood are the long road-trips we took in the family station wagon to visit friends and family up and down the eastern seaboard.  At the risk of dating myself, I will admit that I passed many long travelling hours snuggled up in my sleeping bag asleep in the “way-back” on those adventures (I know, I know – it was totally not safe, but we didn’t know then what we know now!).  Today, with mandatory car seats and booster seats (which are infinitely safer, but less cozy and conducive to sleep!), road-trips are marked by much less sleeping for my daughter and much greater demand for activities to fill those long hours (once the family sing-alongs and I-spy games have run their course)!

Thankfully, the market for travel games and entertainment has kept pace with the increase in demand for portable entertainment! With high- and low-tech options for every age group, there’s always a great way to stave off the never-ending chorus of “are we there yet?”   Here are some of our road-tested favorites:

Taf Toys Toe Time – Infant Car Toy (by Edushape) – Easy to attach, with a variety of fun shapes and activities, this portable play center is brightly colored with fun dolls for your baby to watch and reach for as well as a musical component triggered by baby’s kicking feet!

(recommended for ages 1 month to 2 years)

Baby Einstein Shapes And Numbers Discovery Cards (by Baby Einstein) Comprised of six soft fabric cards with a crinkle cover and a knobby plastic loop, discovery cards easily attach to carriers, strollers, car seats and more!  These cards provide children with a great introduction to shapes and numbers with real-life imagery and identification labels in English, Spanish, and French. (recommended for ages 3 months to 2 years)

Full-Color Travel ‘N Doodle (by Aquadoodle) - A soft, portable drawing toy! Travel Doodle is mess-free and it never runs out! Just add water and your little traveler can draw to his or her heart’s content, and then watch it disappear and start all over again!
(recommended for ages 2+)

Brain Quest (by BrainQuest) – Easily portable, no small pieces, educational, and fun!  These oblong card books give parents the chance to sneak in some education disguised as entertainment; cards are grouped into books by age (preschool, Kindergarten, 1st grade, etc.) and contain everything from art and math to reading and spelling!
(recommended for age 2+)

Go Games (by Magnetic Poetry available through Amazon) – Go Games is a complete line of magnetic travel games in compact, durable travel cases. All pieces are thick and easy to grab and stay firmly in place so you can store them mid-game to start again later!  The Go Games line features such popular games as: Hangman, Memory Match, Sudoku, Checkers, Tic-Tac-Toe, Backgammon, Dominoes, Chinese Checkers, and States and Capitols!

(recommended for ages 3+)

Portable Hand-Held Gaming Systems (DS, Didj, PSP, Leapster, etc.) – Hours of fun no matter what system you choose; these portable gaming consoles are a great option for road-trips!  With diverse gaming offerings designed to make learning fun and encourage hand-eye coordination, each of these gaming systems has something to offer!

(recommended for ages 3+)

So if you’ve got miles to log on the family minivan, don’t leave home without a few of these great items!  The brief intervals of peace they provide will result in a more relaxed and enjoyable journey – and, after all, getting there should be half the fun!  Safe and happy travels!

                                                                                                                                                                                                          -Destination Mom

Kim Winsch blogs as Destination Mom for Travel-Tot, LLC.  She makes her home in Denville, NJ, where she and her husband, Ted, are the proud parents of a 7-year old daughter.  When Kim is not busy researching or writing, she enjoys travelling, spending time with friends, and volunteering in her community!

Getting Real With Shadra Bruce

I do not often review apps because (dropping my head in shame) I still use a BlackBerry. No one makes apps for BlackBerry anymore. Not good ones anyway. But Recalls Plus offers their app through Facebook in addition to Android and iPhone – and I still love Facebook (even with all of its enormous changes that make it more difficult to see what my friends are doing and much easier to see what they buy and like), so when SheSpeaks asked me to check it out, I was happy to.

Recalls Plus is an app designed by SAP specifically for parents. It gathers information about all of the products and foods that are being recalled for safety and health issues and puts them in one handy place. You can see the entire list, or you can search for specific items. (Say you’re at a garage sale and you want to buy a stroller on the cheap but you want to make sure it’s not being recalled. With Recalls Plus, you can do that!)

Recalls Plus is a great app for moms on the go, frugal moms, and busy parents who need to stay up to date on product recalls to protect their families. Whether you grab the app for your phone or use it through Facebook, you can be confident that you have up-to-date knowledge about the recalls that may affect your family.

Getting Real With Connie Solidad

Did you know Mother’s Day is the 2^nd most expensive gift-giving holiday in the U.S. after the winter holiday season? Many restaurants also report it’s their busiest day of the year and telephone providers report it’s the busiest day for long distance calls as well. We all want to make Mom feel special so we usually don’t think about the cost, but this actually leads to big bills on everything from presents to a special dinner out. This year, with so many Americans still facing tight budgets brought about by the recession, how can you make Mom feel special without putting yourself in the poor house?

The tips below can help you make Mother’s Day special this year without causing problems for your finances.

• Give gifts with meaning. Moms are pretty sentimental, especially when it comes to their families. This makes Mother’s Day the perfect opportunity to give a gift that has intrinsic meaning instead a big price tag. Handmade photo albums or family picture frames, letters or poetry, or even something that brings out your creative side like a painting or a song, all of these are great gifts for mom.
• If you buy online, buy early to avoid high shipping costs. If you don’t think you can make something and you’re going the route of buying a gift, decide what you want to get and buy it early. Particularly considering 1 in 5 Mother’s Day gifts are now purchased online, buying early allows you to use standard ground shipping, which is often little to no cost depending on where you buy.
• Make dinner instead of going out. Most people put enough thought into Mother’s Day to realize that Mom probably doesn’t want to cook her own special meal. However, instead of simply going out to a restaurant, why not put just as much love into making dinner plans as she does every day. Creating a special meal at home not only gets Mom out of the kitchen, it’s a good way of showing her you appreciate how much work goes into what she does.
• Activities should be about family. Your mom doesn’t need huge extravagance to know you care, really (and she’s probably told you this before) she just wants to spend time with her family and have everyone together. Don’t go overboard trying to plan some big activity that’s going to cost a lot. Instead, consider inexpensive things that let you all have fun together. Go to the park, play in the backyard, or even just take a walk together and have a chat along the way.

As you can see above, keeping Mother’s Day costs down really involves planning, put some extra thought into whatever you decide to do in order to make the day special. Really all your mom wants is to know you put forth a little effort to show her some love. You can start making your Mother’s Day plans now to get a head start and stick to the budget you make to keep your costs down. If you do get into trouble with too much Mother’s Day expense, assess your budget immediately and make a plan to pay off the debts as quickly as possible. After all, the last thing your mom wants is to hear you need money because Mother’s Day expenses put you in a financial bind.

Connie Solidad is an expert in the field of financial planning and a contributing expert at MomsGetReal. She writes about debt management and credit counseling options and resources. When Connie is not working, she loves playing with her two dogs in Tampa, Florida. To learn more about debt management refer to ConsolidatedCredit.org.

Getting Real With Shadra Bruce

Kids today have access to so much information that it’s difficult to be an effective protector and parent. Who do they talk to? What kind of text messages are they getting? What kind of Internet sites are they visiting?

When you add in the increased risk of cyberbullying not to mention the threat of predators, having a way to keep track of what your kids are doing online becomes absolutely critical.

UKnowKids is a new tool for parents that allows them to know what their kids are doing. It isn’t about imposing controls on the kids but a way to start conversations with them about what’s going on. If a stranger requests to be friends with your child, you can use it as an opportunity to talk about stranger danger in the 21st Century. If someone “sexts” your child, you can talk to them about respect and personal dignity and help them learn to navigate through life and technology safely.

Right now, MomsGetReal has 50 codes to share with readers who are interested in testing out the UKnowKids tools. You can learn more from the service below. If you’re interested in a code, please “like” MomsGetReal on Facebook and leave a comment below.