Labor Day weekend is just around the corner — what will you do to enjoy the extra day? If you have your own pool, here are four tips for planning your best Labor Day poolside BBQ:
1. Decorations, music & pool prep.
Clean the pool area, cut the grass and/or trim bushes and ensure all pool chairs are clean and functional. Set up fun and festive decorations like tablecloths, napkins, cups and pool toys. If you don’t already have a sound system, use portable speakers to play your favorite tunes.
2. Beverages.
Be extra creative and make your own drinks like fresh-squeezed lemonade, iced tea or a mojito-inspired healthy green drink (see recipe below). For safety, use plastic or paper cups around the pool deck and have a separate bin for them so that it is easy to recycle them after the party.
3. Snack foods.
When guests are playing in the water or even just hanging out in the sun, they will be hungry, so have finger foods available. Easy and healthy ideas include pretzels, bananas, grapes, apple or orange slices, nuts, tangerines and tortilla chips and guacamole.
4. Serve the meat as it’s grilled … and don’t forget dessert.
As you grill, serve the meat so that it doesn’t get cold. After the meat is grilled, don’t forget to serve some poolside ice-cream!
Healthy Green Mojito-inspired / “Lime-aid” Drink
Personal poolside favorite and recipe of Clear Comfort Blogger and Dietitian, Claire McDaniel
Ingredients:
- 2 cups spinach
- 1 lime
- 1 cup washed and frozen green grapes (frozen at least 4 hours, preferably overnight)
- ½ cup fresh mint leaves
- ½ cup water
- Optional: gin
Method:
- Add all ingredients (except lime) into durable blender.
- Squeeze juice of the lime into blender
- Add ¼ of the lime’s rind to the blender, but do so only if you are using an industrial blender like Vitamix or Blendtec. If you are not using an industrial blender, the lime rind will end up quite chunky and not fully blended.
- Blend until smooth
- Enjoy!
