Healthy Living How To

Vanessa Rae Romero

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

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Thousand Hills Grassfed Ballpark Franks

If you are going to eat hot dogs, go for the highest quality ones you can find! Look for brands that are all-beef, organic, grass fed, nitrite/nitrate free, no MSG, no fillers & uncured.All summer long we have been enjoying Thousand Hills 100% Grass Fed Uncured Ballpark Franks! I did a quick look on the TH's website and see they are in stores in the Midwest, and not just Food Co-ops, our local Target is starting to carry TH's grass fed ground beef & steaks too! It looks like they do ship, but don't know how competitive the pricing is. Applegate Farms makes a good one called The Great Organic Hot Dog. It meets all my criteria for a healthy hot dog as well. Most Food Co-ops throughout the US carries this brand. I am sure there are others out there, but these are the two we buy.Now, I realize that hot dogs have gotten a bad rap as a “processed food” and when compared to let's say a steak, they are more processed. However, comparing a chemical ridden Ballpark Frank, with one of our healthy franks above, is like comparing a Yugo to a Mercedes.

Organic Broccoli

Click on this picture for an AMAZING close up!

And can we just take a moment to talk about broccoli. Amazing broccoli! I love how it goes in the steamer almost with a blue hue and comes out the most vibrant green. It's just lovely to look at and it tastes unbelievable when steamed just right, not too tender and not too hard. With a little butter and garlic salt, fresh broccoli, steamed to perfection “almost” tastes like sweet corn.

As mentioned in previous posts, our new Fagor Pressure Cooker is getting used just about every day. And let me tell you, I don't know what it is, but cooking both the franks and the broccoli (not at the same time) in the pressure cooker produces amazing results. I steam the franks for exactly 5 minutes, take them out (while they cool), pop in the broccoli and steam for 3 minutes. In less than 10 minutes a healthy meal is served!

I have not been paid to endorse the products mentioned in this post! My family just happens to love them!

And speaking of ballgames, we went to a Twins game on one of the hottest days of the summer. It was so hot, I was easy prey for the vendor selling fans with attached squirt bottles! Best $20 I ever spent! The Twins played an excellent game, we had awesome seats and even though we melted in the sun, we had a great time!