3 Easy Tips to Make Your Summer Barbecue A Success
My family values good conversation and good food more than almost anything else, so we never turn down an excuse to get together and have a fun party! My husband’s family is exactly the same, so we’re constantly planning get-togethers for any and every reason. Now that the spring sunshine has come out to play, we’ve been planning weekend barbecues every chance we can get. There are so many perfect grilling weekends ahead of us this spring and summer, so today I’m sharing three easy tips to make your weekend BBQs a major success along with a few easy grilling recipes ideas that are absolutely delicious!
3 Easy Tips to Make Your Summer Barbecue A Success
Tip #1: Plan Your Menu Carefully
My number one tip for throwing a successful party is careful menu planning! It’s easy to throw together a list of yummy-sounding recipes, but it’s SO important to really think about how the preparation of each recipe will go before heading to the store. You don’t want to have a full-day of cooking ahead of you or a mile-long grocery list of ingredients. When it comes to menu-planning we like to keep things simple. Food doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated to be delicious! Two of our family favorites are Ball Park® Beef Franks and Tyson® Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, and we always fill out the menu with fresh salads, grilled vegetables, a few different types of bread, and of course, dessert!
I like to plan a menu with recipes that have overlapping ingredients. By using the same ingredients in several recipes, I can save tons of time by prepping everything at once. Plus, I save money in the long run because I’m using every single bit of everything I buy. For example, at this weekend’s BBQ, we knew we wanted to create build-your-own hot dog and chicken sandwich bars, so we decided to also serve a Greek salad and chicken salad that also used the toppings as ingredients. I was able to chop up all of the veggies, bacon, and cheese at one time, and then I simply added the ingredients to each recipe as necessary.
Tip #2: Shop Smarter – Not Harder
Since we’ve been planning so many impromptu parties, my husband and I have been heading to Sam’s Club each and every week to get prepared for all of our warm weather grilling moments! Sam’s Club is the perfect place to stock up on high quality products for your family while getting a great deal at the same time, and it’s makes party prepping SO easy. You can grab everything you need in one shopping trip, so our parties come together in a snap AND stay within budget. Less time at the store means more time spent with your loved ones!
Cooking for a group can sometimes be expensive, so we love being able to score major savings at Sam’s Club. They always have great deals available, but there’s an awesome sale coming up that’s perfect for your next get together. From 5/8/19 – 6/2/19, you can save $1.50 on Ball Park Hot Dogs at Sam’s Club. They’re perfect for warm weather grilling events, and the wallet-friendly price makes them the perfect choice for feeding a group!
If you’re looking for a quick and easy summer grilling menu, here’s what we served this weekend along with the shopping list of all of the ingredients. It was a HUGE hit with our families! Plus, we were able to buy everything in one quick trip to Sam’s Club. SCORE!
Easy & Affordable Grilling Menu Idea
Build-Your Own Hot Dog and Grilled Chicken Sandwich Bar: Just add grilled chicken and hot dogs, a few types of buns, and all of your favorite toppings and condiments.
Avocado Pesto Chicken Salad Sandwiches: So easy to make! Just blend together an avocado, jalapeño, a few cloves of garlic, a package of fresh basil, lime juice, and a little bit of mayonnaise in a blender. Cook and shred some of your chicken breasts and mix it with the sauce, and you’re ready to go. This recipe can be made in advance too! It’s really yummy served as a sandwich on croissants.
Greek Salad: Greek salad is my family’s favorite! We simply grab romaine lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, olives, and feta cheese at Sam’s Club, throw it all in a big bowl, and serve with a side of Greek salad dressing. Easy and delicious!
Fruit Salad: If you’d rather not chop up your favorite fruit, simply create a fruit platter instead. This dish is always a crowd pleaser.
Key Lime Pie: Choose whatever dessert is your family’s favorite! Key lime pie is a favorite among the Florida locals in our family, and I love that we can grab one that’s fresh, delicious, and pre-made in the Sam’s Club bakery.
Sam’s Club Shopping List:
Refrigerated Foods Aisle: Ball Park Beef Franks (don’t forget you can get $1.50 savings on Ball Park Beef Franks from 5/8/19 – 6/2/19), feta cheese, bacon
Frozen Foods Aisle: Tyson Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
Bakery Aisle: hot dog buns, croissants, sandwich buns, dessert of your choice
Produce Aisle: lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, onions, avocados, jalapeños, your favorite fruit
Beverage Aisle: your family’s favorite drinks
Tip #3: Prep as Much as Possible Before The Event
Cooking for a group can be daunting if you’re doing everything all at once, but it’s so simple with a little advanced planning! Did you know that Sam’s Club has Club Pickup if you order online? Such a game changer and makes shopping so easy! Once we bring our groceries home from Sam’s Club, I start the prepping process to make the event as easy as possible. For this weekend’s event, I prepared the Greek salad and fruit salad the day before and placed all of the extra chopped veggies in small containers to use as toppings for our hot dog and chicken sandwich bar. Then I cooked and crumbled a pound of bacon, defrosted and seasoned the Tyson Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, and made my favorite Avocado Pesto Chicken Salad. When our guests showed up the next day, we brought out the prepared food from the fridge and threw the chicken and Ball Park Beef Franks onto the grill for a few minutes. Easy peasy!
The time we get to spend with our loved ones during this gorgeous weather couldn’t be more precious to us, so anything that makes it easier for us to get together more often is incredible. We love these little impromptu parties for keeping our growing family close to all of our family and friends.
If you’re planning a get-together during the warm weather grilling season, definitely head to Sam’s Club. You can stock up on high-quality products for a great deal and grabbing your favorite products in club-pack sizes makes preparing for an event so much easier. Don’t forget to grab a pack of Ball Park Beef Franks at Sam’s Club from 5/8/19 – 6/2/19 to get $1.50 off in instant savings!
