Photo by Don LaVange

We love Friday-night pizza or lazy-Sunday Thai delivery as much as the next guys -- but we can't say the same for our waistlines. Luckily, we have a few tricks up our sleeves. By remaking your favorite take-out foods at home, you can get all the pleasure...with none of the guilt. All it takes is a few switch-ups.

We've remade everything from pizza and hot wings to chicken pad Thai, but with Summer right around the corner, this time we'll be focusing on the backyard BBQ.

See also:
-Take-Out Fake-Outs: 5 Favorites Lightened-Up
-Take-Out Fake-Outs: 5 More Favorites Lightened-Up

Check out our top secrets to making just-as-delicious Summer BBQ Fake-Outs:

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Photo by mynameissharsha

All of this watermelon could be vastly improved with the addition of vodka.

Note: This is a reprint from last year.

This almost goes without saying, but very few things complement an afternoon of barbecuing or grilling like a slice of ice-cold watermelon and a pleasant buzz. That's where Drunk Watermelons come in.

A slice of Drunk Watermelon is the best of both worlds: sweet, red flesh that's cooling and delicious, that also comes with a little kick courtesy of a bottle of vodka, which has been allowed to slowly saturate the flesh as it's stored overnight in the fridge. We'll teach you how to make a Drunk Watermelon (or several) for any Memorial Day barbecues you're invited to this weekend; you'll be the hit of the party (certainly more so than if you brought a watermelon basket).

Step One

Buy a watermelon. This seems basic, but there are some considerations to be taken into mind: You want a watermelon that thumps nicely when you hit it. No thump means the fruit isn't ripe. And nothing is worse than a mealy, light-pink slice of watermelon. You also want to consider the size of your party and the size of your bottle of vodka. The general rule of thumb is one liter of vodka per large watermelon. It would also be cool if you could find a square watermelon, but you can't in the United States. We need to teach the Japanese to spike their crazily shaped watermelons, but that's a post for another time.

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Photo by jinxmcc

I love cooking for my fiancé and me, but most of the time, cooking for two proves to be difficult. If I don't make a plan, I end up running around in circles at the grocery store and wasting half the ingredient's I've bought (and I hate wasting food). Enter What's Cooking This Week - my weekly meal plan and grocery guide. This way, I can make the most of my ingredients and my leftovers.

Last week, tomato, corn & black bean salsa topped Breakfast Tacos and was served alongside Broiled Tilapia. This week, a grilled eggplant is paired with Pork Tenderloin and remade into a Eggplant Caprese Salad.

Here's the rest of the plan:

Turkey Sausage Subs w/ Basil Mayo

Orecchiete w/ Broccoli Rabe & Sausage

Pork Tenderloin with Spicy Seared Eggplant

Grilled Eggplant Caprese Salad

Pork, Rappini & Mozzarella Panini

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It's fair to say I've become obsessed with microwavable desserts in a mug. I've made some fudgey 60-Second Brownies, a gooey Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie and a Crumb-Topped Mug Coffee Cake.

Now it's time for a muffin in a mug, or as I like to call it (because I'm super lame), a muggin. This blueberry muffin makes the perfect breakfast-for-one, easy mid-afternoon snack, or dessert (because who are we kidding, this is pretty much a glorified cake).

Here's how to make it:

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Photo by Christina Uticone

My current obsession: hot tomato and onion salad.

In the kitchen I vacillate between insanely ambitious and incredibly lazy, but "incredibly lazy" wins out most weeknights. I like recipes that require minimal prep, using just a few ingredients, to get dinner on the table in as short a time as possible (or at least with very little work on my part). While I can eat the same thing three nights in a row (seriously), my husband gets itchy if we eat the same thing twice in one week.

Flipping through my recipe book last week, I noticed I have an inordinate number of recipes with five or fewer ingredients. Here are a few of my go-to options, ones even my husband is happy to eat once a week. Warning: lots of tomatoes ahead!

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Photo by Andrea_Nguyen

I love cooking for my fiancé and me, but most of the time, cooking for two proves to be difficult. If I don't make a plan, I end up running around in circles at the grocery store and wasting half the ingredient's I've bought (and I hate wasting food). Enter What's Cooking This Week - my weekly meal plan and grocery guide. This way, I can make the most of my ingredients and my leftovers.

Last week, chopped rib-eye filled a hot-giardiniera-topped Philly Cheese Steak and was remade into Creamy Steak Taquitos. This week, Buttermilk Fried Chicken is served hot one night, then served again "picnic style" alongside a lightened Creamy Coleslaw.

Here's the rest of the plan:

Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Corn on the Cob & Tomato Salad

Tilapia with Grilled Corn, Tomato & Black Bean Salsa

Picnic Drumsticks & Thighs with Lighter Creamy Coleslaw

Potato & Bacon Breakfast Tacos

Bacon, Swiss & Tomato Melts with Creamy Slaw

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Photos by Katharine Shilcutt

Roast chicken and chickpeas.

"Who's going to teach me to roast a chicken?" I saw my best friend Tweet a few days ago. After a two month-long work trip to Norway, she had come back to the States more determined than ever to eat healthy. And what's healthier than a roasted chicken with a few vegetables tossed in? It's cost-efficient too: A whole roasted chicken can easily feed two people for three meals.

Especially the one that my friend brought over to my house a few days later, after I told her that I'd teach her how to roast a chicken if she supplied one. The massive bird came from Whole Foods, she told me, and was the largest one they had. It was barely $15. Add in the slight cost of the vegetables I was planning to serve as sides and it was a $20 meal that fed four of us that night (with a huge plate of leftovers for the boyfriend to boot).

Roasting a chicken for dinner is not only a cheap way to provide a filling meal, it's also incredibly easy. Set it and forget it. The only trick is that there are a few crucial steps along the way you simply can't skip -- but the good news is that the entire affair only takes 15 minutes at most.

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Photo by Brooke Viggiano

The "RVP" in all its glory

If you've never been to brunch at Max's Wine Dive and you enjoy lovely things like hot cakes, wings and fresh mimosas, I urge you to check it out (they even do brunch on Fridays). Until then, I'm sharing a copycat recipe for one my favorite MWD brunch dishes -- The "RVP." That's a stack of fluffy and decadent red velvet pancakes served with a dollop of sweet and tangy lemon cream cheese frosting -- simply genius.

I love the pancakes dearly...and I'm willing to bet your mama will love them too (that's not some sort of weird yo' mama joke -- I'm just thinking they'd make the perfect Mother's Day treat).

Here's how to recreate The "RVP" at home:

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oosp

Blackberry season is just around the corner.

Blackberry-picking season is right around the corner. In fact, in the next several weeks, blackberries will be ready for picking at several local farmers' markets. Don't be fooled by the early berries growing on the side of the road because those are dewberries, not blackberries.

Tommy Neal from Neal's Farm & Farmers Market explains that dewberries are ripe right now and blackberries will be three weeks from now.

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Photo by mrJasonWeaver

I love cooking for my fiancé and me, but most of the time, cooking for two proves to be
difficult. If I don't make a plan, I end up running around in circles at the grocery store and wasting half the ingredient's I've bought (and I hate wasting food). Enter What's Cooking This Week - my weekly meal plan and grocery guide. This way, I can make the most of my ingredients and my leftovers.

Last week, a Zucchini Ribbon Salad was served with Greek Chicken Burgers and used again in a creamy Skinny Fettucini Alfredo. This week, chopped rib-eye is the star of a hot-giardiniera-topped Philly Cheese Steak and baked Creamy Steak Taquitos.

Here's the rest of the plan:

Shrimp Tostadas with Garlic Guacamole

Chilled Shrimp Antipasto Salad

Cold Penne Pasta with Creamed Avocado & Lime

Wicked Philly Cheese Steaks

Creamy Steak Taquitos with Pico De Gallo

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