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| Friday, February 04, 2011 |
| Surviving the Super Bowl Spread! |
Super Bowl Sunday is upon us once again. It is traditionally a day of football, food and drinks! Super Bowl Spreads get more elaborate every year. The usual Super Bowl spread usually includes very few healthy, low calorie or low fat foods. Many people just forget about their healthy diets and New Year’s Resolutions on Super Bowl Sunday, but you don’t have to. There are simple changes you can make to your Super Bowl spread to make it healthy and low calorie while keeping if fun and tasty.
Appetizers
Everyone loves appetizers. From chicken wings to crab dip, appetizers are often the favorite part of the party. However, it is easy to come up with some lower calorie, lower fat appetizers that your guests will still love. Chicken wings may be a staple at your Super Bowl party, but there are options that are just as tasty and much healthier. The average chicken wing contains approximately 100 calories. Just 10 wings provide 1000 calories! This year change it up a little and try serving boneless chicken tenders. You can bake them and use any number of low calorie, low fat sauces. Try honey mustard or BBQ sauce. By using lighter sauces and baking your chicken tenders, you will save a ton of calories and fat.
Another easy way to cut calories and fat from your appetizers is to change up your chips and dip. Regular chips and dip are loaded with fat and calories. A few handfuls of chips and dip can add up to about 800 calories. You can go for low fat or baked chips and a low fat dip like salsa or you could try one of my favorites. Last year I made mini tacos for a Super Bowl party. Everyone loved them and I had none left over. They are very easy to make. Just cook some diced chicken in a pan with olive oil and taco flavoring for about 15 minutes. Drain off any liquid and scoop into small taco shells. Put our shredded lettuce, onion, peppers, low fat shredded cheese and salsa so everyone can make their own favorite taco. Just have one or two and you will end up saving fat and calories by not continuing to dip your hand into the chips
Drinks
Beer is a probably the most popular drink at Super Bowl parties. A regular beer contains about 145 calories. That means that 6 beers during a 5 hour party would add up to 870 calories. The easiest thing to do is to serve and drink light beer. A light beer has between 90 and 110 calories. That calorie savings can add up. Try having a small glass of water between light beers to cut down your overall intake of alcohol. If you don’t like beer, try a skinny glass of wine. You can make your wine skinny but making just a few simple changes. Start with just 2 oz of white wine. Add 2 ounces of sugar free/low calorie lemon lime soda and sugar free/low calorie lemonade. For a non alcoholic beverage, try some flavored waters. There are many to choose from at the supermarket or you can make your own by adding lemons, limes or even cherries. Since it is the Super Bowl, you could always try some Gatorade too. There are many low sugar/low calorie Gatorade flavors to choose from.
Main Course
The main course is usually served at halftime. Super Bowl mainstays include: chili and pizza. These foods are easy to makeover. You can easily make these lower in calories and fat. Make your chili with ground turkey or chicken meat. This will save you a good amount of calories and fat. You can still use your beans, sauce, cayenne pepper and spices which are all low in fat. Serve your chili with low fat chips or saltines for a low fat side. Pizza is a great meal for the adults and kids at your party. If the kids aren’t interested in the game, let them help make the pizza. You can use a pre-made pizza crust or even serve toasted English Muffins and let the kids add sauce and toppings. You can use a regular pizza sauce topped with low fat shredded cheese. Next let everyone choose some healthy toppings for the pizza. Put out onions, peppers, pineapples or whatever you like but avoid the sausage, pepperoni and bacon. If your guests are supplying part of your main course, let them know that low calorie/low fat foods are welcome. They may be relieved to know that it is ok to bring something healthy.
Dessert
Dessert is my favorite part of the meal. Stay away from the football shaped cakes and cookies. Try something simple like a frozen yogurt sundae bar. Portion out the frozen yogurt and then let your guests add healthy toppings like fruits, nuts and even a little low sugar chocolate syrup. Last year I served angel food cake slices topped with strawberries and cherries. Everyone seemed to enjoy that and it was a delicious but light ending to the meal.
Super Bowl Sunday is only a couple days away. Start planning the healthy changes or additions to your party this year. Many of your guests may be pleasantly surprised by your healthy alternatives.
- Jennifer
If you like this article, you might also enjoy…
Sensei Talks: The Super Bowl Spread
Sensei Talks: Fueling for the Super Bowl
Labels: healthy tips, Jennifer, Super Bowl
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posted by My Sensei @ Friday, February 04, 2011   |
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