Easy Healthy Super Bowl Party Food Ideas
I just read a fascinating Wall Street Journal article about how healthy foods are making a marketing push for inclusion in the Super Bowl Eating Frenzy.
Did you know that Super Bowl Sunday is the second-largest eating occasion after Thanksgiving?
According to NPD Group, a New York market research firm, on Sunday Americans will eat 100 million pounds of chicken wings, 71.4 million pounds of avocados, 45. 8 million pounds of potato chips, 43.2 million pounds of tortilla chips, 13. 2 million pounds of pretzels, and order more than 4.4 million pizzas from Domino’s, Papa Johns and Pizza Hut. Can you even begin to fathom how many Weight Watchers Points+ that is? (I can’t.)
Several healthy foods – baby carrots, yogurt, avocados, and whole grain pretzels – are showing up more in the Super Bowl food fest. That’s good news both for the producers of these healthy foods and for those of us trying to get (or stay) slim and healthy.
If you’re planning to have attend a Super Bowl Party this weekend, one of the best things you can do, is bring along a healthy dish to share. That way you are guaranteed of feeling good about at least one of the foods you eat! (Here are more helpful game day survival strategies for weight watchers.)
So, here’s a roundup of easy healthy Superbowl Party Food Ideas for you, including appetizers and snacks, soups and chilis, pizza and desserts. Enjoy!
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Did you know that you can make small changes to your favorite recipes to make them healthier while retaining their great taste? Have you ever heard Devin Alexander from The Biggest Loser say, “Twenty minutes in your kitchen can save you three hours on the treadmill.”?
It’s true! Making minor tweaks to the foods you already eat – reducing fat, calories, sugar and sodium in your everyday cooking can help you lose weight and feel better easily and effortlessly. Cooking light and healthy can be fun, once you get the hang of it.
Ways to Cook Lighter and Healthier
Here are some general guidelines to help you lighten up almost any recipe so you can cut fat and calories without sacrificing taste.
Reduce fat
Begin by choosing leaner cuts of meat, removing the skin from poultry, and reducing the amount of meat in your recipe. Use 1/2 or 3/4 of a pound of ground turkey breast instead of a full pound when making your favorite chili. Shrink your burgers from 5 ounces to 4.
Choose healthier cooking methods such as baking, broiling, grilling or steaming instead of frying. If your recipe calls for frying ingredients in oil or butter, try using a nonstick pan or spraying your pan with nonstick cooking spray instead.
When baking cakes or quick breads, replace some of the fat with applesauce or another fruit puree. Fat helps to hold in moisture, tenderize, and cause browning in baked goods, and the fiber and natural sugars in fruit purees perform many of same functions.
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