Day 17: Football With A Side of Healthy

 Only 4 more days until the New England Patriots dominate their nearby opponent! Sorry Giants fans, I'm biased, I know :)

Are you hosting a Super Bowl party with 20 of your closest friends and don't know what to serve besides the greasy pepperoni pizza, buffalo wings and beer? Or are you attending a party at a family member or colleagues house and are expected to bring a dip of some sort? No problem! I've got your gridiron guide to the best foods to serve on Super Bowl Sunday without the excess weight gain.

P.S.
Party goers won't ever know the difference ;)

Spicy Touchdown Buffalo Chicken Tenders
Serves: 6
Points Per Serving: 5 (1/6 of chicken, 3 Tbsp dressing & 2 celery stalks)
Ingredients:

• 11/4 lb of chicken tenders, cut lengthwise into 1/2-in-wide strips 
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp hot pepper sauce (use Frank's or Texas Pete)
• 2/3 cup reduced-fat blue cheese dressing
• 1/4 cup fat-free milk
• 12 celery stalks, cut into sticks

Directions:

1. Spray broiler rack with nonstick spray. Preheat broiler.
2. Toss together chicken, butt and pepper sauce in medium bowl until coated evenly. Arrange chicken on prepared rack. Broil 5 inches from heat until until cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Pile chicken onto serving plate.
3. To make sauce, whisk together blue cheese dressing and milk in serving bowl. Serve with chicken and celery.  

Super(Bowl)-Crispy Onion Rings
Serves: 4
Points Per Serving: 4 (8 onion rings)
Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup Italian-seasoned dried bread crumbs
• 2 large onions, cut crosswise into 1/2-in rounds and separated into 32 rings

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Spray two large baking sheets with nonstick spray.
2. Put flour in large zip-close plastic bag. Whisk together buttermilk and pepper in shallow bowl. Spread bread crumbs on sheet of wax paper. 
3. Add onion rings, a few at a time, to flour; seal bag and shake until onion rings are coated evenly. Dip rings, one at a time, in buttermilk mixture, then coat with bread crumbs; transfer rings to prepared baking sheets. Bake until golden and crispy, about 20 minutes.

Four Quarter Vegetable Quesadillas
Serves: 4
Points Per Serving: 5 (1 quesadilla)
Ingredients:

• 4 plum tomatoes, chopped
• 8 white mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 4 (8-in) reduced-fat whole wheat tortillas
• 4 Tbsp shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese

Directions: 

1. Toss together tomatoes, mushrooms, bell pepper, scallion and jalapeno in a medium bowl.
2. Lay tortillas on work surface. Spoon one-fourth of vegetable mixture over half of each tortilla. Sprinkle each with 1 Tbsp of Monterey Jack. Fold unfilled half of each tortilla with filling and press down lightly.
3. Spray large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Place 2 quesadillas in skillet and cook until browned in spots, about 2 minutes. Spray tops of tortillas with nonstick spray; turn quesadillas over and cook until cheese is melted and tortillas are browned in spots on second side.
4. Transfer quesadilla to platter and keep warm. Spray skillet with nonstick spray and cook remaining quesadillas.

Extra Kicked-Up Guacamole
Serves: 8
Points Per Serving: 2 (1/4 cup)
Ingredients:

• 2 Hass avocados , halved, pitted and peeled
• 3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 scallion, chopped
• 1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions:

1. Coarsely mash avocados in a medium bowl.
2. Add remaining ingredients and gently stir until combined. 
3. If not serving right away, press piece of plastic wrap directly onto surface to prevent guacamole from browning. Refrigerate up to 4 hours. 

Winning Whoopie Pies
Serves: 18
Points Per Serving: 5 (1 cookie) 
Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 large egg white
• 1/2 cup low-fat (1%) milk
• 3/4 cup marshmallow creme 

Directions:

1. Place oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. 
3. With electric mixer on medium speed, beat sugar, butter, oil and egg white in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed to low. Beat in flour mixture just until blended then stir in milk just until blended. Drop batter by spoonfuls onto large ungreased baking sheets, making total of 36 cookies.
4. bake until tops of cookies spring back when lightly pressed, 5-7 minutes. Let cool completely on baking sheets on wire racks. 
5. Spoon 2 tsp marshmallow creme on bottoms of 18 cookies. Cover with remaining cookies.

Penalty-Free Pecan Fudge Brownies
Serves: 16
Points Per Serving: 4 (1 brownie)
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

Directions: 

1. Preheat over to 350°F. Line 8-in square baking pan with foil, allowing foil to extend over rim of pan by 2 in. Spray with nonstick spray.
2. Whisk together all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl. Whisk together cocoa and butter in large bowl. Add sugar, egg and egg whites to cocoa mixture, whisking until blended. Whisk in vanilla. Stir in flour mixture until blended. Stir in pecans. 
3. Scrape butter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake until toothpick inserted into center of brownies comes out with moist crumbs clinging, 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on wire rack. Lift brownies from pan using foil as handles. Cut lengthwise intro 4 strips, then cut each strip across into 4 squares.

***I altered the names a bit to fit the occasion, but all of these recipes are credited to and can be found in Weight Watcher's "Best Darn Food Ever" cookbook.***


GO PATRIOTS!

~DJH