Mealtime Magic: Healthy Super Bowl Snacks

According to research from Calorie Control Council, the average American easily consumes more than 2,000 calories and a whopping 81 grams of fat (much of it being the artery-clogging saturated fat) from a typical Super Bowl Sunday menu. While most of the country uses the day as an excuse to pig out, trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle while tailgating or at a viewing party can be a challenge. Thanks to nationally-recognized, award-winning registered dietitian and Cordon Bleu-certified chef Michelle Dudash, watching the Super Bowl doesn’t mean ingesting super calories. For your audience, Michelle can demonstrate big game favorites such as:

• Garlic and Smoke Popcorn Mix: made with popcorn, smoked almonds, baked snap pea crisps, toasted sesame seeds and garlic seasoning.This popcorn mix provides you 4 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein per serving. Plus, it is low in sodium to help beat the bloat;
• Cumin-Chili Spiced Seven-Layer Dip: made with Greek yogurt, black beans, avocados, pico de gallo, shredded light Cheddar, Kalamata olives and fresh jalapeños, served with whole-grain tortilla chips. This alternative 7-layer dip contains just 1 gram of saturated fat per serving, compared to the 6 grams found in traditional versions. Also, Greek yogurt replaces sour cream that boosts the dish’s protein content;
• Buffalo Chicken Flatbread Pizza: made with grilled chicken, part-skim mozzarella, Buffalo sauce, smoked paprika and scallions. Two generous slices of this pizza contains only 150 calories and 2 grams of saturated fat. If you want to pig out, eat the whole darn thing for only 300 calories;
• Fresh, Flash Frozen Fruit with Fondue-style Dips: invite your guests to dip into melted dark chocolate and sprinkle with chopped pecans, flaked coconut and crushed pistachios; Compared to a brownie sundae, you’re saving 380 calories, 9 grams saturated fat and 35 grams of ‘carbs.’ Plus you’re getting 25% of the daily-recommended amount of vitamin C;
• Blueberry-Kiwi Tiramisu with Coconut-Ricotta Cream: made with coffee and orange liqueur-dipped lady fingers, part-skim ricotta, whipped coconut milk and cocoa powder; Compared to most party desserts, you’re saving 275 calories, about half the carbs, and getting 28% of the daily-recommended amount of vitamin C, plus disease-fighting antioxidants from the blueberries and kiwi;
• White Wine Sangria with Winter Fruits: made with Sauvignon Blanc, honey simple syrup, sparkling water, grapes, oranges, apples and cinnamon sticks. Compared to plain white wine, ounce-for-ounce this sangria has about the same amount of calories and since this sangria is prepared with white wine, you can relax a bit knowing it won’t stain your carpeting like red wine.

Michelle is the author of the book, Clean Eating for Busy Families (Fair Winds Press);anda writer whose “Dish with Dudash™”column is published in the Arizona Republic. It reaches over 1.5 million readers per week. She is also a featured monthly guest onKPNX-TV’s “Arizona Midday”show, and a regular contributor to the Food Network’s Healthy Eats blog, one of the most heavily readcolumns on the television network’s site.