Super Bowl Snacking

1.25 billion.  That’s approximately how many chicken wings will be eaten Superbowl Sunday.
80 million. That’s the amount of pounds of avocados estimated to be eaten.  Enough to fill a football field, almost 12 feet deep.
2.5 million. That’s how many nuts will be eaten on Super Bowl Sunday.
1,200. That’s the approximate amount of calories people will eat in snacks alone.  Not counting the meals (or drinks)!
58%.  That’s the number of people who will order pizza that day.

So who you pulling for?  Ravens?  49ers?

I was fortunate to be at the Super Bowl last year to watch the NY Giants emerge from their underdog ranking to win the game.  Since I work with the Cincinnati Bengals, I was of course disappointed to see them out of it early on ...

... but I’m always excited for a good game, so at least hoping for that.

But even more than the game itself, there’s certainly always lots of talk about the food.

The numbers above are staggering.  Does it mean you throw your hands up and forget about it for the day?  I have a few other suggestions; sure, one day won’t make or break you, but why not at least make better choices on that day that still taste great and keep with the “game day food” theme?

I’m certainly not going to ask you to swear off all the wings, guac, chips and beer while cheering for your favorite team.  That’s not realistic.

Guacamole - yes, it’s high in fat.  Yes, it’s high in calories.  But they are quality calories.  The fat in guacamole (which is made from avocados) is fantastic for you.   Avocado is actually a fruit that is high in fiber, healthy, monounsaturated fat and about 20 other vitamins and minerals.  And it’s certainly a much better dipping option that Ranch dressing, buffalo chicken dip or 99% of the other dip options!

Here’s a simple recipe.

Ingredients
2 fully ripened Avocados, halved, pitted and diced
1 tsp salt
1 TBS fresh lime juice
2 TBS, chopped cilantro
Dash cayenne pepper (optional if you want some added kick)

Directions:
In a bowl, combine all ingredients.  Cover and chill until ready to serve (NOTE: the avocado might get slightly brown in the fridge.  No problem, just stir it up.
Prep time: 5 minutes.  Yields 1 ½ cups

In-Shell Pistachios - Like guacamole, pistachios are high in fat -- a super healthy fat.  And I picked pistachios as a great option here because with all the other food options around, in-shell pistachios may help slow you down because it takes time to remove that shell.  That means you might eat less overall.  Even more useful - keep a bowl out with the shells that were removed – seeing how much you’ve already had might just curb how much you eat during the game.  And compared to other nuts, pistachios offer the most nuts per serving, so it’s a win win.  We’re personally fans of Wonderful Pistachios Sweet Chili flavor for a little extra “umph” though plain or salted pistachios are great too.

Pizza! A Superbowl tradition -- pizza -- is certainly here to stay.  But with 58% of the audience ordering delivery, you may wait a lot longer than your guests are willing to wait to eat.  How about this -- Kashi now makes frozen pizzas that are really good (and less expensive than what you’d pay from a traditional pizza chain!).  The BBQ Recipe Chicken pizza is a really good, unique and may very well appeal to those guests who would normally crave wings instead.  They make some other options, too, but this BBQ chicken one has more of a “Superbowl feel.”

Alcohol - let’s be real, you’re likely going to have a drink or two on Superbowl Sunday.  Us too.  But two years ago, we had a Superbowl party.  We served wine and beer -- at least we planned to, until the first guest opened up the wine (red, of course), wasn’t able to put a lid on it because it was a traditional cork lid and accidentally knocked it all over our new carpet.  Talk about taking the wind out of the sail!

So we’re changing our ways this year and found a cool wine by a company called CalNaturale - wine made from organically grown grapes - in a Tetra-Pak with a screw top lid, to prevent another “bottle of red wine on the new carpet” incident!  Your guests will be shocked at the quality of both the cab sav and Chardonnay wines, even though they’re in a “box.”

There you have it - a few easy steps to enjoy the game and enjoy some great food.

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