Healthy snacks for the win
The ESH Department shares their top 5 picks for healthy alternatives to traditional Super Bowl snacks.
What is the Environment, Safety and Health Department's (ESH) top pick for Super Bowl Sunday? Healthy snacks.
On Super Bowl Sunday, millions of Americans will be devouring chicken wings and gorging on potato chips while watching elite, finely-tuned athletes perform from one edge of the big-screen TV to the other. While those pro football players will be burning thousands of calories from the opening kickoff to the final whistle, football viewers will be loading up their plates and stretching their stomachs with enough calories to leave most bathroom scales screaming for mercy.
Super Bowl fans are expected to consume 1.33 billion chicken wings on Sunday, according to the National Chicken Council's annual report. According to the National Restaurant Association, more than one-quarter of all Americans who watch the game will be picking up takeout food or having it delivered. At last year's Super Bowl, if you had consumed an average serving of each of the snack foods and beverages advertised during the game itself, you would have ingested at least 925 calories from first quarter to last (nearly half the calories of a full day).
“A Super Bowl party without snacks is unheard of, but remember to snack in moderation," said Laura Baatz, occupational nurse at Sanford Lab. "In addition to testing healthy recipes, try enjoying them in small portion sizes.”
EatingWell.com lists 52 recipes for healthier versions of common Super Bowl snacks. Here are the top 5 picks by ESH:
1. Buffalo Wings—pan-fried in a small amount of oil or baked is a healthier version. Also use reduced-sodium soy sauces, such as tamari, or reduced-sodium chicken broth
2. Sweet Potato Skins—top crispy sweet potato skins with guacamole for a healthy take on classic potato skins.
3. Buffalo Dip—a copycat recipe that cooks in your slow cooker is an easy, hands-off appetizer you can keep warm for the whole game, party or any casual gathering. Use low-sodium chicken broth and reduced-fat cream cheese. Serve with carrot sticks, celery sticks and tortilla chips for dipping.
4. Sriracha-Buffalo Cauliflower Bites—roasted cauliflower stands in for chicken and provides more fiber and fewer calories.
5. Loaded Sweet Potato Nacho Fries—bump up the vitamin A and fiber when you swap tortilla chips for sweet potatoe fries by adding chicken, tofu, shrimp or more beans for protein.
Remember, a single day of splurging isn't going to derail all the New Year's resolutions you've made for your diet. If you fall off the wagon, it will still be there in the morning. Just climb back on.