With the Super Bowl right around the corner I am sure that you already know where you are going to be watching the commercials… err I mean game. To most of us who do not live in Pittsburgh or Green Bay (or have a bet on the game) it doesn’t really matter who wins – it’s just a great excuse to get together with friends and family to laugh and eat the best snack food of the year. Is the party at your place or are you traveling to the event? Either way you may be responsible for bringing some snacks.

If you’re looking for some ideas to showcase some of your cooking skills or just in search of some snack ideas that are a little out of the ordinary – these are our top five can’t go wrong snack categories:

The ultimate Tex-Mex comfort food and all you really need are some good tortilla chips and a killer salsa. Ah a killer salsa now that‘s the hard part. We love salsa and you can choose fresh chiles for a fresher heat, used dried chiles for more of an earthier flavor and even go a bit exotic and sweet.

Here are some of our favorite salsa recipes:

Salsa Verde

Fresh Heirloom Tomato Salsa

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Mango Salsa

Peach Ginger Salsa

Homemade Pizza

Can’t go wrong here and these are sure to be big hits as one of the best ways to eat quick, fill your guests up and still get to experiment with a wide variety of flavors. We like to make our dough fresh from scratch but there are also several really good prepackaged pizza doughs you can pick up to make this just a bit easier. We have thoroughly tested these pizza recipes in our home kitchen and you’re sure to have enough variety for even the pickiest eater.

Classic Margherita Pizza

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Taco Pizza

Cheeseburger Pizza

Chicken, Fennel and Pepper Pizza

BBQ Ribs

There are a couple of ways that you can go here. Run by your favorite rib house and pick up a couple of slabs (no real challenge here) or make your own. The game isn’t until Sunday so that gives you all day Saturday to prep these and then you can fire them up on Sunday.

How can you go wrong with ribs there are so many styles to choose from?

Kansas City Style – One of the signature characteristics of a classic Kansas City BBQ is the liberal use of BBQ sauce and to balance these strong flavors the Kansas City BBQ rubs tend to be less sweet and a bit more savory as this provides the best compliment to the wet, sweet bbq sauce.

Memphis Style – The hallmark of a classic Memphis style BBQ is that the ribs are cooked for a long time until the meat becomes so tender that it practically falls off the bone.

Little Rock – Sensational flavor is paramount to a Little Rock BBQ and it takes slow cooking with apple, cherry, hickory and sassafras woods often over pecan coals. Continuous basting results in out of this world moistness and tenderness. Do not forget the homemade Spicy BBQ sauce!

Deep South – Deep South BBQ cooking is well-seasoned and yields lots of flavor. Deep South barbecue is for the most part either pork ribs, chopped or sliced pork, which is usually the pork shoulder, cut from the bone and served on a plate with the usual side dishes – we are partial to sweet potato chili fries. It also means crispy links where the juice squirts out when you take a bite.

Pork Stank – This is our personal favorite as it was developed by one of our customers, the owner of Porter Macs Rockin’ BBQ, a competition BBQer whose secret rub has won several BBQ events up and down the east coast. This meticulously perfected BBQ rub has 16 ingredients and the secret spice (shhhh don’t tell anyone) is Grains of Paradise – absolutely out-of-this-world!

Chili

This is not just a Tex-Mex classic one pot dish as there are so many ways you can prepare these. Do you go with or without beans? Do you go with all chunk (no hamburger style meat) and use ribeye, chuck roast, brisket or sirloin? Do you add a little spicy sausage like Andouille or chorizo? Mmm my mouth is watering just thinking about the endless possibilities.

And of course since these can be cooked in the crock pot which means super easy prep.

Here are a couple of healthy alternatives (and yes some of these may include beans or even ground turkey):

3 Bean Layered Crock Pot Chili

Turkey Chili

Chunky Vegetarian Chili

Spicy Crock Pot Chili

Chipotle Turkey Chili

Wings

We love wings as these also have so many possibilities. Like ‘em hot and spicy, a bit sweet, with just a bit of kick or some combination of these? We like to bring some of each that way everybody is bound to be happy… and stuffed!

Like ‘em hot and Spicy – Habanero Chile Wings, Cajun Hot Wings or Jamaican Jerk Wings

Crave sweet wings – Honey Chipotle Wings

With just a bit of kick – Thai Wings, Blackened Wings, or Manzanillo Mexican Wings

Like sweet and spicy wings – Kickin’ Chicken or Sweet Tweetie

Now these should be enough ideas to help you prepare for the best indoor tailgate party of the year. And hopefully that darn ground hog will see his shadow as this snow has got to go. I am already looking forward to the next big get together where it will be much, much warmer – come on Memorial Day!

I LOVE pancakes!  I have said it before, but it is worth saying again.  I love experimenting with flavors and textures.  This recipe hits the mark on both counts.  No butter or syrup needed for these healthy and hearty cakes.

Makes a perfect treat on a chilly Autumn morning.  Ahhhh….

Here is what you need:

• 1 medium apple, cored and chopped
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice or ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup 2% or fat free milk
• 1 egg white
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce

Here is what you do:

1. In a small bowl combine apple and lemon juice; set aside.  This keeps the apples from turning brown.
2. In a medium bowl combine whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, the 1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice, and salt.
3. In another small bowl combine milk, egg white, and oil.  Mix thoroughly.
4. Add milk mixture all at once to flour mixture; stir just until moistened (the batter should be lumpy).
5. Fold in apple mixture.
6. Coat an unheated heavy nonstick skillet with cooking spray.
7. Preheat over medium heat
8. Pour a 1/4 cup of batter onto the hot pan.
9. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes on each side or until pancakes are golden brown.

Serve with applesauce.

Perfect Hearty Breakfast

Nutritional Information:
2 pancakes plus 1/4 cup applesauce:

Calories 220
Total Fat 7g
Total Carbohydrate 35g
Protein 6g

What’’s your favorite breakfast when the weather turns chilly?

When I am at the gym in the early morning hours, I spend about 15 mins on the bike, warming up.  I take that few minutes to leaf through whatever new magazines are out.  So many good recipes right now because of the holidays, this one looked really good, with one minor substitution.

It was super easy to make and was on the table in about 30 minutes.  Lot’’s of healthy ingredients, but not too heavy.  If you haven”t spent some time understanding the benefits of kale, you should.  We have been adding kale to many recipes to get that extra boost of antioxidants and nutritional benefit.

I served this soup with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese on top and some Parmesan toast.  Don”t leave out the red pepper, it gives the soup a little kick.  A great way to warm up on a cool evening.

Adapted from Woman’’s Day November 2010

Super healthy and hearty!

Ingredients:

• 8 oz fully-cooked smoked turkey sausage, sliced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut in 1⁄2-in. chunks – This is the substitution from the original recipe.
• 12 oz fresh kale, stems removed and leaves chopped (8 cups)
• Crushed red pepper (optional)

What To Do:

1. Heat a 5-qt pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage and sauté 5 minutes or until browned.
2. Add onion and sauté 3 minutes or until onion starts to soften. Add broth and bring to a boil.
3. Stir in squash and kale. Simmer, partially covered, 10 to 12 minutes or until squash and kale are tender. Serve with crushed red pepper, if desired.

Serves 4

Nutritional Information (per serving)

Protein 18g
Carbs 28g
Fat 6g
Trans Fat 0g
Saturated Fat 2g
Fiber 5g
Sodium 1403mg
Sugar 6g
Calories 224

What do you look for in a good recipe?  Do you typically make meals to the recipe or do you adapt them?

When I am at the gym in the early morning hours, I spend about 15 mins on the bike, warming up.  I take that few minutes to leaf through whatever new magazines are out.  So many good recipes right now because of the holidays, this one looked really good, with one minor substitution.

It was super easy to make and was on the table in about 30 minutes.  Lot’’s of healthy ingredients, but not too heavy.  If you haven”t spent some time understanding the benefits of kale, you should.  We have been adding kale to many recipes to get that extra boost of antioxidants and nutritional benefit.

I served this soup with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese on top and some Parmesan toast.  Don”t leave out the red pepper, it gives the soup a little kick.  A great way to warm up on a cool evening.

Adapted from Woman’’s Day November 2010

Super healthy and hearty!

Ingredients:

• 8 oz fully-cooked smoked turkey sausage, sliced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut in 1⁄2-in. chunks – This is the substitution from the original recipe.
• 12 oz fresh kale, stems removed and leaves chopped (8 cups)
• Crushed red pepper (optional)

What To Do:

1. Heat a 5-qt pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage and sauté 5 minutes or until browned.
2. Add onion and sauté 3 minutes or until onion starts to soften. Add broth and bring to a boil.
3. Stir in squash and kale. Simmer, partially covered, 10 to 12 minutes or until squash and kale are tender. Serve with crushed red pepper, if desired.

Serves 4

Nutritional Information (per serving)

Protein 18g
Carbs 28g
Fat 6g
Trans Fat 0g
Saturated Fat 2g
Fiber 5g
Sodium 1403mg
Sugar 6g
Calories 224

What do you look for in a good recipe?  Do you typically make meals to the recipe or do you adapt them?

The market had some pretty nice poblano peppers this week and this is a recipe that I have been wanting to try.  If you cannot find poblanos, you could try green peppers.  The flavor of the dish would be a bit milder, but you could always add a little more spice!

I know I have written about quinoa before and we have posted some recipes with the versatile grain.  Quinoa is a healthy alternative to rice or pasta, if you haven”t tried it, we highly recommend it.

The original recipe from an old Cooking Light magazine called for pumpkin seed kernels instead of sunflower seeds, but I could not find them at our market, so I made the substitution.  Life is all about substitutions, experimenting with recipes is what makes this so fun!

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 stuffed chile halves)

What to Do:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cut chiles in half lengthwise; remove stems and seeds. Set aside. Combine water and quinoa in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 13 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Set aside.

Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; place over medium-high heat until hot. Add bell peppers, onion, jalapeño pepper, and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add sunflower seed kernels; saute 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in quinoa, green onions, cilantro, soy sauce, and lime juice. Spoon 1/3 cup quinoa mixture into each chile half.

Pour tomato juice into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish; place stuffed chiles in dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over chiles; bake, uncovered, an additional 10 minutes or until cheese melts and chiles are thoroughly heated. Spoon tomato juice over chiles.

Quinoa Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Nutritional Information

Calories:  329 (26% from fat)

Fat:  9.6g (sat 4.3g,mono 2.5g,poly 2.2g)

Protein:  20.4g

Carbohydrate:  47.9g

Fiber:  7g

Cholesterol:  19mg

Iron:  7.4mg

Sodium:  787mg

Calcium:  347mg

The market had some pretty nice poblano peppers this week and this is a recipe that I have been wanting to try.  If you cannot find poblanos, you could try green peppers.  The flavor of the dish would be a bit milder, but you could always add a little more spice!

I know I have written about quinoa before and we have posted some recipes with the versatile grain.  Quinoa is a healthy alternative to rice or pasta, if you haven”t tried it, we highly recommend it.

The original recipe from an old Cooking Light magazine called for pumpkin seed kernels instead of sunflower seeds, but I could not find them at our market, so I made the substitution.  Life is all about substitutions, experimenting with recipes is what makes this so fun!

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 stuffed chile halves)

What to Do:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cut chiles in half lengthwise; remove stems and seeds. Set aside. Combine water and quinoa in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 13 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Set aside.

Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; place over medium-high heat until hot. Add bell peppers, onion, jalapeño pepper, and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add sunflower seed kernels; saute 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in quinoa, green onions, cilantro, soy sauce, and lime juice. Spoon 1/3 cup quinoa mixture into each chile half.

Pour tomato juice into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish; place stuffed chiles in dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over chiles; bake, uncovered, an additional 10 minutes or until cheese melts and chiles are thoroughly heated. Spoon tomato juice over chiles.

Quinoa Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Nutritional Information

Calories:  329 (26% from fat)

Fat:  9.6g (sat 4.3g,mono 2.5g,poly 2.2g)

Protein:  20.4g

Carbohydrate:  47.9g

Fiber:  7g

Cholesterol:  19mg

Iron:  7.4mg

Sodium:  787mg

Calcium:  347mg

This is a pretty easy dish for a quick Mexican style dinner.  Because I had salsa verde from another meal this weekend, I thought I would use it in this meal as well.

We used flat iron steak cubed, seasoned with our Southwest Steak Seasoning and cooked, but you could use chicken or ground beef as well.  Reduced fat cheese helps keep this dish lower in fat. This meal is a good source of protein and while it wasn”t the healthiest meal we had all week it was very tasty.

Ingredients:

• 1 jar or 1 cup of salsa verde (click here for our salsa verde recipe)
• 3 cups low fat or baked tortilla chips (I like the blue corn chips)
• 1 lb flat iron steak, cubed
• 1 TBS (or generous amount) Southwest Steak Seasoning
• 1 package (10 oz) frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 1 cup reduced fat Monterey Jack or Mexican cheese blend

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Coat beef with preferred spices – we used Southwest Steak Seasoning
3. Spray skillet with cooking spray and heat to high
4. Add beef and sear until cooked through, remove from heat
5. In a deep baking dish, spread half of the chips
6. Top with half of the salsa, beef, corn and cheese.
7. Repeat layers
8. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes
9. Remove foil and bake 5 minutes longer

Quick and easy dinner!

Serves 5

Nutritional Information (per serving)

Protein 26g
Carbs 28 g
Fat 16g
Trans Fat 0g
Fiber 3g
Sodium 317 mg
Sugar 4g
Calories 356

The secret to this recipe is in the pork.  Usually, this type of recipe would have used a pork shoulder or pork but and you would spend a great deal of your prep time skimming fat out of this meal.  I chose a pork tenderloin and trimmed the fat before cooking for a tender and very flavorful slow cooked stew.

You can use prepared salsa verde, but I do make my own, as long as I can continue to buy tomatillos at my market.  What I like best about a homemade salsa verde over the store bought brands is that my is much lower in sodium content. We served this dish over cooked quinoa, but you could also serve it over rice.

At first this looked like it was going to have an awful lot of steps to put it together and frankly it didn”t look too appetizing. But when everything started coming together at the end I was amazed at how delicious it was — it was tender, tasty and very flavorful. This meal is also great for those paying attention to their diets as it is high in protein while being low in fat and calories.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed of all visible fat and cut into cubes
• 1 cup Salsa Verde (click for our recipe) or use prepared
• 1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 3 plum tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 cup cilantro (fresh or dried)
• 3 cups of quinoa*

*Quinoa is a grain that is high on protein and very low in calories.  Quinoa is  considered a complete protein, meaning that it includes all nine essential amino acids.  One of those amino acids is lysine which promotes repair and growth of tissue.  Quinoa has a fluffy texture, but a creamy and slightly crunchy or nutty taste.

Directions:

1. Place meat in a slow cooker – turn heat to high
2. Combine salsa, broth, onion and cumin in a saucepan or deep skillet and bring to a boil.
3. Pour salsa mixture over meat
4. Add tomatoes to slow cooker
5. Cover and cook 6-7 hours, until meat is pull apart tender
6. Remove meat from slow cooker and set aside, keeping warm
7. Pour remaining sauce into a deep skillet, bring to a boil until slightly thickened
8. Add pork and cilantro heat through
9. Ladle into bowls over quinoa or rice, garnish with cilantro, diced tomatoes or sour cream

Serves 4

Nutritional Information (per serving)

Protein 31g

Carbs 38g

Fat 6g

Saturated Fat 1g

Sodium 431 mg

Sugar 6g

Calories 338

As we head into the holidays we have already been seeing plenty of predictions to food trends to watch for 2011 (it seems to get earlier every year). One of our favorites is the one from the Food Channel that is talking about the Top 10 Side Dish Trends and #4 on the list is about how potatoes, and especially sweet potatoes, are becoming more and more popular.

For the past 6 months or so this root vegetable has become my favorite starchy carbs and has replaced long grain brown rice in many of my meals. I also love the history of the sweet potato as it is indigenous to Central America and Christopher Columbus brought them back to Europe after his first voyage. Often mistaken for yams, sweet potatoes are still a bit more popular in the south.

This recipe was a delicious and healthy twist on one of my favorite Tex-Mex classics “the quesadilla” and best of all we were able to throw this together with items we regularly stock in the kitchen! This is a quick and easy recipe that is loaded with nutrients — especially vitamin A and C.

Ingredients

1 Large sweet potato
1/4 Cup chili powder
1 Tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tsp Mexican oregano
1/4 Cup red onion, diced
1 Cup black beans, rinsed
1/2 Cup red bell pepper, diced
1/2 Cup long grain brown rice, cooked
1/4 Cup frozen corn
3/4 Cup diced tomatoes (canned low sodium)
1 Large fresh jalapeno, diced
2 Cups kale, chopped
4 Whole wheat tortillas (burrito style)

Directions

1. Peel sweet potato, cut into large chunks and add to a boiling pan of water (if you are in a real hurry you can wrap the sweet potato in cling wrap and heat in the microwave for about 6 minutes)
2. Cook until tender (roughly 25 minutes), when done you will be able to easily pierce the potato
3. In a small mixing bowl combine the chili powder, garlic powder, cumin and Mexican oregano
4. Spray a large skillet with non-stick cooking spray and cook your onions over medium heat until the onion is translucent
5. To the skillet add the black beans, red bell pepper, rice, corn, diced tomatoes, jalapeno and 1/2 the spices
6. Stirring frequently heat this mix for about 10 minutes
7. Add the kale to your skillet and mix in  just until the kale starts to wilt, then remove from heat
8. Once the sweet potatoes are finished cooking mash then and add remaining 1/2 of spices
9. Place your tortilla either in a skillet and evenly spread a small amount of the mashed sweet potatoes on 1/2 of the tortilla, then add the black bean mix fold in half and heat flipping once so that both sides are lightly browned
10. Remove the skillet and cut into even triangles
11. Serve with salsa or low fat sour cream if desired

Serves 4

Nutritional Information (per serving)

Protein 12g
Fat 5g
Saturated Fat 0g
Fiber 13g
Sodium 508mg
Sugar 7g
Calories 317

This recipe has a bit of a kick with the hot peppers and the Thai Seasoning – to adjust the heat, you can choose a milder pepper.  I served this stir fry dish over coconut rice, a traditional Thai way to prepare rice.  By substituting coconut milk for the liquid when cooking rice, you get a much creamier texture and a sweetness that really compliments the bite from the meat and peppers.  I haven”t tried making rice with almond milk, but someone suggested that to me and I may have to give it a try.  P.S. Look for the low fat coconut milk it was only 4.5 g of fat compared to 16 g of fat for the regular!

This dish was pretty easy to prepare and we also make our rice ahead of time and keep it in the fridge, since we seem to use it for multiple recipes throughout the week.

This is a dish we will have again!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup brown rice
• 1 can (13.5 oz) low fat coconut milk
• 2 TBS fish sauce
• 2 TBS soy sauce
• 1 TBS canola or olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 long red hot peppers, seeded and sliced very thinly
• 1 TBS Salt Free Thai Spice
• 1 lb Flat Iron steak cut into cubes
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn

Salt Free Thai Seasoning

Directions:

1. Prepare rice to package directions substituting coconut milk for liquid.  (You can add water if more liquid is needed for cooking.)
2. Combine fish sauce and soy sauce in a small bow, set aside
3. Heat a wok or skillet to high heat.
4. Heat oil and add garlic and chiles – cook about 15 seconds
5. Add beef and Salt Free Thai Seasoning – cook meat through
6. Add soy/fish sauce mixture cook an additional 30 seconds
7. Add torn basil leaves and stir to combine
8. Serve over warm rice

Serves 3

Nutritional Information (per serving)

Protein 31g
Carbs 25g
Fat 22g
Trans Fat 1g
Sodium 1404mg
Sugar 4g
Calories 484