Super Bowl Insanity

This past Sunday was of course the Super Bowl. Now in my house this is HUGE! Even more so since my fiancés favorite team is the Green Bay Packers! As tradition would dictate I would be making Chili and other snack foods for a bunch of football fans.

Normally I would be making a very healthy dish of chili if this was a normal day. But I spoiled my fiancé and made some that wasn’t so much. However healthy substitutes can be easily made!

1lb Extra Lean Ground Beef

1lb Hot Italian Sausage

4 (15oz) cans chili beans, drained

2 (28oz) cans diced tomatoes with juice

1 (6oz) can of tomato paste

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 green chili peppers, seeded and chopped

4 cubes beef bouillon

½ cup beer

¼ cup chili power

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon sugar

Process:

1 Heat a large stock pot over medium heat. Brown ground beef and sausage. Drain any excess grease.

2. Pour in chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste

3. Add onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, chili peppers, bouillon and beer.

4. Season with chili power, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika and sugar. Simmer on low eat for at least 2 hours. 

5. After two hours I will taste and adjust for spices if needed. I then let it cook another hour. The longer it simmers the better it tastes. I always make this the day before so it sits all night in the refrigerator.

Just reheat on stove the next day on low.  Serve with buns.

The boys LOVED it!

Now we had many sides, one which was Restaurant-Style Buffalo Chicken Wings. I baked these instead of deep frying them. I may be letting my fiancé cheat a little....but that was just TOO much. The boys seemed to really enjoy these as well.

We also had Guacamole I made. This recipe is great!!

On top of all that we had some smoked dried homemade meat my fiance's father makes, it's delish! We also had 3 year old cheddar cheese and crackers. As well as salmon slices, salsa and I think that's everything???? All I know is I have soo much food left over!!

And for the big game that inspired all this food.....well that was a HUGE WIN FOR THE PACKERS! Good job boys :)

Parchment Salmon Delish

One thing about me is I LOVE to cook, and what I love even more is cooking for someone else. Before I met my fiancé I never cooked. But after we moved in together I found it quickly becoming one of my favorite hobbies. When I started my healthy lifestyle my cooking had to change, and it became more challenging. Not a bad challenge, a great one! I now strive to find delicious healthy meals.

This is one of our favorites!  We have this at least once a week. The vegetables for the sides change depending on what I have on hand.

Salmon is amazing! From a health stand point it is just jammed packed full of Omega-3 fatty acids. And every 4-oz serving will provide you with nearly 30gm of protein!! Oh and don’t forget it tastes awesome!

This recipe is pretty quick and very easy.

Ingredients:

2 Salmon fillets
1 Lemon
Fresh dill on stem
2 tsp of EVVO
Pinch of kosher salt
Pepper for taste

Process:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Fold a large sheet of parchment paper and cut out a heart shape about 3 inches larger then the fillet. Unfold paper and place the fillet near the fold.

 Take a very small pinch of kosher salt and rub it on the fillet. I try not to use salt in food, but just a tad rubbed on the salmon adds a nice bit of flavor. You can use Sea Salt, but I like to use kosher salt as I feel I can grab a pinch of it easier. This step is optional if you are on a low salt diet.

Cut a lemon into 4 halves, take one half and squeeze it over a fillet. A trick I learned is to squeeze lemon over your hand to catch any seeds. Don’t throw away the lemon half, as we will use this later. Drizzle a bit of EVOO over the fillet

Place a stem of dill on top of the fillet. Take left over lemon half, cut it into two and place both on fillet. Sprinkle pepper over for taste (optional).

 Fold paper to enclose the fillet, and make small overlapping folds to seal the edges. Start at the curve of the heart.  I usually will brush EVOO on the edges before I roll them up.

Place in oven for 15min or till salmon flakes with a fork.

For my side dish today, I had asparagus and brussels sprouts on hand. I just threw them in my vegetable steamer. For taste, ill squeeze some fresh lemon over top of them.


 Enjoy!!!

 Nom Nom Nommmmm........