Superbowl Sunday…A Clean Eating Perspective

This Sunday will be one of the Fattiest, Saltiest and downright fullest days of the year. Super Bowl Sunday is like the Fat Tuesday of Football. It’s the day that we all say it’s OK to throw caution to the wind and eat our weight in Chicken Wings, Potato Skins, Barbeque, Pizza and Desserts. Then we all wash it down with high sugar sodas or a few frosty brewskis. I’m not even going to pretend that it all doesn’t taste amazing, but I think we all should ask ourselves something:

Do I really need to eat like this to enjoy the game?

This is where most people will look at me like the guy who popped every balloon at the 1-year-olds birthday party. I’m not trying to be a party pooper, but more a realist about what we are really doing this weekend. If we don’t fill the crockpots with lil’ smokies and queso will the game still go on? The sad reality is YES. Yes, the game will go on. Our healthy lifestyle change, however, not so much.
We, Americans in particular, have become the ‘bigger is better’ & ‘We Need More’ society. We see it in product portion sizes already. I would bet that most of America doesn’t realize that a serving of beverage is actually 1 cup (8oz). We are so used to 20oz – 30oz beverages that are bottomless. Add that into the Triple Burgers, Triple Meat Pies and Double Chocolate anythings, and we can start to see the problem.
Why do we tell ourselves that activities are not enjoyable unless we have a bag of chips, a jar of processed cheese and a can of high-fructose corn syrup at the ready?
There are plenty of healthy alternatives to making “football food” and they can help deter our health from hitchhiking its way south. But even at this point, how MUCH of that healthier option are we actually eating?
We can make the healthiest choices in the world, but when we graze on them for 4 hours, we are still doing our system damage. As a Rejuv Biggest Loser Challenge Competitor, we’ve been trained for the last 3 weeks to teach our bodies a new way of surviving. Smaller meals every 3-4 hours with no processed and artificial ingredients are the daily routine.
Why can’t we keep Super Bowl Sunday like any normal day, just with a different variety of foods? Do we have to eat all game long? Why not just make an actual full dinner for the first half of the game and shoot for a healthier protein rich appetizer for halftime? If this seems like an impossible scenario, why are you eating during the game at all? The fate of the football game does not reside on the status of our crockpots and coolers. The game will go on no matter what we do at home. However, the scale and our progress towards a healthier self will suffer if we overdo it. Some people might say, “It’s just one night”, but I know for myself, there is really never a true “just one night”. When we are so new to this new lifestyle change, we NEED to hit the end of our comfort zone. We need to be uncomfortable at times. These small food battles will help lead to much greater things. You’re not missing out on anything by not eating like an animal at your Super Bowl party. But eating “just because it’s the Super Bowl” may leave you missing out on your greatest potential and even leave you with an emotional hangover when the scale calls on Monday.

Don’t Ask For Pancakes, because you’ll only get a granola bar (recipe)

One of the only things that my husband will request, other than for me to “just stop talking about politics”, are pancakes.  Yup. Pancakes.  I don’t know a thing about politics, but I fake it decently well.  Pancakes?  Didn’t know much about those either until I married a man who could live on them.  Until this past year, anytime we had pancakes, Charlie was the chef at hand.  Knowing how much he loved them, I decided that after 10 years of knowing and loving him, I’d take a heartfelt crack at it.

I searched for a ‘from scratch’ recipe that would rival his mama’s. No way was I going to impress with boxed pancakes. I made trial rounds in advance so he wouldn’t see the complete carbohydrate massacre that would definitely ensue once the griddle was hot.  Then came the big day.  It was a Sunday morning.  We had just gotten home from church, he brewed up a cup of his favorite SLUDGE, eh em.. coffee and I got to making the pancakes.  I told him to take a load off.  Everything went swimmingly.  I was beaming with pride.  I had done it!  I had made pancakes that weren’t undercooked, overcooked and honestly had the perfect golden hue..AND he was eating them up like they were heaven.  The downside, the kitchen looked like a F-5 tornado of buttermilk, flour and eggs had hit it.  Without me even asking, Charlie took a load off and left me to that as well.  That part was not planned, but onward.

So next weekend, when we were out doing our shopping on Saturday, we were in Sam’s Club.  Charlie sees the huge bag of Krusteaz “Just Add Water” Pancake mix.  Thinking he was sneer at it, I was floored when he revelled in the sheer budgetary genius of it!  What?!  All that work for his Sunday Cakes and all he needed was a good ol packaged pancake? One thing I have yet to mention?  Charlie only likes Chocolate Chip Pancakes. No syrup, just butter on his Chocolate Chip Pancakes.

So this weekend, we are staying at my mom’s.  It’s the first weekend of Fighting Sioux Hockey and when we all got up with Timothy this morning at 6am, Charlie was the first to ask “what’s for breakfast”.  I knew what the answer would be.  He would want pancakes.  Then my mother turned to me and said, “I don’t have anything to make pancakes.”  So, at 6:30am, I was off to WallyWorld.

If you’ve never been to WallyWorld (Walmart) that early on a Saturday morning, I totally recommend it.  It was mostly empty and quiet, minus the workers restocking shelves.  I perused the shelves in the baking aisle for the ‘mandatory’ chocolate chips and I glanced over seeing the “dried cherries”.  Ok, dried cherries are one of my favorite and a crutial ingredient in my Dark Chocolate Cherry Granola Bars.

So I figured I would pick up the stuff to make up a batch.  45mins later, I’m walking into my mother’s home with pancake stuff, granola bar ingredients and the latest issue of Oxygen Magazine, only to see Charlie grabbing his keys.  “where are you going?!”  “Mike and I are going to Darcy’s Cafe for Breakfast.”  Insert death stare and disappointed/pissed off Huff of air. He’s lucky WallyWorld was “tame” this morning, otherwise, he’d have never made it out the door alive.  On the upside, I have a stellar pan of Dark Chocolate Cherry Granola Bars that will be perfect for after my midday workout today!

Tomorrow, when he asks for pancakes…Just add water or not..I’m tossing the spatula his way and sitting with MY coffee on the couch.  Oh the joys of marriage!

Dark Chocolate Cherry Granola Bars (CLEAN)

• 1/4c Ground Flax
• 1/4c Water
• 1/4c Spelt Flour
• 1c Dried Cherries chopped
• 3/4c 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate (Ghirardelli Bar)
• Pinch Salt
• 1/4c Agave Nectar mixed with 1/2c Water
• 2 1/2c Old Fashioned Oats
• 1/2c Slivered Almonds or Chopped Almonds
• 1/4c EVOO

1. Preheat Oven to 350
2. Mix Flax and Water in seperate bowl and set aside
3. mix dry ingredients in a large bowl
4. mix EVOO/Agave/Flax Mix in a sep bowl
5. Add wet mixture to dry and combine well
6. Grease a 9×13 pan with either PAM or EVOO
7. Press mixture into the pan and bake for 25mins or until golden brown

Cut into 16 pieces

Nutritional Information Per Bar
Calories 195
Total Fat 9.94g
Sat Fat 2.34g
Sodium 1mg
Carbs 25g
Protein 3.6g (up the protein by adding a scoop or two of Whey or Casein)

Litter Breath leads to Turkey Sausage..don’t ask..just read.

Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that my DIVA comes out when I’ve GONE OUT.  Going out means, I will inevitably have awakened to what appears to be a headache, smudged eye makeup and a mouth that tastes like karma released a cat in my house, which at some point in my open-mouthed dead-sleep, used my mouth as a litterbox.

Upon waking I usually shuffle to the bathroom and brush the karma out of my mouth and in the process will be yelled at by my empty stomach.  This is where the fancy-schmancy flowchart that is my brain ends up with all arrows pointing to: McDonald’s.

Ah yes, McDonald’s.  The only place where I could drink more than the cast of the Jersey Shore and still cure a hangover with one simple order:  One Sausage Egg & Cheese Biscuit and a large Diet Coke, please.

At this point, you’re probably saying to yourself one of the following:

-This is disgusting and a terrible account for what a responsible adult should act like

-I never knew you were such a party animal

-Ooh (salivating) Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit

– A combination of “All of the Above”

Well, now that I’m a Mom, let me tell ya there are a few things to note.  First off, it only takes THINKING about DRINKING to get a hangover these days. Diva Nights consist of me lighting candles while I vacuum at midnight, and “Litter Box Breath”? Let’s just say it rears it’s ugly head more often than not with sleepless nights and I’m surprised my infant son hasn’t passed out from the sheer “reek” of it.

Nowadays, a hangover consists of: spitup on shirt, the same stretch pants you’ve been wearing for 48 hours and the realization that you haven’t showered in almost 72.  Motherhood will take your sense of DIVA and turn it all sorts of upside down, and now it’s when I’m standing under the warm water of the shower, feeling my muscles relax and finally taking a deep breath, that I get that urge. The urge to sink my teeth into the buttery flaky greasy amazingness of a Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit from McDonald’s.  If it didn’t take half of the British Army to get everything packed up and in the car when you have a 7 week old, I can tell ya, I’d have made my way to the drive-thru many a time.

So, as a way to remember my youth (eh em 11 months ago), I found this great recipe for making Turkey Breakfast Sausage!  It’s a great way to feel like you’re being a rebel, but with a “SYKE! Just Kidding” type ending!  I cooked it up as a crumble to use in other things like breakfast burritos, scrambled eggs, sauces and more.  It’s Super Tasty and you control the fat, sodium and more! You can also cook it in patty’s to add to a whole wheat English Muffin with Egg and Cheese and VOILA! You’ve got yourself a pretty darned good breakfast that doesn’t require the packing skills of the British Army and you’ll be on the right foot to start a day of HEALTHY eating :)

Enjoy!

Turkey Breakfast Sausage (Lean to Ultra-Lean)
From www.AlisaCooks.com

Starting with the Spices … Combine all of the following spices, either leaving them whole, giving them a five or six pulses together in your spice grinder (my preferred method), or whizzing them to a powder in your spice grinder.

• 1/2 to 3/4 Teaspoon Salt (I like 3/4 – but it will still be good with 1/2)
• 1 Teaspoon Fennel Seed
• 1 Teaspoon Sage
• 1 Teaspoon Thyme
• 1 Teaspoon Pepper, White and/or Black (I use a mix of white and black freshly ground peppercorns)
• 1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Onion Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
• Generous Pinch of Crushed Red Pepper

Choose your meat …mix your spices into 1 lb of Ground Turkey, choosing ONE of the folllowing …

• Lean – Use 1 lb of 93% Fat-Free Ground Turkey (best for egg-free)
• Leaner – Use 1 lb of 97% Fat-Free Ground Turkey
• Ultra-Lean – Use 1 lb of 99% Fat-Free Ground White Turkey Meat

Let it Rest … If time permits, cover and chill for at least an hour (preferably overnight) to allow the flavors to meld. If you are in a hurry, skip this step and move ahead to the next one.

Add Some Moisture … Combine ONE of the following egg options into the meat to add a little moisture into that turkey meat …

• Lean – Use 1 Large Egg (optional)
• Leaner – Use 1 Large Egg or 1 to 2 Large Egg Whites
• Ultra-Lean – Use 2 Large Egg Whites (about 6T pasteurized egg white)

Time to Cook … Spray a skillet with cooking spray (or use 1 teaspoon of oil) and heat it over medium heat. Scoop the ground turkey (it will be very moist if you added egg, I use an ice cream scoop) into your skillet and flatten it with the back of a spatula. Cover and allow the patties to cook for 3 minutes. Flip, cover again, and allow them to cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until the turkey is cooked through. Don’t cook them too long, as the meat will dry out, but make sure there is no pink left in the middle. And serve.

Yields 4 servings (about 8 2-ounce patties)