The average person will eat 1200 calories of high fat
snack food while watching the Super Bowl, not including a few beers or sodas to wash down those munchies. And while it
is a good idea to provide enough snack foods
to satisfy the cravings of your guests, it is nice to snack with your friends without ending up looking like a member of
your favorite football team.
Potato chips are the number one snack. Test out a few brands that bake their chips instead of frying them to find one you like, or make your own pita chips. Better yet, leave out the chips and fill your plates with chopped and sliced vegetables, which are crunchy and go great with almost any dip. If your favorite dip happens to be high in fat - a spicy cheese or hot artichoke dip - do yourself a favor and use vegetables or crackers for dipping instead of chips. Pretzels, both hard and soft, are often low in fat and make great snack food, especially when paired with mustard or some other dip.
Dips can be another sticking point at the party. Instead of using a fattening cheese or ranch dip, serve salsas, guacamole and other lower-fat dips. Serve salsas and hummus. Try replacing the sour cream of mayonnaise in a dip with low fat or nonfat yogurt, which will still give you the creaminess of dairy without all the extra fat and calories.
Instead of deep fried foods or greasy take-out pizza, serve vegetable and bean rich chilis or oven-fried chicken. Other, traditionally fried foods can be made in the oven as well, such as potato chips, french fries and zucchini sticks. Make sure to offer salad, with light dressing, as a side dish to balance out heavier fare.
As far as drinks go, try light beers or diet sodas. If you don't want to forgo your favorite brew though, make every other drink a tall glass of water, which will cut your liquid calories in half.
[Photo by Nicole Weston]
America's Most Hated Foods
Slashfood Ate (8): Ways to create the perfect cheese plate
A good trick for saving summer herbs for future use
