Half Time Snacks

Love getting together with your friends every weekend to watch your favorite football team? Sick of munching on JUNK for 3 straight hours? It might start out tasting good, but inevitably by the end of the game you start to feel sleepy, weighted down, and just overall gross! Break this bad habit and try out some of these HEALTHY half time snacks.

And by half time snacks, I literally mean, to be eaten only at half time. You are much more likely to over eat if the snacks are sitting out the ENTIRE game.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip:

(Image Courtesy of http://www.cookinglight.com/)

(Rated as one of the 'best appetizers' in Cooking Light due to its cheesy, creamy inside with a golden crisp top.)

Yield: 5 1/2 cups (serving size: 1/4 cup dip and about 6 chips)

Ingredients

• 2  cups  (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/2  cup  fat-free sour cream
• 1/4  cup  (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 3  garlic cloves, crushed
• 1  (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1  (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1  (8-ounce) block fat-free cream cheese, softened
• 1/2  (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
• 1  (13.5-ounce) package baked tortilla chips (about 16 cups)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, sour cream, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, and next 6 ingredients (through spinach) in a large bowl; stir until well blended. Spoon mixture into a 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Serve with tortilla chips.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 148 (30% from fat), Fat: 5g (sat 2.9g,mono 1.5g,poly 0.5g) Protein: 7.7g, Carbohydrate: 18.3g, Fiber: 1.5g, Cholesterol: 17mg, Iron: 0.6mg, Sodium: 318mg, Calcium: 164mg

Mediterranean Platter:

Choose your favorite Hummus. I've found that Trader Joe's has delicious hummus that is lighter than typical store bought hummus. For example, Trader Joe's roasted garlic hummus has only 50 calories per serving.

Steam your favorite veggies. I recommend broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, and red bell peppers.

Dust whole wheat pita's with a little bit of olive oil and garlic powder. Toast, and cut in triangles.

Garnish the platter with chunks of Reduced fat feta cheese, and kalamata olives (pitted)

Easy Pulled BBQ Chicken Mini-wiches:

Buy a rotisserie chicken, pull chicken apart discarding skin, bones, and any dark meat. Pull apart the lean white mean with a fork into shreds.

Simmer pulled chicken in a pot (can be done on stove top or in crock pot) with your favorite BBQ sauce. Try Dinosaur Bar-B-Que Sensuous Sathering Sauce at only 25 calories per serving. Annies Naturals and Whole Food's 365 Organic also have delicious and nutritious BBQ sauces.

Set out mini whole wheat buns for guests to make their own BBQ Mini-wich. Also, have small dixie cups out so people have the option to go lo-carb and eat their BBQ chicken alone.

Game Day Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies:

(Image courtesy of womenshealthmag.com)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins or chopped dates

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat no-stick baking sheets with no-stick spray or line with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, combine the whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
3. In a large bowl, combine the applesauce, oil, brown sugar, confectioners' sugar, egg and vanilla. Mix until well-blended. Add the flour mixture and mix well. Stir in the oats and raisins or dates. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2" between cookies. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until very lightly browned. Do not over bake. Remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool. Or, if using parchment paper, slide the cookies and parchment paper onto a counter top to cool.

Makes 40 servings. Per serving: 61.5 calories, 1.8 g fat, 0.2 g sat fat, 10.8 g carbs, 5.1 g sugar, 0.8 g fiber, 1.1 g protein (Recipe courtesy of Women's Health Magazine)