Snacking Right During Football Season

By Veronica De Lira, Arizona State University Nutrition Student

We’re in the thick of football season, which means one thing: snacks!  Everyone knows football and snacks go hand in hand.  Unfortunately, with so many games it can lead us to eating too many unhealthy snacks and forming bad habits.

nachos

Research points out that this can lead to bigger health problems, and facts.randomhistory.com states, “junk food has been directly associated with obesity, heart disease, higher blood pressure, and other diseases.”  Whereas eating healthy snacks offers plenty of health benefits according to healthyeating.sfgate.com, “a nutritious snack ups your intake of essential nutrients, fiber intake, and antioxidants.”

 

Here is a list of snacks that both kids and adults can enjoy during the game!

 

Nachos:

Tostitos Multi Grain Chips

Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese

Add black beans, tomatoes, lettuce, and black olives

You can even add lean ground beef or jalapenos for a little kick

 

Multi Grain Tostitos Chips and Avocado Dip or Bean Dip:

For a quick guacamole

Cut 1 avocado and mash it

Add salt and lemon to taste

Slice 1 tomato and add

Depending on the party size, you may need more avocados

 

Whole grain or whole wheat crackers:

With low fat cheddar cheese or low fat mozzarella cheese

 

Multi grain chips with homemade salsa:  

Salsa ingredients:

3 large tomatoes

½ onion minced

Cilantro (bush)

3 jalapeno peppers, fresh

1 lemon

1 avocado

 

Directions 

Take 3 large tomatoes and dice them into small cubes

Mince ½ onion

De-seed 3 jalapenos and cut them into extremely small pieces

Take 5 cilantro stems, cut off stem and leave the leaf, take the leaf and dice it

Slice avocado into small pieces

Mix all ingredients together

Add a pinch of salt

½ a pinch of pepper

Take ½ a lemon and squeeze it into salsa

Disclaimer for salsa: Add salt and lemon to taste, and depending on the amount of people at your party, you may have to increase the ingredient amounts.

 

Whole grain pretzels with reduced fat cheddar cheese

 

Whole grain crackers with hummus

 

Sliced celery sticks and carrots with hummus or ranch

 

Mixed nuts

*Sometimes you can find nut platters that have a variety of choices

 

Popcorn

Orville Redenbacher has a great whole grain choice!

 

Vegetable Platter

Broccoli

Carrots sticks

Edamame

Celery sticks

Add dipping sauce

* Some stores sell vegetable platters pre-made.

If you liked this post, make sure to check out Fill Your Plate’s 10 Delicious Game Day Recipes for more crowd pleasing dishes!

References:

38 Interesting Facts About…Junk Food. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2015. http://facts.randomhistory.com/interesting-facts-about-junk-food.html

Campbell, M. (n.d.). Bad Effects of Snacking. Retrieved September 14, 2015. http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/bad-effects-snacking-3832.html

 

Veronica De Lira is currently a student at Arizona State University and is majoring in Nutrition Communication. She enjoys cooking and trying out recipe modifications, as she is an enthusiastic foodie. When not in the kitchen you can find her cheering on her favorite sports teams, going for walks, or catching up on her favorite shows.

Veronica De Lira Portrait Shot

Share This:
This entry was posted in Cooking, Health Tips, Healthy Eating, Holidays, Recipes and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *