Football Snacks

Time to get caught up on some unpublished posts. Let's see if I can still remember the recipes! Here's some experimenting with low-calorie options for football watching snacks. (They also make great appetizers for Sunday dinner.)

Stuffed Mushrooms

For these mushrooms, I think I just chopped the mushroom stems and mixed them with some cheese and parsley, maybe a little bread crumbs and then stuck them under the broiler until they were hot.

Another time I actually followed a recipe, but felt it was heavy on the sour cream and light on the spinach, so I won't use it again. However, the result was a big a hit, so we will make them again. Quickly saute some fresh, chopped spinach, just until it wilts, then add a bit of garlic and the chopped mushroom stems. Mix with a spoonful each of sour cream and cream cheese, shredded Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Spoon into the mushroom caps and bake for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

Here's a version made using leftover crab filling, topped with cheese. They were delicious!

The zucchini sticks were a big hit, and we made them many times during football season!

Zucchini Sticks

2-4 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 cup bread crumbs

3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 egg whites or one egg, beaten

2 medium zucchini, halved crosswise and then cut lengthwise into 1" wedges

1/2 cup marinara sauce, warmed

Lightly brush a cookie sheet with some oil. Combine bread crumbs, cheese and seasonings. Dip zucchini in egg and roll in the crumbs and place on the cookie sheet. Drizzle with a little more oil. Bake at 425° for 25-30 minutes until crisp and golden. Serve with sauce for dipping.

Note: sometimes I would omit the egg, but they taste better when you don't. And the crumbs stick on better too.

8/28/2017: The above method is a bit time intensive, so this time I tried cutting them just in regular slices (circles), mixing them all together in a bowl with the beaten egg, then the crumb mixture (draining off the extra egg first) and dumping them in a greased baking pan. They turned out just fine and made a great accompaniment to our spaghetti for dinner.

While maybe not as low-calorie as the two snacks above, this next one isn't that unhealthy either, and it definitely is delicious.

Seven Layer Dip

Layer warm refried beans, grated cheese, diced tomatoes, cubed avocado, sliced black olives and green onions, sour cream, then serve with tortilla chips.

And here's another recipe that we quite enjoyed.

Fried Mozzarella Sticks

Cut string cheese in half cross-wise (Short sticks are more manageable than long ones.) Roll in seasoned flour, then an egg wash, then bread crumbs. Repeat for a double coating. Stick in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. Fry in hot oil until golden brown. It doesn't take long for the cheese to melt, even when frozen. Serve warm, and don't forget the marinara sauce!