Super Bowl Food

So the Super Bowl is this weekend, and it seems that most of the U.S. will be watching the game...or, at least, the commercials. Even if you aren't having, or going to a Super Bowl party, chances are you'll want something to snack on (including an almost snack-y dinner). Here are a few recipes you may want to use then. Of course, you can eat them throughout the year, too. Enjoy!

STUFFED CRUST FOOTBALLS WITH PIZZA SAUCE DIP

This comes from Tablespoon. It begins, “Stuff your favorite toppings inside of pizza crust, shape into footballs, and dip in warm pizza sauce. 12 footballs.” Prep time: 15 minutes; total time: 30 minutes

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1 (13.8 ounce) can Pillsbury classic pizza crust

2 ounces sliced pepperoni

10 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup Muir Glen pizza sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Take about 1/4 cup of flour and sprinkle it on a clean surface. Roll out the pizza dough into a thin layer about 1/8 inch thick.

Using a sharp knife cut out football shapes in the dough. Place desired pizza toppings on one football shape and top with another. Press the edges together sealing carefully. Take a fork and crimp the edges of the footbal. Using the back of a knife, make a line with 3 hashes down the middle in the dough resembling a football.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Dip in warm pizza sauce.

SOUTHWEST NACHO CASSEROLE

Also from Tablespoon. It starts off, “Everyone will love this casserole with favorite Mexican flavors and crunchy tortilla chips for dipping.” Prep Time: 20 min; Total Time: 1 hr 10 min; Servings 10

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

2 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef

1 cup water

2 envelopes (1 oz each) Old El Paso™ 25% less-sodium taco seasoning mix

1 can (4.5 oz) Old El Paso™ chopped green chiles

2 cans (16 oz each) Old El Paso™ fat-free refried beans

2 cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese (8 oz)

1 cup chopped tomato (1 large)

1/2 cup chopped green onions (8 medium)

1 can (2.5 oz) sliced ripe olives, drained

1 bag (12 oz) gold tortilla chips (extra thick)

Sour cream, if desired

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, cook ground beef over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until thoroughly cooked; drain.

Stir in water and taco seasoning mix. Bring to a boil; cook 2 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Stir in chiles.

Spread refried beans in baking dish. Top with ground beef mixture. Cover tightly with foil.

Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until bubbly around edges.

Remove from oven. Uncover; sprinkle with cheese, tomato, onions and olives. Arrange 18 to 20 tortilla chips around outside edges of baking dish. Return to oven; bake uncovered about 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. If desired, top with sour cream. Serve with remaining tortilla chips for scooping.

Nutrition Info: Serving Size: 1/10 of Recipe; Calories: 460 (Calories from Fat: 190), Total Fat: 21g (Saturated Fat: 6g, Trans Fat: 1g; Exchanges: 2 1/2 Starch; 0 Fruit; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 3 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 2 Fat; Carbohydrate Choices: 2 1/2

LOW FAT SLOPPY JOES

This is from Fiona Haynes, About.com's Low Fat Cooking expert. Fiona writes, "Turkey sloppy Joes make a great weeknight meal or a great game-day treat. For an extra nutritional punch, serve with whole-grain rolls instead of regular rolls, and offer baby carrots and grapes on the side."

Cook Time: 25 minutes; Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

2 tsp canola oil

1 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 small yellow bell pepper, chopped

3/4 pound lean ground turkey

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp oregano

1 14.5 ounce can no-salt-added tomato sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

12 small Kaiser rolls

Preparation:

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Sauté onions and peppers until softened. Add ground turkey and cook until no longer pink. Stir in chili powder and oregano and cook for 1 minute. Add tomato sauce, ketchup, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce. Cook for 15-20 minutes.

Spoon about 1/3 cup of the turkey mixture into the bottom half of a small roll. Add top of roll, then serve.

Makes 12 servings

Per Serving: Calories 167, Calories from Fat 41, total Fat 4.5g (sat 0.9g), Cholesterol 22mg, Sodium 438mg, Carbohydrate 22.5g, Fiber 2.1g, Protein 8.9g

Per Serving using extra-lean ground turkey: Calories 158, Calories from Fat 24, Total Fat 2.6g (sat 0.3g), Cholesterol 11mg, Sodium 427mg, Carbohydrate 22.5g, Fiber 2.1g, Protein 11g

GAME DAY FOOTBALL CAKE

This also comes from Tablespoon, and starts, “A football cake that will fool anyone into thinking it's real. Cut it open to find chocolate footballs hiding inside.” Prep Time: 6 hr 0 min; Total Time: 9 hr 0 min; Servings: 12

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

Devil's Food Cake Football Halves:

2 Betty Crocker™ devil's food cake mix

Water, oil and eggs according to package instructions

Chocolate Pound Cake:

2/3 cup water

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 Betty Crocker™ pound cake mix

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

2 eggs

Decorations:

2 tubs Betty Crocker™ Rich & Creamy milk chocolate frosting

36 ounces modeling chocolate (made from milk chocolate)

1-2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 ounce white modeling chocolate

Directions

Devil's Food Cake Football halves:

Make one devil's food cake according to package instructions. Pour into a football shaped baking pan that has been coated with baking spray. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 50-55 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Repeat with second cake. Allow both cakes to cool completely then freeze for at least two hours.

Chocolate Pound Cake:

Bring water to a boil. Stir in cocoa powder. Let it cool. ?Combine the Betty Crocker Pound Cake Mix with the softened butter, eggs, and chocolate water. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds then on medium for 2 minutes.

Line a 9x13-baking pan with non-stick aluminum foil (or aluminum foil sprayed with non-stick spray.) Spray a 5-inch metal oval cookie cutter with non-stick spray and set it in the center of the pan. Pour chocolate pound cake batter into the pan, leaving the center oval empty. Bake for 28-32 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then carefully remove the oval cookie cutter. Allow cake to cool completely, then peel off tin foil and level the cake, by removing the domed top.

Set one football cake on top of the pound cake. Cut around the football cake, removing the excess pound cake.

Now split the football shaped pound cake in two, making two thin layers. Attach one using frosting to each of the football shaped devil's food cakes.

Put the two cakes together forming a misshapen football. Carve the cake to look like a real football.

Separate the cake into two parts again. Scoop out some (no more than 1/2 inch deep) of the devil's food cake, if desired to create a larger well to fill with candy.

Set each cake on a cooling rack set over a pan lined with parchment or wax paper. Heat Betty Crocker Milk Chocolate Frosting in microwave for about 30 seconds until pourable. Pour frosting over cakes, smoothing it out with a spatula. Allow frosting to set.

Roll out a little over half of the modeling chocolate. Rub a football texture sheet over top of entire surface. Cover one cake in the fondant, cutting off the excess, leaving about 1/4 inch hanging all around the cake. Roll the bottom edge up under the bottom side of the cake. Repeat with second football cake.

Turn one cake upside down. Fill the well with chocolate footballs. Frost around the well, leaving 1/2 of space, so the frosting doesn't touch the candy.

Set the other cake on top, forming a 3 dimensional football. Cut a small football shaped piece of cardboard to go under the cake for support. Set cake on top.

Brush entire football with some cocoa powder, to add dimension to the ball. ?Roll out white modeling chocolate, cut into thin strips, and create the laces on the ball. Lift football cake and place on a piece of artificial turf or on a serving platter. Serve cake by carefully cutting into it, remembering the candy is hiding inside.

TEXAS CHILI

One of my dad’s recipes.

Note: Actually, it is the one he said he found in the airline magazine. Whenever Dad fixed this, he’d have to make 2 batches of chili: this for those brave enough to try it, another for everyone else, somewhat cooler.

Be forewarned: this is hot!

3 balls ground beef suet

4 slices bacon, cut up

2 lbs. stew beef, cut small

2 lbs. chopped chuck

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 Bernudea onions, chopped

1 T paprika

3/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. cayenne

6-9 T chili powder

2-4 walnut-size pieces suet

1 can beef broth

1 tsp. oregano

3 cans measured water

3/4 tsp. cumin

6 C tomatoes & juice

1 2/3 T salt

1 1/2 lbs. drained kidney beans

In heavy pot place 3 balls suet with bacon. Cook out fat. Add & brown beef & chopped chuck. After browning, add garlic. Cook lightly. Add remainder of spices. In another pot, heat 2-4 pieces of suet. Add onions. Cook until almost burned. Add to meat pot. Deglaze pot with meat broth. Add water, tomatoes & juice. Mash tomatoes into chili. Cover & simmer slowly 1 1/2-2 hours. Uncover. Cook down for about 1/2 hour, adding kidney beans. Serves 6-8.

REWORKED VEGETARIAN CHILI

I've fixed this recipe probably several hundred times, easily. I started off with a recipe I'd found in Runner's World; it slowly morphed into this recipe.

To find the original Runner's World chili, as well as several other chili recipes, click here.

Note: I have a habit of buying anywhere from 16 to 20 (or more) peppers of varying colors at the same time, then chopping them all up, putting them into several containers, and freezing them. When I put them into the containers, they're not separated by color, but, rather, dumped in together. This way, I end up with containers with red, green, yellow and orange bell peppers all thrown in together. Then, whenever I need cut up peppers, I end up with a colorful bunch of peppers in whatever I'm putting them in. If you prefer, you can buy one or two peppers as needed (like for this recipe) and cut it up at that time. You can use whichever color bell pepper you want; if I'm out of frozen peppers, and am planning to buy only one or two for this recipe, I usually go with the green peppers, since they're usually the cheapest.

Also, with the onions, I usually try to have both yellow and red onions on hand; when I do, I use one of each in this recipe. Finally, for the cans of beans, I lean toward one can of black beans and one can of either Navy or Great Northern beans, both of which are white. Between the multi-colored peppers, two different kinds of onions, and different colored beans, it makes for a more colorful chili. But if you only have two cans of white, red or black beans, that's fine, too.

2 T olive oil

2 onions, chopped

4-6 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 peppers, chopped

16-ounce package extra-firm tofu, drained and crumbled

2 19-once cans of beans, drained

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

3 medium carrots, sliced

2 Tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

Salt & Pepper to taste

Sauté the onion, pepper & garlic in oil over medium heat. Add tofu and sauté until crisp & lightly browned. While this is cooking, peel and cut the carrots. Add the beans, crushed tomatoes, carrots, chili powder, cumin, & salt & pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat & simmer for 50-60 minutes. Serve over noodles. Serves 4.