Here's one of our favorite snacks that is so easy to make. Pop a bag of organic popcorn. Sprinkle on top some sea salt and Sea's Gift Korean Seaweed Snack Sweet Kim Nori
You can find individual packets of the Nori for around $1.50 at Whole Foods, natural food markets or an Asian Market.
Easy and delicious!
Super Bowl Sunday is one of the biggest nosh days of the year. In fact, according to a Wall Street Journal post about game day food, baby carrot sales spike 25% on Super Bowl Sunday, 71 million pounds of guacamole is expected to be consumed, and 4.4 million pizzas will be ordered.
For those who have food allergies like myself, Super Bowl noshing can be just as exciting. You don't have to go without and feel deprived. In fact, I say some of our foods are the same or better than traditional versions. Oh yes, I went there!
Here is a list of 10 healthy and allergy-friendly Super Bowl snack foods including beer. I focus mainly on gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, and in some cases corn-free if I know for sure. Corn is in almost everything and some people are highly reactive to nut cross-contamination so I recommend double checking the ingredients to any of these foods. Here's a useful list of food additives that contain corn.
Portobello mini-pizzas. Use a portobello mushroom as the pizza crust instead of traditional crust to make gluten-free and lower-calorie pizza. The size of the portobello mushroom also gives you a nice single portion-controlled amount. Here's a recipe from MyRecipes.com to make Turkey Pepperoni Portobello pizzas. Try using pesto sauce instead of tomato sauce. To make your pizzas vegan top with grilled veggies and use Daiya cheese or no cheese at all. I'm allergic to cow and goat cheese, but I can eat sheep cheese, so I'll shave some pecorino or manchego on my toppings.
Honey Sriracha Chicken Wings. Hello! How about that for an American-Asian fusion twist to a bar food classic. Sriracha sauce is gluten-free, vegan, and soy-free. Some Sriracha sauce brands use Xanthan Gum so avoid if you're allergic to corn or the gums. If you're feeling ambitious, here's a recipe to make Sriracha sauce from scratch.The Food Network has a baked Honey Sriracha Chicken Wings recipe that is gluten-free. You can make the wings dairy-free by using Earth Balance Soy-free Buttery Spread instead of regular butter. You can also cut out the soy sauce to make the wings soy-free.
Edamame and Sweet Pepperdew Hummus Dip. Every time I make this dip, vegans think I've used cheese in it. This recipe is 100% vegan, gluten-free, and corn-free. It's not soy-free because of the edamame, but you can take out the edamame. What gives this hummus dip a cheese like taste is the sweet pepperdews, and adding ground up edamame gives the hummus a soft cheese-like texture. This hummus is also great to use as a sandwich spread instead of mayo. Here is my easy-to-make recipe for this awesome hummus dip.
Guacamole. Here's how I make guacamole. My secret to making creamy guac is to get avocados that are so ripe they are on the edge of over-ripe.The avocado should be mushy to the squeeze but not so much that you can smash it in your hand. Per one avocado, mix in diced red onion, cilantro, diced heirloom or vine-on tomato, cilantro, squeeze of lime and lemon, and a couple pinches of sea salt and garlic powder. Add some diced jalapeno is you want heat. Guacamole is raw, vegan, soy-free, corn-free, and gluten-free.
Some chips I like to nosh on include:
Pop Chips which all flavors are gluten-free. Some flavors are also soy-free and vegan. Check bags. In the guacamole photo are the Natural flavor Pop Chips which are also corn-free.
Beanfields Bean & Rice Chips look like tortilla chips and are gluten-free, soy-free, vegan, corn-free and all ingredients are non-GMO.
Food Should Taste Good makes an array of corn, and potato based chips which are all gluten-free and made from non-GMO ingredients. The Jalapeno Tortilla is my favorite chip as seen in the photo with the New Planet gluten-free beer. Most of the FSTG chips are vegan minus the ones that are cheese flavored and soy-free. The Multi-grain chips do use soy. Check the bags.
Beer! And speaking of beer, here is a list of vegan beers, and here's a list of gluten-free beers. My personal favorite gluten-free beer is Estrella Damm from Spain which can usually be found at Whole Foods.
Mango salsa is my favorite fruity version of this low carb and low fat food. Salsa is also gluten-free, soy-free, corn-free, and vegan. Here's a fast way to make mango salsa. Get a regular jar or better yet a tub of fresh made mild or medium salsa. Get mango chunks from the frozen food section of the grocery store. Thaw mango, dice into smaller chunks, and mix in with the fresh salsa.
Sweet creamy chili dip. Yes, I said creamy and we are not going to use any dairy. This dip is really simple to make. Buy or cook a pint or quart of your favorite chili. I just buy a pint of pre-cooked beef, bison, or turkey chili in the Whole Foods meat or soup department. Put the pint of chili into a bowl and mix in a 1/2 container of 170g size So Delicious Greek-style coconut milk based Vanilla yogurt and add a 1/2 tbsp of honey.
Traditional chili dips use sour cream. In my version, we use dairy-free Greek-style yogurt which has a thickness similar to sour cream. If you can eat dairy, just use regular honey flavor Greek yogurt. The sweet in the Greek yogurt is a nice complement to the salt in the chili. This sweet creamy chili dip is gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and soy-free. The So Delicious yogurt looks to be corn-free as well. Double check the ingredients.
See, noshing during the Super Bowl looks a whole lot more fun now doesn't it? What other allergy-friendly snacks will you be eating?
No doubt that Hummus and Spinach Dip will be appetizers available on Thanksgiving day because everyone loves it, it's easy to make, and every grocery store carries pre-made dips for those of us who like fast & convenient. I really dig the Whole Foods pre-packaged spinach dip as seen above.
Typically, bread or pita is served to eat with the dip as are chips and crackers, as well as the typical baby carrots which I'm personally tired of seeing because it reminds me too much of "diet" food. {No offense baby carrot}
To mix it up and offer something to those who are carb conscious, gluten-free or conscious, or just want to try something new, here are 10 non-bread ideas to use with the hummus or spinach dip.
Ever want to try something new with Guacamole? I decided to experiment and came up with this Mojito Guacamole. I'll have to say that the mint with avocado taste is going to be polarizing to some people. Personally, I liked it because it was different, and I'm a big fan of mint. Besides, the fun was in the experimenting and getting to eat it afterwards!
The only thing I did differently with this guacamole than a traditional one was replace cilantro with mint, and added sugar. I used almost all organic ingredients which you don't have to. Here's the recipe to serve 1-2:
Ingredients:
Let's start creatin'
Zao Noodle Bar is one of my favorite food places, and every time I go there I order their tofu fries because they make them crunchy, and their sauces are delicious. You get three dipping sauces with the fries and they are basically a peanut type, a spicy chili type, and a sweet.
I like to dip my fry into each one and create different types of flavors or degrees of flavor. It's like playing my own little sauce game. So yeah, I'm easily entertained like that.
Reenie has a recipe for tofu fries that is inspired by the Zao Noodle version so you can make it at home. Tofu fries are a great tasty snack and something different. Yes, it's a bit fatty because of the deep frying but if you use a healthier oil you can help minimize the bad fat effects.
These Eden Brown Rice Chips are one of my favorite crunchy/salty treats. Two things make these chips awesome.
First, there are only 4 ingredients: brown rice, rice bran oil, nori seaweed and sea salt. They chips are also wheat free and non gluten, as well as free of artificial colors, flavorings or preservatives. Second, one serving is 50 chips for only 150 calories. Now 50 is a whole lotta these chips, and I will usually only eat about 25 chips per sitting. These Brwon Rice Chips also contain per serving 7g of fat, 19g of carbs, and 2g of protein.
I will eat these chips with things like a tuna in pita sandwhich, to dip in spicy hummus, or plain to just satisfy a crunchy/salty jones without killing my calorie take for the day. These Brown Rice Chips are a nice and different alternative to potato or corn based chips.
Most people will eat hummus with pita bread, on sandwiches, or with traditional crackers. But, how about trying hummus with some flax seed crackers.
Flax contain high levels of lignans and Omega-3 fatty acids, and is a good source of fiber to help you with ya know, staying "regular." Flax oil is good for vegetarians and vegans as well as meat eaters who don't like fish or fish oil supplements, to get some of the healthy fats that others would get from eating fish.
I like that flax seeds have a "meaty" quality to them, so in cracker form, you feel like you're really biting into something substantial.
If you'd like to make your own flax seed crackers, here's some recipes:
This is something I shared on Back in Skinny Jeans a while back. Spicy Sweet Pecans are something really tasty as an afternoon snack or on top of salad. I made these with a simple recipe.
Put in a small frying pan, 1 Tbsp butter, 2 tsp organic sugar, 2 dashes of cayenne pepper or more if you like mucho caliente. Melt butter then throw nuts into the pan, and sautee until the nuts are covered. Lay nuts on some wax paper to dry. When dry, they're ready to pop into your mouth. Enjoy!
I don't know about you, but I love that rush of hot that flashes up your nose when you take a bite of some Wasabi on a piece of sushi. It really does feel good when you have a stuffed nose, and since we are smack dab in the middle of cold & flu season, it might be a good time to stock up on some Wasabi.
For starters, Wasabi peas are yummy. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods have their own brands. Personally, I like the Trader Joe's version the best because it's hotter, thus giving you the nice, "Wooooo!" Wasabi peas are also good snacks for cocktail parties in lieu of peanuts. Some folks are sensitive about fat content in their diets, and comparable to nuts, the peas are much lower in the fat. The Wasabi peas are a little bit more exciting too because of the heat.
Recently, I have found that I am developing quite the salty cravings. Usually, I crave sweets, but for some reason, the urge for peanuts, chips, or french fries swoops in and takes me away. If I get started on potato chips, I start feeling heavy around the waist, and I hate that feeling. I discovered these Brown Rice Chips made by Eden.
These chips are made of brown rice and nori, the same type of seaweed used in sushi rolls, and then seasoned with sea salt. The chips are first baked and then flash fried in bran oil. There is no greasy feeling here, and they are light as a feather. Best of all, there's nothing chemical added. These Brown Rice chips are also wheat free and non-gluten.
