Wow!!! can you believe that we are already at the end of January and getting ready to jump into February! This weekend will be the 52nd Super Bowl in Minneapolis. Last year I wrote about hosting a Super Bowl party and how easy hosting a Super Bowl party is. The game provides the entertainment – a championship football game, hopefully great commercials and a half time show – you really just need to provide food and drinks! This year proves to be no different. The half time entertainment is Justin Timberlake and Pink! If nothing else… Pink is entertaining!
What I wanted to discuss today is the food. Last year one suggestion I had was, serving food that represented the 2 teams playing (or the cities). It seems like every year the New England Patriots are playing so there are lots of food choices there. This year the Philadelphia Eagles will be playing – and who doesn’t love a good philly cheese steak!
And the direction for today is… providing food and that will help those who have decided that 2018 is the year they are going to take off some pounds and/or inches, or they are just trying to eat healthier, but they still want to go to your Super Bowl party and eat! I suggest in addition to all of the other yummy and traditional Super Bowl foods you will be offering, that you include some items on the healthier side. Now just saying that alone raises any number of “what if they…” questions. With so many “take back your weight/body” options out there – low fat, low carbs, ketogenic, Weight Watchers, Mediterranean, raw food, Paleo, HGC, Daniel, vegan and others, how do you know what to offer? First off – if you don’t recognize some of these diets or eating plans – good for you! I on the other hand have studied or tried most over the years!!
My simple suggestion is to provide some lower calorie dips and hummus with plenty of crudité’s. No matter what diet someone is on – everyone can eat veggies – especially cucumbers, celery, tomatoes, broccoli and cauliflower. I would also suggest having easy to pick at and eat fruits such as berries, apples, bananas, or grapes. None of these fruits take any prep work and all can be eaten easily. Cut up melons – cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew, also work well and are easy to prepare.
NOW my fun suggestion is Popcorn! 
Popcorn is fun and easy. You can actually create a “popcorn bar” that ranges from healthy to decadent, traditional to crazy. Plain popcorn is obviously the lowest in calories, fats, sugars and salt, but a little boring. How about these ideas for toppings – parmesan cheese, taco seasoning, ranch seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic salt, cayenne pepper, curry, chocolate chips, nuts, candies (like M&M’s, Reece’s Pieces), sriracha, cinnamon & sugar. How do you get the seasonings to stick to the popcorn you may ask.
There are several options – you can have spray bottles of water available to very lightly spray the popcorn before seasoning, have butter that can be spritzed on the popcorn, or even a light (very light) coat of a Pam-type cooking spray. I personally prefer the butter option, but the water options has no calories for those watching their calories. The caution here is to make sure your guests know to spray lightly – who wants soggy popcorn!
Pop the popcorn shortly before your guests arrive and keep it going as the bowl diminishes. Your guests can scoop their popcorn into paper bowls, large plastic cups, popcorn boxes, or large paper cones. Remember to have a scooper of some type in the popcorn bowl. You may want to label the toppings. One of the most popular ideas for labeling food is to use small chalkboard signs. All supplies can be found at Amazon, Michael’s, webstaurantstore.com and many other places – such as your kitchen, or find more DIY ideas on Pinterest.
Whatever you choose to serve at your Super Bowl party – have fun and enjoy the day and your company! Pop Pop Pop Pop – I can already smell it!
What’s your next party? Happy Planning.
“As big a deal as the Super Bowl is, It’s not the most important thing going on in the planet.” Tony Dungy
Lots of good hints. Especially the multi popcorn flavors. It would be fun to see how many are tried! Hope everyone has a great game day!!
I agree – thank you Pat.