Game Food!

After a long, hot summer, to the great dismay of my husband and children, my favorite time of year is here again. The NFL kicks off their season tonight. I don't particularly care for either team playing in tonight's game, but it is the first game that counts since last February. I missed part of that game because the power was still out from the ice storm.

In honor of the start of the football season, tonight I am cooking what we call "game food". Most people think of it as tailgating food, but because we tailgate in the living room, around the coffee table, we don't.

Everything on the menu tonight can be eaten with your hands, so grab some napkins, a beer and enjoy the game.

I start with a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces. Toss them in some type of "oven fry" coating and bake till done. When they are done, toss them in your favorite buffalo style sauce (my recipe follows), or eat plain. If you have a favorite type of pre-made chicken nuggets, they will work for this, too.

The Buffalo sauce for the chicken is easy. Melt 1/2 stick of butter, add a dash of garlic powder, chili powder and cayenne, 3/4 cup hot sauce, 3-4 tablespoons honey and 1-2 tablespoons barbecue sauce, bring to a boil and mix well. Toss with the chicken or use as a dip on the side.

Because I still have a surplus of jalapeno peppers from my garden, I will halve them, remove the seeds and membrane, fill with cream cheese, dip in egg and bread crumbs and bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes, for homemade poppers (these freeze really well for later use, too).

For the kids, I will make pigs in a blanket, cocktail sausages rolled in refrigerated crescent roll dough and baked according to the directions on the dough. The kids like to make these and they are easy, so let them help.

My kids like honey mustard for the pigs in a blanket, so I mix 1/2 cup miracle whip, 1/4 cup each honey and mustard until smooth.

To round out this nutritious meal I will make french fries, covered in barbecue sauce, bacon bits, shredded cheese, sour cream and chives. There is nothing healthy about game food!

Because I have a pancake puff pan, I will mix up a chocolate cake mix, and make cake bites, injected with coconut pecan icing. These are easy, can be cooked while working on other things and top this healthy, nutritious meal off with dessert.

As I make this meal, I will bake, not fry and use fat free ingredients wherever I can, cream cheese, sour cream, what ever. The football season is 5 months long and if we ate like this every week, without some low fat alterations, we would be huge by February.

Enjoy the game! (and the food)