Previously on Ladies…

You know how way back in the beginning of the Friday Foodies I said –

“It is the one time of the week you don’t have to worry about calories, fat, and never have to say, “Oh, no. I cannot possibly eat another bite, I’m full. And can I have a water, please? Beer makes bloated.” It is in fact, a perfect day

And I meant it. I really, really, really meant it.

Except for around the Holidays. If your office is anything like my office, you have not had to worry about breakfast, lunch, or your 4pm snack due to the massive amounts of cakes, cookies, and candy that show up in the kitchen each day. Rarely do I crave sweets, but put free mini-muffins by the coffee maker? I’ll stab an assistant who thinks they are going to get the last lemon poppy seed muffin before me with their own letter opener.

Put that together with a few parties each week – anything from your friends tree decorating gathering complete with egg nog to the work parties that by 2am you’re splitting the last bottle of Patron with the blonde in from Annex while gobbling up the last of the Coconut Shrimp – and you’re looking at packing on 5-8 pounds before Nate Washington has dropped his first ball of the game.

New Year’s Eve is only sixteen days away, so eat healthy this Sunday. Give your stomach and your skinny jeans a fighting chance.

This Week: Veggie Dip, Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Dip, Lite Drink Mixers, and Popcorn Seasons

You will need for the Veggie Dip:

24 oz roasted red peppers – packed in water(I actually used 30 ounces since they the come in 15 oz jars)
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced (not pictured here, but seen later)
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 medium yellow pepper(s), diced
1 cup mushroom(s), diced
1 Tbsp ginger root, fresh, minced (You can use less, since ginger is not for everyone)
1/4 cup basil, fresh, chopped
salt and ground pepper to taste

Keep olives, shallots (or onions), or chiles on stand-by, since this is a dip that you are more than welcome to call the option on. Like everything, it is to “taste”. (I ended up tossing a chopped shallot into my dip to tone down some of the ginger.)

Mince a small piece of ginger either by hand or in your chopper. Add the garlic that I forgot to include in the earlier shot.

Drain the peppers and add along with mustard into to your chopper that already has the garlic and ginger in it. Puree all together.

CHOP THAT PEPPER.

Hand chop (or in the chopper again) the peppers, basil (I used more than what the recipe called for) and then mix into red pepper puree.

Mix all together. Salt and pepper to taste.

For the Creamy Roasted Pepper Dip you will need –

15 oz roasted red peppers – packed in water
1 cup fat-free sour cream (You could use light sour cream instead. Or regular. But kinda defeats the purpose of light then doesn’t it?)
1/2 cup basil, fresh (I used more like a cup.)
1 tsp garlic powder (Really, to taste. Start with 1/2 tsp and go from there.)
salt and ground pepper to taste

Chop your basil. Where would I be without you little chopper? You’re the Randy Moss to my Tom Brady little guy.

Add the drained roasted peppers. Remind yourself you still need to get a new camera.

After pureeing the peppers and basil, add garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

Add one cup fat-free sour cream. Blend.

Serve with fresh veggies and baked – BAKED – pita chips. (Personally, I liked the creamy dip much, much, more. TSB liked the all veggie dip more. Have both on hand and do not share!)

Maybe New Product Review – Kernel Season’s

Popcorn is something that go so right in the land of “healthy snacks”, (air popping and lightly salted) or can so very, very wrong, (oil popped with butter). Even I get tired of plain air-popped popcorn, so I thought I’d give a try to both of these toppings instead of Cheetos and Doritos the other week.

PASS! The Ranch was less than impressive, and the Nacho Cheese barely registered on the taste buds. Back to a couple of spritzes of the old “I Cannot Believe It’s Not Butter – Spray” – alas, no Fabio – on my dry, sad, air popcorn.

“Lighter” drinks

Not only are the holidays hell with fatty snacks, but the richest drinks of the year all show up at bars in December. Egg nog? Pure fat. Wassail? Spiced Apple Cider Rums? Glogg? SUGAR SUGAR SUGAR!

Sunday, lighten up with 5 calorie lemonade and orangeade for mixers. Diet tonic water. Light – I know it sucks, but so does a bloated belly – beer. (Not pictured here, but I have been known to make margaritas with Diet Squirt.)

Next week – A holiday football surprise!
Just three weeks left in the regular season!

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11 Responses to Friday Football Foodie – Christmas Lites: Low-fat veggie dips, lite mixers, and seasoned popcorn review

  1. Pam says:

    When I was a kid I used to drink my parents’ tonic water. I thought it was “fruity soda”.

    And don’t use the minced garlic in the jar, that’s just gross.

  2. I always used the minced garlic in the jar. So much easier to have around.

    (And yes, I own a garlic peeler, garlic press, and a garlic chopper. I still use the stuff in the jar nine times out of ten.)

  3. IJustMadeThatUp says:

    TSW: You forgot to mention the garlic bell you own specifically for garlic roasting. Yes, we are a “Garlic Friendly Household”.

    I thought the creamy dip was all right, but I’m all about the “big chunks” in my salsa. The closer I can come to breaking off a chip in the damn thing and just spooning it on to my plate, the better off I feel about my dip.

    And one side note: Be sure to eat either of these in moderation. After wolfing down so many fried things for Football Sunday, I forgot what pure, healthy vegetables can do to your intestinal track.

  4. Clare says:

    I forgot what pure, healthy vegetables can do to your intestinal track.

    IJMTU, the dip with the mushrooms seems like flatulence in salsa form.

    Instead of using fake sour cream, use lowfat Greek yogurt! I like it so much I use it instead of real sour cream on nachos, and no one can tell the difference.

  5. thistlewarrior says:

    The popcorn seasoning is pretty weak & is absolutely useless if you don’t use some sort of butter/fake butter spray to get it to stick. I’ve taken to using the fake butter spray, grated parm and granulated garlic on my popcorn. I’ve also heard of using the ranch seasoning packets, but I’ve yet to try it out myself.

  6. Steve says:

    This is how I eat every day! Being a vegetarian, makes it a lot easier to stay thin. Although holiday times with all the sugary snacks are a bit rough for me too. Those dips look awesome! WANT!

  7. julia says:

    A compromise betwen stank-hands fresh garlic and the gross jar garlic is frozen cubes of fresh garlic. My local supermarket has them, and Trader Joe’s mostly does- they are a lifesaver.

  8. LifeLongSoxFan says:

    This looks great! Now if only Randy Moss and Tom Brady could visit my kitchen to do the chopping…
    The cure for the garlic-smelling fingers is to run them across your stainless steel sink after handling them….I read that somewhere….not sure if it works since I don’t have stainless…lemon juice bath might do the trick, too.

  9. DougOLis says:

    What’s that thing with the handles in some of your background pictures? Garlic press?

    I’m kind of the exact opposite of you. I can’t stand to use garlic from a jar but I do use ginger from a jar instead of a fresh root. I don’t use ginger that much so it’s far easier for me to keep that around.

  10. DougOLis says:

    TSW, I recommend getting one of these bad boys too. What a glorious pepper mill.

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