With Super Bowl Sunday just around the corner, odds are you are either planning or going to a party for the big game. Odds also are there will be loads of food, most of it not so healthy. Why not make a couple tweaks to some of your favorite party food recipes to make them healthier and more figure-friendly come kickoff?

The following is a comprehensive list of healthier substitutes for traditional party foods. These choices will satisfy your taste buds while saving at least hundreds if not thousands of calories in the process.Use these strategies consistently for parties and social gatherings over the course of the year, and you could prevent 5-10 lbs of fat gain…Not Bad!

Section I- Appetizers

Sandwiches

Fruit Salad (throw low carb whipped cream and dash of splenda/stevia on top as desired)

Super Salad Bowl (use unlimited veggies and meats, dip dressing on the side or use low calorie substitutes)

Tuna or Chicken Salad

Nut Butter on Celery Sticks

Mixed Nuts (no sugar, unroasted, low in salt)

Cheese, Eggs, and Meat Tray

Raw Veggies (use dip sparingly)

Grilled/Sauteed Veggies (use extra virgin olive or coconut oil)

Figure-Friendly Nachos (see “accessories” below for ingredients: tortillas, cheese, salsa, and guac)

Buffalo Chicken Bites (skinless, no breading, use low calorie buffalo sauce sparingly)



Section II- Accessories

Natural Whole Grain Tortillas

Diet Lipton Green Teas (or other low calorie/carb beverages)

Water

Natural Salsa

Guacamole

Salad Dressings: Vinegars of choice (apple cider, red wine, balsamic, etc.)

Other Low Calorie Condiments of Choice: mustard, hot sauce, horseradish, etc.



Section III- Main Courses

Lettuce Burgers (use extra lean sirloin or bison, preferably bun-less only using whole grain bun option if absolutely needed)

Rotisserie Chicken (choose “plain” and remove skin and dab off any grease as needed with paper towel)

Extra Lean Kosher Hot Dogs (preferably bun-less, only use whole grain bun option if absolutely needed)

Chili (preferably bean-less, swap extra lean turkey for the beef version to cut down fat intake)



Section IV- Desserts

Prograde Cravers (100% organic chocolate snacks bars)

Larabars

Protein Cookies (swap in protein powder for flour)



BONUS- Top 10 Tips to Save Thousands of Calories At Party Time

1.) Go Naked: Replace all buns or breading for sandwiches with a lettuce wrap alternative to cut calories, stabilize blood sugar, and boost fiber and micronutrient intake.

2.) Hydrate: Drink at least two to four cups of water before eating AND one to two cups every 15-30 minutes after you start eating to fill your stomach and prevent overeating that can be triggered by dehydration.

3.) No Empty Liquid Calories: Stay away from fruit juices, regular sodas, and alcohol. Opt for water, tea, or low calorie/carb beverages in moderation. Eat your calories, don’t drink them.

4.) Do not fast in preparation for a feast as it will turn your body into a famished fat-storing machine the next time you eat. The resulting low blood sugar levels that come from not eating for four hours or more make you crave junk foods high in both fat and refined sugars.

5.) White to Brown to Green: Use whole grain alternatives for any starch you serve at your party (e.g. chips, tortillas, breads, rice, pasta). Whole grains have more vitamins and minerals and are high in fiber, which means they won’t have as negative of an impact on your blood sugar compared to its white counterparts. However, if you want to be a nutritional boy or girl scout, go one step further by replacing all brown with green in the form of green veggies (see “Go Naked” above).

6.) Focus on eating lean proteins and fruits and veggies first. Use these in unlimited amounts as needed to fill you up.

7.) Never eat directly out of the bag or community bowl and use smaller plates to put your food on. Set a limit to how much you are going to eat ahead of time. Don’t plan to fail!

8.) Replace Gold With Green: Opt for guacamole over cheese for your salads and chips. Guacamole is not only low in saturated fat and high in heart healthy monounsaturated fats but it also has a ton of fiber that will help fill you up fast and prevent overeating. Though cheese is a true super food in moderation, it is very easy to overeat especially when mixed with refined carb sources like white chips and pizza.

9.) Replace Flour with Protein Powder: Few people know that protein powder makes a great cooking or baking substitute for flour (e.g. protein cookies). By adding protein and reducing carb intake you can boost metabolism.

10.) Chew-Chew: Eat slowly and require a certain number of chews before you swallow to allow your brain enough time to get the “I’m full” signal (e.g. 20 pre-swallow chews).

There is no truth to the rumor that vegetarians have difficult recipes to follow and that not following complicated recipes will result in bland food. The truth is that there are so many options for easy healthy vegetarian recipes. The wealth of choices actually makes vegetarianism an exciting journey into healthy food. Here are some things you need to remember when preparing easy healthy vegetarian recipes.

Check the Label

The most convenient way to create healthy recipes is to stock ahead on sauces and ingredients. This way you just have to open packs and cans when you need to whip up something fast. This is generally a good idea especially if you’re thinking of canned beans, salsa sauce, dried peas, canned mushrooms and tomato sauce.

You should however always make it a point to read labels before adding unfamiliar ingredients to easy healthy vegetarian recipes. Some products may seem vegetarian but may contain animal based ingredients like gelatin and animal oil. Pure vegans might also want to find out if instant foods contain cheese, milk and other dairy products.

Cook the Same Way

Regular and vegetarian recipes involve the same procedure when it comes to preparation. The only thing lacking is meat. This means that you just have to cook like you always do. Just have a little knowledge to supplement your nutrients and a little creativity to make easy healthy vegetarian recipes as tasty as meat dishes.

Remember that poultry can be found in nuts, beans, legumes and soy based products. Calcium can be obtained from milk and green leafy vegetables. To make your easy healthy vegetarian recipes especially tasty you can experiment with herbs and spices like chilies, oregano, thyme, rosemary and basil.

Don’t Overdo Plain Dishes

Serving steamed vegetables, corn and peas are among the most common favorite. They are also obviously easy healthy vegetarian recipes. Sometimes though, you might want to cut back on these basic dishes so that your family doesn’t get too bored with the same taste. Serve the same dishes but maybe you can sauté these food items first with some tasty onions, garlic and some pepper.

Serve Healthy Snacks

In some cases, all it takes to prepare and serve better recipes is a little more time. To make sure that your family members don’t come home hungry and ready for a big meal at six, serve them healthy snacks to delay their craving for dinner. Pack some nuts, dried fruits, fruit mixes, crackers and cheese for them to take to school or work.

Serve Raw and Simple

Raw vegetarianism is still considered a controversial issue but those who stand by it maintain that it is the healthiest way of life and is the greatest source of easy healthy vegetarian recipes. You might want to try one night in seven as a raw night. Raw foods are considered healthy because they lose none of their nutrients through heat in the cooking process. More rigid raw eaters simply blend fruits and vegetables. You may however just want to settle for simple salads with delicious dips and sauces.

The apple was the first fruit mentioned in the bible, not always allowing the noble apple to prove the life enhancing powers it does possess. The pectin in the reddest apples has among the most antioxidants of any natural food. Science continues to show cases of high priced medications contain potent versions of what we are eating naturally all the while. A healthy recipe for healthy living does include the humble apple.

Apples come in a variety of excellent flavors, shapes, colors for us to choose from, in order to tantalize our taste buds, and encourages us to eat this great fruit right off the tree it was grown on.

Apples help our bodies fight cancer; studies have shown that there are several components in juicy fruit, such as apples, which help to prevent the growth of cancer cells. Healthy apples are most potent when the fruit is eaten whole, including the skin, and by choosing the darker apples, such as deep Red Delicious, Fuji, Jonathan, Rome Beauty and Red Spartan. Apples are a good source of vitamin C and fiber. Italian researchers found people who ate more than one apple a day lowered their risk for oral, esophageal, colon, breast, ovarian, prostate and other cancers by 9 to 42%.

Apples benefit our health by helping to fight cholesterol. Two key components, the pectin in the reddest apples and poly-phenols, which have the most anti-oxidants of any natural food, can help to lower cholesterol, and prevent the oxidation of LDL, which is the bad cholesterol. Bad cholesterol results from the chemical process that fills the arteries with clogging plaque. Save the apple skin; it has two to six times the antioxidants that the actual flesh of the apple has, science shows, and most of us need all the help we can get when it comes to healthy eating.

Apples make us smarter. Apples boost the production of acetylcholine, which is a chemical that transmits messages between nerve cells. In a recent study from the University of Massachusetts, researchers suggest that apples may keep your brain ’smarter’ as you age and the components help boost our memory, potentially lessening the possibility of getting Alzheimer’s disease.

You know the saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. It may well be true that it is time to rethink this, and start eating your apples as a receipe for healthy living.

Apples help us to breathe easier. United Kingdom researchers found that children of pregnant women who ate apples during pregnancy, were less likely to wheeze or develop asthma by the age of five. This healthy fruit may also protect the lungs of adults, help in the prevention of asthma, lung cancer and other diseases.

Many people have eaten apples all their lives but ppeled for them in order to not take in all the pesticides used in apple growing. Recently, many have changed their thinking and have taken to organic, whenever possible, or washing the regular treated apples thoroughly, in order to eat the healthy peel. Organic is wonderful, but not always available.

The next reason to eat healthy apples daily is, that apples are a difficult food to eat; they require chewing a great deal, as they are dense and firm. This healthy food is packed with fiber, approximately five grams per apple, and is low in calories, approximately 80 for a medium sized apple. Apples contain a natural sugar which enters the bloodstream slowly, keeping our insulin levels steady; a much better choice than a sugary snack, which will give us a fast high, then a low in our sugar levels, creating hunger faster, as well as giving us little nutritional value.

Apples are truly a beneficial choice for healthy living. It is highly recommended you keep eating apples, as they are one of nature’s perfect foods, and after eating these gems, you will feel full longer, keep your cholesterol lower, be smarter, breathe easier, help to boost your memory, and keep your insulin at a decent level. What more could we ask from one healthy food?

Nowadays with our busy lifestyle, it is becoming more and more difficult to spend time on cooking in house. More people now prefer to go to a fast food restaurant, eat and leave under half an hour. Not many people pay attention to what they eat and whether or not they are taking all of their necessary daily vitamins and minerals. We don’t pay attention if we have had enough fiber or calcium or even protein in our food. We may not know what kind of oil has been used to cook the food we are eating and in overall we may never ask ourselves if we are eating healthy.

Healthy eating doesn’t mean that we change all of our normal eating habits and follow a restrict diet. If we just try to follow a couple of the following suggestions, we have come a long way and improved our eating habit a lot. First things first, try to cook at home more often. It may seems difficult initially but as soon as you start cooking at home, you will get used to it and enjoy it. By cooking at home, not only you will have control over the quality of the ingredients, but also you can cook healthier. Steamed organic vegetables at home, sprinkled over with a high quality olive oil, some salt and pepper is much more healthier and more delicious than deep fried vegetables in a low quality oil at a restaurant.

Try to have some easy and quick recipes for healthy meals handy. keep fresh and also some frozen ingredients at home and force yourself to use them. Keep a couple of main herbs and spices such as bay leave, rosemary, paprika, pepper and cinnamon at home and use them in your cooking experiences.

For your daily eating habit, pay more attention to the nutrition fact of each food product. Instead of junk foods, sweets and processed foods, eat vegetables, dried nuts and fruits. Avoid trans fats and limit your daily taking of saturated fats such as cream and butter. Trans fats increase the risk of coronary heart disease. Trans fats on the other hand raise the level of cholesterol in the blood and therefore increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Use vegetable oils such as canola oil for frying or high-heat cooking and also olive oil in salads and low-heat cooking.

For your daily fiber, instead of white breads, start eating whole-wheat breads and also other sources of fiber such as fruits and vegetables. Fibers not only can aid digestion but also can lower the risk of diabetes and heart disease. And last but not least, eat more white meats and less red meats. Red meats contains bad cholesterol and excessive eating of them should be avoided. Also oily fish such as salmon or cod contain some of the necessary amino acids that our body cannot produce.

By following these suggestions hopefully you would embrace a healthier lifestyle and become more aware of the importance of the healthy eating.

In this day and age, everybody wants to improve their looks with a thinner waist line. For that, people may need some directions for finding healthy solutions to lose weight. The best choice someone can make in order to lose weight and gain health, energy and vitality is switching to a raw food diet.

People discover each day the benefits of raw food recipes. When switching to a raw food diet you will see improvements to your daily behavior like improved sleep, some anti-aging benefits, increased vitality and health. Owing to such advantages, the popularity of raw food diets is bound to increase, because we all want to improve the way we look and the way we feel about ourselves, don’t we?

In the beginning people didn’t cook their food and they consumed it raw. Eating like this helped them keep very healthy. Our bodies are built so that we can consume raw foods. The only thing we need to do is to rediscover the way we were in the beginning and enjoy all that nature has to give us. Consuming raw foods helps our bodies because they contain enzymes that help digestion. These enzymes are destroyed if the fruits and vegetables are cooked. Our body digests the foods through its own enzymes, but the enzymes in our body also give us energy. Therefore, when we use the enzymes in our bodies for digestion and not the ones in fruits and vegetables, it means that our energy levels and vitality are decreased.

Basic guidelines for planning your healthy raw food recipes recommend that you should include in your diet mostly fruit and vegetables, which are our most biologically conducive meals. Something that can help you in planning your raw food recipes is the categories in which fruits and vegetables are divided.

Fruits can be divided in sweet fruits (tropical fruits, persimmons, sweet grapes), acid fruits (lemons, citrus), sub-acid fruits (apples, pears, tart grapes) and fatty fruits (avocadoes, durian). Melons constitute a separate category of fruits. Some of the vegetable categories are non-starchy greens (spinach, cabbage), fruit vegetables (cucumbers, tomatoes) and root vegetables (carrots, celeriac). Another category of vegetables includes lettuce and celery. The vegetables named here can be found as items on a list of raw low carbohydrate foods. All these fruits and vegetables are the common components of raw food recipes.

Now that the categories have been established, here are some rules of combining them in order for you to avoid fermentation in the intestines, indigestion, water retention and toxicity. Sweet fruits are to be eaten with other varieties of sweet fruits only or with sub-acid fruits. Don’t eat acid fruit with anything other than celery and lettuce. Avocadoes and olives should be eaten with non-starchy vegetables. Melons should be eaten alone or not eaten at all. These are combinations that you should try. But there are a few combinations that you should try to avoid like starch and acid (tomato and potato), protein and protein (avocadoes and nuts), sweets and starch (maple syrup and rice). Think about these combinations when you are developing your own raw food recipes.

Raw food diets are not all about fruits and vegetables. Organic foods can also be included in the diet. Organic cheese is very nutritious and can be included in raw food diets because it does not involve a cooking process that destroys enzymes. You should make sure that the organic cheese you buy is organic, and not a scam. The process that is followed by farmers to obtain organic cheese consists of letting nature take its natural course, from harvesting the milk from the cows and letting it coagulate with no help from additional catalytic agents. Incredible products made from raw ingredients and that may include organic cheese can be found here, on rawbakery.com.

Feeding your dog by using proper homemade dog food recipe means providing the proper nutrition in order to keep its healthy and fit.

Dog biscuit

This dog biscuit recipe is very simple. You start with a fourth cup carrots, three cups of parsley chopped up very fine, one forth of a cup of cheese, grated fine. A good tip is to make sure your dog likes the particular kind of cheese before you make the biscuits. Usually, mozzarella or Parmesan is the best to use.

No Chocolate

As we know that chocolate contains bromine, which is very toxic to dogs. None-sweet chocolate is by far the worst to feed to your dog, as it contains a large amount of bromine. Bromine is a very harmful chemical, one that normally leads to death of your animal should he be fed any type of chocolate.

Kibble

This is known as dry dog food, is the most popular kind of dog food, and it’s also the easiest and most inexpensive to feed. Some dried foods are pretty decent; others are heavily processed and low on the nutrition scale. Read the label carefully to make sure that meat and not grains are the primary source of protein. Human grade whole meat such a chicken, beef, or lamb (not meat byproducts or “meal”) is the best choice, and should be listed first on the ingredient label.

Bones

Dogs love bones of all types. However, some bones can be dangerous. The one of the safest bones you can give your dog is a shinbone. If you must give your dog a bone, make sure you supervise your pooch and if he or she shows signs of bleeding, then you should call your vet immediately for some advice.

Choose pet food with this ingredient ratio.

It is important to understand that a typical dog’s diet consists of 40% protein, 30% fiber and 30% starch. Read the guaranteed analysis to be certain. If you really want to know what’s in your dog’s food, try making your own dog food. There are plenty of recipes and meal plans available online. Consult with your veterinarian to make sure the diet is well-balanced.

Although some people would like to go organic and lead a healthier lifestyle, they find themselves stopped by a few things. Among these little stumbling blocks in their paths to going organic, are things like the cost of organic foods, the ready unavailability of organic foods, as well as the little fact that they will also need to find organic food recipes to go with their new lifestyle.

This is in fact a major stumbling block for many people who balk at the thought of not only changing their eating and dietary lifestyles, but of also having to change a lifetime’s worth of cooking experience to accommodate their new healthy lifestyle.

The fact of the matter is that people will go to the trouble of finding organic food suppliers, and of buying their costlier organic meats, dairy and produce, but when they have to actually sit down and find organic food recipes to go along with everything they’ve done thus far, their enthusiasm starts to wane.

This is where people actually tend to go wrong and miss the point. There is no such thing as special organic food recipes just as there is no special method of preparing the foods you buy which are organic.

The whole point is not to have to slog away looking for organic food recipes, replacing the ones you already have and know how to cook well, but to make your entire lifestyle healthier, of which the use of the use of organic foods in your cooking endeavors being a large part.

The trick then to going organic and finding yourself cooking organic food recipes, is to use the same old recipes which you’ve been using thus far and transform them into something other than artery clogging, waistline expanding, sugar level increasing foods.

In other words, now that you’ve gone organic and are using organic foods in your life, you also need to make your cooking style a healthier one as well. This means that if you’re using what amounts to a gallon of fat or oil per day, you might want to cut down on it to almost nothing!

Of course any dietary changes that you make, if they are going to be extensive should be discussed with your physician as you will then be able to get a better picture of what proper changes you need to make. The same advice applies if you have an underlying medical condition which requires you to have a special diet.

Replacing your normal foods with organic foods is fine, but you will need to make sure that when you turn your normal everyday recipes into organic food recipes, that you don’t change your dietary habits in such a radical manner as to be harmful to you. If you’re careful and follow a sensible dietary plan, you won’t really have to make too many food-sacrifices if at all to offset your newly acquired organic food habits.

Food is the fuel that our bodies use for energy. The three main sources of fuel are carbohydrates, protein, and fat. The body changes them into glucose for energy or stores them as fat. A car uses gas for energy-we use glucose! Eating a balance of healthy foods that contain carbohydrate, protein, and fat every day will help your blood glucose stay in balance and keep your weight where you want it to be.

Today most people are to accept as a fact that “to be healthy” a well-balanced diet is required. They want what’s best for their live. Healthy foods are an important issue because healthy eating is important to good health. There are lots of reasons to eat healthy foods, here are just a few:

For energy and vitality to live
To grow at a healthy rate
To help keep blood sugar or glucose levels in balance-not too high or too low
For weight control
To control of blood fats and prevention of heart disease
To keep the body working properly
To help the body avoid other health problems caused by diabetes

Good nutrition is an important part of healthy foods. Many causes of disease are related to poor nutrition, including heart disease, diabetes, overweight and obesity, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and certain cancers. Poor nutrition can also impact day-to-day life by affecting concentration and work performance. For children, a poor diet can have a significant effect on proper growth and development.

People who want to follow a healthier eating plan should try to:
Increase the amount of fruits and vegetables eaten as part of an everyday diet.
Buy fresh produce in season for the best prices. Select canned fruits and vegetables as a convenient way to include more produce in the diet. Look for fruits canned in light syrup or natural juices. For vegetables, choose “No Salt Added” versions if sodium intake is a concern.

Choose frozen fruits and vegetables, which are available year round and are rich in important nutrients. Choose whole grain products when possible. Look for “Whole Wheat Flour” or “Whole Wheat” as the first ingredient on the nutrition facts label. Include up to three servings of fat-free (skim) or low-fat (1-2%) milk and milk products each day. Select lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts as quality protein sources. Focus on choosing food items low in saturated fats, trans-fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars. Use proper serving sizes for all foods to prevent excess calorie consumption. Information on the correct serving sizes for each food group is available at The Food Pyramid.

Many factors can affect the nutritional health of both individuals and communities, including an individual’s knowledge about healthy nutrition, cultural practices related to food choices, and having access to information about an adequate and healthy diet.

Dog will surely appreciate your love to him and could love you more. It’s important; dogs should be treated like a child. So as like children they should provide homemade food for their better growth. Dog food recipes are very much available in internet, books these days.

Homemade dog food should have a proper mixture of meat, vegetable and starches. Dogs are very fond of meat. So a large number of ingredients should be meat such as beef or chicken, if possible soft chicken bones. A good deal of carbohydrates and vegetable should be mixed in the food. Potatoes or rice can be used as carbohydrates. But should not use pasta, corn, wheat or soy as they are not good for dogs health.

Vegetable is also very much essential for dog’s proper growth. Among the vegetables cabbage, beans, spinach, green beans, yams, sweet potato, carrot, peas are very essential for their growth. So you should feed vegetable along with meats. Also keep in mind the amount you should feed to your dog vary on their age, size, breed etc. less fat means a healthier heart. The same principle is applicable for dog. We can ensure healthier heart for dog by reducing fat contents from dogs food. It also helps the dog to avoid overweight in the future.

There is lots of information about free dog food recipes in the internet. You can easily choose on the one that is best suit for your dog. Also you can visit different forums where you can find opinion of peoples who have dogs. All this help you to make your dog healthy and stronger.

For years, I thought that the best cat food was bought from the supermarket, in tins, packets and boxes. After all, the labels said things like “scientifically proven” and “recommended by vets” and “low ash”, things that seemed to indicate to me the manufacturers knew what they were talking about.

I don’t doubt, that you do or perhaps did, feel the same.

It’s easier to assume the best if you have high demands on your time. And who hasn’t these days?

It was only when I started looking at a more holistic way of treatment, that I began to run into the idea that perhaps commercial pet food wasn’t the best way.

After all, the makers of such food are normal people trying to make their business pay. It’s tempting to cut corners. And the more corners you cut, the easier it becomes.

Now, you’re probably as concerned as I am about the lack of quality in commercial pet food. From the low grade meat, to the meat-by-products, to the high fat, to the synthetic nutrients, to the chemical preservatives. Even the cans aren’t safe, with BPA in the lining leaking into the food.

Really, the only way to ensure your family or your pet is getting proper nutrition is to make it yourself, from scratch.

And, of course, just as you and your family want variety, so too does your cat.

So you’re looking for some inspiring cat food recipes?

Ones that are quick to deliver after a hard day’s work?

Ones that are nutritious and balanced to ensure your cat’s ongoing good health?

Ones that don’t cost an arm and a leg?

Well, you’ve come to the right place!

When I adopted the idea of homemade cat food, I struggled with providing my cats with food they would eat and which was healthy. It took a lot of trial and error, but I got there in the end.

Now I know what the most nutritious cat food is, I know what cats like and I can vary the meals so they get something different every day of the week.

I thought others might like to learn from my experiences, rather than make their own mistakes. Why reinvent the wheel? This other has gone before and ironed out the wrinkles for you!

Cat food recipes must contain the essential meat that cats need, but just by varying one ingredient, you can create a difference that will stimulate your cats appetite.

And it’s just so easy!

OK, I admit, it’s not quite as easy as opening a can or box. But then, I’m guessing you’re looking beyond that, for quality and health enhancing nutrition.

Good quality homemade cat food recipes are fun to make, easy to do and ensures your cat’s optimum health.

The emphasis is on good quality.

I’ve read many different cat food recipes which really aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. It’s obvious that the writer hasn’t done any research into the dietary requirements of cats.

My cat food recipes are based on what I have researched, but also what holistic veterinarians are saying, as a body. They’re saying what really works, what diseases, often serious, melt away with a proper diet, made from good quality homemade cat food recipes.

Enjoy!