Super Bowl Party for a Super Body

Conventional Super Bowl food and football look like this:

But the people in the Super Bowl look like this:

or like this:

Here’s a menu and recipes to help you have a great time while you avoid heart burn, weight gain and feeling like crap.

Chips and dip

There are a lot of dips you can choose from:  salsa, baba ganoush, and guacamole, are my favorite.  I just go with the better store bought stuff because I rarely have the time to make it myself.

#1.  Baked Rutabega Chips

These don’t come out all that crispy, but they are still very good and you can spoon pretty much anything on top of them.

Ingredients

1 Rutabaga, peeled and sliced into thin “chips” (a food processor makes this quick and easy)
1 TBS olive oil + 1 TBS to coat your baking sheet
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning

Directions

Preheat your oven to 425 F.  Mix all the ingredients except 1 TBS of olive oil that should be left over for the baking hseet.

Coat a baking sheet with the remaining olive oil, and then spread the seasoned chips out in a single layer.

Bake for about 30 minutes, turn them once or twice.

#2. Low-Carb Cheese Crackers

Ingredients

4 slices (approx 1 oz each) cheddar cheese (pre-sliced from a grocery store – I’ve used several brands and they all seem to work fine.)

Parchment paper

Directions

1.  Take cheese and fold into quarters (you end up with 4 pieces of cheese that are about ¼ the size of the original slice) and place on baking sheet that has been covered with a sheet of parchment paper.

For best results and crisp leave the unbaked cheese out overnight.

2.  Preheat oven to 400 F, and put cheese in oven when the oven heats to 400.
3.  Bake for 8min

For a crisper cracker – leave the cheese on the parchment paper for an hour or more to help it dry out.  The longer it sits out the dryer it gets and the crisper your cracker.

Nutrition

Makes 4 servings of 4 crackers

Regular cheese crackers – 18g net carb per 1oz serving
These cheese crackers – .5g net carb per 1 oz serving (4 crackers)

#3.  Raw veggies

I know.  This is very anticlimactic, but it’s also probably the easiest one to do.

Pizza

Low-Carb Pizza Green

1 La Banderita (there are other brands too) low-carb tortilla (you can get them at Safeway, Harris Teeter and probably other places)                               5g net carb
2-3 tbsp pesto (fresh is better, watch for added sugar)       1g net carb
1 handful spinach                                                                        .5g net carb
½ cup cooked chicken                                                               1g net carb
½ cup mozzarella cheese                                                          1.5 g net carbs
Pinch parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Low-Carb Pizza Red

1 La Banderita (there are other brands too) low-carb tortilla (you can get them at Safeway, Harris Teeter and probably other places)                               5g net carb
2 tbsp no sugar added pizza sauce                                          2.5g net carb
4 slice tomato                                                                                2g net carb
½ cup cooked chicken                                                                1g net carb
1 small handful fresh basil leaves
½ cup mozzarella cheese                                                         1.5g net carb
Pinch parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions – Same for both (ingredients are listed in ascending order: tortilla first, next thing on top, etc.)

1. Pre-heat over to 400 F and lightly spray large baking sheet.
2. Place tortillas on sheet and add ingredients (Ascending order – so tortilla 1st, then pesto, then spinach, and so on)
3. Bake for 8min, cut up and enjoy!

Nutrition

Green = 9g net carb per pizza
Red = 12g net carb per pizza

Quesadillas

Ingredients

2 x 6” La Tortilla Factory low-carb tortillas
1/4 cup plain, cooked chicken breast     (optional – you can put anything else inside or nothing except cheese)
1/2 cup     Salsa
cooking spray

Instructions

1. Heat skillet with cooking pray
2. Place cheese and chicken between the tortillas, and cook until brown on both sides and cheese is melted.
3. Eat with salsa, and a side of raw veggies like peppers, cucumbers, celery or carrots.

Jalapeño Poppers (not deep fried)

This one is all new and from a client.  It turns out that you don’t have to batter and deep fry a jalapeño to make it taste good.

Ingredients:
- jalapenos
- cream cheese
- bacon (you can also use turkey bacon, and I guess some sort of veggie “bacon” would work too)
- toothpicks

Preheat oven to 350.
Cut jalapenos in half and de-seed with a spoon.
Fill jalapeno halves with cream cheese.
Wrap 1/2 slice of bacon around each filled jalapeno, then secure with a toothpick.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until the bacon starts to squeeze the cream cheese a bit (I use a baking drip tray to let the grease drip off).
Eat. They are addictive.

And for dessert Pineapple & Cream Crepes

Ingredients
1-2 oz mascarpone                                                 125-250 kcal (.5-1g carb)
2 oz super thin slices of pineapple                     27 kcal (5g carb)

Instructions

1. Cut off top and bottom and sides of pineapple, and place in freezer for 10-15min.  With a very sharp knife and careful technique, or preferably a mandolin (you can find one for a good price online), slice 2oz of pineapple.  This should yield 3-4 thin slices.

2.  Take half the mascarpone and put into center of pineapple, and roll around.  Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts

Makes 1 serving @ 152-277 kcal , and 5.5-6g net carb per serving

Josef Brandenburg is 2010, Washington, DC  Personal Trainer of the Year Nominee for both Personal Fitness Professional Magazine and The Washington, DC Fitness Association, The DC Fitness Advisor and the Fitness Expert for the PCOS Challenge TV Show. He shows normal people with hectic lives and average genetics how to create the bodies they want in the time they actually have. To find out more about the 7-Day Free Trial click here. You can also pick up a FREE copy of his brand new CD – “Why Eat Less and Exercise More is The Worst Advice Ever” here.

Super Easy Low-Carb Appetizer for Your New Year’s Eve Party

In case you have been living under a rock, or taking nutrition classes at a University, then you know that when it comes to fat-loss and health low-carb wins hands down.  I’ve written about that here, here, here, here, here, here and a whole lot of other places.

Your New Year’s Eve party is right around the corner, so I wanted to give you something easy that you could make that would be both tasty and helpful with getting a head start on your New Year’s Resolutions.

When you go low-carb one of the things that you miss the mot is crunchy stuff like crackers.  Here is a great alternative that I love with Baba Ganoush (a great, lower carb alternative to hummus).

Low-Carb Cheese Crackers

Ingredients

4 slices (approx 1 oz each) cheddar cheese (pre-sliced from a grocery store – I’ve used several brands and they all seem to work fine.)

Parchment paper

Directions

1.  Take cheese and fold into quarters (you end up with 4 pieces of cheese that are about ¼ the size of the original slice) and place on baking sheet that has been covered with a sheet of parchment paper.

2.  Preheat oven to 400 F, and put cheese in oven when the oven heats to 400.
3.  Bake for 8min

For a crisper cracker – leave the cheese on the parchment paper for an hour or more to help it dry out.  The longer it sits out the dryer it gets and the crisper your cracker.

Nutrition

Makes 4 servings of 4 crackers

Regular cheese crackers – 18g net carb per 1oz serving
These cheese crackers – .5g net carb per 1 oz serving (4 crackers)

Josef Brandenburg is 2010, Washington, DC  Personal Trainer of the Year Nominee for both Personal Fitness Professional Magazine and The Washington, DC Fitness Association, and author of “The Body You Want”. He shows normal people with hectic lives and average genetics how to create the bodies they want in the time they actually have. To find out more about the 7-Day Free Trial click here. You can also pick up a FREE copy of his brand new CD – “Why Eat Less and Exercise More is The Worst Advice Ever” here.

Josef’s Cheddar Cheese, Broccoli and Bacon Quiche

Good news, you can eat quiche without becoming a sickly fat-ass!

It’s packed with omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, protein, and taste!

The Crust:

3/4 cup flax meal	360 kcal
1/2 cup almond meal	320 kcal
1 egg white	17 kcal
Spray olive oil (5 sec)	50 kcal
Pinch of salt

The Filling:

1 medium bag frozen broccoli	35 kcal
8 egg whites	136 kcal
4 high omega-3 eggs (whole)	280 kcal
1?2 tsp nutmeg
Salt & pepper to taste
8 pieces turkey bacon – cooked & chopped	160 kcal
6 tbs low fat sour cream	120 kcal
2 (1 oz. each) slices reduced fat cheddar cheese (I recommend Cabbot All Natural 50% light, available at Whole Foods)	140 kcal

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 F
2. Spray a 9-inch pie pan with olive oil. Set aside and place all remaining crust ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly. Transfer crust to pie pan and press evenly into a thin layer.
3. While you are cooking turkey bacon, microwave frozen broccoli for 3-5 min with 2 tbs water. Drain off water and add to pie shell when done.
4. Chop turkey bacon into small strips and add to pie shell.
5. Take the 2 cheese slices and crumble them on top of bacon and broccoli.
6. In a bowl, mix the eggs, egg whites, spices (nutmeg too), and low fat sour cream as thoroughly as possible – a fork seems to work best. Pout this over the contents of pie pan.
7. Bake for 40 min, let cool for approx 5 min and enjoy.

Nutrition

4 servings @ 369 kcal per serving

Josef’s Low-Carb Enchiladas

I love enchiladas, but I almost never order them when I’m out because they are soooo freakin’ bad for you – mounds of fat, cheese, refined starch… But, now there’s me to the rescue. These are enchiladas that you can eat with no guilt at all, yet they still taste great!

Ingredients

2.5 cups pre-cooked chicken breast (shred by pulling apart with 2 forks)	578
2 x 14-15 oz. cans green enchilada sauce	279
8 La Tortilla Factory (or Mission) 6” low-carb, whole wheat tortillas (if you don’t use low carb tortillas, then you are NOT following directions)	400
1.5 cup low-fat cheddar cheese	480
Short spray olive oil	75
2-4 tbs fresh cilantro (minced)
1 medium onion (quartered & sliced, not chopped)	43
1 small red pepper (sliced thinly, lengthwise)	19
1 small green pepper (sliced thinly, lengthwise)	19
1 jalapenos (seeded & diced)	10

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F, and tear chicken breast to shreds with 2 forks & chop veggies.
2. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat with a very small amount of olive oil. 1st add onions for 1-2 min. 2nd add peppers cook for additional 1-2min. 3rd add remaining veggies and cook until onions are translucent. 4th turn off heat, and add 2/3 to 3/4 of a can of enchilada sauce and chicken and stir until thoroughly mixed.
3. Spray a 9” x 13” baking dish with a small amount of olive oil.
4. Roll 1/8 of the mixture from pan into each of the low-carb tortillas, and place in pan. Top with remaining enchilada sauce & finally cheese. 5. Bake for 15 min. and enjoy.