Friday, February 1, 2013

Healthy Eating Habits for Game Day: Including A Recipe For Spinach Dip

By Jennifer Giralo

Game day is quickly approaching and like most of us you might be just a little concerned about how to keep your "healthy" eating habits in check during the big game. A recent interview with nutrition consultant, Tara Gidus, helped shed some light on this for me. Tara, who is recognized as the Diet Diva, shared with me a few tips about social eating; focusing on portion control, substitution and technique.

Portion Control: How to indulge but not over eat

  • Use smaller plates. By doing this you can actually decrease the amount of food you eat.
  • Try to satisfy your appetite before the actual event by eating nuts, yogurt or fruit. 
  • Eat the food on your plate before taking it to the TV. This eliminates mindless eating.
Substitutions: How to get creative
  • Instead of sour cream try using Greek yogurt to lighten up your dips.
  • Use veggies instead of chips to eat with.
  • Substitute lower calorie mixers in your drinks or drink lighter beers.
Technique: How to make it your own
  • Opt for home cooked food rather than take out.
  • Bake your chicken wings instead of frying them.
  • Grill or Broil food when you can.
Tara also advises keeping a balance between your social activities and your exercising.  Don't let game day, or any occasion, interfere with your normal exercise routine. 

Here's a recipe for spinach dip that replaces full fat sour cream with fat free Greek Yogurt. It's so good you won't even notice the difference.



Game Day Spinach Dip
(courtesy of Knorr)
Makes 4 cups
Preparation Time 10 min
Chill Time 120 min


1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, cooked, cooled and squeezed dry
1 container (16 oz.) nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1 cup Light Mayonnaise
1 package Knorr® Vegetable recipe mix

1 can (240 ml) water chestnuts, drained and chopped (optional)
3 green onions. Chopped (optional)


Combine all ingredients in medium bowl. Chill, if desired. Serve with your favorite dippers.
I chose to dip wheat thins and mixed vegetables into the spinach dip for a crunchy appetizer.

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