I was the host of this year's Super Bowl party...by my own choice. Why? I wanted to make sure that I made some delicious foods that I could eat. I never want to force anyone to eat this new way nor to cater to me because it's my choice. But if I'm hosting then I get to choose! Win for me!!! So I've spent the last week or so perusing all the blogs I follow looking for great Super Bowl recipes. Here's the ones I chose:
Crispy Nut Crackers
I decided to make these Crispy Nut Crackers by Jennifer at Splendid Low Carbing. They were easy to make, but I'd like to do some tweaking with the flavor. It was a bit dry and bland, but the cracker tends to be just a vessel to get dip from a bowl to my mouth so I can handle that!
Pepperoni Chips
Next on my list were these Pepperoni Chips by George Stella. He posts his recipes to Facebook via Low Carbing Among Friends page. If you haven't liked that page and you want to try this new way of life out then I suggest you hit that LIKE button. I made these almost exactly as George says except I omitted the final baking. When I opened the door to check them after about 9 minutes smoke came rolling out. I don't know if it was the pepperoni or the parchment paper, but something was smokin'! And yes...it did set off the smoke detector. But they're very good! I love crispy pepperonis!!!
Black Bean Flourless Cake
Now, I've heard that beans aren't the best for a low carb way of life. I guess they turn to sugar somewhere deep inside...LOVELY!!! But one of my friends let me know it was better than the alternative and it's not that high in carbs so I thought I'd try it out. I really wanted a sheet cake like my mom used to make when I was a little girl so I found this recipe and just used a sheet cake pan vs. the 9" one recommended. This site is a share sight for recipes so I don't know who to give credit to...but it was GOOD and no one even knew it was black beans! SCORE...hee hee hee love the pun!!!
Chocolate Ganache
What chocolate cake isn't complete without a yummy frosting. And you cannot go wrong with a Chocolate Ganache. For that I went to my trusted source Maria from Maria Mind Body Health blog. I have had so much success following her recipes that I turn to her most often than not. I added a 1/2 cup of Xylitol for the sugar and no Stevia. I don't have a love for Stevia...although I'm trying to add it a bit at a time as recipes call for it. Perhaps one day my taste buds will get used to it.
Here's the final marriage of the Black Bean Cake and Chocolate Ganache...yes it is as good as it looks. If you want to make this lovely confection follow the directions to a T, add in your favorite sugar substitute in place of all that sugar, pour in a greased sheet cake pan and bake for approx. 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for about 30 minutes (you're ganache needs to cool that long too so that it's not too runny). Pour the ganache over the cake and spread out evenly. Cool in the fridge for a couple of hours to set the ganache. Take the cake out and slice it and serve at room temperature. The cake is SUPER moist (yet another pun/plug for the Super Bowl)!!!
Chicken Enchilada Dip
I went back to Jennifer at Splendid Low Carbing for this Chicken Enchilada Dip! Man, it was good! Unfortunately I didn't taste it warm since I had so much going on, but it was delish cold...so I assume it was awesome-er hot!!! I made no changes except that I had Colby Jack vs. Cheddar cheese. It went pretty darn good with my Nut Crackers. Half the pan was gone by the end of the night!
Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana
The star of the evening was our entrée Zuppa Toscana. This is a HUGE favorite with my friends and a recipe that one husband has duplicated himself. Everyone loves it whenever he makes it so I had to give it a go...and it worked!!! I doubled the recipe using one pound of sweet Italian sausage and one pound of hot Italian sausage. I did NOT double the red pepper flakes since I used the hot sausage and not everyone likes it hot and BOY we didn't need the extra heat. It was enough to melt the snow outside that's for sure. But everyone loved it and this dutch over that was practically full is now nearly empty!
So who did I do all this for??? Here's just a few of the friends who joined us tonight...
There were kids all over the house...as well as a photo bomber...but there were no injuries and nothing broke so all is well.
I hope you had an equally fun evening enjoying the commercials Super Bowl!!!
Till next time,
Jennifer
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