dare to dream...: superbowl sunday

i love food. period.

and superbowl sunday is just another excuse to eat all day long... kind of like thanksgiving. unfortunately, eating healthy can sometimes get in the way of these kinds of days. so, with the help of a few 'skinny' recipes, we were able to make our dishes a bit more healthy.

we of course stared with drinks... margaritas that were SO GOOD! and we got to use my favorite green margarita glasses!

for appetizers we made two dips - buffalo chicken dip and spinach artichoke dip, both amazing.

here is the recipe for the buffalo chicken dip

{franksredhot.com}

Franks Redhot Buffalo Chicken Dip

ingredients:

8 oz. package cream cheese, softened (i used fat free)

1/2 cup blue cheese or ranch salad dressing (i used fat free ranch dressing)

1/2 cup any flavor Franks Redhot Sauce

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese (i used low-fat, part skim moz)

2 cans Swanson White Premium Chunk Chicken Breast in water, drained (or 2 chicken breasts, baked)

directions:

heat oven to 350. place cream cheese into baking dish and stir until smooth.

mix in salad dressing, hot sauce, and cheese.

stir in chicken.

bake 20 minutes or until mixture is heated through.

garnish as desired and serve with crackers or vegetables.

here is the recipe for the spinach artichoke dip

{seriouseats.com}

ingredients:

10 oz bag of fresh spinach

6 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

6 oz fat free cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup fat free sour cream

1.5 cups part skim mozzarella, shredded

1 14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 garlic cloves, crushed

6 tablespoons shredded parmesan cheese, divided

directions:

preheat oven to 350.

tear spinach into bite size pieces, removing any thick stems. rinse in colander, leaving a little water on the leaves. in a large nonstick skillet or dutch oven, saute the spinach over medium heat until wilted. drain in the colander, pushing a little of the extra water out.

in a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheeses with a potato masher. add sour cream and mash more. add spinach, mozzarella, artichokes, pepper, garlic, and two tablespoons of the parmesan. stir everything until thoroughly combined.

pour mixture into a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of parmesan on top. bake 30 minutes, or until parmesan is melted and dip is all bubbly. remove from oven and give it a minute or two to cool down. serve with baked tortilla chips to applause.

simple as that! we served with a whole wheat baguette, cut up and baked.