Some occasions just provide us with an excuse for indulgence, don't they? The Superbowl has become so much more than a football game that even those of us who couldn't care less about the game have something to do on Superbowl Sunday. First of all, there's the food and parties, second the commercials. My Superbowl tale of woe starts on Friday evening, when PMS was in the ruling house. I crave salty foods so when we ate at a local Mexican restaurant, I had plenty of chips and salsa. Thankfully, I skipped the cheese dip, knowing my weakness. I also skipped the margarita because I am pretty snobby about drinks and if they can't make one better than my husband, why waste the calories?
I had an unpleasant experience at the restaurant. We ordered ceviche which if done correctly is raw fish or shellfish, cooked in citric juices only, with fresh herbs, tomatoes and onions. It is usually delicious so we decided to give it a try. I ordered the FISH ceviche due to my shellfish allergy. However by the end of dinner, my lip began to tingle and swell, getting a little numb, like it does when I've had shrimp. Since my physician friends and husband have all warned me that I could have a really bad reaction if I persist in eating shellfish, such as difficulty breathing (see my post on food allergies, March 2011), I felt somewhat nervous. It turned out to be minor and by the time we were home watching a movie, the swelling was going down.
The over indulgences continued on Saturday. I bought some sweet potato muffins that have a chunk of chocolate on top plus some cinnamon raisin bread for breakfast. I did walk over a mile at the first Walk With A Doc but that was not enough to ward off the impending disaster.
This Superbowl Sunday we had decided to just celebrate with family but I had planned plenty of Superbowl sized junk food, for our house anyway. My sister made a wonderful new corn salsa which I will share in a moment. I had lots of chips and dip. I made a large pot of chili which isn't that bad until you hear that I served the chili over spicy fries with cheddar cheese on top. I used Boar's Head sharp cheddar which is a fine cheese by the way. Pat and Barry had beer, which is gross, but Barry made me a Lemon Boom Boom which is vodka with muddled fresh basil and lemon juice. I can pretend it's somewhat healthy. We topped off the feast with chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting that my daughter made from scratch. Yummy yum yum!
The sorry truth was revealed Monday morning when the scales showed I had gained a nifty three pounds. Now that may not sound like much but if I ignore that and continuously add to it, I could be up 30 lbs. in no time. And we all know that it is so much easier to gain it than to lose it. So, back to better ways and I'm happy to report that I have already lost 1 of those ugly pounds by sweating and eating sensibly.
The corn salsa was the healthiest thing we ate on Sunday. It actually has lots of fresh herbs and vegetables and is awesome served over grilled chicken or fish as I'm going to do with the leftovers tonight. I'm also adding some chopped avocado to it. I picked this recipe up from Jennifer Smith who taught a continuing education class recently at ASU on entertaining.
Corn Salsa
16 oz. bag of frozen corn, thawed
1 red bell pepper and 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 red onion chopped
2 to 3 tomatoes, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp. canola oil
1/2 tsp. salt
2 limes juiced
Dressing: 1/2 cup canola oil, 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar, 2 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder, 1 1/2 Tbsp. cumin.
Heat oven to 350. Place corn on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to promote even roasting. Mix corn with other vegetables and toss with dressing. May be served warm or chilled. Don't worry that there is too much chili powder and cumin; trust me, it is just right. This is even better the next day or two as the flavors blend so this is great to make ahead.
The moral of this sad tale is that those over indulgences do add up and over time, can aid in wrecking your precious health. The best thing you can do for yourself is to watch your weight, exercise and eat righteously 95% of the time.
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