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Hey kids! It’s that time. You know, the time where we get together with all of our friends, drink ample quantities of beer, and stuff our faces with massive amounts of fat laden and high caloric food. Your poison of choice could be deep-fried wings, pigs in a blanket, cheese dip, or seven layer dip. Activities include yelling at enormous flat-screen TV’s, high-fiving one another, trash talking, and making harmless bets with fellow attendees.
Can you guess what event I’m talking about??
Drum roll please…. Duhduhduhduhduhduhduh…….
It’s the…best commercials of 2013 of course. You know, we all gather around the TV, yell at the horrible commercials, high five one another when there’s a really funny one, and make bets on what company will have the best one of the night.
Oh yeah, and I think I vaguely remember that there might be some sort of sporting event called the Super Bowl going on at the same time. Eh.
Can you sense my enthusiasm about the upcoming football game?? It’s not that I’m not excited for the actual day to be here, because I am. It’s just that I’m much more into the social aspect of the Super Bowl versus the actual game itself.
I don’t even remember who won the Super Bowl last year and I haven’t the faintest idea of which two teams are playing this year. Since I’m really only passionate about three sports teams in this world, Kansas State anything, Chiefs football, and Royals baseball (and that’s a stretch); anything else I lose interest in – fast. So I’m sure it doesn’t surprise you that I’m pretty indifferent on the outcome of the “big game” this year. I’m much more excited to chat with friends, drink a few adult beverages, and bury my face in copious amounts of junk food.
Whether you’re into the game or not, we know it’s all about the food; so this week the blog is all about quintessential football food, but with a twist. Since I’m sure there will be no shortage of fat ridden food at my super bowl party, I thought it would be nice to start the week with something that’s a little forgiving on the waistline but doesn’t sacrifice any flavor.
My version of jalapeño poppers. And no, I’m not talking about the deep fried, heavily breaded, greasy jalapeño poppers that come out of the freezer section of your local grocery store or neighborhood bar and grill. I’m talking about spicy fresh jalapeno peppers stuffed with shrimp and a creamy cheesy filling, lightly breaded and baked.
The filling consists of a little reduced-fat cream cheese, grated skim milk mozzarella, chopped shrimp, and various spices. Each jalapeno half is stuffed to the brim with the creamy filling, dunked into frothy egg whites, coated in a mixture of panko and whole wheat breadcrumbs, and baked until the bread crumbs are golden brown and the cheese mixture is oozing out the sides. Serve them up with homemade ranch or blue cheese dressing, and enjoy!
If these don’t scream football food, I don’t know what does.
- 9-10 medium sized jalapenos, sliced lengthwise seeded and stemmed
- 3 pieces reduced-fat bacon, cooked and chopped
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 6 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup mozzarella, shredded
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 4 ounces baby shrimp or chopped shrimp
- 2 egg whites
- ¾ cup panko bread crumbs
- ½ cup whole wheat bread crumbs
- Salt to taste
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Place a cooling rack on top of a rimmed baking sheet.
- Combine bacon, onions, cream cheese, mozzarella, garlic powder in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt. Fold in shrimp.
- In a small bowl whisk egg whites until they become frothy.
- Combine panko and whole wheat bread crumbs in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
- Fill each jalapeno with cream cheese mixture. Coat in egg white and then bread crumbs. Place breaded jalapenos on the cooling rack and then place in the freezer for 15 minutes. Once the poppers have chilled, drizzle with olive oil and then bake for 20-25 minutes until poppers are brown and cheese is oozing out.
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