Super Bowl XLII is upon us, and I know what you’re thinking. What the hell did I do to my intestines, and how is it going to prevent me from having fun at my Super Bowl party? Well, get over it. The fun is in the company you invite, and I’m here to save you from crying in the beer you shouldn’t be drinking with some tips on enjoying some gastric bypass friendly party foods.
When planning your Super Bowl party, there are some foods that just naturally make their way to the top of the list. If you are inviting intestinally intact guests, you don’t want them to feel deprived of any of their football food favorites, but you can make foods that they will recognize as tail gating must haves, only slightly altered for those of us who are gastrically altered.
One thing your Super Bowl party can’t be without is chili, and that’s a GREAT food for bypass patients. Loaded with protein packed beans, choose a lean meat in making your chili, like a lean ground beef, ground ostrich, or a ground WHITE MEAT turkey (you may have to ask for this specifically at your grocery store – don’t assume ground turkey is all white meat, and if it isn’t, you are getting a lot of fat from the dark meat). Use toppers to your favorite chili recipe that include fat free shredded cheese and fat free sour cream. Your guests won’t know that you’ve chosen this because it’s gastric bypass friendly, they’ll just know it’s a Super Bowl party must have.
I have a terrific recipe for chicken that your guests will think came straight from Buffalo. The difference is, in regular Buffalo Chicken wings, you are consuming close to 70% fat. Check my recipe blog to get a recipe that cuts the amount of fat by more than half. You can enjoy a small portion of the wings, and your guests can go hog wild (or is it chicken wild??) and not know the difference.
Some snack foods easily lend themselves to gastric bypass patients, but having them at your party won’t make your guests feel like they are eating diet foods. A nice tray of cheese (stick to low fat varieties), veggeroni (tofu based pepperoni) or turkey pepperoni, and most dips made with fat free sour cream are excellent snack options for a weight loss surgery patient, but they will all be welcome additions to your selection of party food. You can even do something that looks really fattening and decadent, like a baked mozzarella cheese (purchase the fat free cheese sticks, dip in egg, roll lightly in Panko bread crumbs, bake in the oven until cheese is warm), with a sugar free tomato sauce.
Do a web search for fat free dips, and add things you know you can eat around them. Most gastric bypass patients can eat pretzels and crackers, although you want to watch how much you eat of these types of foods. The key to enjoying the dips with the pretzels or crackers is to take a spoonful of the dip on your plate, a few of the pretzels or crackers, and then move yourself away from the dip bowls.
Pizza is not as bad as you have been led to believe, and if you make it yourself, you can do a lot to make it more gastric bypass friendly. Use a very thin pizza crust – one you make yourself, buy already made, or roll out from the Pillsbury tubes. Top it with a brush of olive oil, crushed garlic, and fat free mozzarella. Or you can top the pizza with crushed tomatoes, basil, oregano, and the cheese. You can even find sugar free pizza sauce – or make your own – and use that with fat free mozzarella. You can add more protein to the top of your pizza by topping a white pizza with lump crab meat or shrimp (if you can eat shrimp – it’s still too hard for me), or top a tomato pizza with chopped clams or chicken. This is something your guests will love and you can enjoy. Cut the pizzas into smaller slices or even into strips, that way you can feel like you can indulge in two pieces!
And don’t dismiss a salad option. Of course, if your guests are used to hoagies and creamy salads like potato and macaroni, you may not win them over with a green salad. But offer a salad fixings bar, including gastric bypass friendly options like shredded cheese, chopped egg, crumbled turkey bacon, diced turkey, etc. Offer a selection of salad dressings ranging from simple vinegar and oil to the thicker, richer thousand island or ranch. You can opt for fat free versions of the dressings, or offer the standard dressings for your guests and choose your favorite fat free variety.
For desserts, include a fruit salad that you can have with a chocolate sauce or a light cheesecake dip. It sounds a little frou-frou, but your guests will enjoy it. A sheet cake with your team colors on it is an option for your guests, and many bakeries now carry low carb options made with Splenda that you can usually have a taste of (Cheesecake Factory restaurant makes a low carb cheesecake that is terrific, just eat a SMALL portion).
When picking up paper goods, make sure to pick up smaller sized plates so that you can have a full sized plate of food using the smaller sized plate, and feel like you are not denying yourself anything. And invest in the Super Bowl themed cups so no one will know if you’re drinking water or unsweetened iced tea while they are guzzling down the Bud Lights.
Most of all, enjoy your company. Enjoy showing off the new you, and showing people that celebrating – even your team’s win in the Super Bowl – doesn’t have to be all about fattening food.