10+ Things you can eat and drink at a tailgate and not feel bad about it.
Football season is here and you’re going tail gating to watch your favorite team. So fun! But you don’t want to wake up tomorrow with a hot dog and nacho cheese dip hangover. I hear ya! We’ll I’ve got a few awesome tips and recipes to make your next tailgate a healthy one!
One big tip that I give my clients is if they are going to a party(especially during the holidays) and want to still eat healthy then they should bring their own healthy snacks and drinks. This works great for tailgating as well so I searched the web and found a couple of good recipes as well as a couple of easy one’s that I use.
Veggie Tray With homemade Greek Yogurt Ranch Dip
My favorite tailgate and party snack to bring is a veggie tray with hummus and some homemade Greek yogurt ranch dip that is soooo easy to make. I like to bring carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini (and a few Beano tablets ?). Just grab your favorite flavor hummus at the store.
To make the ranch dip just pick up a ranch dressing packet in the salad dressing aisle(I like hidden valley) and instead of using mayonnaise just substitute plain non-fat Greek yogurt. Super easy and delicious and the dip goes well with everything in this post!
Zucchini Chips
Do you want the crunch potato chips but not all the guilt that comes with eating all that fat and all those carbs? Well Zucchini chips are the answer and with the right tools they are easy to make. If you have a food processor you can slice the zucchini quickly dry it and then just throw them in the oven. Even better is to use a mandolin slicer to cut them super thin. Easy!
The chips are really easy to make and don’t take much time at all. You can also experiment with your own seasonings to make them taste different each time. The recipe just calls for sea salt and they are delicious as is! Click the link below to get the recipe printable and shopping list.
Click here to download all the recipes on this page.
Baked Boneless Chicken Wings
I love chicken wings but they are terrible for you! Packed with fat and sodium I get swollen and bloated just thinking about them. So I make boneless baked chicken wings instead. They are just as tasty and have about 80% less calories than traditional chicken wings that are fried and sauced. This recipe is also quick and easy just click the link below to download it.
Another easy way to make them is to just get some good-ole shake and bake in the baking aisle of the grocery store. You can chose from several different “flavors” and doing it this way is much healthier than frying and they taste amazing!!!
Click here to download all the recipes on this page.
Non-Alcoholic Drinks
If you really want to cut back the calories on game day then cutting out alcohol all together is the easiest way to do it. If you were to drink 4 to 6 alcoholic drinks during the pre-game tailgate that is likely going to be 600 to 1000 calories depending on what you are drinking. Cut out the beer and drink sparkling water with lime or lemon. Or instead of a Long Island Iced Tea drink unsweet tea with lemon. Your liver with thank you for it in the morning!
- Sparkling Water with lime.
- Unsweet Tea with lemon.
Healthy(er) Alcoholic Drinks
Not drinking at a tailgate is like not having candy on Halloween, it’s no fun right? I love a good Cuba Libre made with my favorite Puerto Rican Rum, Don Q Cristal and Coke Zero. I am after all from Puerto Rico! Depending on how much alcohol you put in the drink it is around 100 calories for an ounce of rum and zero calories for the mixer, Coke Zero.
The newest lower calorie alcoholic beverages out are the Hard Seltzer Waters. And most of them are really good. And at only 100 calories per can, that is a good option for game day. I also really like the Skinny Girl Brand Cosmo and Margarita in a bottle. They are also only 100 calories per serving and are REALLY good. But don’t get all excited and carried away with the alcohol because it is only 100 calories per serving. 100 calories can add up quickly! Five drinks are 500 calories or about 4 miles of running so keep that in mind.
- Hard Seltzer Water
- Skinny Girl Cosmos or Margaritas
- Cuba Libre made with Don Q Cristal and Coke Zero
