Super Bowl Reveille Recipes!

Hey Reveille Ladies, Lindsay here! For this edition of Reveille Recipes I wanted to share some of my personal favorite Super Bowl snacks to make.  I personally love to cook and entertain so I love spending time preparing for a party.  But even if playing hostess isn't "your thing," skipping the pizza delivery has it's perks - by preparing some of your own Super Bowl foods you can save on calories and make generally more healthful dishes, AND with just a few easy steps, you can even impress some of your friends with your spread!  SO if you're looking for a simple recipe, a healthier option, something to impress your guests, or just some of the good 'ole classics, one of my favorites might work for you! 

When I think about what I'm going to make for a party, I ask myself a few questions first... How much time do I have and how involved do I want to get with my preparation?  Do I want to go all out indulgence or keep my menu on the lighter side?  Do I feel like really impressing my guests with some showy presentations or will it be more casual with an easy family style buffet?  From these questions I have come up with the following categories to consider with my Super Bowl Recipes, take your pick!: 

Slimmed-Down Snacks

Impress Your Friends

Get Down & Dirty

Easy Peasy 

BUFFALO CHICKEN MEATBALLS

Slimmed-Down Snacks

Buffalo Wings are a classic American staple of any Super Bowl party, but I LOVE to take the buffalo flavor and utilize it in other ways to shake things up and have some fun. These Buffalo Chicken Meatballs are great because they give you the buffalo chicken that your guests are looking for without the fried greasy mess of the traditional wings. They are easy to make, easy to serve, and easy to eat!

INGREDIENTS: 

1 lb lean ground chicken

1 egg

3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup chopped celery

3/4 cup Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce (divided into 1/3 cup & 1/2 cup)

Serve with toothpicks, Blue Cheese or Ranch salad dressing and celery sticks 

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In a large bowl, combine chicken, egg, bread crumbs, celery, and 1/3 cup Wing Sauce

Shape into 1 inch balls and place on greased baking sheet

Bake 20 - 25 minutes or unit cooked through

Toss meatballs with remainder of wing sauce

Serve with toothpicks, side of blue cheese or ranch dressing, and celery sticks for dipping! 

Makes about 24 meatballs

From my Super Bowl
prep last year!

(TRUFFLED) MINI MAC & CHEESE BITES

Impress Your Friends, Get Down & Dirty, Easy Peasy

Who doesn't love Mac & Cheese?!  One of the most classic yummy comfort foods just got a littttttle bit fancy!  This is a super easy way to take a favorite and make it into a party food.  You can decide to play around with a fancy mac & cheese recipe and make your own - or you can simply whip up a pre-packaged mac & cheese from the store and take it from there. (You can even get take out from your favorite restaurant and use THEIR fancy mac & cheese as your base!) In my book - adding truffle oil or truffle salt to just about anything makes it better, but if you don't like the flavor, skip it!  That's what makes this recipe so great, you can make it SUPER simple and totally look like a fancy chef!  

INGREDIENTS: 

Your favorite Mac & Cheese Recipe (you can make this the day before) 

OR pre-made Mac & Cheese from your favorite restaurant 

OR store bought Mac & Cheese (I recommend skipping the neon orange kind and opting for a white version) 

Grated Parmesan Cheese for topping

Optional: Truffle Oil or Truffle Salt 

Mini-Muffin Pans

DIRECTIONS: 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

Spray mini muffin sheets with nonstick cooking spray

Spoon Mac & Cheese into mini muffin trays, gently packing in to each cup

Sprinkle Parmesan on top 

Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden and sizzling

If you want to add Truffle Oil or Truffle Salt, now is the time to drizzle or sprinkle it on top 

Let cool before sliding out and transferring to serving platter 

I like to cut the tomatoes in half
to form a "sandwich," which
makes the perfect one-bite treat! 

TOMATO MOZZARELLA BASIL SKEWERS

Slimmed-Down Snacks, Impress Your Friends, Easy Peasy

You will find fried cheese sticks at many Super Bowl parties, but if you want to lighten it up and have a fresher, lighter option - these are perfect.  They are so simple to assemble and the end result is a beautiful and healthy treat to serve to friends and family.  These always leave you with compliments to the chef! 

INGREDIENTS: 

1 package grape or cherry tomatoes

1 package of bocconcini (mini mozzarella balls) or cut op pieces of your favorite mozzarella

1 bundle of Basil, cleaned and pulled off stem 

Olive Oil & Balsamic for drizzling and/or dipping 

DIRECTIONS:

For a one-bite treat, cut your tomatoes in half so they can be like the outsides of a mozzarella sandwich

Skewer one half of the tomato, one piece of mozzarella, one basil leaf (cut in half if it is too big) and then the other half of the tomato 

Sprinkle with Salt & Pepper and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic

That's it! 

This is MY bowl after hitting
the toppings bar!

TURKEY CHILI WITH TOPPINGS BAR

Slimmed-Down Snacks, Impress Your Friends

If you want your guests to have a heartier meal rather than just finger foods, this is a great way to go while still leaving them with a nutritious, well-rounded dinner.  Swapping out lean turkey for the traditional fattier meats immediately takes this dish from sinful to sensible. You can make this ahead of time and warm it up the day-of, and making a festive topics bar makes everyone happy.  This really makes you look like the hostess with the mostess!

This is my personal Turkey Chili recipe - feel free to use whatever chili recipe you like!    

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound lean ground turkey

1 onion, chopped

2 or 3 

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 packet of chili seasoning from the grocery store (I sometimes use half of a second packet)

1 can diced tomatoes 

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 can kidney beans

1/2 small can green chilies (I find these in the taco section of the market)

1 small can Corn

Franks Red Hot Sauce to taste 

DIRECTIONS:

Brown the meat, drain off fat, set aside

In a large heavy pot drizzle a small amount of olive oil, add onions, garlic, celery, and carrots

Add in meat and Chili seasoning packet

Add tomatoes, beans, chilies & corn 

Simmer for as long as you want adding hot sauce or more seasoning packet as needed

If Chili get's too thick, add water in small amounts till thinned to your liking

TOPPINGS BAR SUGGESTIONS:

Sour Cream

Shredded Cheese

Chopped Green Onion

Jalepeños 

Avocado 

Corn

Bacon Bits

MY FAVORITE: Corn Bread Cubes (Or Mini Corn Muffins)

BUFFALO BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Impress Your Friends, Get Down & Dirty

The little bits of heaven I found in
Maine this snowy winter

OK, so these are "out of the box."  Another take on the classic buffalo flavor, but this time using the ever so trendy (and delicious) brussels sprouts.  I saw these on the menu at a little restaurant in Maine this winter and I immediately knew I had to try them.  They were delicious and I made it my mission to learn how to make them!  You can choose to batter these in a beer batter resulting in that "puffy" fried tried; you can try a lighter breading option using Panko bread crumbs; or you can throw them into the oil naked to get them super crispy - whichever way you choose, the outcome is delicious.  I know, I know, we're taking a perfectly good healthy vegetable and throwing it in oil... but hey, it is the Super Bowl, right?! 

For me, the jury is still out as to whether I like the deep fried version, the lighter, panko breaded version, or the least sinful, fried but not breaded version. 

Here are the recipes for all three:

Beer Battered Fried Brussels Sprouts

Panko Breaded Fried Buffalo Brussels Sprouts

Simply Fried Brussels Sprouts

Reveille Recipe: Eat More Greens! Gail Migliozzi's Massaged Kale Salad.

Greens - So what exactly ARE those? Think spinach, collards, broccoli, Swiss chard, red/green leaf romaine lettuce, mustard greens... the list goes on but you can stop at kale today. Our Camp Reveille Health & Wellness Coach, Gail Migliozzi, sent us her delicious Massaged Kale Salad with Toasted Nuts recipe, we can't wait to try this one and get in our daily dose of greens! 

Massaged Kale Salad with Toasted Nuts 

from Gail Migliozzi 

Anyone looking for a healthy lunch or a great delicious side salad for dinner? Well, I've got you covered with my super easy Massaged Kale Salad. Its nutritious and will dress up any holiday gathering. You will be the hit of the party and people will be bombarding you for the recipe!

I hope everyone enjoys my Messaged Kale Salad, and remember, eat more greens! They're healthy for you and having them daily can improve health and vitality!

Ingredients:

* 2 bunches of kale (about 1 lb), rinsed and dried, tear leaves off in small pieces or thinly slice crosswise (remove ribs/stems!)

* Juice of 2-3 small lemons

* 2 Tbsps olive oil

* 2 Tbsps maple syrup or honey (or one of each is yummy)

* 1/4 cup lightly toasted pine nuts or almonds

* 1/4 cup dried cranberries, cherries (chopped), or currants

* 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheeses plus some bigger shavings to top salad with

* Sea salt to taste

* Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place the thinly sliced kale in a large bowl and toss with the lemon juice and olive oil (add more of either thing if you feel like there's not enough to cover everything.) Massage the mixture with your fingers until all of the kale is well-coated and looks a bit darker in color. Let sit for a half hour minimum (or not, if you're in a hurry!)

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss to coat. Give it a taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed. 

3. Top with the shaved cheese and serve! 

Reveille Recommendation from Joan

I don't know about you ladies, but I have been loving our Reveille Readers and our Reveille Recipes!  I am always looking for my next book to dive into and I ALWAYS love new recipes to try! So I decided to give you another one of my alliterations - A couple of Reveille Recommendations!  Why not share other things with one another, whether it's a great new movie, an awesome hotel, your favorite TV show, or a class you tried at the gym!  We have no limits to what we can share, just let us know! 

Here are a couple of recommendations that I came up with to share with the Reveille Community!

Up by Jawbone

There are a number of new devices to track your daily activity, your sleep, your food intake, and calories burned.  I was given the Up band by Jawbone for the holidays and I wear it round the clock. Somehow this little gadget is able to sense when you are sitting idly or up strolling, running and working hard, lightly sleeping, and completely zonked.  Don't ask me how, but it seems pretty accurate. It communicates this info to you through the UP app which you download onto your phone.  You can set goals for sleep and steps per day and it gives you daily blurbs of advice to help you improve.  You can also set an "idle alert" so that if you are inactive for a period of time (mine is set for an hour), the band will vibrate to remind you to get off your keister. You can also use it as a daily alarm - it will wake you up during a preset window of time while you're in a lighter stage of sleep rather than deep sleep.  This way you wake up feeling more refreshed than if it had gone off while you were in deep sleep.  I’ve really learned a lot about my sleep patterns and I have had to take a real honest look at how much activity I’m getting during my days.  I love wearing it to the gym and then seeing my read out at the end of the day.  Good incentive!!

The Butler 

I highly recommend this movie starring among others, one of our favorites, Oprah Winfrey. The acting in this movie is terrific but it was in fact the story that really swept me away. It took us back to a time not all that long ago when America was such a different place to live. I found it almost hard to believe that during my lifetime America was a place where people harbored such hatred and disrespect of each other and could be so uncompassionate and somehow feel that was OK. It is good reminder to all of us that we should appreciate how we have learned to live together fairly and compassionately. I know there are still vestiges of our dark past alive in today’s world but The Butler is powerful because it depicts real people’s lives and how their hopes and dreams were dashed by other peoples need to feel superior. Don’t miss it!

Luminosity

I heard about an app that helps your concentration and focus and improves your cognitive thinking.  There are a number of different apps to do this and I’ve tried a few but I have found that Luminosity the easiest to use.  You can really get hooked on playing the brain games, and bottom line - I feel like it has actually improved my focus and memory.  I’ve never been one for crosswords or Sudoku, so I am happy to have found an app which I find fun to do and feel it’s beneficial.  It tracks my improvement and reminds me each day to go back to it and practice my memory and focus yet again. 

Do you have any Reveille Recommendations to share?  Let us know!

Reveille Readers January

Reveille Reader: Diana Mihailoff

Reveille Camper in: 2013

Diana's Pick: Encore Performance: How One Woman's Passion Helped a Town Tap Into Happiness by Vicki G. Riordan & Brian Riordan

Diana's Review: An inspiring true story of woman who learned that it is never to late to live the life you want.  As a young girl growing up in the 1950's Vicki idolized stars like Shirley Temple and Gene Kelly.  She soon found her calling as a dance instructor, but like many baby boomers, she put her passion on hold to start a family.  Only when her marriage ended and she was left with little means of support for herself and two young sons did Vicki return to her first true love: teaching dance.  In doing so, she found much more than a way to make a living: she found a way to make a difference.  With her exuberant personality, infectious enthusiasm, and unwavering belief in the magic of movement to make even the darkest of moments better, Vicki has inspired thousands of women to do things they never dreamed possible.  At the age of 62, when her peers were thinking about retirement, Vicki opened the doors to what has become America's largest adult tap dancing studio.

Book Description: Billy Elliot meets The Golden Girls in this inspiring true story of a woman who learned that it’s never too late to live the life you want. As a young girl, Vicki Riordan found her calling as a tap dancer and at eighteen she opened her own studio. But Vicki soon decided to put her tap shoes into early retirement to focus on marriage and start a family. When her marriage abruptly ended and Vicki was left with no means to support herself and her two young sons, she returned to her passion and began teaching adult tap. The Tap Pups program was born and at the age of sixty-two, Vicki opened what has become the largest adult tap studio in America.
Vicki has gone from teaching seventeen adults to 500. Her students range in age from twenty-one to eighty-nine (with an average age of fifty-seven), and thanks to the Tap Pups program many have transformed and reinvented themselves at a point in life when the expectation is that they should be slowing down. Tap has made them confident in their bodies and themselves and has joined the women of Vicki’s community into an unbreakable sisterhood.

Encore Performance is ripe with themes that readers everywhere can relate to: love, family, friendship, living your dream, keeping hope alive in difficult times, and so much more. Vicki’s story celebrates the importance of remembering your true passion, going after it with courage, and proving that it’s never too late to live the life you want.

Reveille Reader: Riselle Abrams

Reveille Camper in: 2007 - 2013

Riselle's Pick: The Crypt Thief: A Hugo Marston Novel by Mark Pryor

Riselle's Review: This book is an inspiring true story of a woman who learned that it is never to late to live the life you want. 

Book Description: It’s summer in Paris and two tourists have been murdered in Père Lachaise cemetery in front of Jim Morrison’s grave. The cemetery is locked down and put under surveillance, but the killer returns, flitting in and out like a ghost, and breaks into the crypt of a long-dead Moulin Rouge dancer. In a bizarre twist, he disappears under the cover of night with part of her skeleton.

One of the dead tourists is an American and the other is a woman linked to a suspected terrorist; so the US ambassador sends his best man and the embassy’s head of security—Hugo Marston—to help the French police with their investigation.

When the thief breaks into another crypt at a different cemetery, stealing bones from a second famed dancer, Hugo is stumped. How does this killer operate unseen? And why is he stealing the bones of once-famous can-can girls?

Hugo cracks the secrets of the graveyards but soon realizes that old bones aren’t all this killer wants. . . .

New Year, New Fitness Routine!

It’s January, the start of a new year and a month filled with resolutions to be healthier and to get more active. (Raise your hand if one of your New Year’s resolutions was to hit the gym more!)  If walking into a gym and running on a treadmill either bores or intimidates you – remember that there are SO many options out there for fun ways to get active. It doesn't matter if you're in a gym, at home, outside, or somewhere totally new to you... getting active is what's important and having fun doing it will KEEP you active!  There are so many options out there to try this year, here are a few of our favorite finds:

Take a hike: If you live somewhere that ISN’T experiencing the upcoming historically low temperatures, then get out and explore!  Find a local mountain and go ahead and start with the easy trail!  Not only will it get you moving, but walking, hiking and exploring can clear your mind and be unbelievably relaxing! 

Spinning: We keep hearing about the trendy Soul Cycle andFlywheel, but just what are they exactly? Spinning is indoor cycling, usually accompanied by fun upbeat music. It involves using a special stationary exercise bicycle with a resistance setting that you modify throughout your workout. Spinning focuses on endurance, strength, intervals, high intensity spurts and recovery. This is one where you might get addicted!

Dance Classes: You can either check out the schedule at your local gym for classes like Zumbda, or you can look up a local dance school. Many have adult classes in jazz, ballet, hip hop, and even tap dancing! Need some extra encouragement? This is a GREAT activity to do with girlfriends. Trying to get your spouse involved? Try a Salsa dancing class or other upbeat ballroom dance that will be fun, get you moving, and might even spark some romance!

Pilates: This is one of our favoites - Pilates is a body conditioning routine that may help build flexibility, muscle strength, and endurance in the legs, abdominals, arms, hips and back. If you have any back problems this helps strengthen your spine and pelvic alignment while working on your breathing to establish a strong core or center.

Tennis Lessons: Keep an eye out for deals on deal sites such as Groupon. They often offer discounts on packages of tennis lessons, court time, even other things like golf lessons. This is a great way to try new things! 

Barre Classes: Ballet dancers always keep themselves fit and have amazing bodies. We might not all be able to dance like them - but we can work out like them! Barre classes are hot, hot, hot right now. If you live in NYC or LA you can't walk outside without tripping over a new ballet-inspired/barre fusion/dance-ilates studio, and the trend is spreading....FAST! We bet there's already a class offered in your hometown.

Winter Sports: Take advantage of the weather and try getting outdoors. (If you live in the northeast, you might want to wait until this freezing weather passes!) Find a local mountain and take a ski lesson, try cross country skiing, or even take your kids to a local ice rink.  You might think you’re just having innocent fun, but you can burn 300-800 calories gliding around that rink! Even the simple act of taking a walk in the snow is challenging and you will find yourself exerting a lot more energy than on a regular snow-free walk. 

Trampoline Classes: YES - you read this right! Your childhood dream has come true and it has given a new meaning to the term 'bouncing off the walls!' It might not seem like hard work but this new fitness trend has sky rocketed and is becoming more and more popular as trampoline sports centers open around the country. Places like Bounce! have great classes for adults and even children! 

Self-defense classes:  Everyone should know how to defend themselves if you find yourself in a threatening situation, this is a fun way to get a workout in… and you’re learning at the same time! 

AND REMEMBER... Now is actually the BEST time to try those classes at the gym that you have always been too intimidated to walk in to. This time of year you will be surrounded by others who are taking classes for the first time.  A lot of people hit the gym and try new classes in January so you won't be alone. Also – most instructors know that there are newbies in January and alter their teaching to help everyone get up to speed. 

Staying active is so important for your well-being and there is no time like the present to try new things. So grab your buddy and try something new!  It will be fun and if nothing else- your ab's will get their own workout from all the laughter that will be had.