Sunday Snack Day

I have an extremely intense gag reflex and sense of smell, which never makes for a great combination when something stinky is in nose-shot. Hey people on the cardio equipment, please, for the love of everything holy, spare of from your uber intense smells of various spices, body odor, copious amounts of perfume/body spray/cologne/aftershave.  This is one concept that continually seems to escape me.  Sure, I'm almost entirely certain I have had my days in which Coco Chanel was screaming out of my pores as if to make note that I was wearing it.  And embarrassingly, I've certainly had my days where I catch a whiff and realize that that smell, is coming from my under saturated pits - or that I left my clothes in the washing machine, damp, for a little too long and tried to repair the error by simply washing again.  I get it, stuff happens.  But please, please, please - if you notice that you're omitting a smell that is comparable to rotting garbage/bodies/animals, spare us all and just stop.  Stop running and go stretch, or move to a less intense cardio machine - those of us who want to continue to run without having to turn our heads the other way to breathe would appreciate it. 

I successfully completed my first week challenge of eating mostly paleo and getting back in the "six timers" club and hitting the gym 6 days this week (contemplating a 7th today, but let's not get crazy). As I've mentioned many times before, I will continue to eat glutenous from time to time and of course, am not going to be 100% Paleo and 100% gluten free - I know how to eat and therefore, believe that in order to live the kind of fullfilling life I look for (full = yummy food, filling = unhealthy foods from time to time) - that I deserve to cheat.  Today - for my Simple Sunday I opted to do Snack Sunday.  I endured the torture last week of a very smelly gym-goer and still manage to plow through my treadmill workout - I deserve it.  

What better way to enjoy a lazy Sunday and football than to just have a bunch of snacks all day long and not worry about stopping the day to make a meal - that's the concept and that's the plan.  So here I sit, after preparing our snacks for the day, with nothing left to do that doze in and out of naps, and catch up on blogging.  Hoooraaay! 

Today's Snack Sunday is all about my husband.  I made snacks that I  know he will just gobble up and enjoy (with a little guac for myself) so that he can truly relax this Sunday. 

Buffalo Chicken Dip - AKA Man's Best Friend

I don't know that I have ever met a man who tries this dip and doesn't just love it.  I first was introduced to it by a former co-worker who brought it to the work holiday party.  I think she double, or even quadrupled the recipe and went home with a licked-clean crockpot.  The first time I made it was for the superbowl several years ago. I encouraged my guy friends and now husband to try it, despite the fact it looked kind of like vom (sorry, it does).  They were hooked.  The pizza was left barely untouched.  #winning.  This became the most requested dip by my husband.  One of the other times I made it, a guy friend of ours actually took out his retainer - dipped it in the dip and put it back in his mouth, he loved it that much.  I honestly don;t follow a recipe anymore, its most just added to taste, but I have included the recipe below so that you too, can impress your man friends to the point of embarrassment for them.

2 - 8 oz Cream Cheese, softened

2 - 10 oz Cans Chunk White Chicken

1 cup Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing

3/4 C Franks Hot Sauce (I usually use the original, not the wing sauce)

1 1/2 C Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

In large bowl, combine cream cheese and chicken, microwave for 3 minutes or until warmed.  Add in ranch, hot sauce, and shredded cheese, combine and microwave 5 minutes or until heated through.  Add more sauce for taste - serve with tortilla chips, crackers or celery/carrot sticks. 

This can also be made in the crockpot and slow cooked - just combine all ingredients and let it do it's thing!

Italian Sub Dip

The idea for this recipe came from my mother in law.  I'm not sure where she originally got the recipe, but I know that it's always a hit and my husband and brother in both really enjoy it.  My brother in law and his family love this dip so much, that my sister in law will actually make it for them for part of dinner! My nephew likes to make the dip into a sandwich and instead of taking small pieces of bread, just filling a hoagie with it - totally doable.  The best part of this dip is it taste just like an italian sub from your favorite sandwich shop.  It combines various lunch meats and cheeses and all the toppings! 

1/4 lb of each of the following: provolone cheese, salami, turkey, ham, bologna, mortadella

1 TBSP Banana Peppers or 3 whole pepperoncini peppers, diced

1/2 head iceberg lettuce, shredded

1/2 tomato, seeded

1/2 red onion, diced

1/3 C Olive Oil

1 TSP Oregano

1 1/2 TSP Basil

French Loaf, cubed for dipping

Dice up all the meat and cheese into tiny squares.  Combine diced meats, cheeses, and all vegetables.  Add olive oil and seasoning. Allow to set in fridge for at least one hour for all flavors to combine. Serve with french bread. 

**This can be made really with any variety of your favorite deli meats and cheeses - although I would recommend avoiding meats such as roast beef, corned beef, etc.  The original recipe I follow actually calls for prosciutto which is a great add - I sub mortadella instead. 

Alfredo Chicken and Spinach Stromboli

There's no great story about this except that we needed some sort of "meal" today that didn't involve dipping to eat.  I decided on a stromboli because I figured I could prepare it ahead of time and just throw it in the oven when we were ready to eat.  It could be reheated if needbe and only called for a few, easy recipes.

1 container pizza dough, or one frozen bread dough, thawed*

1 1/2 c fresh spinach

1 C Chopped, Cooked Chicken (I used rotisserie, again, ease of use)

6 Slices Mozzarella Cheese

4 TBSP Alfredo Sauce

Parmesan and pizza seasoning - desired amount

1 tsp Olive Oil

Roll dough on a floured surface or parchment paper.  Roll into 12x15 inch rectangle.  Add parmesan and pizza seasoning. Top with ingredients in the following order, careful to allow one inch on each side of the dough: spinach, cheese, chicken, alfredo sauce. Starting from the long ends, carefully start rolling the dough to create a pinwheel or cinnamon roll effect.  Seal off ends - place on greased cookie sheet seam down.  Brush with olive oil and add additional parmesan and seasoning.  Cook in 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until dough is browned.  Allow several minutes to cool - slice into 1 1/2 inch slices, serve with alfredo sauce or pizza sauce. 

*I use the fresh, pre-made dough from my local fruit market.  They also carry a whole wheat version!