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Some of my super bowls:

I couldn’t resist.

Dustin and I aren’t into football at all, so we watched a few of the commercials, but that’s about it. I was busy creating yumminess in my personal super bowls!

I had a bad sodium weekend. Ok, 4-day weekend if you count Thursday and Friday, haha. I got into all things salty: olives, a WHOLE jar of Pace picante, pretzel sticks, and more. I way overdid it and paid the price; I gained several pounds of water weight like it was my job! I have no problem gaining oodles of water weight from ODing on sodium. It’s frustrating, especially because things like olives and salsa are generally low in calories. I don’t know why I delude myself into thinking that I can have just a few of olives from the olive bar, I always end up eating ALL of them. When will I learn? lol

I love all the Pace picante samples Foodbuzz + Pace sent me, and I just received another one the other day, but it’s crazy high in sodium: 250mg for 2 TBSP! And what the heck is 2 TBSP of salsa? A lick? lol So wish they’d make a lower or no salt added version. That would rock! They’d have my business forever being the rest of the ingredients are 100% wholesome.

In the meantime, I decided to have a go at making homemade salsa. A Pace clone, if you will.

So easy to make! Not any harder than making a pot of tomato sauce.

Low Sodium Salsa

Ingredients:

4 (8oz) cans no salt added tomato sauce
1 can no salt added diced tomatoes with juice
1 (16oz) can no salt added peeled tomatoes with juice, diced
2 jalapeno peppers with seeds, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 cup water
1/2 cup white distilled vinegar
1-2 TBSP minced garlic
Garlic powder to taste
Salt substitute, optional

Method:

In a saucepan, add in onions, jalapeno peppers, and water; cook until onions are softened
Add in vinegar, garlic, garlic powder, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and peeled tomatoes. If peeled tomatoes are whole, chop them up into medium chunks.
Cook on medium for about 15-20 minutes, stirring often.
Let cool and refrigerate.

Note: Add another jalapeno pepper in for spicier salsa; less for mild

Tastes almost identical to Pace picante! I added in some AlsoSalt salt substitute. Love it!

But my kitchen adventures didn’t stop there! I also made a batch of “babies,” as Katie likes to call them. After moving and redesigning Averie’s blog over at Love Veggies and Yoga and drooling over her yummy “ball” recipes, I knew it was finally time to take the plunge and make some babies!!

I’ll just call mine Chip Balls, lol.

I used gluten-free oats that I picked up on sale for $3.99 at Mother Earth’s ages ago.

And my nut of choice: MACADAMIA!! Good lawd, I could eat a pound of these. I probably did over weekend.

So simple, and you’ll save a ton of $$$$ on buying those pricey snack bars.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup oats
1 cup loosely packed pitted dates
1/2 cup macadamia nuts
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Method:

Add all ingredients except chocolate chips to food processor, blender, or other mixer
When dough forms, scoop it out into a bowl and hand-mix in chocolate chips
Roll little balls, then cover and place in fridge to chill for awhile

Makes 12-14 balls

YUM!

While I cooked up a storm, the kitties ODed on catnip

Look at him. Covered in catnip, passed out. We should rename him Charlie and audition him for Two and a Half Kitties.

What’s one of the tastiest things to put in a super bowl? Chili!

I was excited to finally try this organic palm shortening I bought a few weeks ago:

It has a high smoke point (450F) which made it a delight to cook with.

White Bean Turkey Chili

Ingredients:

1.25 lbs ground turkey breast
2 TBSP oil or other fat (palm, olive oil, etc.)
1 can white beans with juice
4 (8oz) cans tomato sauce
1 can no salt added diced tomatoes, with juice
1 cup water
3 small or 1 very large onion, sliced
1 TBSP minced garlic
1/4 cup chili powder or to taste
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste
1/4 cup garlic powder or to taste
2 TBSP cumin or to taste
Black pepper to taste
Salt to taste

Method:

Saute onions and garlic in oil until softened; add in ground turkey (crumbled) and cook thoroughly, stirring often. Sprinkle turkey with a bit of chili powder and cumin and salt if desired.
Add in tomatoes and tomato sauce, spices, water; stir well
Add in beans last, stir together
Cover and let simmer on low for about 30 minutes.

Makes 8-12 servings

SO GOOD!! I topped mine with white cheddar cheese and fresh avocado. Mmmm! Perfecto! I usually make chili that’s pretty thick, so this was the first time I made a thinner version. I liked it a lot, makes it more like soup when it’s thinner. YUM!

Question: What’s your favorite kind of chili? I haven’t met a chili that I don’t like!

So now I’m back to doing Intermittent Fasting after my sodium binge. Today is my first day resuming it and I’m on hour 17 of my fast. Time to make some yummy for my tummy. heh

Tagged as: chili, dinner, homemade salsa, raw dough balls, recipes, salsa, snacks, Super Bowl Sunday, turkey chili recipe, vegan snacks

{ 6 comments }

1 Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga) Twitter: avericooks February 8, 2011 at 6:50 AM: Omg the goodness of this post just goes on and on!

“And what the heck is 2 TBSP of salsa? A lick? “—LOL and SO TRUE!!!

I am ridic!! sodium sensitive and cannot handle sodium at all. Seriously i retain water for days…my body just doesnt do well with sodium and i love the salsa you came up with.

And the chili!

And the print recipe feature

And the bowls you have…omg I need to come shop in your kitchen. I love cute dishes!

But most of all…the balls! Thanks for the linky love. And glad you came up with some choc chip balls! Mac nuts. They are pricier than cashews (i think ?!) but i bet would be marvelous in dough balls. Nice!!!!!!
2 Katie February 8, 2011 at 7:59 AM: Jenn!

First off, thanks for stopping by my bloggie ; ) I love when I find a new blog and friend ; ) your blog is pretty sweet! I am happy to be able to enjoy it, Love the print recipe feature! I have seen other bloggers with that, and I think it’s such a cool idea!

Sodium stinks, lol! I agree with you on that! How fun to be an only child too! I hope you have a great day! I love salsa!!!!! Its seriously the best!
3 Gina (The Candid RD) February 8, 2011 at 8:33 AM: You’ve got a fabulous blog here!! And, thanks for stopping by mine.
The balls sound amazing, hehe
4 chocolate-covered katie Twitter: ChocCoveredKt February 8, 2011 at 8:56 AM: Mmmmm I love macadamia nuts and wish they weren’t so gosh-darned expensive.

P.S. I just read that you did Averie’s site. It looks awesome! I loved it as soon as I saw it. Good work, girlie .
5 Melissa February 8, 2011 at 11:10 AM: That Salsa looks delish! I’ll have to try it!
6 (what runs) Lori Twitter: serve 5siteept February 8, 2011 at 6:58 PM: I like your balls. hehe (I couldn’t resist either!) But seriously, love that you posted super bowls… I like your sense of humor. Not to mention all your food on here! YUM!

-whatrunslori.com