Game Day Snacking Ideas

March has a different meaning to everyone – for me it’s my birthday month and the arrival of Spring – outdoor activities and grilling season. For half of the country, it’s March Madness – the annual NCAA college basketball tournament which means nothing to me but I am all in for the game day food.  Recently, I received variety of meat products from True Story Foods, a company who values are rooted towards supporting family farms,  practice environmental stewardship, and most importantly create great community with good food. If you shop at Sprouts,  keep your eyes out because they recently launched their product there too. I was looking forward to grilling this past weekend utilizing products from True Story Foods like hot dogs/sausage but none of that happened. The temperature dropped down to 50 F and I enjoyed hot dogs and pizza indoors while finishing the last of House of Cards. Regardless of what you enjoy watching, be it basketball/football/Netflix/trashy reality tv shows- there’s always room for food..

Food such as pizza, hot-dogs, wings, and beer comes to my mind when I think of game-day food, all of which are not necessarily ‘healthy’ but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t touch it and only munch sad looking celery sticks with fat-free ranch. You can make “Game Day Foods’ nutritious by choosing the right ingredients, watching portion size, and pairing it with nourishing things to create a wholesome spread.

I don’t recommend eating hot dogs/lunch meat on a regular basis to anyone but when there are opportunities to give shout outs to companies like True Story Foods  that are persistently working towards providing better food, I will happily do that. I received oven roasted turkey breast and chicken breast, and a variety of hot dog/sausages, all of which I enjoyed differently as featured below.

Organic uncured chicken hot dog loaded with smashed avocado – while choosing the better hot dogs, always go for the ‘uncured’ kind as they use celery powder as a preservative! Regular hot dogs contain artificial nitrates and nitrites which are an area of concern (besides the fats and sodium). Natural sources of nitrites and nitrates found in many vegetables are not bad for us, it’s the synthetic type that is detrimental to our arteries and are also known to be carcinogenic. You can opt for 100% whole wheat buns (fiber!!!!) and avocado for an extra boost of nutrients.

We hardly ever order pizza anymore because we have mastered the art of ‘thin crust pizza’!!!! In my opinion, a game day or any TV binge session requires a pizza and you can easily do it at home with variety of veggies, cheese, and meat such as oven roasted chicken breast or keep it meatless.

All natural smoked turkey breast + avocado slices on a stick was my fav. of all. It was simple, refreshing, and something I could see making again. The sodium content per 2 oz is 280 mg compared to 400-500 mg in most brands.

And lastly spicy sausage chili – a dish with sautéed onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, chili pepper, and sausage along with ketchup or hot sauce. It’s a popular appetizer in Nepal and will be perfect for game day snacking!

If you are looking to purchase a better quality hot dog/turkey breast – I suggest you give True Story Foods a chance at your local Sprouts. And for those of you interested to try their product, leave a comment below telling me your fav game day snack. I will randomly pick one lucky reader and send coupons for free packs of product.

Thank you True Story Foods for your initiative towards better food and also giving me an opportunity to sample your products. I was not compensated for this post and all opinions are 100% mine as always!