Guilt-Free Party Bites (Buffalo Bites, Blue Cheese Dip & my Famous Guac)

We had sort of a pre-Super Bowl party since our good pal Luke came over earlier this afternoon since he had other plans for the actual Super Bowl and Jake wanted to see his "Uncle Hoot" (as he calls him). I love trying out new recipes on people other than Justin, especially Luke, because I feel like he really appreciates my cooking (that's why I always send him home with a bunch of goodies).

I saw a recipe for Buffalo chicken bites a few weeks ago floating around Facebook so I had saved it and made a few alterations to make it my own. I added a Greek yogurt, blue cheese dip I've made in the past for dipping the bites along with some veggies. And of course I had to make my world famous blue cheese guacamole, which is always a huge hit with Justin & Luke...and anybody else who has tried it.

I realize there is quite a bit of blue cheese incorporated into this spread! If you aren't a fan of blue cheese, you could definitely leave it out of any of these recipes.

We all enjoyed our little pre-Super Bowl party bites & they didn't weigh us down, leaving us room to have an extra beer or 2 during the game this evening. Go Broncos!

Buffalo Chicken Balls

INGREDIENTS:
- 1lb Lean Ground Chicken
- 1 large egg
- 1/3c plain bread crumbs
- 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4c reduced fat blue cheese crumbles (I always get the Giant Eagle brand)
- 2tbsp green onion, chopped
- 1/2c Franks Red Hot Buffalo Sauce

HOW-TO:
Preheat your oven to 350*. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Roll out into medium sized balls and place on a cookie sheet. You should get about 28 bites. Bake the bites for 30 minutes.

TIPS:
- I think this recipe would be great with any of your favorite wing flavors. I think I will try a spicy garlic or hot BBQ variation next time I make these.
- This is really high in sodium because of the sauce I chose. If you want to cut the sodium, look for an alternative sauce. If you find one you like with less sodium, please let me know!

Nutritional Info Per Serving (recipe yields 4 servings - 7 bites per serving):
- Calories: 208
- Fat: 12g
- Sodium: 1,072mg
- Protein: 25g
- Carbs: 8g

Greek Yogurt Blue Cheese Dip

INGREDIENTS:
- 8oz plain Greek Yogurt (I use the Oikos brand)
- One (1) 4oz package of reduced fat Blue Cheese crumbles
- 1tbsp light mayo (I use Hellmans)
- 1tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2tsp garlic powder
- 1/2tsp dill weed

HOW-TO:
Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl & serve alongside the Buffalo chicken bites and your favorite veggies.

TIPS:
- This is a great dip to make to bring as a snack with your favorite veggies for lunch throughout the week.

Nutritional Info Per Serving (recipe yields 8 servings - 2tbsp per serving):
- Calories: 60
- Fat: 3g
- Sodium: 155mg
- Protein: 7g
- Carbs: 1g

My World Famous Guacamole

INGREDIENTS:
- 3 avocados
- 1 medium onion, seeded and chopped
- 3 medium jalapenos, seeded and chopped
- 5 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 3 handfuls of fresh cilantro
- the juice of 2 fresh limes
- 4oz reduced fat blue cheese crumbles

HOW-TO:
I don't have a guacamole kit so I just put the avocados in a bowl and mash them with a potato masher. Next, put the onions, jalapenos, garlic, and cilantro in a food processor and grind them up until all of the ingredients are finely minced together. Add these ingredients to the avocado. Add lime juice & blue cheese crumbles and mix all of the ingredients together. Serve immediately with your favorite chips!

TIPS:
- Serve immediately since guacamole will turn brown after sitting for a while
- If you don't like spicy, cut out some of the jalapenos to tone it down
- When choosing your avocados, make sure they are ripe. They will be somewhat soft, but not too soft.
- Choose a baked or healthy variation of tortilla chips. I got the Simply Balanced organic blue corn tortilla chips with flax seed from Target.

Nutritional Info Per Serving (recipe yields 8-10 servings - 2tbsp per serving):
- Calories: 140
- Fat: 11g
- Sodium: 116mg
- Protein: 5g
- Carbs: 7g