Game 4: NY Giants @ Packers
Street Vendor Pretzels
Pregame
After the bye week, the Packers will be back to near full strength. Sam Shields, Damarius Randall and Jared Cook will be out, but much improved over the decimation the previous game.
The Packers need to on guard against The Giants. Eli Manning has ruined their playoffs twice at Lambeau Field and has a QB rating of 105 in their last 4 games meetings. Look out for OBJ(Odell Beckham Jr) to have a big game after poor outings and controversy over his play and attitude.
Recipe/Food
Street Vendor Pretzels
Ingredients:
1 bag of refrigerated whole wheat pizza dough (I used Trader Joe's)
Whole wheat flour
Water
Kosher salt (optional)
Earth Balance Vegan Spread (optional)
Condiments for dipping
(Pizza Sauce, Mustard, Ginger Chutney Sauce, BBQ Sauce, Vegan Queso, etc....)
Directions:
Dust a rolling surface with a small amount of whole wheat flour. Roll the pizza dough into a large circle. Cut into long strips and roll into desired thickness and then form into the shape of pretzels. Spray lightly with water and sprinkle on kosher salt if desired.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Once you remove them from the oven you can brush them with a little Earth Balance Vegan spread if you like. We did not do this on ours and they tasted great.
Grab your favorite condiments and begin dipping. We used Trader Joe's pizza sauce and Mango Ginger Chutney as well as plain mustard.
These are a great alternative to the highly processed pretzels you see street vendors selling in New York! These are great to enjoy while you are watching the game.
Health Tip
Whole Grains
When using whole grains, you want to choose ones that are the least processed and organic if possible. Whole grains use the entire kernel. The grain needs to be listed as the first ingredient and referred to as: whole, stone ground, or just the grain by itself especially when looking at wheat.
Examples of the most popular whole grains are:
- Brown Rice
- Wheat
- Oats
- Barley
- Corn
- Rye
- Buckwheat
- Quinoa(technically a seed)
- Millet
- Amaranth
Grains tend to get a bad reputation but they are anything but. Processed grains what you need to look out for. These typically have the outer shell of the grain removed to either make it a more uniform color or shelf stable for several years. The outer shell(germ) is where a lot of the nutrients are.
Processed(refined) grains are sometimes referred to as enriched(synthetic vitamins and minerals are added back in that were taken away with the germ). Foods that people tend to refer to as high carb usually have these highly refined/processed and high glycemic grains. The body sees these as near sugar-like and will spike blood sugar and are usually high in calories at the same time. Also added to highly processed grains are a whole host of other unhealthy things like: sugar, oils, salt, artificial ingredients, and preservatives.
Whole grains are more nutrient dense and it takes the body much longer to digest which will help with weight management. Think slow, long lasting vs. fast burn energy.
Game Recap
Packers win 23-16!The game wasn't as close as the final score indicates with the Giants scoring a TD late and FG's for the rest of their scores. The Packers dominated time of possession in the 1st Qtr 13:03 to 1:57 but ended with an Aaron Rodger's pick on a deflection. The Packer's defense held up great despite their top two corners down. They held the Giants to a paltry 43 yds rushing and Odell Beckham to 56 yds. Job well done D!
Rodgers had another pick in the 2nd qtr on a low pass but was overall very good. James Starks had several dropped passes on screens and an almost costly fumble in the last minutes. Eddie Lacey had a great night rushing before exiting with an ankle injury. Randall Cobb was the star receiver with 9 grabs but Davante Adams had an impressive 5 grabs. The offensive line was also great great keeping Rodgers mostly clean with only 3 hits.
Until next week when the Cowboys visit Green Bay,
Be well,
David
