A Super Snack for the Super Bowl

No Super Bowl party is complete without snacks! Ask the majority of men what to make though, and they'll tell you: forget the veggie tray and bring on the meat. But there is a way to make a great tasting snack that has meat and is healthy. The trick is to hide the vegetables by wrapping them in the meat! (I'm actually serious.)

 Ham & Celery Rolls - Makes 20 regular servings or 40 mini servings

Ingredients:
2 bags of celery
1 container of cream cheese
2 packages (containing 10 slices each) of rectangular-shaped ham
1 jar of Spanish (green) olives

You'll also need toothpicks, so don't forget to pick some up at the store if you don't already have them!

This recipe is cheap, easy, quick and absolutely delicious. These never last more than half an hour when I put them out for a group, and you're not only giving your body a satisfying meat-snack, but you're sneaking in a veggie that has a lot of antioxidants and is great for your digestive tract. As an added bonus, celery leaves you feeling full and satisfied, which means that you'll be less likely to gorge yourself on calorie-drenched foods later. Want to make this snack as low-cal as possible? Substitute the cream cheese for neufchâtel cheese and purchase extra-lean ham from the deli counter.

Here is a quick video of me demonstrating how to make them. Sorry about my little one crying in the background towards the end, I'll try and get an updated version of this clip out soon - preferably one with a better video camera!

When you're finished making your rolls, the celery bag makes a great trash bag to pick up all the celery pieces that you don't want. As for the celery bundle itself, there will always be stalks that were too small to use for this recipe. Chop these up and stick them in the freezer to use in soups or stir-frys later. I like to keep the ruffled tops of the celery to toss into a pot anytime I am making homemade broth. Just remember to use them if you keep them - there's no sense in trying to be thrifty and filling your freezer full of odds & ends if you never remember to use them up!