Sure I am a Florida Gator fan, but a far bigger fan of Jesus!  Whether you a Gator fan or not, it's hard not to be a fan of Gator quarterback Tim Tebow.  There has been controversy surrounding the Super Bowl this year due to the Focus On The Family commercial featuring Tim Tebow's story.  The commercial is very sweet, and certainly nothing controversial, in my opinion. 

If you missed the video, here's a link to the Focus on the Family website so that you can see it, and a great follow-up video with Tim's parents. 

I think that you'll love hearing Tim's miracle story, and how much of a difference you can make as a parent.  I hope this encourages you today! 

We would love to hear how you encourage your kids....

OREO BALLS! Congratulations to Jennifer N for her winning recipe voted on by YOU! Due to popular demand, below you will find the recipes for each of the top 5 finalists. The rest of the recipes can be found in the comments section of THIS post. Without further ado...

Oreo Balls

Ingredients
8 oz cream cheese, softened
18 oz Nabisco Oreos

1 package Almond Bark

Instructions

Twist Oreos and take apart

Scrape cream from cookies and put into a large bowl. Add cream cheese to bowl and cream together

Put remainder of cookies into Ziploc and seal. Use a rolling pin to finely crush

Add finely crushed cookies to creamed mix and stir

Roll into 1 inch balls and chill

Melt almond bark

Dip cookie balls into almond bark and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet

Let set and enjoy

Makes about 3-4 dozen.

Deep Fried Avocados

Halve an avacado. Fill hollow pit with sour cream and salsa (or pico de gallo), dip whole thing in egg and tempura batter, fry in oil until golden. On plate, sprinkle fiesta style cheese and black olive bits, drizzle with chipotle dressing and top with fresh cilantro - BEST THING EVER!!! (To save money if you have a large group, quarter the avadados - just as wonderful!) 

~Submitted by Alicia M.

Armadillo Eggs

• 24 jalapeno peppers

• 1 pound Jimmy Dean sage bulk sausage

• 2 cups Bisquick

• 1 (16 ounce) package Cheddar cheese, Shredded • 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes • 1 tablespoon garlic salt • 1 (16 ounce) package Monterey Jack cheese, cubed (or) a couple pkgs of cream cheese.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking sheet. Cut a slit in each jalapeno pepper. Remove and discard seeds and pulp. In a medium bowl, mix sausage, baking mix, Cheddar cheese, crushed red pepper, and garlic salt. Stuff jalapenos with the Monterey Jack cheese cubes. Shape sausage mixture around the jalapenos to form balls. Arrange jalapeno balls on the prepared baking sheet. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned.

~Submitted by Laurie J.

Sopapilla Cheesecake!

Ingredients:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls 

3/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/4 cup honey

Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a bowl with a mixer. Set aside. Unroll and press 1 can of crescent roll dough in bottom of 13x9" glass baking dish. Spread cream cheese mixture on top evenly. Arrange second can of crescent roll dough on top of mixture to cover cream cheese. Melt stick of butter in microwave. Pour butter on top of crescent rolls. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture over all. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes in preheated oven. Once it is golden brown, take it out and allow to cool, then drizzle honey over the top. Notes: You can eat this warm or cold. I prefer to eat it warm. This recipe is always a hit. When I serve or take it, I usually take the recipe with me to share. Number of Servings: Serves 8-12

~Submitted by Courtney B.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

I LOVE Buffalo Chicken Dip for ANY get together. It's low carb & the ladies love that! You can also make it low fat if you buy fat free/low fat ingredients. Even better! If you like buffalo wings, this is a super easy way to serve a large crowd. I've taken this to everything from PTA luncheons to the neighborhood Bunco parties and everyone always asks for the recipe! Ingredients 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 1 cup Ranch OR Blue Cheese dressing (I use blue cheese) 3/4 cup pepper sauce (such as Frank's Red Hot®, plus extra for cooking the chicken 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese 1 bunch celery, cleaned and cut into 4 inch pieces 1 (8 ounce) box crackers Directions 1.Rinse chicken and place in stock pot with water, add some Franks Red Hot Sauce, and bring to boil. Cover with a lid, reduce heat to Medium-High, and boil until done. About 10-15 mins. Remove chicken from water and let cool for about 5 minutes. 2. While the chicken is still warm, shred it using a fork or chop it in a food processor. 3. In a clean pan/pot place the shredded chicken and hot sauce and heat on medium until warm, add cream cheese & dressing. Cook, stirring until well blended and warm. 4. Add in half of the shredded cheddar cheese and stir until it's all melted and mixed in well. 5. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top, cover, and cook on Low until it's hot and bubbly. 6. Serve with celery sticks and crackers.

~Submitted by Sarah W.

ENJOY!!

We had a hard time narrowing down the winning Superbowl recipe.  WE need your help!!!

Here are the 5 Finalists!!!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Deep Fried Avacados

Oreo Balls

Armadillo Eggs

Sopapilla Cheesecake

Which one should WIN???

Healthier Super Bowl

Christine’s Guiltless Nachos, click here for the recipe.  www.christineavanti.com

Super Bowl Sunday is one of my favorite food events of the year.   However, most of the snacks football fans enjoy are loaded with unhealthy fats that come from mayonnaise, cream cheese and sour cream.  Sadly, these fats stick to our blood vessels and clog our arteries which can lead to heart disease.

Here are some simple food swaps that will reduce the “bad” fat (saturated fat) content of your favorite super bowl recipe:

Salsa instead of cream based dip.

Guacamole (good fat) instead of queso dip.

Sub sandwich instead of pizza.

Baked or Popped chips instead of fried chips. (Popchips are yummy.)

Fruit platter instead of a cheese platter.

Air-popped popcorn instead of nuts. (Nuts are a "good" fat but very high in calories.)

Use non fat plain Greek yogurt instead of mayo or sour cream for making dip.

Swaps for recipes that call for mayo, cream cheese, sour cream and cheddar cheese.

Light Mayonnaise 3.5 grams fat

Instead of

Mayonnaise 10 grams fat

Serving size: 1 Tbsp.

Light Cream Cheese 4.5 gm fat

Non-fat Cream Cheese 0 gm fat

Instead of

Cream Cheese  9 gm fat

Serving size: 1 ounce

Light Sour Cream 2.5 gm fat

Non-fat sour cream 0 gm fat

Instead of

Sour cream 5 gm fat

Serving size: 2 tablespoons

Light Cheddar Cheese 4.5 gm fat

Non-fat cheddar cheese 0 gm fat

Instead of

Cheddar Cheese 9 gm fat

Serving size: 1 ounce