I don’t know about you, but Fall = Football = FUN FOOD! Even if you aren’t the biggest fan of the game, you probably associate football games with certain foods – a pretzel from the concession stand at the high school game, a beer and hot dog at the stadium, or pizza & wings & chili watching the game at home.

For me that food is NACHOS!

If someone asks, what’s your last-meal-on-earth-all-time-favorite-when-nutrition-doesn’t-matter food, mine is a platter of FULLY loaded nachos! My kids know it and share the love! Last Sunday when the games were on and we were getting close to dinner time, I just couldn’t bring myself to serve nachos for dinner. Though, don’t get me wrong, I have done that in the past. We had some veg in the fridge that would work to power up the nutrition of traditional nachos – into a taco salad, of sorts.

Now, if I’d served my family a salad for dinner, especially when games are on, no one would eat it. BUT – choose the right toppings and rim the plate with tortilla chips and they have their personal plate of mom-approved nachos!

Here’s the game-plan (a.k.a. recipe)

• Chopped romaine lettuce
• guacamole (or mash avocado and premade salsa)
• black beans
• chopped tomato
• black olives
• diced bell pepper
• cheese (optional)
• jalapeno slices (optional)
• Tortilla chips

Easy and simple, right? But presentation is key. It has to look like nachos, or again, just salad. Instead of just serving them on the side, arrange the tortilla chips around the outside of the plate sticking out from under the lettuce so it looks like there’s a layer of chips under it all. Encourage the fam to eat it using the chips as a scoop for the toppings – like nachos – so be sure to chop all the topping small.

Winner – Winner – Nachos for dinner! Worked in my house, hope it works for you too!