Football Season is here! And along with the season comes sports bars, beer, and chicken wings. For years, my husband’s weight would fluctuate twice a year. In his never-ending effort to not lose control of his weight, he would usually start dieting and exercising in January, right after the holidays, and hold steady until his birthday in March. He would average between 15 and 20 LBS of weight loss. Then once he started looking better, he would slow down the working out and dieting and hold the weight steady until FANTASY FOOTBALL SEASON…where he would ultimately make exception after exception until the weight creeped right back up and by the Holidays he had lost control and had to start over again in January. The process was exhausting for him….and for me. Because the truth is that the fluctuation affects not only his weight, but his attitude and disposition, and really the whole family would sense the change.

Well Pilers…Orlando is starting his First Fantasy Football season with his new lifestyle. No, he did not quit his 2 leagues or ban football from our home, he’s just decided to ride the wave of the season by being smart about his decisions. Will he cheat? Probably. Maybe he’ll drink a little more beer than he does throughout the rest of the year. And maybe he’ll go to the sports bars more often to watch the game with his friends. But the goal is for his diet to stay the same. And for whatever the reason, it seems so much easier this time around. Maybe its because eating vegetables have become so much a part of his life that he doesn’t consider it dieting anymore. Maybe its because he’s lost 50 Ibs instead of 15 and that has given him a new lease on life. All I know is that I have been cautiously waiting to see how this season will unfold and so far, my husband has continued going to the gym and eating right….despite Sunday, Monday, and Thursday games!!!! I am so very proud of him.

So, in honor of the season, he had a great idea… let’s make healthy chicken wings at home! We had my father in law here that day hanging out with us and the kids and when he tried Orlando’s wings for the first time he was blown away!!!!! To be honest we ate only the wings and didn’t add chips or fries to the mix. But they were so delicious we really didn’t even think of the side dishes. And they filled us up so much that we went out that night and could not eat dinner. We were stuffed. The whole process was a complete success and we can only hope that you enjoy the wings as much as we did. Can someone say HEALTHY SUPERBOWL!!!!! The least we can do is try!

So on to the recipe, Here is what we did:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• 20 chicken wings chopped in half (makes 40 wings)
• Drizzle olive oil on the chicken wings
• Season with Salt, Paprika, Chili Powder, and Sazon Completo (no measurements needed just eyeball it)
• Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet and line up wings
• Bake 30 minutes,  flip wings to the other side
• Raise temperature to 425degrees and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Total baking time = 1hour.
• 15 minutes prior to the end of the 1 hour, make the onions.

Preparation of Chicken Wings Onion Topping

• 2 shallots (chopped) and 2 1/2 medium Onions sliced
• Sautee until caramelized
• Deglaze with Marsala wine for a nice sweetness
• Add 4 garlic cloves at the very end and sautee for another 3 minutes.

Final Preparation

• Take out chicken wings and let them rest on a drip pan. (We use a resting pan and put paper towel under it so it acts as a drip pan, and all the grease can drip to the bottom)
• Toss onions and chicken wings in a bowl.
• Serve on a platter.
  

  Baked Chicken Wings topped with Sauteed Onions, Shallots and Garlic