Superbowl Eats

The big game is this weekend! Are you going to watch....the commercials? That's about all I really care about this year, and even half of those I have already seen online. Being the advertising industry, I do find it fascinating how much money is spent for 15 seconds and that the payoff is great enough to come back and spend more the next year!

Anyways, I will be heading to a friends to watch the game on Sunday night and we are going to bring over chili cheese dip. This is probably one of the easiest, but tastiest dips to make. One can hormel chili (beans or without doesn't make a difference) and half of log of Velveeta. Chop up the velveeta to help it melt easier and set the crockpot on low to let it get all melty and gooey. Serve with tortilla chips.

Sorry I don't have a picture of that to share of my own but I found this one online from Hormel


And here are some other tried and true favorites of mine - Bacon wrapped Parmesan Crackers. These do take a few hours in the oven to make sure to give yourself enough lead time.

Put foil in the bottom of a jelly roll pan and then put cooling racks in the pan. Cover the racks with Club or Townhouse style crackers. Next put a teaspoon of grated Parmesan on top of each cracker and wrap a half piece of bacon around the cracker so that barely any cracker is visible. Repeat until you are out of bacon or crackers.

These cook "low and slow" 250 degrees for two hours. The bacon will be crispy and the cracker will have absorbed a lot of the grease. These are a huge hit and I bet you can't eat just one. Here are the full directions from my favorite blogger and TV show - Ree Drummond, Pioneer Woman. 

This next one is really fun and something I came up with before seeing the popularity of this on Pinterest -- Chicken and Waffle Sliders. I bought mini frozen waffles, a huge tray of chicken tenders from Sam's Club. I created my own "nugget" breading and cooked them off in the oven. I'm sure chicken nuggets from the frozen section would work just as good.

 Toast up the waffles and assemble. Use a warming tray or serve immediately.

I offered Syrup, BBQ and Ranch for dipping and the overall favorite was Syrup!

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts are a huge hit as well - anything with bacon really is. Here is the recipe we follow to make these bad boys!

And if these aren't enough for you, here are a few past blog posts of mine with more recipes:

Packers Playoff Game Snacks
Game Day Snacks
Party Snacks
Touchdown Deviled Eggs

From the Books: Chicken Enchilada Dip

My aunt and her family had my parents and I over for our own little Christmas with my grandparents from that side of the family just before New Year's. My dad is from a family of 11 and it's really hard to get everyone together in one house on one day anymore. So we were invited over to her house because my dad is their daughter's godfather.

We whipped together an olive dip from a mix I bought from a Tastefully Simple and added extra olives and veggie cheese spread to it to make more of it. My aunt too had cheese, sausage, spreadable cheese so we are definitely from Wisconsin :) and then this amazing chicken Enchilada Dip. One bite and I was hooked.

I asked her for the recipe right away and knew I had to make it for my friends soon. The rest of the party food consisted of salad, amazing lasagna, rolls, buttered carrots and cocktails. It was a merry time had by all. After dinner we munched on Oreo cake, cookies and dodged remote control helicopters that my cousins received from my grandparents. Many laughs were had that night and everyone really enjoyed themselves.

I was invited to a Super Bowl party this past weekend and instantly knew what I was going to bring, but I couldn't find the recipe. Luckily my dad met his brother (my uncle) for breakfast this week and I was able to get another copy of the recipe. Aunt Marianne to save the day!!!! (I didn't realize it until the second copy that it was from TasteofHome, so I could have found it online, but I wanted to make sure that I made the right one as it was soooooo good!

I boiled up a few chicken breasts and then spent a long time shredding up the chicken to the consistency that I liked.

I decided instead of using a package of pre-mixed taco seasoning to make one of my own that is a go-to from AllRecipes.com. Being that my mom and I just organized her spice cabinets, I knew that we had everything in the house. I paid my weekly ode to Penzey's and made the mix myself.

 

As for the dip, mix everything together minus the chips, nuke it for a few minutes and you are ready to serve with chips on the side.

 

 

I took a taste test bite and Kablammy!!!!! My tastebuds were on fire!!! The chili powder that I used was Hot, not mild and I couldn't handle it. I didn't even add the entire can of green chilies either! But I do have more sensitive buds than most. Some people at the party might have liked it like that, but I knew there were other buffalo chicken dishes and wanted to lower the amount of spice at the party a bit.

I opened the fridge and saw cream cheese, more cheddar cheese and then brought along sour cream. It was the perfect spice then.

The dip was a huge hit at the party as well as the BBQ pulled chicken, chili, bacon wrapped lil' smokies and taco dip. There was also buffalo pulled chicken but everyone said that one was too spicy. Chris (co-host) was a joker and chopped extra jalapenos and ghost peppers for toppings if anyone wanted it.

While we munched, we also played commercial Bingo for the Super Bowl. It was a fun game to liven up the game seeing as the Packers weren't playing. However the lights going out definitely added to the excitement and the surge of the 49ers in the second half.

PS - Once Upon a Vine wines are pretty spectacular for an easy drinking red wine. The Big Bad Red and Charming Pinot are both very delicious. I didn't try the Chardonnay (The Fairest) or Sauvignon Blanc (Glass Slipper) and I'm having a hard time finding them in the area besides one store in Big Bend. These just increase my obsession with the show Once Upon A Time on Sunday nights on ABC. See our Halloween party themed after the show -- I was the Evil Queen all in black in the back.

Playoff Apps: Pickle & Olive Rolls

As the Packers have now clinched the Wild Card and are in the Playoffs, it's time to talk appetizers for Packer Parties!!!! Next week Saturday. the Game is at 6:30 CST! Where are you going to be for the game? I'll be babysitting my little nephew Alex and we will be cheering on the Green and Gold together with Grandma and Grandpa.

Something that is present at almost every Packer Party I go to are pickle rolls and ham roll ups. They are quick and simple and I almost always have the ingredients in the house. I made them for New Year's Eve and they were enjoyed by all!

Pickle Rolls

1 jar of small/medium pickles (not midgets, but just small ones) I often buy Milwaukee brand.
8 oz. light cream cheese, softened
2 packages of Buddig meat or any other lunch meat (I used ham & beef)

Separate the slices of meat and dry them off with paper towel to soak up any wetness. With a knife, spread a thin layer of cream cheese evenly over the piece of lunch meat. Take a pickle and put it on the edge of the ham/beef and roll the cream cheese and meat around the pickle.


TIPS:

If the pickle rolls are larger, I cut them on half and then you have more for the platter.

The beef was something that I learned from my holiday party at my job. I usually only used ham, but the Buddig beef added great flavor.


Ham Roll Ups

I have blogged about these before. This time I used my mini processor as it isn't that much food to chop up and that little thing is so handy. I didn't have onion flakes (or I couldn't find where they ended up after my move) so I used onion powder.

Because the Buddig meat is a little thinner of a meat, I had to be careful when spreading the mixture as to not tear the meat. I foudn dipping the knife in water before spreading the cream cheese really helped. Instead of cutting them in little 1 inch section, I cut them in half and stuck a tooth pick in them so people could grab them easily.

TIP:
It's easier to cut them if they have been in the refrigerator for about an hour after rolling them. Use a serrated knife.

Uncut Buddig ham & beef rolls