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

Wisconsin Dells Part 1

My guy and I took a long weekend and did a mini getaway to Wisconsin Dells. We left shortly after 1 pm on Friday and figured we would stop for lunch when we started heading north. My guy says that when you are vacation, you should try someplace new and not go to the franchises to help add to the vacation experience. I agreed completely. So, we stopped for lunch at the Rodeside Grill in Windsor, WI.

The area around the restaurant looks like it's under construction but the restaurant has been there for a few years. The inside reminded me of a log cabin with a lot of wood everywhere and the tables were decorated with different themes--we were at the Christmas table.

We spent some time looking through the menu and deciding what was going to satisfy us for the rest of the journey. My guy ordered the Blue Gill Basket - very fitting with it being Friday. The basket came with plenty of blue gill pieces, french fries and tartar sauce. I had a few bites and the fish fell apart nicely. The breading was light and crispy and didn't overpower the fish. This was a great choice.

I selected the San Fransisco Chicken Sandwich that had guacamole, mozzarella and a cilantro cream. This sandwich was a little messy to eat, but it was delicious. The cilantro cream is what set this sandwich apart from the many other chicken sandwiches I have had in my life. It was light and added a different flavor. I couldn't finish the whole sandwich because it was so big. We both agreed the fries were great too - nice and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. 

With full, happy bellies, we continued north to Wisconsin Dells. My guy hadn't been to the Dells in quite sometime, but I am very familiar with the city. I got off at the first exit and took him through town so he could see all the changes. And then we arrived at our B&B - the White Rose Inns.

The White Rose Inns is a combination of B&B houses and a motel. It's set off the strip on the north end of town. Across the alleyway is a nice park and on the other side is the Wisconsin River.

 We stayed in The Gate House and the Lily Room which was an upstairs one room suite with a fireplace, recliners and a small deck.

 View from the deck of the Wisconsin River.

Because we were still full from lunch, we decided to do some exploring of the area. We checked out the river first.

We noticed a boat tour on the river and noted that we needed to find some more information on that when we were out and about. We went back to the strip and found an information booth about the Upper Dells Boat Tours (amongst the hundreds of t-shirt shops, fudge shops and old fashioned photo stores). The sales woman was very informative and told us about three different trips the boats take 1) a voyage where you dock twice and check out the natural area 2) a dinner boat that goes up and down the river 3) the ghost tour that you dock and walk on land in the dark and get scared.

 We decided to do the voyage where you dock twice and bought tickets for the next boarding.

Our boat was about half full so everyone was able to sit on the top to check out the views on a gorgeous evening. Our tour guide Gabe was very informative and although he had a lot of information to tell us, he didn't make it sound scripted at all.

We found out that the land on either side of the river was purchased many years ago for $1 an acre so that it would stay pristine and never be built on. Eventually the land was given to the state and now the DNR owns it so it will stay in its natural state. This is so awesome because in this day and age, people want to build up on beautiful land and that won't happen here.

 We went through some very narrow passages and our captain spun us around without an issue.

 We got really close to rocks in certain areas but never hit them.

The first area that we docked and went ashore was in the narrows with rocks towering over us. A boardwalk was built for us to walk over the natural waterfall and check it out. At the end is concession stand with a few snacks and restrooms.

The paths were narrow in spots and because it's all rock around us, the temperature was a lot cooler on shore.

Then it was back on the boat and across the river to another landing spot where we saw the Jumping German Sheppard of Juneau County. The story is that a gentleman took a picture of this rock and people didn't believe it was real. So he had his son jump it to prove that it was real and he many accolades for his photo. They don't use people anymore to jump it, but a German Shepherd that is trained to jump there and back. My video doesn't do it justice but this was pretty cool to see. The gap is over 5 feet wide.

At this stop on the trip, we talked with Gabe and asked him if he got sick of doing the same script over and over. He doesn't mind it and is really into the history. He grew up in the area and knew how to drive a boat so he joined the company and has been working for them ever since.

The trip back down the river was gorgeous with the sunset lighting up the rocks. Because we were the last tour of the day, we were out for a little over the two-hours that the tour typically lasts.

When we got back into town, we were pretty hungry so we checked out the strip near us and decided on Alabama's Dixiland Bar-BQ and Suds. We picked a table in the back and checked out the decor. All of the farming items on the wall are from someone's personal collection. The place was really decked out.

 While we perused the menu, we ordered a pitcher of beer.

You will notice there aren't many people in the restaurant, but we ate dinner really late. There were some people more towards the front and also seated outside.

I selected the pulled chicken with beans and fried okra for my dinner. The BBQ sauce had a nice kick to it and just look at all that chicken! The beans were very flavorful and our server suggested a dipping sauce for the okra because they don't have ranch. It was from their sister-business next door that was Cajun joint. It was a really good sauce.

My guy ordered half a chicken, potato salad, and corn fritters. The chicken fell right of the bone and he loved it. The corn fritters were so good too. The potato salad was a little different and had an olive in the top of it. But both of us left again very satisfied and were glad we picked something unique to try.

After dinner we walked back down the strip and watched a street performer and did a little people watching. The Dells definitely is a place for families to getaway for a nice weekend. We knew we had a big day ahead of us the next day, so we headed back to our room and relaxed for the rest of the night. Stay tuned for part two! 

Grilling in Wisconsin

The weather was just too wonderful last week to not take more advantage of being able to grill out. I searched through my Pinterest posts and found Greek Kabobs that sounded amazing and Pinot Noir Burgers. I had almost everything in the house for both of these and set to work.


First up the Greek Kabobs. I thawed out some chicken breasts that I had in the freezer, sliced them in to thin pieces and then threw them in a Ziploc bag with the marinade. I didn't have Greek Seasoning, but I had almost everything that comprises it and made it myself. I omitted the marjoram. I let the chicken marinate while I made the avocado tzatziki sauce. I also soaked the skewers at this time to help prevent them from burning so quickly on the grill.

The sauce came together really easily and my only substitution was sour cream for Greek yogurt because I didn't have any in the house. While I let the chicken marinate a little longer, I made my potato packets. Using my mandolin, I chopped up potatoes and carrots and sprinkled them with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add other spices if you would like.  Spray the aluminum foil with cooking spray and then add a dab of butter to the top of the pile.

 

Then seal it up tightly so the steam doesn't escape. This went on the grill before the chicken because it was going to take a bit longer.

 I threw the packets on the grill and skewered up the marinated chicken.

The directions said to only have them on the grill for 4 minutes per side, but I found that it took a lot longer to reach a safe consumption temp for me. Maybe their grill was hotter than mine. But when they were done, they smelled amazing. Notice the charring on the skewers - even with the water, they still burned.

Then it was time to unwrap the potatoes and serve up dinner. Everything was great. The chicken came off the skewer nicely and the tzatziki was nice and refreshing. The Greek flavors really came through the meal. And as always, the potato packet was delicious and filling.

Next up were the Pinot Noir Burgers. I didn't have Pinot Noir in the house, but I had a bottle of New Age red that I substituted. I sauteed the mushrooms and onions in some of the wine and then set those on the side.

The burgers were a little moist because of the added wine, so we formed them and then set them in the fridge to firm up a bit before grilling them. I would suggest next time to really mash the burger into a ball as they are still very moist and crumbly on the grill. None fell apart and I have always heard that over-mixing the meat can make a tough burger.

With the burger, I also grilled up some pineapple and more potato packets.

Then it was time to assemble. I had Swiss cheese that we put on the bottom bun, topped by theburger and then the mushrooms and onions over the top. We did add a little Miracle Whip to the top bun for added flavor.

All said and done, the burgers were cooked medium well and had really great flavor. The pineapple was a great treat and the potato packets are always a great addition.

I will keep this on my repertoire as another way to make a grilled burger. I made some great ones for a Packer party in Fall for my friends and I think this ranks right up there with them.