Super Bowl Party Foods

Which team will win the Super Bowl on Sunday?  There are always some sports fans among my classroom kids who know the players and the teams. They even knew the team colors, can you believe that?  They all love Tom Brady and think he's going to be on the winning team.



We each cut out a football to "VOTE" for our Team! Go Team!

Well, we shall see.   I have a fun little challenge for my classroom kids.  Those who predict the winner correctly will win a football sweatband for their wrist.  Those that predict incorrectly get to do 12 pushups.    I have lost in years past. It wasn't pretty watching me trying to do PUSH-UPS EITHER!

Our class graph....looks like the Patriots might be the favorite!  

This easy baked brie has dried cherries and pecans and jam inside. I shape it like a football and then cover it with puff pastry. The recipe for the Baked Brie is HERE.  At the Pepperidge Farm Website you can also watch a video on how to make the Baked Brie. It is to die for Yummy as a cracker dip!

Super Bowl Baked Brie with Puff Pastry

I shaped my Baked Brie cheese like a football using the Pepperidge Farm  Frozen Puff Pastry

I put the letters on with the extra puff pastry. I fill it with raspberry jam, some brown sugar, pecans and dried cherries. I bake it till just before the Super Bowl starts.  Triscuits, Pretzel Ritz and Wheat Thins are good with it.....

Yummy baked brie with dried cranberries and pecans inside..

This yummy stuff is my black bean and corn and avocado salsa.  It's a really fresh and delicious SALSA. 

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

This yummy black bean salsa is made from black eyed peas OR black beans, white sweet corn, green pepper, avocado, tomato, cilantro and purple onion, with a few dashes of lime and Italian Salad Dressing and salt and pepper. It's a crowd pleaser with Tostitos and these yummy pretzel crackers. and very filling!

Cute little football player cupcakes would be so fun for the kids at a Super Bowl Party.....not to mention the big, male kids who are attending the party!!! lol..... you know who you are! 

HERE at the Family Fun website I found these cute cupcake football players I thought would be super cute to make for a Super Bowl Get together......M and Ms for the eyes and yellow buttons, black skinny licorice for the facemask.  Kids would LOVE these.

These football  cookies were from "On the Record Sports" and would be easy to make
from a chocolate cookie recipe....Only need a little icing in white!

Here at Luxe Finds was a cute way to do your  Super bowl 7 layer dip!

 I'd make the guacamole layer show on top and make lines from a piped bag of sour cream....then top with 2 colors of cherry tomatoes....so cute! 

Now here's my dipped strawberries...what if you added the white FOOTBALL laces in white chocolate on
top OF EACH chocolate strawberry....and removed the stems...wouldn't they look like footballs? Yeah they would....yum...another idea....

Here at Houston Press is a great recipe for making these cute football cupcakes for Super Bowl Sunday. 

Oh WOW.... these "football" shaped cupcakes look yummy AND EASY....

or make them as sugar cookies topped with chocolate icing and the white lacing....EASY PEASY!

Or you could do soft pretzels. Check them out HERE at Weekday Chef. They are yummy. I've made the pretzels shaped like pretzels or just as pretzel bites. They are a bit time consuming but not really all that hard 


Soft Pretzels:

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 package active dry yeast
3 ounces unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil
3 quarts water
3/4 cup baking soda
1 whole egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
Coarse sea salt

For the cheese sauce:
½ Tablespoon unsalted butter
½ Tablespoon all-purpose flour
½ cup milk
8 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated

Directions for Soft Pretzels 

Combine the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Add the salt and flour and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands.

Oil a bowl with vegetable oil, add the dough and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.

You boil them first, then bake them second. They turn out great every time! 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Bring the water to a boil in a large pot over high heat and add the baking soda.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 ounces each. Roll each piece into a long rope measuring 22 inches and shape. Cut the dough into one inch pieces to make the pretzel bites. Boil the pretzel bites in the water solution in batches. We did about 15 bites at a time. Boil for about 30 seconds. Remove with a large slotted spoon. Place pretzel bites on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Make sure they are not touching. Brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with the salt. 

Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown.

Those will be good Super Bowl Party foods, won't they?

They'll go nicely with PIGS IN A BLANKET  and CHICKEN WINGS FOR SURE! 

 SUPER BOWL PARTY.....COMING UP...! 



Brown Sugar Meatloaf

Sunday Dinner....Brown Sugar Meatloaf...
 I haven't done a meat loaf in awhile and I'm craving one on this cold winters day.  I learned  a few yummy recipes from my mother that I can remember her teaching me....I was a newlywed when I got this one....

Yummy brown sugar meatloaf....

 She didn't like us kids in the kitchen when she cooked. (Now of course I know why!) But I did learn how to make her meat loaf. It was delicious. I always loved meat loaf night.

The ketchup I use is always Heinz. It's the best!

The sugar/ketchup mixture....I had about a third of it to the mix before baking it....
.the rest is for topping it after it's baked awhile ...

 Sometimes she would add leftover cooked rice to the meat loaf recipe and roll the mix into meatballs and then call them porcupines. I loved those too. You could do that too. I added brown sugar to this recipe to ramp up the flavor even more. It makes it just that much better.

Vidalia Sweet Onions are the best in recipes...

I saute the onion a bit before adding it to the meatloaf....I don't love crunchy onions in my meatloaf!

 I always try to add sweet Vidalia onions or a sweet white onion when I can find them in the market. They are usually at Costco too. But sometimes I don't want a 20 pound bag of onions, you know?  

I use Johnny's and Lemon Pepper for seasoning my meatloaf....

Mix up meat, crackers, onions and about 1/3 of the sauce and 2 eggs, and spices....

The basic recipe is just ground beef,round or saltine crackers, eggs, ketchup, onions, brown sugar, season salt and pepper.  I toss in a little lemon pepper too.

Meatloaf before sauce....Just pour sauce on top after it's baked for 30 minutes...then bake another 30 minutes...

I have also made this recipe into 2 mini loaves and put one in the freezer  (topped with ketchup mixture) for another meal since there are only 2 of us now.  That makes a nice treat when you come home from work tired and hungry. You have one to just pop in the oven!  Serendipity! 

Here's the one I covered with foil and put into the freezer for sometime next  month....

RECIPE FOR MOM'S MEATLOAF (BROWN SUGAR ADDED)

I added a sweet potato and a side salad and raspberry jello with raspberries and blueberries for dinner.....

INGREDIENTS FOR BROWN SUGAR MEATLOAF

1/3 cup dark brown sugar 

3/4 cup ketchup       Mix these 2 ingredients and set aside

---------------------------------------------

1 1/2 lbs ground beef 

2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 Vidalia onion diced

3/4 teaspoon Lawry's Season Salt

A few shakes of lemon pepper

3/4 cup saltines finely crushed or Ritz crackers

1/3 to 1/2 of the sugar/ketchup sauce mixed into meat mixture

DIRECTIONS:

Mix brown sugar and ketchup and set aside. Then mix the rest of the ingredients in a separate mixing bowl. Add 1/2 the ketchup mixture to the meat mixture and stir together. Then form the meat mixture into a  roll into a bread pan or a shallow 9 x 9 casserole dish.

Bake in the oven for  55 to 60 minutes at 350. After 30 minutes take out the meatloaf and pour off some of the fat. Then I add the brown sugar/ ketchup on the top and smooth out with a spatula. 

Mom's Yummy Meatloaf....with a little sweet improvement! 

Bake the remaining 25 to 30 minutes.  Let meatloaf set out for 10 minutes to rest a bit before slicing for serving as it will stay together better. Enjoy! 

Rumbi Mango Chicken Salad

Rumbi MANGO CHICKEN SALAD

Rumbi Mango Carribean Chicken Salad....my style! 

HERE is a link to the delicious salads at Rumbi, one of my favorite restaurants here in Utah.  They use lots of fresh Caribbean ingredients in their salads and fruity tasting vinaigrettes.

A whole meal chicken salad that I love, love, LOVE! 

It has diced mango, Feta cheese, diced red peppers, red onion,  tortilla strips, chicken and salad greens with a mango-passion fruit dressing that will be kinda hard to recreate. But I will try.



INGREDIENTS FOR MANGO CHICKEN SALAD

White chicken breast meat cut into chunks (about a cup)
3 cups chopped Romaine Lettuce 
1/3 cup red pepper diced into pieces
1/4 cup red onion, sliced very finely and then diced tiny
feta cheese crumble a tablespoon over each salad when serving
1 mango diced into half inch squares
toasted slivered almonds (I add a bit of white sugar while toasting)
tortilla strips over the top (or make your own by frying a corn tortilla in oil)


Sweet Salad Dressing
1/4 cup frozen orange juice from concentrate 
1 Tablespoon fresh lime (or refrigerated lime juice)) 
1/3 cup rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar 
1/3 cup salad oil
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon Lawry's or Johnny's Seasoning Salt
A few shakes of pepper

This is a great low calorie salad too! Just use orange citrus vinaegrette if you're in a hurry!

 The Rumbi Chicken salad has slivered almonds and red peppers...Just imagine it WITH the tortilla strips that I forgot.... 

I pour everything into my blender except the oil and mix it up. Then slowly I add a few tablespoons of oil at a time to thicken up my sauce and emulsify it.  It is super easy and so delicious. You won't want to buy bottled dressing ever again. But if you don't want to try the dressing a good substitute is this one. 

Orange Citrus Dressing from Litehouse....this is also a really good salad dressing!

It's called Litehouse Orange Citrus.  Another one I love is Kraft Light Raspberry Vinaigrette. Both are good with this salad.  I am also going to add some candied nuts.  I love those in salads and a lot of times I ask Rumbi to add them to mine for an extra charge.  I have slivered almonds on hand so I'll put those in a frying pan and toast them with some regular sugar.  Enjoy! 

Hawaiian Haystacks

I must be on a Hawaiian kick. My last 2 blog posts were foods with rice and pineapple and the word "Hawaiian" in them. Do you think I'm subconsciously wishing for a Beachy,  Hawaiian vacation right about now, in the middle of a Utah winter? I think that's highly possible!

Hawaiian Haystacks 

Toppings for Hawaiian Haystacks 

Yeah.  Could be.  It was so cold the last few days. And I should know. I had recess duty during the day AND after school and it was snowing and super WINDY on Monday. My umbrella that I was holding kept doing the backward blow up thing and then would almost send me down the street like Mary Poppins. It was embarrassing! And I had the crosswalk detail so everybody picking up their kids after school SAW ME being blown around and my umbrella pulling tricks. Just call me Mary.  I felt like a big geek in a snowsuit!  So I long for the white beaches and sun and unfettered relaxation of a Hawaiian Island.

I love the crunch these chow mein noodles add...

Add Cream of Chicken soup, sour cream, milk and spice it up with Lawrys or Salt and Pepper....that's it! 

I like slivered almonds to top my Hawaiian Haystacks....

The kids love coconut....

Have to have a cherry on top!  Or a handful! 

But since I can't wrangle that for now, I can at least eat yummy food with the taste of Hawaii in it.  This recipe is easy, quick and really yummy.  And it's a great choice if you have to feed an army or a crowd at a party. My sister-in-law served this at her son's missionary farewell before he left for Texas. It was yummy!

I diced up some cooked carrots..... chow mein noodles and slivered almonds....

And lots of fresh fruit and veggies.....

The hubs likes my Hawaiian haystacks........that sounds a little weird saying it out loud tho....hehe...

So here are the easy ingredients for the basic chicken mixture that goes over rice.  Then the toppings are whatever you decide you want to add. I use one of those veggie and dip platters when I'm doing it for a crowd. You can find them at the dollar store for.....well.....A DOLLAR!  I use them when I'm doing cookie decorating in my classroom too. They are very versatile for putting out little piles of stuff.



HAWAIIAN HAYSTACKS RECIPE

Here is the Chicken base all mixed up....then I just microwave it to warm it ...

RECIPE INGREDIENTS
Hawaiian Haystacks
2 cans cream of chicken soup  (or use large family sized can)
3  chicken breasts diced
1 t. salt  (or Lawry's Season Salt)
1/8 t. pepper  
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 to 1 cup of milk 
3  cups Steamed Rice

My finished plate of Hawaiian Haystacks....a work of art really!  

DIRECTIONS
Boil the chicken and dice up.  Mix soup, salt and pepper, milk and sour cream and milk. 

I boiled 3 chicken breasts with a handful of carrots.....

Cook rice until tender. I have a rice cooker so I added around 2 1/2 cups.  Put soup mixture on top of rice and top with any or all of the following:

Toppings: Canned pineapple tidbits, mandarin oranges, grated cheese, slivered almonds, chopped red pepper, celery, olives, diced tomatoes, chow mein noodles.

Veggie and fruit toppings....

Well, now he's just acting like Vanna White...he's such a tease! 

 It's really filling, and everybody can pick their own preferences for toppings. That makes it even more of a fun meal. You can see my husband is having fun doing his own toppings...LOL.  Actually I made him pose...he's just a good sport. :O

He doesn't like the fruit as much....he's more of a veggie man....

He does like the almonds and the white grated mozzarella cheese....

Hawaiian Haystacks........My plate is still prettier than the hubs.........just sayin........

This recipe for Hawaiian Haystacks is a KEEPER!   Enjoy!