Super Bowl Snacks

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food.


This year's Super Bowl should be a quieter affair, but I have added some new pins to my Super Bowl Pinterest board that I am contemplating trying.

The first is a Chicken Parmigiana Dip. My family likes chicken parmigiana and instead of my old Pepperoni Pizza Dip stand-by (a family classic), I may give this a try. I found it on livelovepasta.com. 





I watched Carla Hall make this Cheesy Baked Spinach Dip on The Chew and it looks tasty and easy. It's on abc.go.com





For a hardier treat, this Buffalo Chicken Sub from Jeff Mauro looks like something my guys would like. And it's a nice change from straight-up chicken wings. It's on foodnetwork.com.





Nachos are always a staple and these Chipotle Chicken Nachos from seriouseats.com should hit the spot. 




What are you serving this Super Bowl Sunday? Share with us in Comments.

Deconstructing Super Bowl Snacks

If you have ever watched Bravos' Top Chef, you had heard the term 'deconstructing'. It involves taking a popular dish, breaking down its ingredients, and using them in a different way to evoke the same flavors.

This Super Bowl there were only three of us, and my husband wanted the traditional football foods- chicken wings, tacos, pizza. Instead of that, I deconstructed those snacks and made dips out of them.

I used to make this Taco Dip all the time when the boys were home and we had Mexican night.
Taco Dip
1 can refried beans
1 cup taco sauce
8 oz. softened cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
8 oz. shredded Mexican cheese blend
shredded lettuce
1 chopped tomato
sliced black olives

Directions: Spread beans on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Top beans with taco sauce. Mix cream cheese and sour cream and spread on top of beans and sauce. Top with shredded cheese and bake for 20-30 minutes, until bubbly. Top with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes and sliced black olives. Serve with tortilla chips.

Taco Dip

I made Chicken Wing Dip using Frank's Hot Sauce's recipe, which is just softening 8 oz. cream cheese and spreading it in a casserole dish, mixing 1/2 cup blue cheese dressing with 1/2 cup Frank's Hot Sauce and 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella, stirring in 2- (12oz) cans of chunk chicken breast and spreading that on top of cream cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve with celery and carrot sticks. My son also makes his own version of this dip, but he informed me that he uses shredded rotisserie chicken, not canned chicken.

Chicken Wing Dip

I did not make my famous Pepperoni Dip, which I got from a community recipe book many years ago, but it falls under the deconstructing umbrella. Everyone loves this dip, so I'll share the recipe here too.

Pepperoni Dip

8 oz. tub soft cream cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp.  dried oregano

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper

1/2 cup pizza sauce

1/2 cup chopped pepperoni

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

1/4 cup chopped green onion

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

Directions: In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream, oregano, garlic powder and red pepper. Spread in a 10 inch pie plate. Spread pizza sauce over top. Sprinkle with pepperoni, green pepper and green onion. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. top with mozzarella and bake for 5 minutes more.

I also made homemade peanut cups for dessert and french dip sandwiches with Johnny's French Dip sauce that we got in a lovely food basket from my parents for Christmas. It was delicious!

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

11 oz. package of milk chocolate chips

1 cup peanut butter

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions: Line a mini muffin tin with paper muffin cups. Melt 1/2 of the chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute, stir to melt completely. Spoon melted chocolate into paper muffin cups, drawing halfway up the sides until evenly coated. Cool in refrigerator til firm. In a small bowl, mix peanut butter, salt and confectioners' sugar til smooth, then put on top of chocolate. Melt the rest of the chocolate and spread over peanut butter to the edge of the cup. Chill til firm.

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

What was your favorite Super Bowl snack this year?

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food!

Superbowl Snacks

We spent New Year's in New York City this year, and I went all-out on the cooking. Our college aged-sons cook for themselves, so I thought I'd make some some great snacks for New Year's Day. But these snacks would be perfect for Superbowl Sunday.

I saw Jamie Oliver make Sausage Rolls on Live With Kelly, and so I made them. They turned out great, perfect with a nice mustard dipping sauce. The link to the recipe is here.

I also made an old favorite, Hot Reuben Dip. One of my sons is a big corned beef fan, and this really hits all those flavor notes. I got it from a woman who brought it to a holiday party, where it was a big hit.
Hot Reuben Dip
1 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
3/4 cup sauerkraut
1/2 cup Thousand Island Dressing
4 oz. cream cheese
 5 oz. corned beef, chopped
Mix all ingredients in a crockpot and cook on low for 1 1/2 hours. Serve on top of crackers or on rye or pumpernickel cocktail bread.

I had leftover ingredients, so a few days later, I made
Mini Reubens
Preheat broiler. Place cocktail rye or pumpernickel slices on baking sheet. Top each with 2 teaspoons Thousand Island dressing, a slice of folded corned beef, a bit of well-drained sauerkraut, and some shredded or 1/4 slice Swiss cheese. Broil 3 minutes or until cheese is melted.

My sister-in-law makes Mary Alice's Hoagie Dip, which tastes just like a Wegman's Joey Sub, and came from Food Network Magazine. I also made this for a neighborhood party, and it was big hit there
1 med. onion
2 pickled pepperoncini peppers
1/2 head iceberg lettuce
 1 large tomato, halved and seeded
1/4 lb each- deli-sliced genoa salami, deli-sliced ham, deli-sliced prosciutto, deli-sliced turkey, deli-sliced provolone cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 ts. dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 round loaf Italian bread
hoagie rolls for dipping
Chop onion, pepperoncini, lettuce, tomato into bit-sized pieces. Dice meats and cheese.
Combine chopped vegetables, meats and cheese in large bowl. Add mayo, olive oil, oregano, basil and red pepper flakes and stir til everything is well mixed. Refrigerate til ready to serve.
Cut center of round loaf out to make a bowl, cut scraps of bread into bit-sized pieces. Serve dip in bread bowl, with bread and hoagie rolls on side.

Mary Alice's Hoagie Dip

For our main entree on New Year's Day, I made Food Network chef Robert Irvine's
BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches
4 lbs. pork shoulder roeat
5 whole cloves
3 Tbsp. BBQ rub (I used Penzey's Galena Street Chicken & Pork Rub- a gift from sister-in-law- but you can use any dry BBQ rub you like)
2 red onions, thinly sliced
2 cups water
16 oz. BBQ sauce (I used Dinosaur BBQ, a family favorite, but again, you can use any BBQ sauce you like)
Stud the roast with cloves and rub with BBQ rub. Put roast in crockpot and top with onions. Cover roast with water and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Remove pork, discard cloves and layer of fat as well as any water and grease left in crockpot. When pork has cooled, shred it with two forks. Return meat to crockpot and top with BBQ sauce. Heat for 1 to 2 hours. Serve on rolls.


Do you have any favorite Superbowl Snacks you'd like to share? Share them in comments below!


This post is part of Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food!