Tag Archives: football

Football Food Roundup

Posted in Football Food by

This week a lot of people are excited about the game, I am not one of those people. My beloved Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn’t even make the playoffs, even though they had a better record than Seattle. But I promise to not go off into a tangent. As much as I love football and hate this time of year when it’s almost done, I just don’t like the two teams playing. I have many loved ones who are huge Steelers fans and being here in PA it’s a bit hard for me. I’m just ready for the weekend to be over and a new season to begin. Till then, people are going to be planning their big parties and they need some food. That’s where I can help. I have a great list of recipes for anyone planning a party to watch the game (or the commercials).

Dips:

Finger Foods/Sides:

Main Dish:

Dessert:

Loaded Baked Potato Dip

Posted in Cheese, Dips, Football Food by

I know I’ve posted quite a few dips recently and I don’t want to bog you down with dips. But so many people are looking for the right one to serve at parties, especially during playoffs. This one pairs very nicely with Buffalo Wings. I made the recipe exactly as it said but next time I’m going to add more cheese to the dip. I felt it could use more, possibly up to another cup. You can always more or less of anything in this dip, to suit your tastes. You could use any other kind of thick fries if you don’t want to use waffle cut. I do recommend using a thick cut, due to the dip being a little on the thick side. Small cut fries won’t stand up to it. I hope you enjoy the loaded baked potato dip as much as my family did.

Loaded Baked Potato:

  • 1  (2.1-oz.) package fully cooked bacon slices
  • 1  (16-oz.) container sour cream
  • 2  cups  (8 oz.) freshly shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
  • 1/3  cup  sliced fresh chives
  • 2  teaspoons  hot sauce
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Garnishes: cooked, crumbled bacon; sliced fresh chives; freshly cracked pepper
  • Serve with: waffle fries or other thick cut fries
  1. Microwave bacon according to package directions until crisp; drain on paper towels. Cool 10 minutes; crumble.
  2. Stir together bacon and next 4 ingredients, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and chill 1 to 24 hours before serving.
  3. Garnish, if desired. Serve with crispy, warm waffle fries. Store leftovers in refrigerator up to 7 days.

Source: January 2011 issue of Southern Living Magazine

Sausage, Bean, and Spinach Dip

Posted in Dips, Football Food, Sides, Starters by

We are in the middle of playoffs and soon the big game will be here. This dip would be perfect to serve at your next football party or any other party for that matter. When I first tasted it, I thought it was good. But as I continued to eating the dip got better and better. Everyone loved it and the only bad thing was that I didn’t  have enough corn chips to scoop up the dip. Do not make the mistake I did, make sure you buy 2 bags of the big corn chips scoops. Then you won’t have the grumbles coming from your family/friends like I did.

Aren’t those fingers so cute? Those are my baby girl’s.

Sausage, Bean, and Spinach Dip:

  • 1  sweet onion, diced
  • 1  red bell pepper, diced
  • 1  (1-lb.) package hot ground pork sausage
  • 2  garlic cloves, minced
  • 1  teaspoon  chopped fresh thyme
  • 1/2  cup  dry white wine
  • 1  (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
  • 1  (6-oz.) package fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped
  • 1/4  teaspoon  salt
  • 1  (15-oz.) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2  cup  (2 oz.) shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 2 bags corn chips or 1 bag Pretzel rods
  1. Preheat oven to 375°. Cook diced onion and next 2 ingredients in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often, 8 to 10 minutes or until meat crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain. Stir in garlic and thyme; cook 1 minute. Stir in wine; cook 2 minutes or until liquid has almost completely evaporated.
  2. Add cream cheese, and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes or until cream cheese is melted. Stir in spinach and salt, and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes or until spinach is wilted. Gently stir in beans. Pour mixture into a 2-qt. baking dish; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
  3. Bake at 375° for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with corn chip scoops and pretzel rods.

Source: January issue of Southern Living Magazine

Happy New Year…

Posted in Cookies, Dessert, Football Food, Starters by

Here are some party horns to get you started. I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and I hope that 2011 brings everyone better things. What are some of your traditions for New Years? My husbands family traditional food is pork and sauerkraut. My families is black eye peas and collard greens. I love how we have a North and South thing going on in my house. Tomorrow I will be making a pork loin stuffed with hopping john stuffing (look for that this week). My mother-in-law will be making the pork and sauerkraut. I love that we are teaching my kids the different traditions from around the country. I’d love to hear what yours are.

Along with ringing in the New Year, I’ll be busy watching football. Our Penn State Nittany Lions will be taking on the Florida Gators in the Outback Bowl. That bowl brings back so many memories for me. Growing up in Florida and then meeting my husband, we have gone to many Outback Bowls to cheer on Penn State. I do miss Florida this time of year. But I’m in PA right now and will be watching it at home. But we won’t be alone, we will have family with us.

If you will be like me and will be watching football all weekend, I have some great recipes for you. I’m going to be trying some new ones along with some oldies. Here is a great list of things to make for either your New Years parties or Football parties.

This is a fabulous dip and I’ll be serving it tonight with our New Years get together. Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Baked Fontina is my new favorite.

Hot Corn Dip is a must for any football party

Football Sandwiches can be served as little sliders for New Years Eve parties or regular sandwiches for football watching. Either way, you will LOVE them.

We can’t forget about the sweet tooth. You could make these brownies without the white chocolate and candy canes. They would even be cute cut into football shapes.

What is better than good old fashioned chocolate chip cookies? These are amazing and you won’t make them any other way once you try them.

I have so many other great recipes that you would love. Take a look over on the right side of your screen and click on the categories to find more.

Again, I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Cheesy Potato Skins

Posted in Football Food, Starters by

I apologize for the lack of posts last week. It was one of those off weeks for me, with a lot going on and not enough time in the kitchen. To top off my busy week, I end up breaking my camera on Saturday. I will apologize in advance for the photos that will be coming in the near future. Until I get a new camera, I am stuck with my droid camera.

Enough about my crazy life, how about a recipe? Potato skins are super easy and the perfect thing to eat while watching football. They also go great with Buffalo Wings. I’m posting a pretty basic recipe for the skins, you can tweak this anyway you like. You can add a mixture of different cheeses, herbs, meats, etc… So many fun things to create, having a basic platform is what you need and this is it.

Cheesy Potato Skins:

  • 4 Idaho Russet Potatoes, scrubbed
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 2 tbs melted butter
  • 2-3 tbs chopped chives
  • 2-3 tbs bacon or bacon bits.
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Sour cream for serving
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wrap scrubbed potatoes in tin foil and bake in oven for 1 1/2 hours, or until tender. You can test by inserting a knife into the potato, if it goes through with no resistance, it’s done. Let cool for 20 minutes.
  2. If using real bacon, cook the bacon till crisp and crumble, set aside.
  3. Preheat the broiler and put the on the upper middle part of the oven.
  4. Take the potatoes and slice them in half, lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp with a spoon, leaving a little of the pulp near the skin. Be careful not to go through the skin. Place on a baking sheet.
  5. Brush the skins with the melted butter and season with salt and pepper. Broil the skins till they start to crisp up and get a light brown color.
  6. Add the cheese to each skin and put back under the broiler, till the cheese is melted. (Do NOT walk away, cheese will melt fast).
  7. Top each skin with bacon and chives, serve with sour cream.

Hot Corn Dip

Posted in Dips, Football Food, Gina Marie Original, Starters by

*If visiting from Pinterest, thank you! Please make sure to check out the rest of my blog as I have many other great recipes on here. Look for me on Pinterest and Instagram – user name @cook1864 I am also on Facebook*

One of my favorite dips to make during football season is this corn dip. I got the recipe a few years ago and it’s become a staple in our house. When someone tries it for the first time, they can’t leave without getting the recipe; it’s that addicting. The key ingredients are corn, cheese and chipotle peppers. You can adjust the heat level by adding or subtracting the amount of chipotle peppers. Personally, I love a lot of chipotle peppers, it gives it a great zing. You can also change up the amount of cheese. I’ve made it with more of the montery jack than the chedder and it’s worked out great. The addition of fresh ingredients at the end of baking, rounds out a perfect party dip.

Hot Corn Dip:

  • 2 cups shredded chedder cheese
  • 1 cup shredded Montery Jack
  • 2 tbs chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, diced small
  • 1 small can (4oz) diced green chilies, undrained
  • 1/2 cup Mayo
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 11oz can of corn, drained
  • 1 small tomato
  • 2 tbs cilantro, chopped
  • 2 tbs green onions, sliced thin
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Mix the cheeses, chiptole and green peppers, mayo, garlic powder and corn together. Pour into an oven safe dish.
  3. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly
  4. Top with diced tomatoes, green onions, and cilantro. Serve immediately with tortilla chips.

Buffalo Chicken Wings

Posted in Chicken, Football Food, Main Dish, Sides by

Wings are a staple during football season. I’ve made them several different ways and found Ina’s way to be the easiest. I am not a big fan of fried chicken wings and have always baked them. But I found with baking them they don’t crisp up like you would get with fried. Ina’s recipe calls for broiling the wings which gives it a nice crispy outside. When it came time to flipping the wings, I decided to put them on a new baking sheet due to all the fat that was on the first sheet. That helped with really crisping them up. I suggest putting on more sauce then you think it needs. I didn’t get a huge amount of the hot sauce flavor and ended up making some extra to dip them into. Overall they turned out great. Serve them with celery and blue cheese dressing (or ranch).

Buffalo Chicken Wings:

    • 16 chicken wings (about 3 pounds)

    • 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter

    • 4 teaspoons Frank’s Hot Sauce

    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

  1. Preheat the broiler.
  2. Cut the chicken wings in thirds, cutting between the bones. Discard the wing tips.
  3. Melt the butter, hot sauce, and salt. Put the wings on a sheet pan and brush them with the melted butter.
  4. Broil them about 3 inches below the heat for 8 minutes. Turn the wings, brush them again with the butter, and broil for 4 more minutes or until cooked.

Source: Ina Garten via Food Network