Super Bowl Sunday

This Sunday is the perfect excuse to get together with your friends and family and over indulge in plenty of snacks, drinks and too much television. 

I am not always the biggest sports fan, but I love any excuse to embrace a theme and make an evening out of it.  (Football is always more fun to watch when you have popcorn and cupcakes near by in football themed bowls, right?) 

All you need is a quick trip to Walmart for a few festive cups and bowls, your favorite candies and snacks, and to add a little variety to the snack selection, I embellished the pretzels with some different flavors: honey mustard, ranch, and buffalo wing sauce.  

Make these pretzels earlier in the day so when game time comes, all you have to do is grab a bowl and focus, on the food and the game.  

Xo,

Laura

Fruit Skewers: For the Patriots fans, alternate strawberries, bananas, and blueberries and for Seahawks fans alternate between green grapes (or kiwi slices) and blueberries

Dessert:  Most grocery stores have already baked treats to support your team.  Add some football toothpicks or football sugar toppings to make them a little more festive (Check out Party City)

Pretzels

Honey Mustard Bites:

• 12 oz. sourdough pretzel bites
• 2/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp. honey
• 2 tbsp. honey mustard
• 1 tsp. onion powder

~Preheat the oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit and coat a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray

~Mix all ingredients together (except the pretzels) in a bowl 

~Add the pretzels to the bowl and mix until well coated with mixture

~Pour the pretzels onto the baking sheet and spread out in a single layer

~Bake for 30 minutes, mixing half way through

~Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before serving or storing until ready to serve

Ranch Dips:

• 12 oz. mini pretzels
• 6 oz. canola or vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp dill weed
• 1 tbsp garlic salt or powder
• 1 packet ranch salad dressing mix

~Preheat the oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit and coat a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray

~Mix all ingredients together (except the pretzels) in a bowl

~Add the pretzels to the bowl and mix until well coated with mixture

~Pour the pretzels onto the baking sheet and spread out in a single layer

~Bake for 30 minutes, mixing every 10 minutes

~Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before serving or storing until ready to serve

Buffalo Wing Pretzel Bites:

• 12 oz. thin pretzel sticks
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce of your choice 
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste

~Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and coat a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray

~Mix all ingredients together (except the pretzels) in a bowl

~Add the pretzels to the bowl and mix until well coated with mixture

~Pour the pretzels onto the baking sheet and spread out in a single layer

~Bake for 30 minutes, mixing every 10 minutes (pretzels do become soggy-ish, but they will harden back up when the cool down after baking)

~Allow to cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before serving or storing until ready to serve

More Spaghetti (squash) Please!

Spaghetti squash has become one of my favorite substitutions for a comfort food meal.  I love pasta and spaghetti (who doesn't?), but I usually feel overstuffed and guilty after eating it.  

So, in order to still satisfy my cravings for something hardy and Italian (meaning a meal with a lot of cheese), I turn to spaghetti squash.  

This meal is easy to make, it just takes a little extra time in order to cook the squash and then allow the bake to cook all the way through.  It's a perfect meal to start making on a snowy afternoon, so by the time the sun sets, the fire is going and it's appropriate to be drinking your second glass of red wine, your dinner will be ready.  

Xo,
Laura

Ingredients:
serves 4

• 2 whole spaghetti squashes 
• 1 jar of pasta sauce
• 2 cups (or 3 if your me) of shredded cheese of your choice-parmesan or mozzarella is the best
• 2 cups of broccoli or other veggies

~Cut each spaghetti squash in half, vertically
~Scoop out the seeds and discard
~Drizzle squash with some olive oil and salt and pepper
~Place down on baking sheet with skin facing out
~Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 45-55 minutes or until squash is soft
~Using a fork, scrape inside of squash into a baking dish (it really does come out like cooked spaghetti)
~Add pasta sauce, cheese, and any other desired veggies to the dish and mix together
~Cook this in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-35 minutes
~Enjoy, with a glass of red wine, of course :)