This easy-to-make snack mix is perfect for any Fall occasion or gift. I plan on taking it with us to the tailgate on Saturday. The best part, mix and match to make it unique to what you like.
In my Fall Munch Mix:
Cheese crackers
Pretzels
Cinnamon popcorn
Peanuts
Reese Pieces
Cocoa Puffs
Candy Corn
What would you add to this Munch Mix to make it “yours”?
Need any ideas for Superbowl eats? Don’t lie, you know that’s why you like the Superbowl. That or the new commercials. This year, I’m all about the eats – Big Guy is making ribs. Fall-off-the-bone, like-your-fingers, saucy ribs. I hope they live up to my expectations. p.s. I don’t even know who’s playing on Sunday.
1. Say it isn’t so…Copy-cat Chic-Fil-A nuggets.
2. I have the recipe printed. Perhaps for an upcoming girl’s night? Toasted Almond Parmesan Dip.
3. I’m going to call these Gourmet Corn Dogs.
4. Who doesn’t like Queso Dip?
5. Beer cupcakes, anyone?
6. Cheese and Carbs. Enough said.
7. Pizza Dip. Worth every calorie. I know from experience.
8. Cookie Dough Dip. Also worth every calorie. Sugar coma.
9. Mini food is just adorable. And mini means you can eat more than one, right? Balsamic Honey Pulled Pork Sliders.
10. Last, but not least, Dill Pickle French Fries.
Why do you watch the Superbowl? And can we move the Superbowl to Saturday’s from now on?
True story. And it happened twice. Maybe it’s an tangelo. Whatever it is, it’s not supposed to have 40 seeds.
I’m thankful for patience. Because I almost threw this thing away.
Wing. Pizza. Potato skins. Sounds like a stomachache, eh? No aching stomachs here. Using quality ingredients means quality food. Nothing frozen here.
“Wait. You didn’t say anything about beans…” Pizza Hummus. And it’s so incredibly delicious. Tastes just like pizza! Mushrooms and red pepper strips were awesome dippers – probably because they can be on pizza.
Even Big Guy was impressed.
Big Guy was also impressed with the chicken wings. He declared these to be the “best wings I’ve ever had.” I kind of have to agree with him. They were crispy like a fried chicken wing but they were way healthier. Served with hot sauce and BBQ sauce for dipping. But honestly, they were perfect on their own.
And about those potato skins. Ooooooo my. I used red potatoes. I was kind of afraid they’d fall apart but they didn’t. I rubbed the whole potatoes with a little EVOO and then baked them at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes. I let them cool, then cut in half and scooped out some of the tator. Topped them with bacon, cheese, salt and pepper and cooked for about 10 more minutes.
New-to-us cheese from TJ’s. Cheddar cheese with hints of parm. Awe-some.
Green onions, Greek yogurt and guac were served alongside the tator skins. So.freakin.good.
The wings and tators were incredible. Best bar food ever.
My plate. And believe me, there were a few more nibbles after that.
To top off the night – my Pirates took home a “W” against Memphis.
Arrrggghhhh!!!!!
Rule #89: Never show up to a tailgate empty handed.
And that’s one rule I’ll never break. But I do break other rules…like making a dish for the first time and not tasting it before taking it to the tailgate. I did make Big Guy approve first, though.
Loaded baked potato dip. Who doesn’t love a baked potato with bacon and cheese and sour cream?
And it couldn’t be easier to make. I do recommend making this the night (or morning) before – the longer it sits, the better. And no need to hassle with bacon – just use the pre-cooked stuff.
Like I said, so simple. Crisp up the bacon, slice the chives, grate the cheese, dump in the sour cream and shake in the hot sauce. Done.
And that’s exactly what it looked like. Okay, that’s a lie. That’s the picture from Southern Living – not from the tailgating spot in the dreary weather Saturday. But I’m sure they taste the same. Served with potato chips. Wavy chips are absolutely necessary.
I admit, I didn’t indulge in this appetizer because I had bigger plans. I knew that we’d have a few snacks at the tailgate spot around 1pm and then we’d head to the game and we’d get home around 8:30ish. See what’s missing? Dinner. So I had a plan. Waffle Fry Nachos.
These babies are amazing on their own. But add crispy bacon, pepper jack cheese, sour cream and green onions and you have yourself a party.
Best.idea.ever.
Now if only I could get my hands on those tots.
Book club was wonderful, as always, last night. The book that we read: Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok. And by “we” I mean three of us. Three out of ten. Love it. Let’s be honest, book club is really just about the wine, the appetizers and the girl talk.
I really enjoyed this book. I think I loved it more because I read it on my nookcolor. (Thanks Momma, Dadom and Big Guy! – I’m hooked!) It was an easy read – it took me about 3 days. This book read like a memoir telling the story of a young Chinese girl who comes over to America with her Mother. By day she goes to school and at night she works with her Mother at a Chinatown sweatshop. I got wrapped up in the characters and the ending wasn’t what I expected – but in a good way.
So back to the real point of book club: girl time. For this months get-together I made Spicy Black Bean Dip. Except it wasn’t spicy. But it was delicious.
Next time I’ll just use the Hot Mexican Chili Powder – not a mix of that and regular. Or perhaps I’ll leave a few jalapeno seeds in the mix. A little heat never hurt anyone. (I did double the recipe.)
The best part about this recipe – the food processor does most of the work. Simply throw all your ingredients in the food processor and whirl until smooth. Let it hang out in the fridge until serving time.
Serve with veggies and tortilla chips. These soy and flaxseed chips from TJ’s are awesome! Super crunchy and just the right amount of salt.
What’s holding up those chips? Ohhhh, you know…just some roses that Big Guy got me (they didn’t have any tulips)…Big Guy must want something…(a ribeye?!?!)
I need more nights like last night in my life. Laughter, a glass of wine, a few of my favorite girls, cheese and crackers. Perfect little evening.
Last night I hosted a Stella and Dot party for one of my closest college friends. I’m not one to usually like to host these kind of things because I absolutely hate feeling like I’m pressuring folks into buying something they don’t like. Therefore, I tried to keep it low-key and I think the girls ended up with some really cute stuff that they’ll actually wear.
Here’s a few of my favorite pieces:
Obsessed.
Yep, those are going to be mine, too.
So me.
Now to the cheese and cracker part.
I kept it simple last night. I stress over the weirdest things so I decided to avoid that and let Trader Joe’s do most of my work.
Marinated mozzarella balls. Make it fancy by mixing with grape tomatoes. Simple. These were a hit.
Blueberry Goat Cheese. I.n.c.r.e.d.i.b.l.e. I’m going to go ahead and say that this is my favorite goat cheese of ALL time.
Stilton with Apricots. I bought this because I had tried a white cheese with apricots before and loved it. I’m not sure about the whole “stilton” thing. It’s good but still a little “weird” to me. Maybe it’ll grow on me.
Served with Ritz Pretzel Crackers and Blue Diamond Almond Nut Thins. The nut thins are fabulous. I finally saw them last week and grabbed a box of those and the pecan flavor. I neeeed to get my hands on the other flavors.
I also put out hummus and carrots for some snackage. And I made a sweet treat, obviously. Meemaw’s Texas Tumbleweed. Of course Paula would put potato sticks in a dessert. By the way, those potato sticks aren’t easy to find.
Only four ingredients.
Next time, I’d add some raisins or craisins into the mix. Love sweet and salty treats.
Thanks Ladies for such a wonderful middle-of-the-week-much-needed break!
What’s your favorite “easy” appetizer?
And are you obsessed with cute earrings like me?
I have to admit, I was a little scared of the olive chips. But I knew I had to give them a chance. Big Guy and I aren’t big olive fans. I think you either love ‘em or you hate ‘em.
A combination of real black, kalamata and green olives offers a genuine flavor which punches up a quick snack and creates the perfect base for dips like hummus. Or in our case, Spinach-Parmesan Dip.
Spinach is the base, obviously. It is then mixed with fresh basil, garlic, cream cheese (I used the whipped cream cheese), yogurt (I used plain Greek yogurt), and Parmesan cheese. Next time, I’ll use a little more garlic.
Upon first tasting a “bare” chip, I didn’t detect any olive. Big Guy said he got a taste of olive every once and a while but it wasn’t overbearing. These chips are awesome! And I agree, they’d be great with hummus. But what wouldn’t be good with hummus?
And this dip. Oh my my my. Cooking Light, this recipe is a keeper!!! It hails from 2004 but I’m telling you what, I’m making this again. It’s absolutely delicious. In fact, I had more on Saturday (and Sunday) paired with veggies.
Honestly, I’d buy these chips again. I never thought I’d say that about the olive flavor. But before I buy those, I’m going to have to get my hands on some of the other flavors…
p.s. I have one bag left from the challenge: CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!
Like I’ve mentioned before, baking relaxes me. While I’d much rather cook than bake some lazy mornings just call for baking. Insert Sunday morning. I decided to bake muffins for the Watson girls before they headed home. I let Big Guy decide which recipe I should try: Pineapple Upside Down Muffins or Banana-Nut-Chocolate-Chip Muffins. Big Guy and I decided the banana muffins would be a safer bet…and what teenage girl doesn’t love muffins with chocolate hidden inside?
the dry 'gredients
the not-so-dry 'gredients
Here’s a tip…the recipe calls for buttermilk, thankfully I had some on hand. But buttermilk isn’t something I usually keep around the house. The recipe gave this suggestion for the next time you find yourself buttermilkless: No buttermilk? You can use buttermilk powder prepared according to package directions. Or make “sour milk”: mix 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup milk.
Store that tip in your memory file.
Mix the dry ingredients and the not-so-dry ingredients together. The add the fun stuff!
naners, chocolate and peanuts
Obviously I took a detour from the recipe and used peanuts instead of walnuts.
lazy Sunday breakfast
The girls loved the muffins. Big Guy thinks the larger muffins were better than the smaller ones (it was the same batter)…I think there’s just more “stuff” in the big muffins. But he did say, like I figured he would, my Peanut Butter Banana Bread still holds the crown.
What does Big Guy like to do on Sunday? Smoke, of course. But he didn’t smoke chicken this weekend. Or pork. Or beef. Confused?
almonds and pecans!
Smoked nuts?!?! YES YES YES!!!! You can smoke almost anything…cheese, sweet potatoes, shrimp. As you can imagine, there’s a lot more smokin’ weekends in our future. p.s. Despite his hatred for fish – I will talk Big Guy into smoking salmon one day.
smokey nuts
The nuts on the outside got a little toooooo smokey…so Big Guy’s going to work on perfecting his technique. But these are addicting! Big Guy surprisingly liked the almonds best. And even more shocking, I prefer the pecans.
Baking and smoking. It’s what we do.
'rita and 'rona
A perfect pair, if I do say so myself (kind of like me and Big Guy). Saturday was all about the Mexican theme. Kat and her boyfriend, Josh(ie), came into town and what better way to welcome them than with a fiesta.
On Friday night I prepped my “OMG – that’s so adorable” sweet treat. When I saw these Strawberry Margarita Jell-O Shooters I about died. Okay, that’s a lie. I just thought they were adorable and I had to make them.
the berries
First, you’ll cut off the bottom so that it can stand up. Don’t get to knife-happy though. Then you’ll hull out of the insides. In other words, find the biggest strawberries ever made. I used an apple corer to gently remove the innards of the strawberry. Easier said than done. A few strawberries were deemed “unable to save.”
Then you’ll mix up the margarita mix – 1 cup water, package of strawberry “J-E-L-L-O” (spelled out, of course), 4 ounces white tequila and 2 ounces Grand Marnier. Refer back to the website where I got the idea for more explicit instructions.
margarita shooters!
In order to transfer the liquid into the strawberry I used a baster. An eye dropper would work wonders, though. These don’t hold much – they’re more for visual excitement.
cheers!
And the rest of the spread:
ariiiiiibaaaaaaa
For dinner:
smokin' hot
The pork wasn’t the only thing smokin’…I think Big Guy’s smokin’, too. 
Unfortunately, I have no photos of the pulled pork tacos with my amazing pineapple slaw. Lo siento. In the pineapple slaw: cabbage (obviously), pineapple chunks (duh), green onion, red onion, cilantro, S&P, white vinegar, and lime juice.
Other details:
guac hummus a la TJs
My thoughts on the guac: loved it. It wasn’t too overpowering. Even the anti-guac Big Guy liked it. 5 out of 5 stars. I was impressed, what can I say.
taco dip
This is a life-changing, 2 ingredient dip. Honestly, I made it last weekend for Superbowl when I needed something super fast. AKA – no time to go to the store. Simple mix green yogurt (or sour cream) and taco seasoning (the pre-mixed packet). That’s it, folks. Go make it and impress someone. (Thanks Momma Bell - I stole that from you.)
Ole!
