WIAW: Super Bowl Sunday Edition

When I am thinking about holidays and good food, the obvious choices like Thanksgiving and Christmas immediately come to mind. A honey-glazed ham, roasted turkey with rich cloves, homemade green bean casserole, roasted sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and Brussels sprouts, and rich decadent desserts like pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream, or a made-from-scratch pecan pie hot from the oven and topped with a scoop of slow-churned vanilla bean ice cream is enough to make my mouth water just thinking about it.

You know what other holiday we are missing though? It may not be obvious to many, but to those sports-minded individuals, Super Bowl Sunday is a complete celebration in itself. In fact, I actually read in an article that there is a petition to make the Monday after the Super Bowl a National Holiday, which would allow those who went to bed after midnight, (like this girl!), to be able to sleep-in the next morning and enjoy a day of rest. Dare to dream, dare to dream…

In all honesty though, the Super Bowl has always been a pretty big deal in my house. We don’t do anything too extravagant, but we sure do cook a feast.  I think we made enough food this year for at least 10 people, instead of our usual party of five.

Because of all the yummy goodies I knew I would be feasting on, I thought it would be fun to share a rendition of ‘What I ate Wednesday: Super Bowl Sunday Edition.’ Thanks Jenn for hosting!

I don’t have pictures of everything I ate, mostly due to immersing myself in the party, the game, and spending time with the family.  However, I have a few highlights to share including a couple of delicious recipes to come in future posts, and links to other items I enjoyed in case you want to fill your table with some of these treats next year at your own Super Bowl Party.  Before we get to the highlights though, let’s start with breakfast!

I woke up at 6:30 am Sunday and slowly crept down the stairs, while trying not to wake Tim. Who knows why I was up so early, but I find that I have a hard time sleeping past 7:00 am no matter the day anymore, and that time seems to just keep getting earlier and earlier. I let Tebow out and gave him some food and water before I started my pot of coffee, and then proceeded to cuddle up with a hot mug ‘o Joe and some email/blog/article reading. About 7:30 am, I decided to start making some breakfast. I wanted something simple since I knew I would be cooking a bunch throughout the day, but I also wanted to try a recipe that was a little experimental for me and one that I had not had before. I felt torn between eggs, oatmeal, waffles, etc. but finally decided to try Katie’s Giant One Minute Breakfast Cookie.

I left all of the ingredients the same except I substituted almond flour for the oat flour and added some crushed up walnuts along with the mini chocolate chip pieces. I think next time I will use a larger plate, because my breakfast cookie turned into a breakfast cookie cake! This breakfast was huge, but oh so yummy and tasted just like a fresh-baked cookie…right out of my microwave…with no added butter or oils…for breakfast… Talk about irony!

When I was finished eating breakfast and cleaning the kitchen, I headed upstairs to get ready for church. The sermon was great and I absolutely love when it feels as if the pastor is preaching directly to you, and for you.  When the message hits home, it reminds me exactly why I am sitting in church to begin with, to hear God’s word and praise him.  After church we headed to Kroger and picked up a few things like peanut butter (shocking!), and a baking dish I needed for the night’s dessert. By the time we got home, I was ready for some lunch and I heated up a bowl of homemade Enchilada Tortilla Soup, (recipe to come!), that I had made during the week. This is a favorite recipe of ours that I love to make during a weeknight because it’s so easy to prepare, cooks quickly, and is also healthy and filled with a ton of lean protein, veggies, and beans.

When lunch was finished, I immediately started cooking, chopping, mincing, stirring, mixing, pouring, and baking.  As the day went on though, I was feeling pretty tired and was nervous that I was getting sick, so I did the only thing I could think of, I took a nap. I laid down to rest my eyes and woke up two hours later!  I obviously needed the rest.  When I woke up, I was still feeling a little groggy so I drank some Amazing Grass to try and ward off any illness.  After I took my shower and finished getting ready, I was starting to feel a little better so we packed up and headed to my parents house.

By the time we got there, it was about 5:30 pm, so we settled in and I helped my mom finish the cooking. Around 6:30 pm when the game started, I filled up my plate with a little bit of all the yummy goodness:

I love having a lot of dishes to choose from, because then I can try a bite or two of everything as opposed to more of just one thing.  Here are the foods I sampled throughout the night:

• Kale Ricotta Dip
• Layered Taco Dip (Similar to the linked recipe!)
• Tortilla Chips
• Baked Potato Skins  (Again, similar to the link!)
• Pork and Beef Italian Meatballs (Similar to the link!)
• Veggies
• Buffalo-Style Pulled Chicken on a Whole Wheat Bun
• Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

For dessert, we had a lightened up version of Granny’s Chocolate Cobbler with homemade vanilla ice cream.  I followed the cobbler recipe except replaced the white flour with whole wheat flour, and cut the sugar and butter in half.  Some people may like their dessert a little sweeter than this, but I really liked the fact I wasn’t on a sugar high, and then sugar crash, the rest of the night.

By the time the game was over, I was ready for more sleep.  We headed home from my parents and by the time we finally pulled in the garage and I tidied up the kitchen a bit and folded some laundry, it was after midnight and I happily made my way to our bedroom and passed out in my warm and comfy bed.

Questions:

• What did you do for the Super Bowl?
• What was the best thing you ate last week?  Anything delicious at a Super Bowl party?
• Do you have any fun plans for the upcoming weekend?