Snack
Food allergies can make game day snacking tough, but with a few pantry and fridge staples you can be out of the kitchen and cheering for your favorite team in no time with these no fuss gluten free game day snacks.
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We are all about some game day over here. If it’s fall and it’s football, it’s on our tv.
Ok perhaps I should clarify. The husband is all about some game day. I, on the other hand, am all about some game day eats. I’d be the first one to say hey let’s have a bunch of people over to watch the game simply so we could snack on a bunch of game day food.
However, since food allergies have come into our lives, it makes simply grabbing a bunch of game-ready food from the store less of a convenience and more of a hassle. We can’t just go to one store and grab everything we need or make last minute plans and pick something up along the way. Instead, we have to plan in advance, which on occasion has made me not want to host a game day celebration at all. If it’s work it’s not fun.
But slowly and surely over the years I’ve figured out how to get around that hold up. I have a few go-to game day recipes up my sleeve that are easy to prepare, but better yet, I’ve figured out how to prepare practically nothing and still have a game-day worthy spread.
The trick is pairing your snacks so they not only complement each other but you cover all your bases. Fruits, veggies, and chips are easy to throw on the counter, but unless I have some homemade meatballs hiding in the freezer, I don’t always have an easy protein option. Or do I…
You know I’m a fan of flavored almonds {the blueberry ones are a staple favorite around here} and these bold, smokey, game changing flavors are perfect for an easy game day treat to help keep you full and satisfied while you munch away and watch the game.
They’d make a great game day pairing on their own with some salami & cheese, or even mixed with something unexpected and sweet like dried fruit. The smokehouse almonds scream manly game day and the wasabi & soy are delightful for something different {and just spicy enough without crossing the line}.
These rounded out our last game day spread nicely along with some of our other gluten-free, dairy-free faves, like spinach artichoke dip with sliced veggies, bean dip with tortilla chips, guacamole, hummus, and meatballs. I may or may not have eaten half the nuts while waiting for the game to start…
What’s your favorite no-fuss game day snack?
This post was originally sponsored by Blue Diamond Almonds. Ditch the chips and grab some Game Changing Flavors this football season!
Biking
For most people, this weekend’s holiday was Labor Day. For others, it was a different holiday. The official kickoff of the season known as college football.
Perhaps you can tell which team the husband’s side of the family pulls for…
Before heading over to the in-laws’ to watch the first game of the season, Grandma picked up the little guy and the husband and I headed out on our first bike ride together in at least a year. We’re gearing up for our two-day bike ride extravaganza for MS, and neither one of us has put nearly enough time in the saddle. This was actually the husband’s first ride of the year.
Of course he kicked my butt the whole ride, as if he’d been training all year and it was my first time on the bike. We rode a few loops at the park so we could avoid dealing with cars on the road. When we got tired {which didn’t take long} we headed back to the car. I pulled my phone {yes, the rice worked!} out of my bag and saw we rode a whopping 7.5 miles.
7 and a half.
That’s not going to cut it! The plan was to ride again this morning but it’s pouring rain.
It’s funny, I started riding my bike when my body couldn’t handle running without injury, but my body is just not made for biking. I watch people fly past me right and left, uphill and down, and I just pedal, pedal, pedal away, never catching up.
I suppose it’s just a challenge I’ll have to keep working on, because nothing worth it is ever easy, right? But I long for the day when I can head out for a long run and not have it hurt.
So how did you celebrate the long weekend? Run a race? Cookout? Lounge around? Obsess over fantasy drafts and first football games?
Recipe
It’s Bowl week in the college football world, which means only one thing. There’s a lot of football watching going on here. Even more than usual. Let’s not even talk about how the basketball watching fits in to all of that.
It actually means one more thing. Football food is needed!
For most people, football means wings, dips, and beer. For us, it’s nachos. It’s a tradition that goes back to our early days of marriage when we’d go across the street, pick up some nachos from Moe’s, and go back to the apartment to watch the Panthers’ game.
We were you’re typical newlyweds, broke & jobless, so we considered Moe’s a fancy treat. Ahh, the little things. Of course, that also meant that Moe’s during every football game wasn’t going to happen, so we learned to make some pretty rockin’ nachos that year.
There are 2 keys to good nachos: the queso and the salsa. I’ve already divulged the secrets to my favorite queso dip recipe, so now it’s time to get to the homemade salsa part.
There are a million different fresh salsa recipes; this one is spicy and smoky, perfect for jazzing up nachos or eating plain with tortilla chips.
by Heather Neal
Keywords: appetizer snack vegan vegetarian Mexican
- 1 can diced tomatoes with chilies {such as Rotel}; drained
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 1 small clove garlic, minced
- 1 adobo pepper with sauce, chopped {from can}
- Squirt of lime juice
- Dash of red pepper flakes
Cook onion and garlic over medium heat until start to soften.
Add tomatoes and adobo. Simmer over medium-low heat ~10 minutes.
Stir in lime juice and red pepper flakes.
Let cool before serving.
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Do you have any football-watching food traditions?
Psssst… Check out our nursery design idea! And learn how to not let your New Year’s Resolutions fail.
Recipe
If you know me for real, or if you’ve read the blog for awhile, you know that the excitement in the air around here isn’t just the impending crisp fall air, the wearing of scarves and boots, or the overload of pumpkin recipes. It’s football.
For the next 5 to 6 months, the SoS household will live and breathe football. Do you know the only day of the week there isn’t a football game? Because I do. It’s Wednesday, in case you were wondering. But that doesn’t mean the 24-7 football coverage stops.
I’ve learned two things about surviving football season over the years:
1. Don’t fight it. It’s going to happen anyways.
2. Football is always better with food.
{What isn’t better with food?}
While there’s nothing wrong with indulging in rich or decadent football food, when you watch football every.single.day. it’s not a bad idea to keep at least a little bit of it on the healthy side.
I try to always keep the fridge and pantry stocked with football-watching-staples; you never know when someone else will show up to watch the game, expecting to eat.
One of my favorites that’s easy to keep on hand is a dip my mom made, which I’ve since dubbed my 3 minute man-friendly football dip; it’s really chili cheese dip.
It’s not unhealthy, but it could use a little help for frequent consumption. I decided to make the classic vegetarian. I actually ended up taking it all the way to vegan, but feel free to stop at vegetarian if you want. This dairy free cheese dip is sure to please!
Vegan Chili Cheese Dip
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8
oz
vegan cream cheese {If you want to go the vegetarian route
I suggest neufchatel cream cheese}
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1 14.5
oz
can prepared vegetarian chili {or leftover chili}
-
Baked tortilla chips
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Let cream cheese soften.
-
Mix cream cheese and chili in microwaveable bowl.
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Microwave 1-3 minutes, stirring intermittently.
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Serve warm with chips.
What’s your favorite football food?
PS Find out now on tiny sneakers whether baby SoS is a boy or girl…or a surprise!
Holidays
Because it would be wrong to write too much on “don’t-labor” day.
{“tailgating”}
{smoke?}
{cornhole}
Followed by the longest game of football in football history: 3 quarters of play + 4 hours 22 minutes of lightening delay. At least they won this time.
{I’m assuming you can guess which team. 
}
