Game Day Fillers

Three recipes for Sunday game days. A mix of flavors, recipes and outcomes. A perfect pairing for football fanatics! 

Peach, Avocado & Tomato Salsa 

This is a perfect mix of sweet and salty with a little kick. Perfect for a party or game day. Original recipe I found on AllRecipes although they called for mango's, I switched them out for peaches. I left the diced vegetables a little larger in size which resulted in more of a chunky style salsa. It burst of flavors and colors! As always, I love to twist recipes adding different spices or herbs so please use your creativity and be bold!!

Ingredients

half a can black beans
half a can corn
half can of diced tomatoes - drain most of liquid into mixing bowl
1 tomato diced
quarter of an onion
dash of paprika
teaspoon Italian herb seasoning
teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoon olive oil
fresh squeezed lime (I squeezed half a lime)
Italian dressing (The amount might depend on the amount of tomato liquid from your diced tomato can)
1 peach diced
1 avocado sliced
1 tablespoon green chilies (mild)

Mix all ingredients together and chill. Serve cold with tortilla chips. I especially like the Tostitos Multigrain Tortilla Chips. Although we couldn't and did not want to wait for it to chill, so we dived in right away!

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Jalapenos

These instantly became one of the best apps I've whipped up! Both of us were crazed over the exceptional flavor. (Mental note; pick up more Jalapeno peppers) Again original recipe is from AllRecipes . Tweaking it by not grilling, adding an extra step to cooking and a sprinkle of parmesan. I read several similar recipes that suggested using a flavored cream cheese-which I did. I also read various techniques on baking bacon. All in all, these were easy to make. I cannot wait to make them for a crowd!

Ingredients

1/2lb bacon
4 jalapeño peppers-halved and seeded
8 oz cream cheese.. Softened. Any flavor. I chose Chive & Onion.
1-2 tablespoons Parmesan
olive oil

Soak whole jalapenos in cool water for about 5 min before halving and de-seeding.
Once cut and clean, drop them in a pot of boiling water for approx. 2-3 minutes. (This takes the heat level down to mild.)
I think dropped them in a stir-fry pan with a light drizzle of olive oil for about 5 min. turning frequently. Cool and whip off any excess oil. Stuff with cream cheese and sprinkle parmesan on top. Wrap with raw bacon strips and stick with toothpick to secure. Place them in a deep baking pan, cream cheese side facing up and put them in the cold oven. Then bake at 450 for 10-15 minutes. (Make sure NOT to preheat the oven, this helps in the cooking process of the bacon.) After 10-15 minutes turn. Bake another 10-15. Remove from oven and place in frying pan. Cook an additional 10 minutes. This added a nice browning touch to the bacon. Cool and serve with toothpicks still in. Perfect bit sized snacks!

Pizza Twist Bites
Now if I had kids, this would be a go-to weekend snack, but hey football fans are sometimes just like big kids! They love to get rowdy, they love to eat finger foods and they jump around uncontrollably when their team (especially Fantasy team) makes a point earning play! That's OK though, this excitement just pumps up my creative juices to make more food... funny how that works. Again AllRecipes is my go-to first base. I scope them out, I research, I find variations and then I twist it. I don't think I rolled them right, but really is there a right way?! All I know is that my pizza bites did not come out looking like the reference picture. What can I say though; they tasted like I'd been cooking pizza's for years!

Ingredients
Small jar tomato and basil spaghetti sauce (I used Prego)
mozzarella cheese (sliced)
pepperoni (sliced)
parmesan cheese
8 crescent dinner rolls

Roll out crescent dough and split into two rectangles. Pinch dough together so there are no holes. Layer sauce, cheese, pepperoni and then small amount of additional sauce. Then sprinkle with parmesan.
Roll each rectangle lengthwise. Sprinkle again with parmesan cheese. Bake on cookie sheet at 375 for approx 15 minutes or until dough is golden brown.
When done cooking, stick tooth picks about 2 inches apart or however many bites you want. let cool. Cut in between toothpicks to create easy, bite sized pizza twists! I love the little sweetness the crescent rolls add to the bites. I see these being made again in my football future.

Up next; Well for food you may have to wait. Although for the next big event be sure to come to Philadelphia and check out the Red Bull Flugtag event this Saturday September 15th. Be sure to get there by 1pm to see them take flight! 
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