Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Game Day Treats with Coca-Cola and Ritz Crackers #BowlTimeSnacks #CollectiveBias

Yum
 This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. 
All opinions are mine alone.
 #BowlTimeSnacks #CollectiveBias



It would be an understatement for me to say my husband loves football.   He watches all the pre-season games, gets the sports package so he can watch all the "pro" games during the season, watches the college football games and even all the special bowls at the end of the season.  While my kids and I are not the big football fans that my husband is, we also love football season because that gives us an excuse to make loads of football game day snacks and treats and have a party.  

When we invite family and friends over for game day, we always have a selection of fun food and drinks.  My go to beverage for any game day festivities has to be Coca-Cola.   Coca-Cola is great just ice cold right out of the bottle, or over some ice in a glass.  I even like it with a twist of fresh lemon or lime. This year we decided to make some fun Coca-Cola floats with vanilla ice cream. Yes, that was definitely a crowd pleasing addition to our football party. 

I always make a variety of dips (hot and cold) to enjoy during the game.  My husband and son love my Cheeseburger Chili dip that I make every year.  The dip is perfectly served with stacks and stacks of RITZ® crackers to stand up to that hearty meaty dip. 

I also like to create something a little sweet to eat with my RITZ® crackers.  I sandwich some creamy peanut butter between two RITZ® crackers and then dip the peanut cracker sandwich in melted chocolate!  Oh Yum!  If you like peanut butter and chocolate then this is the sweet treat for you.  

But before I could get started to make all my crowd pleasing football game day food,  I needed to go to the store and get all the essential ingredients.  I headed on over to my local Safeway that is just down the road from my house and stocked up of boxes of RITZ® crackers and bottles of Coca-Cola.  They even have a very cool football RITZ® cracker to make entertaining during football season even more fun and festive. I love that! 




 
Cheeseburger Chili Dip with RITZ® Crackers

Ingredients:
1lb lean ground beef
1 small onion finely chopped
1-2 jalapenos finely chopped (seed for less spice)
1 Tbs chili powder (used in Mexican cooking or chili con carne)
1/2 tsp garlic powder 
salt and black pepper to taste
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup water
4 oz cream cheese (softened)
4oz American processed cheese (slices or brick kind cut into small pieces)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 

Garnishes:
sliced green onions/scallions

Directions:
Step 1:  Brown the lean beef well and season with salt and black pepper.  Then add the onion and jalapeno peppers.  Saute for another 2-3 minutes. 
Step 2:  Add the chili powder, garlic powder and saute for a minute.  Then add the salsa and water. 

Step 3:  Next add the softened cream cheese and melt into the meat mixture completely.  Then add the American processed cheese and half of the shredded cheese and melt into the meat mixture.
 Step 4:  Place the meat and cheese mixture into an oven proof dish and top with remaining cheese.  Bake in a 400 degree oven until cheese is melted and bubbly. Garnish with scallions and serve hot with RITZ® crackers

Tip:  I love to serve this hot or warm.  I will fill several smaller oven proof dishes and heat one up at a time so there is always a hot dip ready for the crowd to dip into. 



 Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter and RITZ® Crackers
Ingredients: 
RITZ® crackers
Creamy Peanut Butter
12 oz back of milk chocolate chips or semi-sweet
2-3 Tbs coconut oil 

Directions:
Step 1:  Dollop a little bit of peanut butter onto half of the crackers.  Then top with the remaining crackers and sandwich them.  Note:  Try not to have peanut butter come out of the cracker.  If that happens, wipe edges of cracker clean.

Step 2: Melt chocolate with coconut oil over a double boiling until smooth (or melt in microwave 30 seconds at a time until melted-- careful not to burn chocolate if using microwave method).  Dip the RITZ® crackers and peanut butter sandwiches into the melted chocolate and coat well.  Use two forks to pull the sandwiches out of the melted chocolate and place on a tray covered with wax paper.  Place dipped sandwich cookies into the fridge to set up chocolate.  Serve at chilled or at room temperature.


Coca-Cola and Vanilla Ice Cream Floats



Ingredients:
Coca-Cola
Vanilla Ice Cream

Garnishes (optional)
Maraschino cherries

Directions:  Place 2-3 scoops on ice cream into glass, then top off with Coca-Cola.  Drink with a large milkshake straw.  Enjoy.


We had a blast munching and watching the game.  I hope you have a wonderful time at your next game day festivities.    If you are looking for more inspiration for your next game day party, check out Evite Coca-Cola Home Bowl website at http://cbi.as/1vk7r  or for RITZ Crackers Recipe inspiration here.




 This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. 
All opinions are mine alone.
 #BowlTimeSnacks #CollectiveBias


Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Kitchen Simmer formerly known as Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.