For those of you who foolishly think the champion of Super Bowl XLIX will be the Seahawks or the Patriots, let’s take a quick look at the real winner come Sunday – food.
Quick Stats:
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (the real foodists), Super Bowl Sunday has only fallen to one day as America’s largest day of food consumption – Thanksgiving
The National Chicken Council’s 2015 Wing Report (can I sign up for this?) estimates 1.25 billion wings will be consumed
Huffington Post past achievements:
80 million avocados
325 million gallons of beer
11 million pounds of chips
11 million slices of Domino’s pizza
3.8 million pounds of popcorn
11 million slices of just Domino’s pizza?! Anyone who can finish the Steel Curtain Calzone challenge at La Cappella deserves the Lombardi trophy in my book.
Just as eager to win the title are advertisers. The Doritos brand has become popular for its “Crash the Super Bowl” contest, where contestants produce their own 30-second Doritos commercial and compete for a broadcast spot during the Super Bowl, $1 million and a job at Universal Pictures.
Competition for both ad and plate space also includes messages from Snickers, Oreo, Budweiser, M&M’s and Pistachios.
The commercials may produce a craving in our stomachs, or at least a few good belly laughs, but are nothing compared to the tangible food on our plates. Go ahead, try to describe three food ads from last year. Hmm, I must have been busy eating…
The commercials are quick to stream into normalcy and our food consumption tends to level out, but I hope the following recipes stick with you for a while, as an appetizer to bring to your Super Bowl party or as a late night snack.
Game on, butter lovers!
Mexican Taco Pinwheels
If you want to up-grade the regular chips and salsa combo, try these no-bake pinwheels as a tasty appetizer.
Ingredients:
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese
1 package taco seasoning
1 package dry ranch dressing mix
1 (4oz) can chopped green chilies, drained
1 (4oz) can chopped black olives, drained
10-12 large flour tortillas
Directions:
Set tortillas aside and mix all other ingredients.
Divide mixture evenly among tortillas, spread to edges and roll up into long tubes.
Refrigerate 1-2 hours.
Cut tubes into slices.
Serve with salsa if desired.
Snickers Caramel Apple Salad
You’re not you when you’re hungry, and I’m not me without dessert. Dessert doesn’t seem to be a priority during the Super Bowl, but if you want to change that, this dessert is fairly light so you’ll still have room for seconds.
Ingredients:
6 regular-sized Snickers candy-bars
4 red delicious apples
1 package vanilla instant pudding, unprepared
½ cup milk
1 tub Cool Whip
Caramel ice cream topping
Directions:
Stir together dry vanilla pudding packet, ½ cup milk and Cool Whip.
Chop apples and Snickers into bite size chunks.
Stir Snickers and apples into pudding mixture.
Drizzle mixture with caramel topping.
Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.
Loaded Oven Chili Cheese Dogs
If you’re hosting the party, these hot dogs give you some freedom from the typical wings and pizza, especially if you think your local pizza delivery driver will be swamped with other orders.
Ingredients:
7 hot dogs, uncooked
7 hot dog buns
1 cup mayonnaise
½ cup relish
1 can Hormel chili
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 onion, chopped
Note: You could really add any type of toppings you like here. Make them custom to your team or to your guests!
Directions:
Place hot dog buns in a 9×13 baking dish.
Evenly divide mayonnaise and relish into the bottom of each hot dog bun.
Top each bun with an uncooked hot dog.
Spoon chili, cheese and onions on hot dogs.
Cover with foil and bake at 350° for 45 minutes.
