super bowl sunday 2021

even though we're not sports fans, we do enjoy sitting down each year to watch the super bowl.  granted, it's mainly for the food, the commercials, and the half-time show.

we like to watch the game from home in our pjs cuddled up on the couch with leko.  we made some vegetarian chicken wings, cauliflower wings, jalapeno poppers, and guacamole to eat during the game.  we had some oreo brownies for dessert too.

we stayed awake for most of the game.  the half-time show was so-so in my opinion and i didn't love most of the commercials either.  if i had to pick one, the best commercial was probably the amazon alexa commercial.

love, laurie

super bowl sunday 2020

even though we're both not fans of football, we do enjoy sitting down to watch the super bowl each year.  granted, it's mainly for the food, the commercials, and the half-time show. 

our favorite tradition is to watch from home in our pjs with leko.  on sunday, we curled up on the couch with some of our favorite treats and our favorite kitten.  we made vegetarian chicken nuggets, homemade mini pizzas, veggies with dip, and homemade soft pretzels.  we both stayed awake for almost all of the game.

this year, my favorite commercial was the ellen alexa commercial.

love, laurie

kitten bowl weekend . . . i mean, super bowl weekend

almost everyone will be tuning into the super bowl on sunday (and we will too, but only for the commercials and the half-time show), but don't forget to check out the kitten bowl on the hallmark channel on sunday too.  we have watched it in the past with leko, and it's always so cute!

have a great weekend!

love, laurie

super bowl sunday 2019

we're both not football fans, but we do enjoy watching the super bowl every year (mainly for the food, the half-time show, and the commercials).  our favorite way to watch is at home in our pjs with leko. 

we curled up on sunday night in our pjs and used ryan's new hue lights to theme the room to match the team colors for the game.  we made some yummy food (vegetarian chicken nuggets, waffle fries, and guac), made some yummy dessert (individual skillet rocky-road brownies), and enjoyed the evening on the couch. 

i didn't mind the half-time show because i like maroon 5 (and because i thought it was admirable that adam levine donated his $500k earnings from playing the half-time show to a childrens' charity). 

can't forget the commercials too . . . my two favorite commercials were from t-mobile and amazon alexa.

love, laurie

super bowl sunday 2018

even though we're not sports fans throughout the year, we do love to sit down and watch the super bowl.  our favorite way to watch it is at home, in our pjs, with some great food, cuddled up on the couch with leko on our laps . . . and we got to do just that this year, thanks to an insane snow storm that lasted all day long.

after a bunch of snow shoveling and ice scrapping, we curled up on the couch with vegetarian nachos, guacamole, salsa, chips, carrots, celery, blue cheese, buffalo sauce, boneless chicken wings for ryan, and vegetarian "chicken" nuggets for me!  (ps: i'm beyond elated that i finally found a brand of vegetarian "meat" that is soy free!  hooray!)  for dessert, we made mini cast-iron skillet brownies with a scoop of ice cream on top.

ryan dug out his color changing light-up eagles cup for good luck and i guess it worked because the eagles won!  leko was happy all night because he got a good nap during the game. 

overall, i thought the super bowl commercials weren't that great.  if i had to pick a favorite, i would say that i liked the e*trade commercial best.  i also didn't care for the half-time show at all.  (last year's was much better!)  but, the game was actually entertaining.  i was much too lazy yesterday to take pictures on my camera but did snap a few on my phone . . .

love, laurie

super bowl sunday recipe roundup

the super bowl is this weekend!  my favorite super bowl tradition is watching the game from home on the couch, in our pjs, snuggled up with leko.  that plan sounds extra good this year since the forecast is calling for snow.  one of the best parts of the super bowl is the fun food.  we always make our own treats at home each year.  here are a few of our favorite recipes from over the years that would be great for the super bowl, whether you are having a large party or a party just for yourself . . .

appetizers / snacks:
- parmesan truffle popcorn
- broccomole (broccoli guacamole)
- roasted cauliflower and garlic dip
- spinach artichoke dip
- homemade cheez-it crackers
- egg roll mozzarella sticks
- homemade soft pretzels (plain, dusted in cinnamon sugar, or wrapped around hot dogs)

entrees:
- buffalo chicken rolls
- spicy beef enchiladas
- vegetarian qunioa chili
- sweet potato black bean burgers
- cast-iron skillet pizza

desserts:
- classic chocolate chip cookies
- confetti cupcakes (with sprinkles matching your team colors)
- oreo truffle footballs

love, laurie

super bowl sunday 2017

it's no secret that we're not into sports, but we really enjoy sitting down with some good food (and leko) every year to watch the super bowl.  my absolute favorite way to watch the super bowl is at home, in my pajamas, with those two boys!  on sunday evening, we threw together a few little super bowl snacks (cast-iron skillet vegetarian nachos with lots of toppings and boneless wings for ryan).  for dessert, we made a cast-iron chocolate chip cookie, which we served warm with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, chocolate syrup, and sprinkles.

of course leko joined in on the action.  we kicked off the night by watching the kitten bowl on the hallmark channel with him, and then after leko fell asleep on ryan's lap, we switched over to the real super bowl.

the commercials were horrible this year.  if i had to pick two favorites, i'd say mr. clean's "cleaner of your dreams" commercial and kia's "hero's journey" commercial were probably my favorites.

hands down, the best part of the night was lady gaga's half-time performance.  she killed it!!!  we were mesmerized by the 300 drones in the air flying in sync and by the fact that she actually sang live and danced the whole time.  no matter what you think of lady gaga, you have to hand it to her, she did an awesome job!

a few photos from our little super bowl party (via my phone because i was way to lazy to grab my camera!) . . .

love, laurie

super bowl sunday 2016

even though we're not really into sports, we do like to tune into the super bowl each year, mainly for the commercials and the half-time show.  ryan had to work on sunday so we recorded the super bowl and watched it when he got home.  luckily he got home only about 45 minutes after it started.  we threw together a little super bowl party for ourselves.  i made vegetarian nachos, boneless chicken wings for ryan, and cut up some veggies to dip in blue cheese.  we followed it up with brownies for dessert too.

just like in years past, leko was in on the action.  leko wasted no time at all and jumped up on ryan's lap as soon as ryan sat down, and that's where he stayed for the whole night.  it was so nice to be able to sit on the couch and relax.  the three of us really enjoyed our little super bowl party in our pajamas!

ps: the commercials were totally lame this year, however, we did get a good laugh out of honda's "a new truck to love" commercial because the sheep reminded us so much of leko!  i liked snickers' "marilyn" commercial too.

love, laurie

kitten bowl weekend!

almost everyone will be tuning into the super bowl on sunday, but don't forget to check out the kitten bowl on the hallmark channel on sunday too!  we have watched it the past few years with leko, and it's always so cute!

have a great weekend!

love, laurie

super bowl sunday 2015

i've mentioned before that we are really not into sports, but we do like to watch the super bowl each year (mainly for the commercials and the half-time show).  we were pretty bummed when we found out that ryan was scheduled to have rehearsal for the show that he is working on during the super bowl.  as it turned out, his rehearsal ended early because of the snow, and he got to come home just in time to sit down and see the beginning of the game!  we threw together a little super bowl party for ourselves.  i made spinach-artichoke dip, cut up some celery and carrot sticks to dip in blue cheese, and made some boneless chicken wings with garlic hot sauce for ryan.  we followed it up with some ice cream for dessert too.

as soon as ryan sat down on the couch, leko wasted no time at all.  he jumped right up on ryan's lap and that's where he stayed for the remainder of the night.  it was great!  it was so nice to finally have some free time to be able to sit down on the couch, relax, and vegetate.  i snapped two pictures on my phone while we were sitting on the couch watching the game.  i couldn't resist how cute leko was when he was sleeping.  he sure knows how to make himself comfortable!  all three of us really enjoyed our impromptu little super bowl party.

overall, most of the commercials were pretty lame, but i did love budweiser's "lost puppy" commercial.  the budweiser commercials get me every year!

today we woke up to find several inches of snow on the ground, and it is still snowing!  by some act of god, the university where we work actually closed so we have the day off today.  i'm telling you, that is nothing short of a miracle!

happy groundhog day!
love, laurie

. . .

previous super bowl sundays: 2013 and 2014  

it's kitten bowl weekend!

lots of people will be watching the super bowl on sunday, but did you know that the kitten bowl will be on the hallmark channel on sunday too?  we watched a little bit of it last year with leko and it was pretty cute.

have a great weekend!

love, laurie

super bowl sunday

i've mentioned before that we are really not into sports.  however, we do like to watch the super bowl each year (mainly for the half-time show and the commercials).

we have gone to super bowl parties at friends' houses in the past, but we much prefer staying home and cuddling up on our own couch.  so, we had a little super bowl party last night just for the three of us.

before the super bowl started, we watched the kitten bowl with leko.  it was so cute!  leko stayed on the couch to to watch the super bowl with us too.  he loved it.

arguably one of the best things about the super bowl is the food.  we made garlic boneless wings for dinner.  they were the best boneless wings we have ever made.  the garlic gave them such a great flavor and they were just the right amount of spicy.

of course we made some guacamole and salsa too.  for dessert we made white chocolate caramel popcorn.  (i'll share the recipe soon!)

overall, i thought that the commercials were somewhat lame this year.  my two favorite commercials were budweiser's "puppy love" commercial and dannon oikos greek yogurt's "the spill" commercial.  the animal commercials get me every time, and you just can't help but love those guys from full house!

love, laurie

our little super bowl party

i've mentioned before that we are really not into sports.  however, we do like sitting down each year to watch the super bowl . . . mainly for the half-time show and the commercials.  (my two favorite commercials were budweiser's clydesdale commercial and tide's miracle stain commercial.)

in the past we have gone to super bowl parties at friends' houses, but we much prefer staying home and cuddling up on our own couch.  so, we stayed home on sunday night to watch the super bowl, and we had a little super bowl party just for the two three of us . . . turns out kitten loved joining us on the couch to watch the super bowl too!

love, laurie  

super bowl sunday: buffalo chicken rolls

on super bowl sunday, we really enjoyed the oreo truffles that we made for dessert (in the shape of little footballs).  we also enjoyed the buffalo chicken rolls that we made for dinner.  buffalo chicken wings are the quintessential football snack food, so we couldn't imagine the super bowl without some variation of buffalo chicken.

we made our buffalo chicken rolls based on this recipe with two small changes: first, we added sauteed garlic to our hot sauce, and second, we omitted the cole slaw from the rolls.  these buffalo chicken rolls turned out to be amazing.  they were especially good when dipped in blue cheese.  we definitely plan on making then again!

. . . 

combine the chicken, hot sauce, and blue cheese crumbles.

place a few spoonfuls of the chicken mixture on the egg roll wrapper.

fold the bottom corner up and over the filling,

then fold the two sides into the center.

secure the top flap with a dab of water.

place the rolls on a foil lined baking sheet,

and bake at 400 degrees F for about 15 minutes.

enjoy!

love, laurie

super bowl sunday: oreo truffle footballs

it's no secret that we're not huge football fans, but we do enjoy watching the super bowl.  (mostly we like seeing the commercials and the half-time show.)  there is just something about the super bowl that makes you want to sit down on the couch in front of the tv with football food.  so, we had our own little super bowl party yesterday, just for the two of us.  we made fun football food for dinner, and for dessert, we made oreo truffles in the shape of footballs.  they were really tasty and so easy to make!

. . .

all you need to make the base for the truffles is two ingredients:

oreos and cream cheese!

crush up several oreos so that they are very fine

and add them to a bowl with softened cream cheese.

use a spatula to combine the crushed oreos 

and the softened cream cheese.

roll the mixture into little football shapes 

and place them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.

refrigerate the little footballs for about 1 hour.

in a double boiler, melt chocolate chips, butter, and milk.

stir constantly to keep the chocolate smooth.

dip the little footballs into the warm chocolate,

then refrigerate them for about 15 minutes.

decorate the little footballs with melted white chocolate.

. . .

oreo truffles
yields: 36 truffles

ingredients:
1 package of oreo cookies
8 ounces of softened cream cheese
2 cups of chocolate chips
3 tablespoons of butter
4 tablespoons of milk

directions:
place the oreo cookies in a ziploc bag and crush them into a very fine consistency.  in a large bowl, use a spatula to combine the crushed oreos and the softened cream cheese.  roll the mixture into 1 inch balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.  refrigerate the balls for approximately 1 hour.  meanwhile, melt the chocolate, butter, and milk in a double boiler over low heat.  stir constantly to keep the chocolate smooth.  dip the balls into the warm chocolate.  place the balls onto a baking sheet lined with wax paper.  refrigerate the balls for about 15 minutes to dry.  note: since the truffles are made with cream cheese, remember to store them in the refrigerator.

enjoy!

love, laurie