A Bungalow Project: { Football Parties and Tailgate Wars }

A Bungalow Project LOVES the Indianapolis Colts! We went to the “Manning Bowl” and had a blast!

I took my “famous” brownies. The guys we tailgate with just tease me and say they are “famous” because that’s how we met. I made these brownies, they ate one at our tailgate, and they’ve requested them every game since! I also made cute Colts Football cupcakes this game.

Here’s a quick glimpse of our tailgate…

We had a pizza, chips and salsa, and of course some drinks. But… my tailgate food definitely got shown up by the newbie tailgate guy. He brought a grill out and made bacon wrapped shrimp, kabobs, wings, blue drinks, and more…

Here’s a glimpse the tailgate guy grilling and of his awesome tailgate display:

So, I’m getting ready for the next tailgate. Here are some football party and food ideas, and recipes that I came across:

A super cute idea from Suddenly Frugal...

Football season traditionally means tailgate time, play-off parties and a table of unhealthy dips loaded with calories–70 per tablespoon for spinach dip and a whopping 90 per tablespoon in buttermilk ranch. With Americans deriving an estimated 30 percent of their daily calories from outside traditional meals, the trend in party fare is to serve healthier options. At just 25 calories per tablespoon, adding pre-made, all-natural guacamole to the party line-up makes a game-time winner.

The Recipe:
Wholly Guacamole Gridiron Game Time Dip
Prep: 30 minutes

Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp butter
- ½ cup red bell pepper
- ½ cup onion, chopped
- 2, 15 oz cans black beans, rinsed / drained
- 2 tsp fresh chopped jalapeno peppers
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 cup salsa
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
- 14 oz Wholly Guacamole
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 bag tortilla chips

Instructions:
1. Melt butter in skillet; add peppers and onion. Cook over medium heat until onion is softened. (4 minutes). Stir in beans, jalapenos and cumin. Cook until heated.

2. Transfer 1 cup of bean mixture to a food processor, process until smooth. Return blended mixture to remaining mixture and stir to combine. Spread onto an 11×8 baking dish. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

3. Just before serving, layer over the bean mixture: salsa, cheese and top with Wholly Guacamole.

4. Spoon sour cream into reseal-able plastic bag. Snip off small corner and pipe sour cream lines over the guacamole to resemble yard markers on a football field.

Another idea from tiny prints…