Appetizers and Sweet Ideas for the Super Bowl or any Pot Luck

Sports are played all year round and many people like to get together to root for opposing teams in a friendly rivalry. If you are like me, you don't really care who wins so you root for the team opposite of those you care about just to get some competition in, or you mostly come for the appetizers.

If you've ever been to a potluck or have had to bring a dish to pass, chances are, you have a go-to snack that you like to bring that's easy to make. If you have hosted an event, you may go one step further and provide a meat dish. 

I realize, however, that there are some of you who are out there adulating for the first time or are very new to this. Maybe you are attending your first event where you can't rely on your mom to bring something and you are looking for an easy dish to pass. Or maybe, just maybe, you want to venture out and bring something new, something different. Well, I hope that I can help you choose something easy and tasty by making you a list to choose from. Here are some of my favorites as well as suggestions from friends. 

Disclaimer- Not all recipes are mine. The recipes with links are recipes that I found on Pinterest or other websites.

1. BBQ Nachos-

Ok, so we have this restaurant near me that sells BBQ Nachos- They are amazing, but pricey. One day, we ordered from there and I thought, "You know, these are good, I wonder if I can make them at home?" So I tried it.

Ok, so Sam's Club used to have a pulled pork product that I used to love to buy for this occasion, but they stopped selling it, for some reason. The last time I went, I ended up buying this, and it worked just as well and you can sauce it up, how you'd like. This is the link to it.

If you're going to have a lot of friends and family over, you might want to make two  or more of these. Basically, warm this meat up or throw it into a crock pot to warm. 

Then you'll want to provide toppings:

Jalapeno Peppers- You can find a jar of them in the Mexican food aisle or even find some in the pickle aisle (not always). Get the kind that say they are for nachos because they are already sliced up.

Green Onion- This is a pain in the butt to cut up if you don't have the right knives or cutting apparatus, but they do add to the flavor.

Shredded Cheddar Cheese- buy some already shredded or shred it yourself.

Diced tomatoes- Better if fresh

Sour Cream- I think the Daisy squeeze is easiest.

Tortilla chips- I like the kind that are more authentic, but Tostitos are good, too.

Set up a station and have people layer them how they want. Enjoy! 

2. Deviled Eggs

How could something so easy and delicious have such an evil name? You can use this recipe, or use mine, which is basically, sort of the same.

Here's my Recipe:

Put some eggs in a pot of water. Put the pot onto the stove and turn the fire on. Bring water to a boil and once water is boiled, turn off the heat and wait for water to cool. It would be a BAD idea to reach into the boiling water.

You're going to cut the eggs in half, so be mindful of the amount of eggs that you boil- assuming they all turn out perfect, is going to be doubled, in the end. Do you really want to boil 24 eggs for 48? Decide how many you want or have room for when you bring your dish.

Once the water has cooled, pull egg out, bounce it around on the counter to crack the egg in several places, then try to gently peel away the shell. Once all shells are peeled and some grumbles are made along the way because some eggs didn't want to be separated from their shells and are a complete mess, rinse off the eggs in case any tiny fragments remain.

Then, hold the egg on a flat surface and with a knife, cut the egg in half, the long way. You will know if it's cut the wrong way if the bottom is not the same size as the top.

Carefully pop out the yolk and place it in a separate bowl. Do this with each remaining egg. Place egg whites in an egg container with hole side facing up.

If you want to be fancy, you can actually color the egg whites to match your teams colors. The process is here. You can use the recipe listed there, too, if you want, but I prefer no relish. I also don't wait for the eggs to sit for 15 minutes, more like 1, maybe 2.

So now you have all the egg yolks in one bowl, this is what I do next:

Grab some of the miracle whip or mayo that's in your fridge. Grab a hunk of it with a large spoon and throw it into the bowl with egg yolks.  Next, grab some mustard and squeeze the mustard into the same bowl, start with a 2 second squeeze. Next, mix it all together. If it's too dry, add some more mayo. If it's too mayo-y, add another squeeze or two of mustard. Do this until you get the desired consistency and taste.

Once the mixture tastes as desired, grab a plastic gallon baggie. Snip off a small portion at the corner of the bag. Add mixture. Squeeze mixture over the hole in the white yolks. Swirl it until each egg has a pleasing aesthetic look. Last, grab your hidden shaker of paprika, the one that you bought because your mom had one, but you didn't know why you needed it. Open that can and gently shake the can over the eggs, too much paprika and you'll wonder why you took the time to dye the eggs if you were just going to cover it with brownish red powder.

You're finished!

3. Jalapeno/Banana Pepper Poppers-

These are super delicious. When I was pregnant, this was my favorite thing to eat. They are super easy and give you the spicy kick that you need. If you want to make these, you can click here for the recipe. I have also made them with Banana Peppers because I had a ton of them in my garden. They are still flavorful, but are more mild, which is nice when you have children around. 

4. Brownie Peanut Butter Pie- 

This is one of my favorite desserts, but I don't make it unless I know we will have guests to help eat it because it is so rich and so good. I could eat this all by myself in one, very long day.

The recipe, here, has you use a refrigerated pie crust- which is good, but if you want complete awesomeness, make yourself a graham cracker pie crust.

5. Chocolate Lush- 

This is pure awesomeness. I don't know if this is the real name, but my Grandma Sue has made this for us forever. It's chocolate, it's cream cheese, it's awesome.

What you need: Refrigerated pie crust or graham cracker crust from above. You're going to need to bake them as instructed. Once cool, mix together chocolate pudding. I have also used butterscotch because my husband doesn't like chocolate.

With a mixer, cream together 1 package of cream cheese, a small container of Cool Whip, and a cup of sugar. You can use powdered sugar, but I like the grainy texture of the sugar.

After the crust has cooled, layer the cream cheese over the bottom. Then add chocolate pudding, and then add a layer of cool whip over the pudding. Sprinkle chocolate chips or butterscotch chips over the top depending on what flavor pudding you used.

6. Cheese Balls

I don't know what it is, but at some point in your life, or at least for me, you're going to love cream cheese. Not only that, you're going to love things mixed with cream cheese. And what's better than things mixed with cream cheese? You've guessed it, being able to dip things in to things made with cream cheese. I don't have one specific recipe, but this link right here, is going to give you a list of 25 recipes for cheese balls. Yum!

So grab a box of crackers, the ingredients to your cheeseball recipe, and share away!

7. Buffalo Chicken Dip

I have only made this dish in a pie pan for my husband and I to eat as dinner. My friends say you can make it in a crockpot which means that it is portable!

If you want it right then and there at home, you can get the recipe here--> Buffalo Chicken Dip

https://www.figuringitout101.com/2019/05/buffalo-chicken-dip.html

8. Cucumber Sandwiches

This no bake dish is great for any tea party or potluck that you go to, especially in the summer if you grow your own cucumbers. Get the recipe here.

https://www.figuringitout101.com/2020/08/cucumber-sandwiches.html

9. Cake Pops

If you like cake, frosting, and chocolate, you'll like Cake Balls. The best part of cake balls is that they are really hard to mess up, unless you don't know how to dip things in chocolate, but even then, it doesn't matter how it looks, only how it tastes, right? They are also very versatile. You can make them with all sorts of flavors. You can make it below, or use this link for pictures and more ideas. 

Ex: Chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, chocolate coating. One of my husbands favorites is carrot cake, cream cheese frosting, white chocolate coating. Lemon cake, white frosting or white cake, lemon frosting, and white chocolate coating. The possibilities are endless.

Bake a chocolate cake mix per instruction on box. Or you can make a cake mix from a box and mix it with a diet soda- less calories, and bake it at the same temp until you can poke it with a tooth pick and nothing comes out.

So, you're cake is baked and it has cooled. Awesome. Now, grab your favorite container of frosting- we have chocolate cake, so lets add chocolate frosting. Mix them both together. You can cut the cake and then put it in a bowl and mix it with frosting, or you could empty the jar of frosting onto the cake and squish it together with clean hands. It doesn't matter how you do it, just make sure your hands are washed and the cake gets mixed really well with frosting. You're going to end up with a cake goo lump in a bowl or dish.

Now you're going to roll this cake goo into little balls and place them on cookie sheets. Once a sheet is filled, place it in the freezer for a 1/2 hours.

Melt some chocolate until it can be easily stirred and looks like a puddle of chocolatey oil. Dip frozen ball of cake into chocolate and place onto the same sheet or a different one. Wait for the chocolate to dry before touching it again.

I've found that using a plastic fork and snapping out the middle to tines makes it easier to dip the balls.

For some reason, white chocolate or any other kind doesn't melt as well, so if you use that kind of chocolate, you have to work quickly.

10. Fruit Pizza

 This is also incredibly easy to make, but it can be pricey depending on the season because fruit is expensive.

I usually buy two packages of sugar cookie dough and lay them out onto a greased cookie or pizza sheet until the sheet is evenly covered. Bake at 350 or whatever the temp is on the dough instructions until the dough looks like a golden cookie- not brown because sugar cookies are supposed to be whitish/golden and brown means burnt.

While the cookie cools, mix together a package of cream cheese, a small container of cool whip, and a cup of sugar. You can use powdered sugar for a smoother mix, but I like the grainy texture.  Once cookie has cooled, pour mixture onto cookie and smooth it evenly. 

Add slices of your favorite fruit. I like to line mine out in rows. Usually I add, mandarin oranges, cherries, strawberries, pineapple, blueberries and kiwi. It's your choice of which fruit you like and you can place it on however you like. It's your pizza! 

I've also have seen recipes that used peanut butter cookie dough and they lined it with a peanut butter filling, which is the same as the filling above, they just added peanut butter, and then layered it with bananas and apple 

Keep cool until served. 

     Now, you are ready to try something new or maybe spice your old dish up. No matter what event you're going to, you can use these recipes and they will be a hit.... unless it's somewhere fancy. You might want to try something different if it is. 

      Did you see some of your favorites? Is there something that wasn't here that you think should be mentioned? Leave a comment and tell me what you think!