The Super Bowl is More Than Just Football

If you watched the Super Bowl, chances are you did more than just watch the game. Friends and family gather to enjoy this football game, but some may have no real interest in the game. The Super Bowl has become an annual ritual,celebration, and party for a lot of people.

At my house we enjoy the game with some original dishes along with some traditional American food. The game is so much more enjoyable with some good hearty fare. Below is some of the good stuff we enjoyed during this year's Superbowl. But before the spread, you have to make the playing field (serving table) look good. It's not a party without decorations and a theme.

First are the chicken wings. You HAVE TO have chicken wings. Now in our house, we give them a tropical taste.  My wife Babushka loves VivaMejor and always looks for recipes with that Latin touch. The recipe is Spicy Cilantro Chicken Wings and since BB doesn't do much spicy we changed it up a bit, but you can get the full recipe on that link.  For our version we:

1.  Baked up the chicken wings nice and crunchy.

2. Put together the sauce-

• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves and stems, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp. grated lime peel
• 3 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tsp. Knorr® Chicken flavor Bouillon
• 1/4 cup Country Crock® Calcium plus Vitamin D, melted

and pour it over the wings.

But you can't have just that at a Superbowl Party, let's bring out some seafood!

Coconut Shrimp Minis with Tropical Sauce

Yes, we know it isn't coconut shrimp, but we wanted something a bit bigger than shrimp

 so we used fillets and it was just fine.

Of course you have to have chips and dip, but in our house it goes tropical too.

Avocado and Mango Salad

Up where we are the avocados aren't the best so instead of salad we made dips. Again, it was just fine.

Now THAT's how you do a SuperBowl Party!

Of course there were drinks, and my wife's favorite, Mountain Dew had one of the weirdest commercials during the Superbowl.  That's another enjoyable thing that people watch the Superbowl for is the commercials, which can be very entertaining, or just plain dumb. How weird was the "Puppy Monkey Baby" commercial for Mountain Dew Kickstart! Here, I'll let you decide for yourself. 

No matter what you think of the teams, the Super Bowl is always about more than just football.

Celebrating Valentines Day

Valentine's Day is one of the more unusual days to celebrate. It is not really a holiday, but a day of expressing your love for someone. This can be very stressful whether you are married or just dating. For women they are usually on the receiving end during Valentine's Day, so no real pressure for them. For men you can't just blow this celebration day off, you have to come up with a nice evening out, or purchase something she will love.

Don't stress this day guys, it is not worth it.  Another key point to remember is you don't have to spend a fortune to make it through this day. Find out what things she loves that are affordable. My wife BB loves chocolates, cool scarfs and giraffes, so view the pictures below to see how this worked out. With this knowledge you will be able to make a stress-free decision. Here are some pictures of what I gave my wife BB for Valentine's day.