It's officially the big game weekend over here in the U.S. and even though my New England spirit is a little less excited as our Patriots are not in this year's big game, I'm still getting my snacks ready.  I think the key to super bowl food is bite sized or easy to eat with your hands treats of both the sweet and savory nature.  No one wants a big sit down meal during the game.  It's grab and go to get back to the football action.  

I've a quick round up of some of my go-to recipes that I've used in the past.

Let's start on the savory side. First up are these Baked Chicken Fajita Jalapeno Poppers.  These creamy little bites pack flavor and a little bit of heat, not too much, with a nice crunch.  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
-1x8oz packages of cream cheese
-1/2 cup salsa
-1-2 TBS chopped green onion
-1 tsp garlic powder
-1/2 tsp chili powder
-1 cup shredded cheese
-1 cup shredded chicken (I use left over roast chicken)
-1 cup tortilla chips

Directions
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the peppers in half length wise, remove core and seeds and place on a lightly greased cookie tray.  In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, salsa, chicken, garlic, green onion and chili powder.  Mash together with a spoon or fork until well combined.  Spoon the mixture into the pepper halves.  Crush the tortilla chips or process roughly in a food processor and sprinkle over the filled pepper halves.  Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes and done! You can make these low carb by skipping the tortilla chips if that's your jam!

Next, we can't chat about the Super Bowl without pizza.  I have two options to present to you.  The first is my homemade pizza dough that you can set in your bread machine early in the day and come back to a freshly made dough just ready to be topped with any of your favorite pizza toppings.

The second pizza option is are bite sized vegan and gluten free pizza pockets.  You can simply swap in regular pizza cheese if you don't want the recipe to be plant based.  These are the perfect size for an appetizer tray and you could easily and quickly decorate them with festive team flags/toothpicks.

One day, I couldn't decide between two of my favorite appetizers: potato skins or spinach and artichoke dip.  The only logical answer was to combine them into this delicious hybrid.  Why choose?

We'll begin our transition into sweet foods with this insanely easy sweet n'salty popcorn that's addictive for munching on.  

Moving to my favorite category of food, dessert, blondies and cupcakes are my recommended grab and go sweet treat.  These browned butter salted caramel blondies with white chocolate chips are sure to be a crowd pleaser.

And simple classic lemon cupcakes are easy to decorate with team colored sprinkles.  Again, I know that our New England Patriots aren't in the game this year but I have to show you this throw back picture to some red, white and blue decoration.

No matter which team you're rooting for, I hope that your snack table is glorious! Have a great weekend!

There are so many talented food bloggers out there that I thought I would highlight some of the recipes I'm lovin' lately.  I love trying others' recipes and it still gives me a chance to work on my food photography.  Here's three I've made within the last couple of weeks that are going to stick around our house!  

The first is a little bit of a deviation from what I usually create.  I know I'm mostly baking and desserts but I love a good salad too.  The Kale Caesar Salad with Smoky Sweet Potatoes and Crispy Chickpeas from Half Baked Harvest is incredible.  Maybe you aren't a salad person or maybe salads aren't your thing in the depth of winter (Hello New Englanders!), but I'm confident that this salad can convert the most anti-salad people out there.  The sweet potatoes and chickpeas make the dish hearty and the dressing is heavenly.  I want it in my fridge for dipping everything.  I could also stare at this website for hours and drool over the stunning food photography.

Next up is a simple and healthy breakfast or post-workout snack from Ambitious Kitchen. These Peanut Butter Banana Baked Oatmeal Cups were quickly gobbled up by myself and the kids.  My 16 month old son looooved them.   They don't have any refined sugar or flour...all oatmeal, banana and protein packed peanut butter.  They're easy for on the go, hearty snacks and are really quick to make. Thank you!

Annnd lastly, I know that there are probably a million chocolate chip cookie recipes out there, but this recipe for the Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookies by Katiebird Bakes holds true to its name and they are delicious.  These cookies are soft and buttery, which is exactly how I love them.  The best part of this recipe is that I made the entire thing on my stovetop in a medium sized pot, scooped out the finished batter onto the cookie tray and they were done in the oven in 9 minutes.  Forgot to leave butter out to get to room temperature? No problem.  You don't need to do that for this recipe.  Don't have a stand mixer or don't want to bother with multiple bowls etc.? No worries.  This recipe has that covered too. My only complaint is that they didn't last long enough here, but that's what happens with 3 kids and a plate full of amazing cookies.

So there you have it! Three recipes definitely worth digging into.  I hope you're having a great week!

Foods that scream weekend to me include donuts, waffles and pancakes.  It's amazing that recipes with different ratios and techniques of combining almost identical ingredients of flour, eggs etc. result in amazingly different and delicious treats.  When I think of donuts, I think of Sunday mornings after mass...and how many times donuts were promised just to get us out of the house for mass. Yes, I will get into those ridiculously itchy and uncomfortable tights for a chance of sprinkles and a glazed frosting. This may still be as true at 40 as it was at 7.

This week's donut recipe is a bit grown up with the flavor combination of chai tea and chocolate, which has quickly become one of my favorite and coziest flavor combos. The donut is baked and also comprised of gluten free flour and coconut sugar instead of refined sugar.  There is no skimping on chocolate though and I'm in love with the glaze.  The glaze uses the paleo powdered sugar recipe by Joy Food Sunshine and I'm telling you that this chocolate glaze does not taste refined sugar free.  I had a little bit left over and might have used it as an ice cream topping for a win. Ok, these delicious treats only take 10 minutes in the oven so let's get going on what we'll need to get them there!

Ingredients (makes 9 donuts)

For the Donut
-4 TBS melted butter
-1/2 cup coconut milk
-3 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 cup coconut sugar
-1 cup gluten free all purpose baking flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
-1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 tsp espresso
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
-3 TBS loose chai tea (approximately 3 tea bags worth of tea)

For the Glaze
-6 TBS Coconut Milk
-1/2 cup Paleo Powdered Sugar
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-3 TBS unsweetened cocoa
-1/4-1/2 cup flaked unsweetened coconut for sprinkling

Directions
Spray the wells of a donut pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the eggs, butter, coconut milk, coconut sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl. Add in the flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and chai tea.  Mix until a thick batter comes together.  Using a spoon, scoop the batter into each of the donut wells and spread to fill the entire well.  Lightly tap the donut pan on the counter to help the batter settle into the wells.  Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and comes out clean, remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10-20 minutes (these donuts rise quite a bit).

Prepare the chocolate glaze by mixing the paleo powdered sugar, cocoa, coconut milk and vanilla extract a thick glaze forms.  Once the donuts have cooled, dip them one at a time in the chocolate glaze and then sprinkle with flaked coconut. Pour a cup of coffee and enjoy!