BBQ Little Smokies

Football season is officially underway, and while our household isn't really into sports, I love the snack foods which normally accompany the game. This recipe is one of the recipes which my family enjoyed at get-togethers as well as on New Years watching the parades (along with our Peanut-Free Puppy Chow). My husband had these for the first time at my mom's house, so after we got married, I made him a batch. I succeeded! While these are normally just a snack food, we sometimes eat them with a meal (or, sometimes, as a meal!)

BBQ Little Smokies
(Printable Version)

Ingredients

• 2 pounds little smokies
• 1 (16 oz) jar of BBQ sauce
• 1 (16 oz) jar of grape jelly
• 1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions

Put everything into a slow cooker and cook on Low for 1 hour or until smokies are nice and hot.

My Take

Super simple, right? Sorry about not having an exact time for you guys. I forgot to write down how long it took for mine to get to the right hotness, but I know it was a tad bit longer than an hour. If you're serving these at a party or something, you can just leave them in the slow cooker and leave it on low, or on warm if yours has that setting.

Also, you may have noticed that I only used a pound of little smokies. Since there's only 2 of us eating this, I didn't think I really needed to make the whole thing. You may see this from time to time, but the techniques are still the same and I'll put the original recipe up instead of halfing it. :)

What's your favorite game-day food? Do you prefer to go tailgating or stay in the comfort of your (or someone else's) home?

Peanut-Free Puppy Chow

Growing up with peanut allergies meant that a lot of foods were off limits for me: Snickers, Butterfingers, PB&Js, a lot of Thai food, and a ton of different desserts. One of those desserts I wasn't allowed to enjoy was Puppy Chow. It always looked so good. I mean, chocolate with powdered sugar!?

Fortunately my mother came up with a way for me to enjoy this wonderful-sounding dessert. Instead of using peanut butter, she used butterscotch chips. My husband, after he tried this for the first time, said it was even better than the original puppy chow. This stuff is so good my family has it every year at our New Year's celebration.

So, without further ado, here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 6 cups Kellog's Crispix cereal (Non-name brand is fine as well)
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar (aka powdered sugar)

Directions

•  In a large microwave-safe bolw, melt chocolate and butterscotch chips on high for 1 minute. Stir and heat an additional 30 seconds on high or until melted. 

• Pour mixture over cereal.

 

• Place cereal in 2-gallon zip-top bag. Add coated cereal to sugar and close bag tightly. Toss bag until cereal is thoroughly. coated with sugar. 
• Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

My Take

When making this to take pictures for this blog, it was honestly the first time I've ever made this. I grew up eating it, but never participated in the creation of it. Fortunately, it was super easy to put together, and takes less time than chex mix. Be careful, though. You may find it slightly addicting!

Cheesy Breadsticks

I totally made this recipe up after Dylan pointed out a bag of frozen ones at Wal-Mart. I said I could make them, so here is what I came up with. They are pretty easy to make and taste pretty good too!

Ingredients

• Can of pre-made pizza dough
• 1 package of string cheese

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Open can of pizza dough and unroll it.
• Cut string cheese in half, and then cut them in half lengthwise.
• Place pieces of cheese on dough, leaving about 1/4-1/2 inch between each piece.
• Cut the dough around each piece; should be a rectangular shape.
• Cover the cheese with the dough, making sure all the seams are securely closed.
• Put on cookie sheet and cook for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.
• Serve with dipping sauce of your choice.

My Take

I made a couple that were just cut in half once, but I thought they were a bit too big. I liked them smaller, plus they would work better for appetizers, in my opinion.

I dipped my breadsticks in marinara sauce, which was very tasty.

I asked Dylan if they needed any other seasoning, and he said they were good the way they were, so I'm marking this down as a success. 

Also, I think I only used half a package of string cheese, but I'm not quite sure. I bought a full package, so that's what really counts, right? :p

Bursting with ooey gooey cheesy goodness.