Super Bowl LI History in the Making

Whether you like football or not the Super Bowl is one of the most watched sporting events then any other.  It's a day of yummy food, drinks, spending time with family and friends and enjoying the commercials, half time show and players.  We absolutely love watching football in our house, it's a Sunday ritual for us.  We are huge Dallas Cowboys fans, so you imagine how heartbroken we were when we didn't make it to the Super Bowl this year.

Like all Super Bowl parties everyone loves to eat and drink and have a great time.  Yesterday was rather low key for us which is unusual, since we moved away from family this was our first year on our own and we decided to just stay in as a family.  I still went overboard on food like I always do, but I just love cooking and eating during football.  Here was my menu from yesterday - Veggie Tray, my famous Vegetarian Bean Dip, BBQ Chicken Wings, Hot Chicken Philly Cheesesteak Dip, Irresistible Baked 3 Cheese Spinach and Artichoke Dip, Chips with Corn Salsa and Regular Salsa and baked a batch of Amazing Flour-less Brownies.  This was for only 4 of us but it all turned out amazing and the best part is we have leftovers which I will use for tonight's dinner so I don't have to cook and waste food.

Now lets get to the good stuff like the amazing half time show and football game.  Lady Gaga put on quite a show, many people had very high expectations for her as we all know how she loves to entertain and she did just that.  I was so impressed with all that she did from flying into the stadium to dancing on towers and performing on the biggest stage anyone could ever ask for.  I loved that she played many of her popular songs but then brought it down to playing one of her new songs with a softer touch.  She truly is an amazing artist and did us all proud.  My girls loved watching her and even sang along to all her songs.  Way to go Lady Gaga!!! 

Then there was the football game, since we are Dallas Cowboy fans it's only natural that we would cheer for the NFC team which was for the Atlanta Falcons as it had been 51 years since winning a Super Bowl, however I thought it would be cool to see Tom Brady win his 5th Super Bowl ring, either way this game was a history in the making.  I have to say the first half was a complete blow out and rather disappointing as I thought it was be a much closer game but I knew it wasn't over as Brady is a fighter and does what he does best by bouncing back, so the second half I thought would be much better especially with what was a steak for him and the New England Patriots.  Then it happen, the old Patriot team stepped it up and starting making some amazing plays which gave them yet another final win in the Super Bowl.  I felt so bad for the Matt Ryan and the Falcons and they worked so hard to get a huge lead and then lost it in the end, that is a very tough pill to swallow and a complete heartbreak.  The good news is that they are a very young team and will back in the fight next year.  After the game we watched a few minutes of the award ceremony as I wanted to see the best all time QB Brady and best all time Coach Belichick receive the Lombardi Trophy for the 5th time, which would now go in history.  Again I'm not at all a patriots fan but to watch history being made and to see how hard they worked to get that victory no one can take that away from them.  I was also very happy for Howie Long as this was his son's first Super Bowl win and both him and his wife were there to witness that, what an amazing feeling that must have been as parents.  All I can say is congratulations to New England!  Now next year we need to get some new blood in the stadium to battle it out in yet another fantastic Super Bowl.

Here are the links for the recipes I made yesterday:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/hot-chicken-philly-cheesesteak-dip/

http://lifescoops.blogspot.com/2014/02/irresistible-3-cheese-baked-spinach-and.html?&cuid=0d3eb5364ee2972e5bc7dd5f6dd0f644

http://www.skinnytaste.com/amazing-flour-less-brownies/

Vegetarian Bean Dip Recipe:

1 can Vegetarian Refried Beans
1 cup Salsa (mild or medium)
16 oz Light Sour Cream
1 pgk of Low Sodium Taco Seasoning (or make you own which is what I used for this)
2 to 3 green onions - chopped
3 Roma tomatoes - chopped
2 cups Mexican Shredded Cheese

1. Open canned refried beans and place in a 8x8 square pan, mix it with 1 cup of the salsa until well blended.  Spread the mixture out on the bottom of the pan to cover the whole thing, that is layer one. 
2. In a mixing bowl mix sour cream and taco seasoning together until well blended.  Then take that mixture and spread it on top of the bean mixture for the next layer.
3. Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups of the mexican cheese on top of the sour cream and taco mix until all of it has been covered. 
4.  Add the chopped tomatoes and green onions as the top layer and then take the other 1/2 cup  of cheese and sprinkle that on top to finish it off or it can be left off. 
5. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours and then serve with fresh veggies or your favorite tortilla chips.

Option: Guacamole can also be added a layer, between the bean/salsa and sour cream/taco mixture.  Since most of my family does not like guacamole I usually leave it out.