Monday, February 4, 2008

"Superbad" and the Super Bowl


I'm such a bad girl. I've never really been a big football fan (we'll nobody's perfect), so it's no surprise that I nearly forgot all about the Super Bowl being this weekend. But hey, give me a break; I kinda lost track of time with my hubby being home sick all week (We've been vegging on the couch and watching movies; "Superbad" was our latest flick).

If it wasn't for Charles asking for my advice as to what to fix for game day, I wouldn't have remembered to plan my own meal for the occasion. Without his little reminder, this post would not have been possible. Thanks, Charles, for jogging my memory.

Usually, we go to the Super Bowl party at my mom's house, where she has plenty of fresh fruits and veggies for me, alongside the traditional football fare (chips, dips, mixed nuts and snack mix). But, the main event is her chili, so I make sure to bring my own version, raw of course (that was a no-brainer for my menu last night).

This year, due to the fact Matthew is still recovering from his illness, we decided to stay home and watch the commercials as just the three of us (Jacob included). Yes, I said commercials; that's my favorite part of the telecast, next to the half time show (I was so excited to see Tom Petty this year. I drove Matthew crazy, singing along with all the songs).

One of the commercials, although not my favorite (they're not as good as when I was younger), reminded me of my son and his "Superhero Starter Kit" (it even comes with a cape). He made us pick out our own superpowers from the list inside. Jacob's powers included flying and super-strength. Matthew selected the ability to shoot lasers from his eyes, fly and have super-strength. I wanted to be invisible and read minds, and you guessed it, I also added flying (don't we all want to try that?).

One of the options in the book was laser breath. None of us picked that power, but the guy in the Bud Light commercial definitely had it.

Actually, I may have had a touch of fire breath after eating my other dish for the evening, Buffalo "Kickin'" Kabobs, a recipe I made up at the last minute. I made my own raw hot sauce, combined it with an ample amount of olive oil in place of the butter in the original sauce, and used it to baste mushroom chunks (no, I didn't use chicken), which I cleverly placed on mini skewers to resemble buffalo wings.

Then, I "fried" them in my dehydrator and served them with a cool cashew cheesy dip and celery sticks. Not bad for a spontaneous snack idea.

In the end, we had a superb evening. The Giants won the Super Bowl (I'm always in favor of the underdog), and I even got to see my favorite YouTube singer snag a coveted spot in a Doritos commercial. You go girl!

11 comments:

April said...

Yummy!! Looks like some good eats. The commercials this year for sure were not as good as usual. Seriously, you are so creative, I just ate pineapple and blueberries, but they were yummy.

Jenny said...

i made your thin mints and the recipients flipped out. . . and said it took them right back to the days of girl scout cookies in the freezer (i froze them for that exact replicated experience!). . .
it's not taking very much effort to form a rawdorable fan club!

have the loveliest day. . .
x jenny

Charis said...

Looks good, Shannonmarie! How do you get the mushroom kebobs to look like they are BQ-ed? The black lines on them? They look awesome.
You're on the spur creativity is great!

Unknown said...

i don't even like football. but that game was SOO GOOD, it made me have an asthma attack.

i wish i was eating snacks over at your house though.

shannonmarie said...

April, there's nothing wrong with just pineapple and blueberries. They are perfect by themselves.

Jenny, I'm so glad they liked the thin mints. They are my hubby's fav.

Charissa, the stripes on the mushroom kabobs and just where the "gills" show. I tried to pattern the chunks so they looked that way.

Alissa, I agree with you about the game. I had planned on just watching the commercials, but somewhere along the line, I got involved in the game, too.

shannonmarie said...

Alissa, I hope you didn't really have an attack. You're okay now though ... right?

NifteThrifte said...

I swear, you're brilliant.

Unknown said...

it was just a little one ;)

i stopped having the really bad ones when i started eating raw.

shannonmarie said...

Thanks niftethrifte (love the name, by the way).

Alissa, glad to hear you're okay and that the raw diet is helping your asthma.

Michelle said...

I know this post is old so I am hoping you reply. I was wondering how you made the raw hot sauce. I really want to make some for my husband.

thanks

shannonmarie said...

Sorry for the delayed response. I just haven't been on my computer much lately.

I'm not quite sure where I put my notes for making hot sauce, but I can tell you how I came up with it. I looked up various hot sauce recipes and then I recreated the ones that appealed most to me using only raw ingredients and eliminating the cooking part.

It's actually pretty simple. Use a sun-dried tomato base, EVOO (buffalo sauce contains butter), vinegar, peppers, herbs, spices, a little of something sweet (agave, maple syrup, dates or whatever you like), etc. and puree everything in your blender. Adjust the measurements to suit your flavor palette. I hope this helps.