4 Sweet Treats to Create For Your Game Day Party

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SweetenTheSpread #CollectiveBias

Have you ever thought there was a way you should be doing something (to maintain traditions, etc.) and then thought, ‘what the heck, I’m going to do it my way’ and did? Good - me too. I had to work last night at my other job, but that didn’t stop me from having a fun morning with the kids creating some tasty treats for them to enjoy while my husband watched some games on TV.

An Easy Holiday Wine & Meal Idea

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #HolidayPairings #CollectiveBias The following content is intended for readers who are 21 or older.

The holidays are coming! I repeat: the holidays are coming! While we will be eating more than our fair share of ham and turkey over the next month, we will also have to think of other food and drinks to serve to our family and guests when we run out of leftovers...or just want something different to eat.

If you will be finding yourself like me; hosting guests for several days at a time, you have to serve pasta and wine one night for dinner.

Barilla has this pasta called Pronto Pasta that is super easy to prepare and is ready in minutes. It’s actually prepared in one pan - no need for water to boil, and there’s no draining required! The options are limitless as to what you can add in and create for dinner, but I like to make a Sweet Sausage Sundried Tomato Dish with Basil in creamy Mozzarella cheese.

A Snack Pack® Picnic

Compensation provided by Snack Pack® via Mode Media

I know that across the country many kids are heading back to school, but I’m happy that our school district doesn’t resume classes until Labor Day, so we are all together until September 8^th this year, and I’ve been trying to make the most of our last few days together at home.

We love to do little picnics in our yard here, tea parties, lunch, brunch – we’ve done them all – but we’ve never done a sweet treat afternoon Snack Pack® picnic before!

How to Create a Memorable Outdoor Party This Summer

Compensation provided by Gold Peak via Mode Media. All opinions are my own.

You all know by now how much I love summertime. One thing I really missed doing last year though was the end of summer BBQ that we had held annually for several years. Things just didn’t quite work out right for it to happen and we ended up not having anyone over to celebrate the end of summer with us. It was sad and I don’t want that to happen again!

One of the things that I love most about outdoor summer parties is the memories and traditions that it creates for everyone. The food, family, atmosphere – it’s a day where everyone gathers together to celebrate.

The first way to create a new outdoor party tradition is to just start. Yes it can be stressful hosting a party, yes it costs money and can be slightly overwhelming. But is the look on everyone’s faces when they get together and share an amazing evening together worth it? You bet it is.

Once you’ve established your outdoor party tradition, do something a little different every year. One year I held a pie contest – where everyone brought a homemade pie and then we all stuffed ourselves tasting each one and voted on the best one. Another year we had a bunch of games for everyone to play. Once I held a dinner party on the night of a Blue Moon, so I created a Blue Moon themed party. Whatever you decided to do, changing things up year to year will make for lots of memories – and conversations the next year. 

Create some killer food. I know this definitely is a matter of opinion on what food tastes the best here, but whatever menu I put together, I always try and do this: have an appetizer or a dish that makes some guests step out of their usual food comfort zones. My friends and family for the most part are pretty conservative when it comes to food and they have teased me about my creations over the years, but you know what? They actually end up liking some of it and would have never tried it had I not given them the opportunity.

Of course I always make sure there’s lots of food and drinks that everyone likes, lots of sweet tea being one of them. Nothing sings summer like sweet tea – Gold Peak Sweet Tea is one of my favorites. It’s made with real sugar, no preservatives, and tastes like homemade. Sometimes we’ll serve it right from the bottle, or if I feel like fancying it up a bit, I’ll pour it into a beverage container with ice and some fresh blueberries.

Extra added touches to make your summer party memorable could also include fun invitations, blankets to keep guests warm when the sun goes down, ample lighting to create a homey atmosphere, games available to play, and even a pack of conversation starter cards.

Hopefully in a couple of months I will have more fun photos to share with you, because the best ways to have a fun and memorable evening is to just spend time with people you love.

~Melissa

There’s nothing like Gold Peak’s home-brewed taste. Gold Peak, the taste that brings you home.

#AD Simple 4th of July Menu Idea

 This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SummerYum #CollectiveBias

I seriously can’t believe that the 4^th of July is just around the corner. I always love the 4^th of July – it’s a great time that family and friends can gather together and eat amazing food and celebrate our nation. To me, it’s like the unofficial start of the fair and carnival season, and I love all of the tasty treats you can devour at all of the fun events. 

Yesterday though, I was exhausted. As I mentioned yesterday that kids have been quite a handful the past couple of days, and we all had to do grocery shopping too – so I loaded the kids up and drove over to the Walmart Supercenter in Salem so I only had to make one stop and could get everything I needed.

I ended up grabbing a family pack of their Deli Fried Chicken for dinner last night, as well as a cute little banner and red, white and blue washi tape… and started feeling excited for the upcoming holiday. We don’t have fried chicken too often, so of course I decided to make the rest of the traditional trimmings – potato salad, corn on the cob, a green salad, and lots of fresh juicy fruit.

I didn’t know what I was going to do with the tape when I bought it, I just knew that I liked it (don’t tell me you haven’t done that before!) however, while I was mixing my potato salad a festive idea popped into my head and I decided to make our silverware a little more festive by adding the tape to the ends. It’s great because it comes off easily and really transformed them. I also added a piece of tape onto mini mason jars and wrote our names on them, and the kids loved their own personal cups. 

 The salad I made was a Red, White and Blue Salad – it’s really easy to make and tastes amazing!

Red White and Blue Salad

4 cups of baby greens

1 cup of fresh raspberries

½ cup feta cheese

½ cup slivered almonds

½ cup fresh blueberries

¼ cup thinly sliced red onion

Raspberry Vinaigrette

Mix all of the ingredients into a salad bowl and serve immediately. Drizzle your favorite dressing on and enjoy!

Makes approximately 4 servings. 

 We’ve had an overabundance of fresh little strawberries since we’ve went and picked about 32 pounds of them over the past week, so I wanted to make a fun little appetizer that was a little bit different. We also happen to have a yummy basil plant in our garden that is doing really well, so I harvested some of that, and used some fresh mozzarella and balsamic dressing to make tasty little bites that at least Wayne and I liked.

Strawberry, Basil, and mozzarella bites

 Even though life can be hectic and I’m completely exhausted at times, I’m glad that I like creating this stuff – because someday these moments will turn into my children’s fond memories.

And it all started with some yummy fried chicken. ;)

 What food do you normally serve for Independence Day? What occasions are “fried chicken” occasions? Walmart makes it really easy to create the dinner you want with their deli fried chicken! :) 

~Melissa

Zesty Taco Dinner Party

                                  Compensation was provided by ConAgra RO*TEL via Mode Media  

You might remember by now that I've been attempting to do a themed dinner once a month with the family – it’s something that I thought I’d do to make meal times a little more memorable, and last week I made a simple Zesty Taco buffet dinner with all of the fixings, black beans, cheese, lettuce tomatoes, and RO*TEL’S  Rockin’ Guac. There’s just something about a fun little table spread that makes mealtime so much more exciting.

In addition to the taco fixings, I also had a delicious fruit torte that I purchased as well as beverages like Bud Light’s Lime-a-Ritas. Right now, more than ever, since it’s springtime and nearly Cinco De Mayo, I love big and bright colors so I placed a black tablecloth on and let all of natural ingredients take center stage with their beauty.

A few weeks ago I made RO*TEL’s Rockin’ Guac for the first time and the family loved it – they ate it up pretty quick (we are big snackers around here!) I also found out that Emma LOVES avocados – she can sit there and eat a whole one by herself!

To make RO*TEL's Rockin’ Guac all you need is:

3 pitted and peeled avocados

1 can of zesty RO*TEL Original Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies, drained

½ cup chopped onion

A squeeze of lime juice

All you do is:

Mash the avocados in a bowl, stir in remaining ingredients, then season with salt and pepper. The recipe can also be found on the RO*TEL website, which has a how-to video and other great tips!

RO*TEL's Rockin’ Guac is great to use for a dip, as a spread on sandwiches, or to top off tacos!

Sometimes little things like taking ten minutes to set up a table before a meal can really make a big difference as well as a lasting impression on friends and family. They will remember the extra love you used to create not only a tasty meal, but a fun atmosphere as well.

Life is meant to be celebrated – what are you going to do this week to celebrate yours?

~Melissa

Zest up your fiesta with RO*TEL’s Rockin’ Guac and Bud Light’s Lime-a-Rita.

Bud Light Lime-A-Rita® is a registered trademark of Anheuser-Busch.

ConAgra Foods, Inc. All Rights Reserved.