Super Bowl Party: Family Friendly Food

Beer and hot wings are a football game staple for adults, but what do you serve for the younger football fans at the party?  For this Sunday’s Super Bowl skip the pizza delivery and get creative and get the kids involved with these kid-friendly alternatives.

Kids LOVE small food.  That’s just a given.  So let’s start with the easiest of them all, finger sandwiches.  Peanut butter and jelly is always a crowd pleaser, but to make it extra festive you can add labels.  Peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwiches can be labeled as “49’ers Fingers” while peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches can be labeled “Raven Fingers”.  If the kids have a peanut allergy you can substitute these sandwiches for chicken salad or tuna salad, just add a little food coloring (red for San Francisco, purple for Baltimore) and you’re good to go.  The kids will feel as though they are part of the Super Bowl party with the simplest of gestures.

I mentioned beer and hot wings for adults and you can still pull this off for the kiddies by substituting the alcoholic beverage with root beer and the hot wings for barbeque wings.  Sounds simple enough, right?  That’s because it really is.  Wings wouldn’t be complete without celery so don’t forget the peanut or ranch to dip it in.  Also, don’t forget the nachos.  Anything covered in cheese gets a gold star from the kiddos.

Next are drinks.  Get some clear plastic cups, ginger-ale and/or lemon lime soda and again…food coloring.  In one pitcher add the soda plus red food coloring and in the other add red and blue food coloring to get Baltimore purple.  The colored soda will catch the little one’s attention when poured in the clear cups over ice.  Of course you can always go the easier route and buy strawberry and grape soda, but where’s the fun in that.  Food coloring, use it.   I can not stress this enough.  Kids looove it when their food and drinks are different colors.

Desserts are the easiest.  Have the kids help you decorate cupcakes, cookies, cakes.  My personal favorite – ice cream sandwiches made with chocolate chip cookies.  Yes, you can add food coloring to the ice cream, just microwave for a few seconds so that it can melt just enough to stir.  After it’s colored put a scoop on one chocolate chip cookie and top with another cookie and re-freeze if you want it to harden.

Trust me, as long as the kids are involved in the process, they will love anything.  So mom’s and dad’s, do you have any full proof kid-friendly recipes ready for the game this Sunday?  Share them below.

Image Credit: Wall Street Journal