Spinach Bacon Ranch Pizza

Disclosure: Thank you Naturally Fresh® and The Motherhood for sponsoring this post and challenging me to try new things!

WOW! What a weekend for football. We now know the two teams that have made it all the way to the end and will play in the big game. Now comes the fun part, planning the food. Honestly, delicious big game food might be my favorite part! This year, I wanted to try new recipes to pair along with traditional favorites like potato skins and nachos. I worked on some over the weekend and found one I will definitely be making for the big game: Spinach Bacon Ranch Pizza!

This pizza is so amazingly delicious and a little different than a classic pizza. I love serving pizzas because not everyone is a sandwich fan. Besides, you can always slice a pizza into squares and serve with an amazing dip. Perfect football food!

Spinach Bacon Ranch Pizza

Serves 6

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pizza crust (homemade or store-bought)

8 slices of cherrywood smoked bacon, cut into small slices

1 handful of baby spinach

3 tbsp of Naturally Fresh® Classic ranch dressing

1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a pan over medium-high heat, cook bacon until crisp. Remove from pan onto a plate topped with paper towels. 

On a lightly greased baking sheet, roll out your pizza dough. Then,with a fork, pierce a couple spots around the dough so it doesn't shrink too much while cooking.

Top your dough with 3 tbsp of Naturally Fresh® Classic Ranch dressing. I chose Naturally Fresh® Classic ranch dressing because Naturally Fresh® is a line of high-quality, homemade-tasting salad dressings and dips with no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. 

Add spinach. 

Add bacon.

Top with mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving. I overcooked this pizza a little since I wanted it to be more like a flatbread than chewy pizza. It makes it easier to dip!!

Look at this pizza. So yummy!

This is definitely a new favorite game day recipe! I can't wait to make it again in a few weeks!

Do you serve pizzas at your game day parties? Will this spinach bacon ranch pizza make it onto your menu?

Be sure to check out the Naturally Fresh® facebook page for more game day recipes!

Interested in trying Naturally Fresh® dressings? Enter below for your chance to win 4 coupons for Naturally Fresh® dressings. Try them for free!!

Entry-Form

Sweet vs Salty Snack Stadium

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

I love a challenge and you know how much I love football so when I was challenged to create a snack stadium out of candy and chips, I jumped on the chance. I had seen snack stadiums before on Pinterest but they were all made out of sandwiches and cold cuts so I had to get my brain into high gear to come up with a design. It took a whole weekend to create but I am thrilled to present to you my Sweet vs Salty Snack Stadium that's a perfect addition for all your big game parties!

Pretty cool, huh? I have both sweet and salty fans in my home so this stadium fits in perfectly into our party menu. My favorite part, most of this stadium is edible!! Want to make a salty vs sweet snack stadium for your next party? Well, I took lots of pictures of the assembly and posted them below. 

First up, you need to purchase your salty vs sweet snacks: (2) SNICKERS® Minis 40oz bags, Skittles® XL 41 oz bag, TOSTITOS® Scoops and TOSTITOS® Original chips Party Size (I wasn't sure which I would be able to use so I purchased both, TOSTITOS® Medium Chunky Salsa, some guacamole for the your field and a rolled type snack for the stadium border. 

Stadium Assembly:

Materials:

1 foam board for the base

1 clear plastic rectangular platter (mine was 18 in x 11 in)

glue gun 

1 large cardboard box or 3 foam boards

white copy paper

scissors

1 can of store-bought frosting

Salty vs Sweet additions

To begin, glue the plastic rectangular platter to the center of your foam board base. 

Next, you are going to measure and cut your cardboard. You will need to start by cutting angles to the height you wish your stadium to be. My angles were about 6 SNICKERS® Minis tall. Seriously, this was how I measured. 

You will need 8 angles. Glue 6 angles to the corners of the plate and then 4 angles in between at the centers. 

Next, you will need to cut out the "seating" walls that go between the angles. My walls were about 5-1/4 inches wide by 4 inches high. Glue your "seating" walls to the angles. Then you need to make base walls. These go under the "seating" walls as support. Glue these walls to the back of the "seating walls and to the foam base. 

Now you have a stadium and you can start the fun part, adding candy. Actually, I wiped down the board with a damp cloth to remove any dust and particles, you know just in case.

First candy you are going to use are the SNICKERS® Minis. Spread frosting to the back of the candy bar and stick to the outside base walls of your stadium. 

Continue all the way around. All of the stadium base will be covered with SNICKERS® candy. Next, examine your base. Any cardboard still showing should now be covered with white copy paper. You can also add more candy but I covered mine with paper and it looked amazing. Also, I wanted a sponsor wall like actual stadiums have so I used some of the wrappers from my SNICKERS® to create a sponsor wall along the inside of my stadium. All I did was glue the wrappers to the exposed cardboard wall along the rectangular plate. 

Time for Skittles®! First, cover a section of your "seating" walls with frosting. Then you just lightly press down a Skittles® candy on the frosting. Repeat until the whole section is covered. As you can see, I started with a pattern but quickly got lost along the way. I used A LOT of Skittles® candy but hey, I wanted a big audience!

Add Skittles® to half of your stadium. 

My friends you should now be relieved to know that assembly is almost over. On the salty side, I covered the exposed cardboard with white copy paper and just placed the chips (placed not glued, no one wants glue or frosting on their chips!) I wanted a border on my stadium so I used a rolled snack chip, spread some frosting on them and created my border. You could also create a border with candy. 

Now for your field. You will need a green center and two endzones. I used guacamole as my field and then my TOSTITOS® Chunky Medium Salsa as my endzones.

I know it takes a long time to assemble but once this masterpiece is placed on your entertaining table, get ready for oohs and aahs and so many compliments. It is pretty impressive to admire. Hard work really pays off with this fun stadium!

Sweet..........

vs Salty..........

Which side is your favorite? Are you a big dipper? Is the field your favorite?

How about the SNICKERS® towers or a cold can of Pepsi™ to wash it all down?

This was by far the most fun I have ever had with a food challenge. I already have so many ideas for another stadium!

I purchased everything I needed for my sweet vs. salty snack stadium at Walmart. 

Have you ever built a snack stadium? 

What would you use if you created a sweet vs salty snack stadium?

Be sure to check our more snack stadium ideas here!

Simple Football Table Ideas

Football season is here and I am super excited! I love to cook all sorts of classic football food and share with friends. When I cook, I like to display my food in a cute way. I looked all over Pinterest for ideas and came up with a simple setup that came out amazing!

To set up a simple but cute table you need the following: football themed or green tablecloth, football napkins, a football, penalty flags, a crate, pieces of wood to use as a stand and a tray! For food, keep it basic with homemade burgers and fries. Oh and don't forget the beer!

Need simple and cheap decor: use your napkins as a garland. This was genius!! 

I wanted something to really stand out for kickoff weekend and my special treat for today was chocolate-covered football strawberries from Shari's Berries. I mean how cute are these? Shari's Berries have always been my favorite. I have been gifted them for birthdays and anniversaries. They are big and juicy and always ripe! 

Set everything you plan on serving out on the table. Use crates and wood pieces as stands. Try to keep a rustic, manly look but with a Pinterest twist!!

I made classic homemade burgers. They are an all-time favorite in our home. My secret to a moist, juicy burger: BBQ sauce. I add ketchup and a little barbeque sauce to my meat mixture. 

We love Sam Adams Oktoberfest as our football drink of choice. Once Oktoberfest isn't available, we jump over to a Winter Ale. 

A simple tablescape shows I made an effort. I can also setup and then turn around and watch my game. Sundays are football daysino u home and we watch every game we can on the NFL network! Oh and Go Dolphins!!

Easy Appetizer: Baked Brie

Today I want to share with you a super easy appetizer that I love to make during football season. This is my one piece of fancy during the season. My brother and JC love it and I love that I can make it and just set it out and watch the games. This is an easy game time recipe, nothing crazy and actually a very popular appetizer at parties. I'm sure you have had baked brie at one party or another and it's really super delicious and versatile. You can add anything you want to it but I make mine with orange marmalade and honey!

BAKED BRIE

INGREDIENTS:

1 wheel brie cheese (8oz)

1 pkg refrigerated crescent rolls

2 tbsp orange marmalade

1 tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Unroll pkg of crescent rolls on parchment paper until flat. Remove 4 triangles and set aside. Place brie roll in center of dough. Top brie with marmalade and drizzle honey. Wrap brie cheese with crescent rolls until fully covered. It takes about 4 triangles to cover but I always use a 5th one to top the cheese and make sure it's all held together. 

Place in oven and cook for about 15-18 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven. Let sit for about 5 minutes and then transfer to serving plate.

Serve with pita chips, club crackers, fruit, etc. I like to serve the brie with pita chips to give it a sweet and salty effect. 

See? It doesn't really get much easier than that. I love everything about this appetizer, especially the flaky crust and ooey gooey cheese!! YUM!!!

Have you ever made baked brie? Do you use marmalades, fresh fruit or just honey? 

Yay It's Friday!

Happy Friday!! I have been on my game this week. I'm getting stuff done. I'm making a big deal because I'm usually the one behind every one else! I have a super busy weekend planned but first, my Friday randoms!!

1. There has been Halloween decor going up at home. Little by little, it will all be up this weekend! The banner is from Michael's, the spider from Wal-Mart, the mantle cloth from JoAnn and the rest from Dollar Tree, just in case you were wondering!

2. We went to IKEA over the weekend. The IKEA we went to just opened and it's only about 30 minute away so you know we had to go check it out! I was walking around trying to find the perfect couch and when I look back, this is what I saw:

Really? They were supposed to be helping with the couch search! Ugh!

3. I love football season but we are a sports family and JC is a BIG basketball fan so we need to make sure we spread over time evenly among sports. The NBA season starts Oct 29 for the Miami Heat and we already bought our Opening Day tickets! Oh and even more exciting, Adrian is going to be one of the kids that gets to high-five the players as they come onto the court. It's part of his birthday surprise!! I didn't forget about football though, my brother and I will be at the Dolphins vs/ Vikings game in December!!

4. Have you guys seen all the amazing boots currently on Zulily? I bought these, only $29.99, and can't wait to wear them!!

5. Just curious: How many pumpkin spice lattes have you actually had? I've had ONE! Just one! I work by a bunch of coffee shops yet have been too lazy to go get more! I will definitely have some this weekend and some pumpkin ale at the Pumpkin Patch!!

What are you up to this weekend?

As always, I am linked up with all these amazing ladies:

 

It's Friday! & Our Life Lately

Happy Friday! It's the end of a short work/school week and I'm super excited, as I am every Friday! Let's get this started:

I never recapped our Labor Day weekend because it was just laying out by the pool and cooking/baking! What are we doing this weekend? The same! This will probably be the norm for the next couple of months since we don't really have a fall/winter season here in South Florida!

Adrian has become obsessed with LEGO's. He has always played with them but lately, he plays and builds all the time. This past weekend, he actually built a set all by himself! I was super proud!

We had visitors come over: Ivanna and her little brother. We had such a wonderful time, of course, in the pool! 

JC and I are big fans of the TV show Big Bang Theory. Our favorite characters are Sheldon and Amy! The other day we were at Target and found the trivia game in the clearance section and we quickly snatched it up. We have played it a couple times (I've won!!) and I definitely recommend it for all fans of the show!

Football season is upon us my friends and this girl couldn't be any happier! My beloved Hurricanes (I went to UM for college) and Dolphins both play this weekend!! The Hurricanes play the Florida A & M Rattlers on Saturday and the Dolphins play the Patriots on Sunday!! I can hardly contain my excitement!!

Other than hanging at the pool and watching football, we will be attending a birthday party for a friend of ours whose baby turns 1 and just spending time together! Remember to follow me on IG (@scggirl) to catch more pictures of our weekend!!

What are you up to this weekend!

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