Monday's Menu

With football season begun and, as it turns out, our new lifegroup just eating snack/appetizer kinds of stuff on Sunday nights, I have been digging into my appetizer stash. It turns out I don't have that many recipes for such things.

I'm not really what I would characterize as a snacker. I tend to eat a meal and be done. I don't generally have snacks during the day nor do I graze all day long. When I do, I just tend to have an uncomfortable tummy. I guess I'm more of a '3 squares' kind of girl.

Hubby, on the other hand, is definitely a snacker. He'll come home and seeing me with dinner almost done will still eat a muffin or a granola bar or something. Peanut butter and crackers will generally occur around 8:00 or 9:00 at night. Some sort of dessert is usually in the time between dinner and those hours. That will push the peanut butter and crackers back some. On the weekend, he grazes all day. A piece of something here, a piece of something there. You get the picture.

So I thought, perhaps, some of my friends might pass along their favorites. And, tit for tat, here are some of mine. They come from all kinds of places so I can't really credit anyone except to say that most are the creation of the food brand that is in it.

Chili dip: Mix together a can of chili and cheese dip or squares of Velveeta type cheese. Place in a crockpot on low. My kids LOVE this.

BBQ smokies: Mix little smoked sausages or cut up slices of smoked sausage in barbecue sauce and keep warm in the crockpot.

Pigs (or other things) in Blankets: There are about a billion ways to make these. You can use biscuit dough or a can of crescent roll dough. Roll up hot dogs/little smokies/sliced ham in the dough and bake. We also like to put a little square of cheese in ours.

Meatballs: Mix meatballs in barbecue sauce and heat in crockpot. I have been told -- multiple times -- that instead of barbecue sauce, you can mix grape jelly and chili sauce to put in. Despite protests that it must be gross, I continue to hear just how great this is so I may try it soon. Other sauces you use could be sweet and sour sauce, spaghetti sauce, etc.

Taco dip: Use the recipe here or a friend of mine used to do this. She would spread cream cheese in a pan, spread a can of chili or refried beans on top and sprinkle with cheese. Heat in the oven until warm through and cheese is melted. Eat with tortilla chips.


I'm sure there are a few others but that's pretty much it. How about you guys? What's your favorite snacky type appetizer thing?