Brown Bag Serving Bowls

Here is a tip I accidentally discovered for serving chips, popcorn, or other snacks for large crowds if you don't have big serving bowls.

Just take a brown paper grocery bag, cut off the top part, open, and fill with the snacks.  Then, after the party either compost or recycle the bag.

Our Super Bowl Party

I decided to have a super bowl party this year.  I'm not a football fan, but I live with one.  So I invited some friends over to watch the game with him.  I bought lots of yummy snacks and food, some decorations, and planned some activities that I could do with the children during the game.

Here are the steps I took in setting up the party...

Step 1:  Making the serving table cover

When I started planning the party I had an idea of what I wanted for the serving table.  I bought some green indoor/outdoor carpet, white spray paint, and masking tape.  When I got home with everything I asked Lance to help me. He cut the carpet to fit the table then taped it down.

He then used the masking tape and  taped off lines to paint it to look like a football field.

We recycled the  red paper from a barn decoration we had used at a birthday party last weekend to cover the carpet before painting the stripes.

We carried the table outside and sat it up on the patio to be painted.  Then, as the snow came down, Lance painted on the stripes.

After the paint was dry we moved the table back into the house.  It looked great!  It was just as I had imagined it. I really liked the way it turned out.

To complete the football field look I cut the Super Bowl emblem from a paper plate and put it in the middle of the table.  I didn't paint numbers on the field because they would be covered with serving bowls and no one would see them anyway.

Step 2:  Decorating for the Party

I made some centerpieces for the tables using some football shaped banks, birthday party centerpieces, and some football decorations. I got all the items for the centerpieces at the dollar store. With a staple remover I took the birthday things off the base and replaced them with the football theme ones.  They really turned out cute.   

 I found all the football themed party decorations at the dollar store. After hanging them around the room we were set for the party.

Step 3:  Activities For the Kids

Since I wanted the adult football fans to be able to watch the game without dealing with the kids I tried to have a variety of things for them to do.

                                          There were funny glasses...

                                          Football trading cards and games...

                                          Drink bottles...

                                          Noise makers...

                                          Pictures to color...

                                  And footballs to throw and tiny golden footballs to make necklaces.

Step 4:  Food and Drinks

Even though the Dallas Cowboys were not playing we wanted to include our tribute to the team (the best team, of course), so we got wings from Wing Stop.

I bought some turkey meat balls and made some Hebrew National hotdog pigs in blankets.

                                       There was spinach artichoke dip and toasted bread for dipping...

                                                   and chips with rotel cheese dip...

                                      There were vegetarian baked beans, potato salad, and cold slaw...

                                                    bagel chips and party mix...

                                              cream cheese Poppers and Motzerella sticks...

                                                     veggie sticks and dip...

                                                   fresh fruit, chocolate footballs, and cookie bites...

                                         chocolate drizzled popcorn...

                                              and lots of things to drink.

                                           Plates and napkins made just for this ocassion.

                                         Everything was set and we were ready to go.



Step 5: Guests Arrive and the Party Gets Started!

It was my first Super Bowl Party, and I had a really good time.  I think everyone else did too.  Maybe next year the Cowboys will be able to make it to the Super Bowl, and maybe we will have another party. 

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Lance recorded the game for me so I could watch the commercials and half time show.  I was WOWED by the show!  It was the best one I've ever seen by far.  I like the Black Eyed Peas anyway, and this was over the top, even for them.  It was awesome!  If you didn't get to see it, watch it on You Tube.  You will love it!

February is National Canned Food Month

Over 1,500 canned food products are available in the US today. This makes it very convenient for people living a busy lifestyle to prepare meals for their families.

Because of their long shelf life, canned foods have become staples in almost all American kitchens. Canned foods are harvested at their peak of ripeness and normally cooked and processed from the source within hours, thus preserving more vitamins than even fresh foods in many cases.

History of Canning Food

Canning food actually began in France during the Napoleonic Wars when Napoleon Bonaparte offered a cash prize of 12,000 francs to anyone who could develop a consistent method for food preservation to feed his troops.

Nicholas Appert was a French cook. After much experimentation he discovered that food could be heated to a sufficient temperature and sealed in airtight containers to prevent spoilage. He came up with the idea of preserving food in glass jars or bottles sealed with wax and reinforced with wire. Appert spent 14 years working on his method, and was awarded the cash prize.

While this worked for food preservation, the glass containers did not travel well because they were breakable. In 1810 British merchant Peter Durand developed and patented a method of sealing food in tin containers that were unbreakable.

In 1813, John Hall and Bryan Dorkin opened the first commercial canning factory in England.

Canned Food Industry’s Dirty Little Secret

Many people are aware of the dangers of Bisphenol A (BPA) and have heard that it is not safe to buy baby bottles and sippy cups made with it. BPA has been linked to breast and prostate cancers, increases in urogenital abnormalities in male babies, a decline in semen quality in men, early onset of puberty in girls, metabolic disorders including Type 2 diabetes and obesity, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

But most people don’t know that since the 1940s the majority of cans used for food and drink manufacturing are lined with an epoxy resin that contains BPA. The lining’s purpose is to prevent corrosion and contamination of the food. It contributes to a longer shelf life of the can and prevents the foods from taking on a metallic taste by leaching.

But what about the BPA leaching into our food? I don't know about you, but that really concerns me.

In 2006 The Environmental Working Group contracted with an independent laboratory to have a study done to test the safety of the lining in food cans. You might be shocked at the results. The study documented that 1 in 10 cans of all food tested, and 1 in 3 cans of infant formula showed that a single serving contained enough BPA to expose a woman or infant to BPA levels more than 200 times the government’s traditional safe level of exposure for industrial chemicals.

Scientists have detected BPA in breast milk, serum, saliva, urine, amniotic fluid, and cord blood from at least 2,200 people in Europe, North America, and Asia. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently detected BPA in 95% of nearly 400 U.S. adults and children.

There is only one company in the US that uses cans without BPA. Eden Foods. Since 1999 all Eden Organic Beans, Refried Beans, Chilies and Rice.  Beans are cooked in steel cans coated with a baked on oleoresinous c-enamel that does not contain BPA. Oleoresin is a non-toxic mixture of an oil and a resin extracted from various plants, such as pine or balsam fir. These cans cost 14% more than the industry standard cans that do contain BPA. (Eden Foods tomato products are packaged in industry-standard BPA-containing cans. The FDA hasn't approved any other type of can lining for highly acidic foods,)

My Conclusion

Is it worth the convenience to expose your family to the known dangers of BPA? Not in my opinion. Not even if it is National Canned Food Month. Not unless you buy Eden Organics brand.

I have been using Eden Organics canned food for the past several years. I do buy other brands from time to time, but not often. Canned food is convenient. But I like my food without plastic particles in it, thank you.

And the bonus for me is that Eden Organics foods are kosher.  It's a win win deal in my kitchen!

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