Football, shmootball

As a girl who grew up in the south, you'd think it would be programmed in my DNA to love football.  I've lived in Baton Rouge, home of the LSU Tigers.  I've lived in Tallahassee, home of the FSU Seminoles.  I now live in Mississippi, home of both the Ole Miss Rebels and the MSU Bulldogs.  Lot of football, lot of big names in football, lot championship games in those towns I grew up in.  AND I COULD NOT CARE LESS.  Ok, ok.  I'll admit, particularly while I was living in Tallahassee, it was hard not to get into the buzz that went on around town during football season.  At the time I was there, the team was always ranked in the top 5.  Bowl games and National Championships all over the place.  But I don't think I've ever sat and watched an entire game.  And now that I'm married to a football addict, I think the day is coming that I might actually have to do it. 

This is already more football talk than I can stomach.

So how do I cope with all this sports mess?  Snacks.  Snacks and football are a match made in heaven.  And it's the only consolation I have.  Joe and I are both big fans of honey roasted peanuts, so when I had about 2 cups of peanuts leftover in the cabinet, I knew what I had to do.  No question.

Honey Roasted Peanuts

- 2 cups of raw peanuts
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tblsp coconut oil
- 2 tsp salt, divided
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tsp raw sugar

Preheat oven to 325

In a heavy saucepan, melt coconut oil and add honey, cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp of salt.  Once melted and well combined, pour over peanuts on a foil covered baking sheet.  Stir nuts and honey mixture well, making sure to get all of the peanuts coated.  Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to make sure peanuts do not burn.

Once cooked, remove from oven and stir.  Allow to cool for 1 minute and then ssprinkle with remaining salt and raw sugar.  Stir to coat.  After they've cooled for another 2 or 3 minutes, stir again to keep the peanuts apart.

Store in a ziploc bag or air tight container.


I have a feeling I'm going to have to eat a lot of these guys if I'm going to make it through the weekend long marathon of both college and professional football.  My life is so hard, you guys.

Marriage tips

Whoever it was that said "The key to a man's heart is through his stomach", wasn't kidding.  I've used that line when giving relationship advice to my sisters, to my friends, and I've used it on myself.  If we're having an off day or he's stressed out or (yes, this actually happens sometimes - like, maybe, 3 whole times) I just want to do something nice because I love the dude, cooking something and feeding that guy will make rainbows and puppies appear.  But if I want to add some unicorns and hugs from baby bunnies, I go for making food he's liked since he was a kid.  Comfort food is what they call those, I think.  Recipes that are similar to his mom's or catfish and hush puppies.  The good stuff.

So, this is one of those 3 times that I just wanted to do something nice for Mr. Harrison.  Football season started last weekend, and while I could give a flying flip, Joe has sat through marathons of Flipping Out and Project Runway and has managed to do it with little to no complaint.  Headphones, yes, but no complaining.  As a reward for surviving those hot, miserable, football-less months, I made him some appropriate football snackage.  There was chips and dip and nachos.  But most importantly...

...there were homemade nutty buddy bars.

Homemade Nutter Butters (aka access to husband's credit card...butters)

- Chocolate Almond Bark
- Waffer Crackers (you can use any type of cracker, but choosing a cracker that is really thin is the best bet.  I found Nature's Crisp Crackers at Wal-Mart)
- Creamy Peanut Butter

In a small sauce pan, on low heat, melt almond bark.  While almond bark is slowly melting (6-8 minutes), prepare crackers and peanut butter by spreading a thin layer on peanut butter on a cracker, adding another cracker, more peanut butter, and topping it with the last cracker.  Cracker, pb, cracker, pb, cracker.  Add as many layers as you'd like.  I've found that less layers are easier to handle.  Using a pair of tongs, dip peanut butter crackers in chocolate and coat them completely.  Shake off the excess and place on a sheet of wax paper.  Once you've dipped all of your peanut butter crackers, place in the fridge to cool completely for about 10 minutes. Serve and ENJOY.


So, what have we learned?  Nutter Butters are as good as currency.  Or that's what I've learned, anyway.