Big Game Party Tips #GameDayMVP #Safeway

This shop has been compensated by Albertsons. All opinions are mine alone. #GameDayMVP #Safeway #CollectiveBias

I have the easiest, family friendly Big Game recipe and party tips for you! People all over the United States say the Big Game is the best party of the year so don’t let them down! Whether you’re having 8 or 18 people over to shout, eat, and act crazy in front of the big screen you’ll need to feed them and get into the party spirit without spending a week to prepare.  So, I have the perfect game day recipe, party tips (after all the Big Game falls on a work night) and decoration tutorial that will leave your guests howling for more! 

We started our Big Game extravaganza at Safeway and picked up all of the ingredients for our Banh Mi Sandwich. And, yes, this is just as delicious as it looks. Mmmmmm. This sandwich is also known as a Vietnamese Sandwich, packed with fresh ingredients, and served warm or room temperature on a long, soft loaf fresh baguette. It’s perfect for the Big Game because you can cut it up into servings, and it’s eaten without silverware, after all, no one wants to take their eyes off the game to cut their food, right? Don’t miss a play, and especially not the commercials! ☺

Banh Mi Sandwich (Source: Pork Board)

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes (plus 2-4 hours to marinade)

Servings: 8

Nutritional Information:
Servings Per Recipe: 8, Serving Size: 1 sandwich
Calories 466.7, Total Fat 14.5 g, Saturated Fat 2.7 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6 g, Monounsaturated Fat 2.1 g, Cholesterol 70.3 mg, Sodium 867.1 mg, Potassium 525.7 mg, Total Carbohydrate 42.5 g, Dietary Fiber 2.4 g, Sugars 10.7 g, Protein 30.8 g

Steps (Directions):
1. To make marinade, combine sugar, garlic and chili sauce in mortar and pestle, mashing into a paste. Add lime juice and fish sauce. Set 1/4 cup of mixture aside and refrigerate. Transfer remaining mixture to re-sealable bag, add pork and set aside in refrigerator for 2-4 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 450º and make vegetable mixture (about 30 minutes before serving). In a large bowl, combine vinegar and salt. Add carrots, radish and onion. Set aside, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
3. Place pork on lined baking pan (discard marinade from bag with pork). Roast 20-25 minutes (to internal temperature of 145º-160º). Remove pork from oven and let rest 5 minutes.4. To assemble sandwiches, thinly slice pork. Trim ends off baguettes and cut each crosswise into 4 pieces. Cut horizontally, so each piece opens like a book. Spread with mayonnaise, top with cucumber, pork slices and reserved marinade (drizzle it over the pork), vegetable mixture, cilantro and serve.

Ingredients:

• 11/2 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed
  1 24-inch baguettes (soft)
  1/3 cup mayonnaise
  1 small cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and thinly sliced
  32 fresh cilantro sprigs

Marinade:

• 1/4 cup sugar
  4 cloves garlic, smashed
  4 teaspoons chili sauce
  6 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 3-4 limes)
  4 teaspoons Asian fish sauce

Vegetable Mixture:

• 2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
  1/4 teaspoon salt
  1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
  1 1/2 cups shredded daikon radish

All in the same Safeway shop I  picked up Tostitos Scoops, Tostitos Chunky Salsa, Snickers, Skittles, football party plates & napkins, some Pepsi and all of the ingredients for my Banh Mi Sandwich – Go me!  Safeway is my “go to” source for everything I need for the Big Game. And, my party decorations were easily made from a few simple items I already had at home. Party decorations are important to get your guests in the mood from the minute they step into your home. And, that leads us into our Big Game Party Tips;

1. Go with finger foods (No one wants to take their eyes off the game and it keeps things simple)
2. Don’t skip the decorations (You need to set the mood for a rockin’ party from the moment your guests step into the door)
3. Have something to throw and toss around during commercials and half time (football is a rough and tumble sport and with all the excitement you’ll see that people want to toss things around the room so remove breakable lamps and consider a soft or plush football for fun)
4. Think disposables – The Big Game is on a work night so keep things disposable so you can pitch them and head to bed to get a good nights sleep (You won’t want to stay up late cleaning up after the party) Safeway has a great selection of disposable baking dishes and with the gas rewards it’s our “go to” market.
5. Have some sweet treats on hand too (see my tutorial on the individual game bags with Skittles and Snickers – the perfect, fun sized snack)

Treat Bag Tutorial

Needed

• Skittles
  Snickers
  Plastic Baggies
  White paint & brush (any kind that you or your kids have will due)
  Green paper
  Brown paper (construction or craft paper – any will due)
  Clothes pins (or paper clips)
  String (twine or any kind will due)

Instructions for Skittles Treat Bags:

1. Trace & cut out the shape of a football on a brown piece of paper (any scrap paper will due)
2. Add one white line for your 1st foot ball lace
3. Ad 1 white line to each end – allow to dry completely
4. Now fill in your lace systematically between the 2 ends as seen in the picture above
5. Fill your plastic baggies with about an inch of Skittles and tape or staple your football decoration to the top

We also used Skittles and Snickers on our cupcakes in the very top image. Again, it added a fun splash of color yet still kept things simple & delicious!

Instructions for the Snickers Line Marker Treat Bags:

1. Cut a piece of green paper the width of your plastic baggie
2. Add white lines about 1.5-2″ apart going down the paper for your line markers – allow to dry completely
3. Fill with 7-8 fun size Snickers and tape or staple your yardage markers

Last were our Big Game decorations around the room. I made some extra paper footballs to hang in front of the window, again just using scrap brown paper and the painting method above. Then, we cut out some green triangles for banners to go between the footballs to add in a splash of color.  The decorations were easy, fun to make, and I didn’t have to go purchase anything extra.  I already had some simple white paint, scrap paper, string, and clothes pins for hanging. They were festive and really helped to set the tone for my day of fun with the Big Game. If you’d like to get more ideas head be sure to head over to the Safeway Pinterest Board – filled with tons of great ideas!

What are you planning to make for this years Big Game?