Upping my quick and easy Seahawks party game plan for #Kickoff2018

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Decopac and as always the thoughts and opinions in this expressed are my own.

When fall routines start up it’s hard to predict exactly what we’re going to be doing on any given day.  We have soccer and biking and all the events that come with being back at school.  But being true Seattleites it would not be a real fall weekend without watching our Seattle Seahawks play football on tv with our kids and family and friends.  We’ve celebrated the Seahawks in so many places over the years-it’s fun to look back on pictures of us cheering in Suncadia, Washington or after my sister’s baby shower in Canada years ago.  The Seahawks start up their season on September 9th and as a twin mom I’m especially excited to watch the inspiring twins on our team this year. I’m also really thrilled about an easy new way to create a Seahawks football party wherever we watch with an officially licensed NFL cake from a local bakery

My pre-game game plan for a Seahawks Party

I don’t know about you but even with all the extra time technology is supposed to save I don’t have any extra time in my days.  If we have people coming over, I’m often getting ready right before the party in between getting the kids to and from lessons, school or sports and daily life things.  If I forget to pick something up, the grocery store is only a couple minutes away and I have my party go-to items pretty streamlined now so I stock up on these things weekly.  If we have an impromptu Seahawks party, it’s usually pretty easy to get everything prepared in under an hour and I like to make things as simple as possible so I can enjoy the party too.  We also head to the mountains often on the weekend to our cabin and thankfully I’ve gotten to know the grocery store on the way pretty well so if there’s a Seahawks game I know what I need to buy on the way.

Easy football party snack and food ideas in my playbook

This is my go to list for party snacks on game days and I keep it in the notes section in my phone:

• chips/dips/snacks: chips, salsa, fresh tomatoes, avocado, queso, other munchies in the snack aisle that catch my eye
• Cheese plate: cheese, fruit (raspberries, blackberries, grapes) crackers, fresh crusty bread, pita
• Fruit/veggie board: I love creating free-flowing veggie and fruit boards with a lot of different veggies/fruits and dips.  These are great for getting extra veggies and fruit in kids too! I buy carrots, olives, cucumbers, peppers, apples, celery, hummus, tapenade, ranch dressing, etc.
• Easy frozen Appetizers: cheese sticks, jalepeno poppers, bagel bites, mini pizza poppers, potstickers, egg rolls and anything else that looks intriguing and yummy from the frozen foods section.  I also have jalepeno jelly and dips like ketchup, sriracha and soy sauce ready to go.
• Easy meals for groups: Burgers and all the fixings, burrito station, lasagna or baked macaroni and cheese, soup in a big pot on the stove, or order in pizza or other takeout.

Party Game Day

The night before the party I make sure the drinks are in the fridge so that they’re chilled-if I know there will be lots of guests I put the drinks in coolers on ice and this can be done the night before too.  Then the minute I get in the door from picking up any last minute things for the party (usually an hour before the party,) I turn on the oven so that it starts to preheat.  I cover the table with white or brown paper that I keep in rolls on hand for easy party clean up.  I stage the flowers (I can’t help myself but buy flowers anytime we have a gathering) cake and platters that the food will go on so I have an idea of how my table will look.  Then I make the cheese and veggie trays (and put them back in the fridge until guests arrive).  I set up the drink station and I put any long-cooking items in the oven and aim for hot appetizers around 30 minutes after the party starts.

Touchdown with a NFL Cake

If you know me, you know cake is one of my favorite things and I can’t imagine a better way to make a Seahawks party a Seahawks party in the easiest way possible than using a cake to show my team support.  Now even though I don’t have time to make theme-y football shaped things, I can tie my whole party together and flaunt my team spirt with an officially licensed NFL cake.  I picked my cake up at the bakery at the grocery store by my house in Seattle and I loved that I could pick up some last minute party foods there too. You can purchase your own officially licensed NFL cake at your local bakery and you can find the one nearest to you at cakes.com.

What NFL team are you cheering for this year?  Do you have a favorite party snack or tip for a football party? And if  you have any ideas of games and things that kids can do at a party while the grownups watch, I’d love to hear below!

Terumi

Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys.  She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live.  She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)