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Serve all the toppings your heart desires with baked potatoes for an easy and filling Super Bowl dinner.

Serving food in a buffet style is always efficient and easy when you're hosting a bunch of people over for dinner. With the Super Bowl game this Sunday, everyone wants to watch the game and have a good time with friends, not slave away in the kitchen. You'll be happy, your guests will be happy and your stomach will be happy. It's a win for everyone.

Baked potatoes are easy to mass-produce, and who doesn't love a baked potato with all the fixings while watching the Super Bowl? Here is how you can make a baked potato bar, buffet-style, for all your guests to assemble baked potatoes topped with all their favorite foods.

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Photo by jhritz

Super Bowl Sunday is most definitely a day of indulgence. Beer, wings, nachos, sliders -- it's all so good, but so, soooo bad. Normally. Have no fear -- with just a few simple tweaks, you can still enjoy these game-day favorites, and with only a fraction of the guilt.

Check out our secrets to making 5 Super Bowl Favorites Lightened Up:

See also:
-Take-Out Fake-Outs: 5 Favorites Lightened-Up
-Take-Out Fake-Outs: 5 More Favorites Lightened-Up

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Photos by Molly Dunn

Taco cupcakes are so simple to make and are perfect the Super Bowl this weekend.

The Food & Drink section of Pinterest is overflowing with recipes for Super Bowl weekend. Almost every pin is an easy appetizers, hearty game-day chili or a football-themed dessert. So, I decided to make an easy appetizer you can serve up to everyone at your home as you enjoy all the Super Bowl festivities.

I know you're probably wondering, did she really make cupcakes that taste like tacos? Absolutely not. These are savory one-bite appetizers that are made in a cupcake pan. Don't worry, I didn't blend the spiciness of tacos with the sweetness of a cupcake ... that does not sound appetizing at all. Instead of using wonton wrappers and making a "double decker" style cupcake like the original recipe I found on Pinterest, I decided to use frozen phyllo-dough tart shells, so this recipe yields more tarts than the original recipe because they are smaller.

This is a simple recipe with just a few ingredients that you can throw together in less than an hour.

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Photo courtesy of Hotel Icon

The first time I tasted chef David Luna's beer-braised pork tostada at Line & Lariat, I thought it was some of the best bar food I'd found in Houston. The pork had been braised in local brewery Karbach's Rodeo Clown and paired perfectly with the pint of Sympathy for the Lager -- also from Karbach -- that day at happy hour.

If you're planning your own Super Bowl festivities at home this year, these elegant and easy pork tostadas can class up your party with minimal effort. Luna shared his recipe for the tostadas, which you'll find below. He recommends a dark beer for the pork, and I can see Shiner Black or Saint Arnold Santo working equally well in your own batch at home.

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Photo by jasonlam

Note: This is a rerun of a post from earlier this year in which Eating...Our Words blogger Brooke Viggiano shares a favorite tailgating recipe in honor of game day.

When it comes to game-time snacks, there's really nothing better than hot wings and nachos.

...or is there?

What's the only way to make two classics better? Combine them! I mean, c'mon -- it's a story as old as peanut butter and jelly, milk and cookies, MTV and The Jersey Sh...wait a minute. Okay, maybe this only works with food.

Anyway, there's a new kid in town, and his name is Chalupa Batman MacArthur Buffalo Chicken Nacho. And he's the best game-watching snack ever: a heaping plate of loaded, cheesy, spicy, chicken nachos. How does that sound? Freaking fantastic? Yeah, thought so.

Here's how to make them:

See Also:

Game Day Snacks: Spinach Dip Bread Bowls
Game Day Snacks: Cheesy Pepperoni Puffs
Game Day Snacks: Baked Tequila Lime Wings
Game Day Snacks Lightened: Lemon & Garlic White Bean Dip

More »

Photo by Jeffrey Beall

Note: This is a rerun of a post from earlier this year in which Eating...Our Words blogger Brooke Viggiano shares a favorite tailgating recipe in honor of game day.

A classic hot dog is good and all. But you know what's better? A Corn dog, corn dog, corn dog, corn dog, corn dog, corn dog...

Luckily, these deep-fried treats on a stick are surprisingly easy to make at home. Here's how:

See Also:
Game Day Snacks: Baked Tequila Lime Wings
Game Day Snacks: Cheesy Pepperoni Puffs
Game Day Snacks: Spinach Dip Bread Bowls
Game Day Snacks Lightened: Lemon & Garlic White Bean Dip
Game Day Snacks: Buffalo Chicken Nachos
Game Day Snacks: Pulled Pork Sliders w/ Cider BBQ Sauce

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Photo by jhritz

Football season is here! I could not be more excited to throw on a jersey, stress over my fantasy team and get a nice buzz while watching the games every weekend. But equally as important -- the food!

These Pulled Pork Sliders w/ Cider Barbecue Sauce make the perfect, stress-free grub for a big crowd. Just make a crock full of the slow cooked, sweet and sour, über-tender pork and serve it straight from the pot with slider rolls and a mix of toppings on the side. Guests can dress their sliders as they please and you can pay attention to the game (or your pregame, depending on how hardcore you are). Here's how:

See Also:
Game Day Snacks: Baked Tequila Lime Wings
Game Day Snacks: Cheesy Pepperoni Puffs
Game Day Snacks: Spinach Dip Bread Bowls
Game Day Snacks Lightened: Lemon & Garlic White Bean Dip
Game Day Snacks: Buffalo Chicken Nachos

More »

Place a piece of pepperoni and mozzarella on each dough ball.

Monkey bread is definitely not just for a sweet breakfast on Christmas morning. You can make it a savory treat as well.

When I came across this blogger's recipe multiple times online, I just knew that it would be the perfect snack for watching a football game. Who doesn't want bites of pizza while cheering on her favorite football team?

It's simple to put together, and you can switch up the flavors however you like. Here is the basic recipe for pepperoni pizza monkey bread.

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Photos courtesy David Glenn

Just a handful of the Blue Crew Tailgate on game day.

It's well known that the Houston Texans have one of the greatest tailgating traditions in the country, a fact made more impressive by the team's relative youth. On Thursdays during football season, we're spotlighting groups that make Texans tailgating the pride of Houston.

The Blue Crew Tailgate is one of the friendliest groups you'll meet outside Reliant Stadium on a Texans game day. It's no surprise that the crew is also one of the largest, with about 200 people enjoying good food, good company and good booze on any given Sunday.

"They are among the most welcoming tailgates," says Steph Stradley, the "Texans Chick" football blogger at the Houston Chronicle and a member of the Lone Spot Tailgate crew. "[They were] day one tailgaters, lots of crazy fans," Stradley says of the Blue Crew.

"If there's out-of-town fans coming in, I send them to the Blue Crew people."

It's hard to believe that the group started out as just a close-knit bunch of eight people, says Blue Crew member David Glenn. And although the tailgate doesn't do traditional things such as collect dues or plan Sunday menus, Glenn reports that their "organized chaos pot luck style" works well for them.

"Everyone contributes in their own way," says Glenn, "and it has grown into something we could have never imagined."

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Photo by SummerTomato

Football -- it's finally here! I could not be more excited to throw on a jersey, stress over my fantasy team and get a nice buzz while watching the games every weekend. But equally as important -- the food!

While I love wings, nachos, and sliders as much as the next guy, it's always nice to have something a little more refreshing. This incredibly smooth and rich Lemon, Dill & Garlic White Bean Dip makes a fairly guiltless snack to munch on during the games. Paired with garlic-rubbed crostini, roasted red peppers and fresh cut vegetables, the dip truly satisfies.

And it couldn't be easier to make. Here's how:

See Also:

Game Day Snacks: Spinach Dip Bread Bowls
Game Day Snacks: Cheesy Pepperoni Puffs
Game Day Snacks: Baked Tequila Lime Wings

More »