Tailgate Menu For the Win

Go ahead and light charcoal or gas grill so it gets going while you prep the wings.

Ingredients:

• Wings (all you can eat!)

• Favorite blacking seasoning

• 1 Bottle Franks RedHot, 12 oz

• 1 stick of butter

• 1 cup of brown sugar

• 1 cup of favorite BBQ sauce

Make:

• Lightly coat the wings in seasoning.

• Put hot sauce, butter, brown sugar and BBQ sauce in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir until mixed well and take off heat.

• Grill wings, occasionally flipping. When wings are close to being cooked through (about 5 mins left), coat wings in sauce mixture and place on the grill for the last 5 mins. Check frequently to be sure wings don’t burn.

We couldn’t keep the kids from digging in early!

Sausage and beef sliders on Hawaiian rolls

Chad came up with a delish version of sliders using sausage and beef. All you need is some ketchup and mustard to top off these babies. Yumo!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 pound of ground sausage

• 3/4 pound of ground beef

• Mayonnaise

• 1/2 slice of bread, crumbled

• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

• Lowry’s salt

• Hawaiian rolls

Make:

• Combine sausage, beef, mayo, cheese and bread in a mixing bowl. Mix through well with hands.

• Season mixture with Lowry’s salt to taste.

• Form patties into about half the size of what you would for a regular hamburger patty (should make at least 15 patties).

• Grill over charcoal grill (or gas) until cooked through.

• Place inside Hawaiian rolls. Top off with ketchup, mustard and pickles if you’d like!

Papa’s BBQ Beans

Chad’s dad (Papa to the kiddos) has made these beans for years. We literally call him every time we want to make them and now we have it memorized. You’ll love this hearty dish with a little kick of sweetness.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of Van Camp’s pork and beans

• 1/2 pound ground beef

• 1/2 chopped onion

• 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

• 1 cup BBQ sauce

• 1/2 cup ketchup

• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Make:

• Brown ground beef and drain.

• Add chopped onion to beef and saute until onions are slightly soft.

• Combine beef/onion and all other ingredients together in a 9×13 baking pan or dutch oven. Mix well.

• For oven, bake at 350 for 30 minutes. For dutch oven, cover beans and place over campfire hot coals until beans are hot and bubbly.

• Let beans sit for about 5 minutes before serving.

Bacon, cheddar French fries

Get the kids involved with this fun bacon, cheddar French fry side. It’s a great way to keep them entertained (and busy) while everything is going on the grill.

Ingredients:

• Frozen French fries (steak or curly)

• Bacon pieces (or bacon bits, but you’ll love the pieces!)

• Shredded cheddar cheese

• Heavy duty aluminum foil

Make:

• Use pieces of aluminum foil to make a “bowl” to hold the french fries. It may help to layer two pieces together.

• Add frozen French fries to aluminum foil bowl and top with bacon pieces and shredded cheddar cheese.

• Let the foil packets sit on the grill for about 20 minutes, or until the fries are a little crispy. We made several bowls so the kids could each have their own French fry side.

Watermelon, Orzo and Feta Salad

Since every dish we made has meat and more meat, we decided we needed a low calorie dish to balance out the universe. Kind of like getting the Chick-fil-a number one combo, but with a diet coke.

This is the perfect summer side AND it just happens to be a Weight Watchers recipe.

You can cook the orzo ahead of time and chill it. Then, toss the feta, basil and watermelon pieces in and you’re all set.

Game time!