It’s football season! Time for parties, tailgating and cheering on your favorite team.
We are a football family. I knew long before my husband and I married that he loved to watch football. To be honest, it doesn’t matter to me. He does so much for our family and he works hard. If he wants to watch football all day and night on Sunday, as well as Monday and Thursday night football, I don’t mind. I can always find something to do or pop a movie in my computer or watch Netflix.
My husband is a die hard Dallas Cowboys fan. He has been since he was a little boy. We may life in New York (home of the Giants, Jets and Bills), but we are Cowboy fans. In fact, our son’s middle name is Dallas. It was going to be his first name but after he was born by emergency C-section we changed it. We still kept Dallas, just bumping it to a middle name.
For many years my husband only watched football by himself, or I would watch with him. I happen to enjoy watching football – just not for 10+ hours.
Years ago he met a guy who is just as much as a die hard Cowboys fan that he is. Now they take turns going to each other’s homes to watch the game. My husband’s friend is married with children too, so we usually have a home full of people to watch the games.
When you have guests over to watch the games you need food – and a lot of it. Most especially for the big games like the first game of the season, play offs and of course the all mighty Super Bowl.
When you are hosting football get togethers you need to have plenty of foods and beverages on hand. That is why I headed off to our local BJ’s to stock up on must have snacks for football parties.
As I mentioned, I live in New York. Where we live most people are Giants or Jets fans. It came as no surprise that BJ’s Wholesale Club had plenty of team paper plates and napkins available. I wish they had ones for the Cowboys.
My daughter thought it would be funny to hold up a Giants plate/napkin set. She knows my husband cannot stand the Giants. Needless to say I never showed him this photo. Ha Ha.
No football party would be complete without chips and dips. I’m not sure if it’s the practice in BJ’s stores across the country, but in our store they have a special deal where you can pick any two bags of chips (the large, party size ones) for a low, discounted price (what it would cost to get ONE normal sized bag at the grocery store). I made sure to take advantage of the special pricing by picking up some potato chips, Doritos and Tostitos chips.
I even found a great deal on a 3-pack of dips – Salsa, Salsa Con Queso and a Creamy Spinach Dip.
I knew I needed to pick up a few beverages. I always have coffee, tea, ice tea and lemonade on hand but I picked up some soda too just in case our guests wanted to enjoy a cold glass of soda instead.
Shopping with my daughter might not have been the best idea. She has a tendency to throw me off track. Case in point – my daughter made a new “friend” – a GIANT teddy bear. The bear was taller than my daughter (she’s 5′ 2″).
She wanted to buy it and take it home but I knew that wouldn’t be possible. I don’t even know how we’d get it in the car. Although we did try putting it in another cart just to see if we could possibly even move this thing around.
Another thing she wanted me to buy was football shaped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Yes… they are football shaped. But I didn’t think they were really something the guys would want to nibble on when watching the game. Besides, if I had them in our home I would eat them all myself. I LOVE them!
Chips and dips are normal things that people serve when they are getting together to watch a football game (or two). I wanted to offer our guests something more than that. Thankfully BJ’s had a lot of hot foods to choose from.
I knew I wanted to get wings. I was going to buy a frozen bag of wings until I found ones that were more freshly made. I opted for the freshly made ones.
I like the fresher wings from BJ’s more than the frozen ones because they are quicker to warm up. The frozen ones take a bit longer.
I contemplated getting boneless ribs. Not this time around. Maybe next time I’ll get that instead of the wings.
I also saw Root Beer BBQ Pulled Pork Burritos. I wanted to get some to try. It sounds like they would be delicious. Before spending money I figured I’d ask my husband, my kids and our guests if they would like something like that. I did finally get to ask them and they all said “YES!,” so the next time I am at BJ’s I’m going to pick up a couple of packages to try out.
I picked up some other foods that I was quickly and easily able to warm up for my guests including mozzarella sticks (my son actually requested them), White Castle Cheeseburgers and some Buffalo Chicken Rolls. I bought the Buffalo Chicken Rolls to give them a “test drive” to see if I could serve them to our guests next time. They are really good (a lot better than I expected – I’m not necessarily a fan of Buffalo Chicken). We have some left over and I plan on picking up another box the next time I go. They make not only a good snack but a tasty lunch too.
My daughter insisted that we get some freshly baked cookies from BJ’s bakery too – but those were more for her then for our guests. That’s OK. I had plenty of good foods and treats to serve to our guests when they came over to watch the Dallas Cowboys play.
Did you know that you can order things from the bakery so that they could be ready when you need them? You can get cakes and cupcakes baked especially for you – even personalized. I think I’ll hold off getting a personalized cake until I know the Cowboys are going to the Super Bowl.
Most BJ’s Wholesale Clubs have a bakery. Simply stop by, pick up a form, fill it out (cake size, flavor, personalization …) and hand it to a bakery representative and they will have it ready for you on the date and time you select.
Some BJ’s Wholesale Clubs have on site delis too. I REALLY wish our BJ’s did. I really want to order a 3′ Sub Sandwich for our guests. They LOVE stuff like that and it’s a nice change of pace from the regular chips and dips.
As it is with the bakery, you can order sandwiches and platters from BJ’s Deli. Simply pick up a form, fill it out and hand it in. Your platter and/or sandwiches will be ready for pick up when you need them.
Even writing about it I am craving an Italian Sub. Mmm!!!!
To learn more about BJ’s bakery and deli services please visit this page. Remember, not all stores have a bakery and/or deli, so please call your local store to make sure they have the service you require.
To find a BJ’s Wholesale Club location near you please visit BJs.com. You can also find the brand on social media (all the links can be found on their website).
What are the #1 essentials you like to have when you get together to watch football games?
Have you ever used BJ’s Deli or Bakery services? Feel free to share your experiences.
Kimberly
*I received a BJ’s gift card in exchange for this post. There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
Dana Rodriguez says
I wish we had a BJs here where I live.My fiance’ would LOVE the Giants plate/napkin set lol 🙂