I would like to officially declare something: Game Day counts as dinner.

There. I said it.

You do not need to make a “real meal” after everyone has spent the afternoon standing around the kitchen island eating chicken wings, chips and dip, little sandwiches, and approximately 47 bites of something cheesy.

That WAS dinner. 😂

And frankly?

Some of my favorite meals look exactly like that.

A table full of little things.

Everybody reaching for something.

Someone standing in the kitchen eating directly off the serving platter.

Another batch of something hot coming out of the oven.

The game is on.

Nobody is worried about courses or whether everything technically “goes together.”

We're just eating good food and having a good time.

That counts.

🌿 Host Yourself First

Here's your Monday reminder: Dinner doesn't have to look like dinner.

Especially on busy weeks.

A snack plate counts.

Leftovers count.

A rotisserie chicken standing over the kitchen counter counts.

A giant salad with crispy chicken on top counts.

Soup from the freezer counts.

Pimento cheese, crackers, cucumbers, and whatever else you can pull out of the fridge?

Absolutely counts.

Sometimes Host Yourself First means lovingly preparing yourself a beautiful Main Character Meal.

And sometimes it means recognizing that you're hungry at 6:37 p.m. and feeding yourself without turning it into a project.

Both are care.

🍽️ This Week at the Table

I've been thinking about this a LOT while putting together my Game Day Table: A Sweetpea Hosting Playbook.

$12.00 🏈 The Game Day Table A Sweetpea Hosting Playbook 32 crowd-pleasing recipes + the Game Plan you need to actually enjoy your own party. Game... Read more Snag The Game Day Table

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There are 32 recipes inside.

Dips.

Wings and chicken bites.

Big-batch crowd pleasers.

All the good sideline things.

But one of the biggest ideas inside the book actually isn't a recipe at all.

It's this: You do not get extra hostess points for making everything yourself.

BUY. THE. WINGS.

I'm serious.

Go to the grocery store. My favorite wings are from the Publix, y'all.

Buy the already-fried chicken wings.

Bring them home.

Make a ridiculously good sauce.

Toss them.

Crisp them.

Sauce them again.

Put them on your own platter.

Take. The. Win.

Buy the cookies, too.

Put the chips in a bowl. Heck! Watch this video for how I use the bag as a chip bowl!

Use the bottled dressing you love.

Make the one thing you're excited to make and let the grocery store help with the rest.

Because if taking a shortcut means you're actually sitting down with everyone when the game starts? (Or pulling out your needle point... or getting out your junk journal supplies while everyone is occupied!)

That's a hosting WIN.

🏡 Future Me Approves

Let's make this useful for the rest of the week.

Take ten minutes tonight and find one Homemade Convenience you can make for Future You.

Maybe it's doubling tonight's dinner and freezing half.

Maybe it's mixing up a batch of New Ranch.

Maybe you're making chicken cutlets anyway, so you make a few extras for the freezer.

Maybe it's portioning cookie dough into balls so warm cookies are always twenty minutes away.

Maybe it's literally buying an extra frozen pizza.

Homemade convenience doesn't mean everything has to be homemade.

It means: I thought about Future Me when I had the capacity to do it.

And Future You is going to feel VERY cared for when Thursday night rolls around, and dinner is halfway handled.

🤍 This Week’s Blessing

May there be something good in the fridge.

May there be something easy in the freezer.

May the people you love feel comfortable enough to help themselves.

May nobody care that the cookies came from a package.

May you stop measuring hospitality by how much work you did.

And may you remember:

The point was never to impress them.

The point was to gather them.

So make the dip.

Buy the wings.

Put everything on the table.

And call it dinner.

From my table to yours,
Ashley | Chez Sweetpea 🤍