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Family Friendly Tailgating Party- As the weather turns cooler, that can only mean one thing: fall! Fall means all things pumpkin flavored, sweaters, leaves and football. Growing up football was always on at our house on Sundays. Through college, every home game was spent at the stadium. Fast forward to a few kids later and we’re loving spending game days with friends over. The tricky part is actually being able to watch the game with kids running around. I’ve since mastered the Family Friendly Tailgating Party and wanted to share my top three tips.

Family Friendly Tailgating Party: 3 Tips

1. Keep it simple without making the food the attraction. We always make sure there is plenty of food for everyone. No one goes hungry at our house. At the same time, we’ve figured out what food is delicious for everyone and doesn’t get thrown in the trash. Fill the grill with hotdogs and hamburgers. Have a few sides including veggies, fruit and chips. Treats are always a must so we have cupcakes (see my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe below), cookies and chocolates for everyone to munch. Fill one bucket with our favorite, Dr Pepper®, and another with popcicles and we’re set to kick back and watch the game!
2. Have games and crafts set up outside for the kids. The key word there is outside. I head to Dollar General before football season and stock up on yard games, crafts, coloring books, clay, chalk and bubbles. I set a table out with all the crafts, crayons, coloring materials with a wipeable table cloth so it’s very easy for clean up. I have my daughter help set out an obstacle course in the yard with toys we find at Dollar General. Kids always have a great time playing with the chalk, bubbles, hose and yard games. During half time we call them all in to grab food, otherwise they’re having an awesome time playing outside.
3. Save money by shopping smart. I mentioned before that I bought the toys and games at Dollar General. I didn’t mention that I also buy pretty much everything else for the party there as well. All of the paper goods, condiments, buns, chips,  most of the cupcake ingredients and Dr Pepper is bought there as well. It’s awesome because I can get an entire party bought at Dollar General with only using a few staples we already have on hand.

MOIST VANILLA CUPCAKES

Yield: 24-26

INGREDIENTS

VANILLA CUPCAKES

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup water

VANILLA FROSTING

1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
4 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp water or milk

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and prepare a cupcake pan with liners.
2. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a large mixer bowl and combine. Set aside.
3. Add the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and eggs to a medium sized bowl and combine.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat until well combined.
5. Slowly add the water to the batter and mix on low speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well combined. Please note that the batter will be very thin.
6. Fill the cupcake liners about half way and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
7. Remove the cupcakes from oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
8. To make the frosting, combine the butter and shortening in a large mixer bowl and mix until smooth.
9. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
10. Add the vanilla extract and 1 tbsp of water or milk and mix until smooth.
11. Add remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
12. Add remaining water or milk as needed and mix until smooth.
13. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and add sprinkles and a football topper.

To get all your supplies for a fantastic family friendly tailgate party, head to Dollar General, where you can save on your purchase of Dr Pepper’s rich, indulgent, one of a kind flavor. Have you tried the Cherry Dr Pepper? It’s our favorite.

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