HALLOWEEN: Mud and Worm Cupcakes

With five kids, I've made a lot of birthday cupcakes for them to share with their classes over the years.  I keep hearing of schools that don't allow homemade food or others that are starting to outlaw treats altogether.  I, for one,  love making fun and creative treats for my kids and would be a very sad mom indeed if they ever outlawed them at our school.  I love doing it so much that I bend over backwards to accommodate their classmates' variety of food allergies, so that everyone possible can enjoy them.  I pretty much never bring nuts into the school, since there always seems to be someone in all their classes that's allergic.  And depending on the other allergies, I can use my milk and egg free cupcake recipe for those with dairy allergies.  I make my very yummy gluten free recipe for those with celiac.   And for the one year that one of my kids was in a classroom with kids with  nut, dairy, and gluten allergies all in the same classroom, I made fun rice krispie treats with butter substitute and gluten free rice krispies from the health food store.   I love seeing how excited the kids with the allergies get when I tell them that they can actually eat the birthday treat I've brought! 

(Don't forget to check out this post for a compilation of all of our favorite fun Halloween ideas in one place!)

For my son's birthday this year, he wanted something fun and Halloweeny!  I was pleased to discover that the only allergy to accommodate in his class this year was nuts...so I broke out a brownie mix to make it easy!

I made the brownies as directed on the package and poured the batter into a lined cupcake pan, baked them for 18-20 minutes, let them cool, and scooped out the centers.
 

then whipped together some instant chocolate pudding and cut the gummy worms in half...
 

then put a spoonful or two of the pudding into the center of each cupcake and added in two worm halves...

Sprinkle some brownie crumbs onto the serving tray and

VOILA!

...it's a super easy, super fun birthday/Halloween treat, which his classmates absolutely loved!

Click here for printable recipe.

Posted by Lara. 

The ingredients:


1  brownie mix (+ required ingredients to make it)
1 small box instant chocolate pudding (prepared with 1-1/2 cups milk)
1 bag gummy worms, each worm cut in half

Directions:

Makes about 18 cupcakes

Make the brownie mix as directed on the box (I used the directions for "cake-like" brownies).  Add paper cupcake liners to a regular sized muffin pan and fill each about half-filled with brownie batter.  Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until brownie cupcakes test done.  Remove from pan and allow to cool completely.  With the edge of a spoon, scoop out a small circle in the center of each cupcake.  With the back of the spoon, press gently around the edges of the hole to smooth out a bit.  Add a teaspoon or two of pudding (how much you add will depend on how big your holes are) to each hole.  Place two gummy worm halves poking out of each pudding filled hole.  Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.  Makes 18 cupcakes. 
Use scooped out centers to sprinkle over the serving tray to look like dirt.  They're also great stirred into a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough! 


Enjoy! 

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Green Monster Soup (Split Pea)

Take a boring sounding soup like "split pea" and if your kids are like mine, they will probably determine that they don't like it even before trying it.  Try adding a monster face to the same boring sounding soup with a couple of dollops of plain greek yogurt, sliced olives, chopped ham, and the end of a breadstick and officially dub it "Green Monster Soup"  and you might get them to take a second look.  Not one for such cutesy tricks normally, I was surprised at how it seemed to soften up the pickiest eaters among my kids.  Even my uber picky son declared that "it wasn't bad for a soup," which coming from him is quite the compliment!  I think I'm going to start thinking of clever names for all my food now.

Don't forget to check out this post for a compilation of all of our favorite fun Halloween ideas in one place!

Recipe Source:  Minnesota Bread

Click here for printable recipe.

Posted by Lara. 

The ingredients:
2 Tbs. butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 lbs. smoked pork hocks (or a hambone leftover from a spiral ham)
2 tsp. dried marjoram or thyme
1-1/2 cups dried green split peas
8 cups water
1 cup diced leftover ham (optional)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Garnishments for scary faces:  Sour cream, sliced olives, breadsticks, extra chopped ham, etc


Directions:
Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium-high heat.  Add onion, celery, carrots, and garlic.  Saute until vegetables begin to soften, about 8 minutes.

Add pork/ham bone and marjoram.  Stir one minute.  Add peas and water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low. 

Partially cover pot; simmer soup until pork and veggies are tender and peas are softening; about one hour.  Remove hocks/ham bone to bowl. 

Puree 5 cups of soup in batches in blender and return to pot.  Cut meat off bones.  Dice meat and return to soup.  Add additional chopped ham, if desired.  Serve hot. 






Enjoy!

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"Bloody" Raspberry-Grape Punch (for Halloween)

With two kids' birthdays in October, I'm always on the hunt for fun new Halloweeny foods to throw into our repertoire!  Although we usually go for the cute, rather than the spooky, this drink caught our eye, because of the delicious looking combination of ingredients it called for!

We found the recipe for this "bloody" punch in a recent issue of Everyday Food and decided to taste test it the same day we saw the recipe, to see if we wanted to serve it at my daughter's upcoming twelfth birthday party.  (Click here to see some other fun Halloween recipes)
    
It's just a few ingredients...

Pour it all into a pitcher...

Put a scoop of raspberry sorbet into each glass...

and the rest into the pitcher.  Pour into glasses and serve immediately.  I don't really have the photography skills to make it look spooky and "bloody" and frankly my kids were so enamored with how good it tasted, that they couldn't have cared less about what it looked like.  But I suppose it was the right color for blood and could easily be made to look spooky with the right lighting.  :)

Enjoy!

Click here for printable recipe.

Posted by Lara.

The ingredients:
4 cups grape juice
1 bottle (750 ml) sparkling apple cider (the bottles are actually labeled in milliliters)
1/2 cup lime juice (about 4 limes)
1 pint raspberry sorbet

Directions:
Pour the grape juice, sparkling apple cider, and lime juice into a large pitcher.  Add a scoop of sorbet to each of the glasses.  Add any remaining sorbet to the pitcher and pour into the glasses.   
Serve immediately.   Makes 8 servings.

Enjoy! 

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Spinach Gorgonzola Salad with Raspberry Dressing

A hearty, flavorful salad with a light main dish is one of my favorite ways to eat healthier and this autumn we have been trying a bunch of new salad recipes.  This is one that rose above the rest and got high marks from the pickiest in our family.  We were especially in love with the raspberry dressing and will keep that on our list to try with other salads as well! 

Making this salad is simple as can be.

Just chop the veggies....

Toast the walnuts...

Mix together the dressing (with only a couple of ingredients).  The dressing is actually my favorite part of this salad---it's not too sweet and not too vinegary. 

Throw some Craisins and gorgonzola cheese (or blue cheese) on top...

Mix it all together...

 and put a little drizzle of dressing over the top...

Enjoy a deliciously flavorful salad! 

                                         Click here for printable recipe.

posted by Lara

The ingredients:

SALAD:
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 bag (5-ounces) spinach (I used a bag and a half)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (Craisins)
1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and diced
1/3 red onion, thinly sliced

DRESSING:
2 Tbs. red raspberry jam
2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet;  toast in oven for 5 minutes, or until nuts are browned.  In a large bowl, toss spinach, Craisins, gorgonzola, tomatoes, avocado, and red onion.  In a small bowl, whisk jam, vinegar, oil, pepper, and salt.  Divide salad amongst 6 plates.  Drizzle with dressing and top with roasted walnuts and additional gorgonzola cheese, if desired.


Makes 6 servings. 

Enjoy!

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Halloween Chicken Crescent puffs

This is a variation of Lara's Chicken Crescent puffs.  I like taking a tried and true recipe and playing around with it.  And since October is the month I like to play with my food, well, it was just natural that I make something creative with this recipe.  (Plus I know that my boys love eating the chicken crescents as well).  You could make anything you wanted with these.  Just change the color of your egg wash.  My boys thought these not only tasted great but were super cool as well.  I hear the phrase "Mom, you're the best cook ever!" said a lot during the month of October.  Maybe I should play with my food more often. 

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE FUN HALLOWEEN RECIPES!!!!

Click here for printable recipe.

Post by: Jen

Ingredients:

 2 packages of Crescent rolls, OR pizza dough (either homemade or store bought)
2-pkgs. (8-oz. each) cream cheese (I use low fat)
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped red or green pepper (optional)
1-can cooked chicken (I use a can from Costco) OR 1-2 cups cooked, diced chicken breasts
(as you can see, I had already mixed up the chicken mixture before taking the picture.  If you need more of a picture, check out the recipe that this came from by checking here.)
1 egg
food coloring (I used green and orange)
pastry brush/food paint brush

Directions:

Mix together the chicken, softened cream cheese, peppers, and onion until well blended.

Unroll your tube dough OR roll out your pizza dough into a circle.  Then use a pizza cutter to cut into triangles (like you're cutting a pie).

Place 1 Tbsp of chicken mixture at the wide ends of the triangles.

 Tuck up the sides around the chicken mixture.  Make sure that there are no gaps of chicken poking through.

Start to roll it up into a ball, meanwhile tucking in any sides.

 

Once rolled up, roll the ball around in your palm ( like playdough) to make the sides smoother.

IF desired, pinch off a little end of your triangle and roll it into a little ball and stick on top of your balls.  This will be like a pumpkin.  Honestly I wish I had figured this out earlier because I would have made more pumpkins.

 

Beat an egg in a small bowl.  Add 1 tsp cold water and beat it in.  Depending on how many colors you are doing, divide it into other bowl.  I used two colors, so I divided my egg into two small bowls.

 Add desired food coloring and mix well.

 Use the pastry brush (or a wide food paint brush*) to paint your crescent balls.  Here I am making Jack-O-lanterns.  *I just bought new paint brushes that I always keep in the kitchen and use only for food.

 With a small paint brush or a toothpick, paint on faces.  (with food coloring)

 Remember those pumpkins we formed earlier?  Well here I painted them orange and used green for the stem.

 Since I have boys, I had to do something resembling a monster.  Here is my attempt at Frankenstein.

 Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes (depending on your oven) or until they are baked.  You might have to touch them and feel for the crust because the food coloring will hide the golden brown color.  Just don't burn your hand reaching inside the oven.  (I can't tell you how many times I have done that.  You'd think I'd learn!)

 I LOVE these pumpkins.  I wish I would have made more.  Now I'm getting a thought of doing this with pie dough and pumpkin cheesecake mixture.  Hmmmmm.......

 For Frankenstein, I broke up pretzel sticks into tiny pieces and stuck them in the sides of his neck.

These were a big hit with the kids. I'll probably have to make them again before the month is over.

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