Halloween Recipe: Jack-o'-Lantern Sloppy Joe Pie

Everyone needs a good hot meal before going trick or treating and I just love this idea.

Ingredients:
o 1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
o 1/2 cup chopped onion
o 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
o 1 cup salsa
o 1/2 cup chili sauce
o 1 cup frozen corn
o 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
o 2 tablespoons brown sugar
o 1 sheet refrigerated pie pastry
o 1 egg
o Orange paste food coloring

Directions:
In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. In a small bowl, combine the flour, salsa and chili sauce until blended; stir into skillet. Add the corn, chilies and brown sugar.
Transfer to a deep-dish 9-in. pie plate. Unroll pastry; place over filling. With a sharp knife, cut out a face to resemble a jack-o'-lantern; flute edges. Beat egg and food coloring; brush over pastry.
Bake at 450° for 9-11 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Yield: 6 servings.

Halloween Recipe: Eyeball Cookies

Here is another recipe that I have found that looks quick and easy.

Ingredients:
5 squares (1 ounce each) white baking chocolate, divided
20 to 25 vanilla wafers
Blue paste food coloring
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Red paste food coloring

Directions:
In a microwave-safe bowl, melt 4 squares white chocolate; stir until smooth. Dip vanilla wafers in melted chocolate. Place on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet. Chill until set.
Melt remaining white chocolate; tint blue. Spread a small amount onto the center of each cookie; place a chocolate chip in the center. For bloodshot eyes, use a toothpick dipped in red food coloring to draw lines from blue circles to outer edges of wafers. Chill until set. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 20-25 servings.

Halloween Recipe: No Bake Green Cookie Toes

With all of the commitments on Halloween I thought that I would include a quick and easy recipe that still has the wow effect.

Ingredients:
12 ounces white candy coating, coarsely chopped
Green paste food coloring
22 peanut butter cream-filled sandwich cookies
11 Crows candies, halved lengthwise

Directions:
In a microwave-safe bowl, melt candy coating; stir until smooth. Tint green.
Dip one cookie into candy coating. Let excess drip off and place on waxed paper. Immediately place a candy half, cut side down, on the cookie. Repeat. Let stand for 15 minutes or until set. Yield: 22 cookies.

Halloween Recipe: Cat Cookies

Ingredients:
1 tube (18 ounces) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
54 pieces candy corn
1 can (16 ounces) chocolate frosting
Red shoestring licorice, cut into 1-3/8-inch pieces
9 thin chocolate wafer (2-1/4 inch diameter), quartered

Directions:
Bake cookies according to package directions. Cool on a wire racks. Cut off yellow tips from 18 pieces of candy corn (discard orange and white portion or save for another use). Frost cookies with chocolate frosting. Immediately decorate with two whole candy corns for eyes, a yellow candy corn tip for nose, six licorice pieces for whiskers and two wafer quarters for ears. Yield: 1-1/2 dozen.

Halloween Recipe: Kitty Litter Cake

I had a Halloween party a few years ago and this was probley the biggest hit of all!! Everyone was so intrigued by the look of how real it seemed but most of the women could not bring themselves to even try it. It was fairly easy to make and defiantly the talk of the party.

What a gross Halloween dessert! It doesn’t get more disgusting than this cake as it just looks beyond awful, but if you can get your guests to give it a try I bet they’ll be surprised!

This is not the cheapest of Halloween dessert recipes, but it is sure to startle your guests for sure! You’ll need a NEW kitty litter box (PLEASE do not even attempt to use an old one that you cleaned up!!!) You may also wish to use a clear box liner and a litter scoop to accessorize the cake!

Ingredients:
· 1 package German chocolate cake mix
* 1 package white cake mix
* 2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
* 1 package vanilla sandwich cookies
* 6 drops green food coloring
* 1 package tootsie rolls


Directions:
1. Prepare cake mixes and bake according to package directions. Pan size does not matter. *Don’t use the litter box to bake in.
2. Prepare pudding according to package directions and chill until ready to assemble.
3. Crumble sandwich cookies in small batches in a food processor, scraping often. Set aside all but 1/4 cup. To the 1/4 cup add a few drops of green food coloring and mix.
4. When cakes are cooled to room temperature, crumble them into a large bowl. Toss with 1/2 of the remaining cookie crumbs, and the chilled pudding.
5. You probably won’t need all of the pudding, you want the cake to be just moist, not soggy.
6. Line kitty litter box with the clear liner (plastic wrap work fine too) and put cake mixture into box.
7. Put half of the unwrapped tootsie rolls in a microwave safe dish and heat until softened. Shape and curve the tootsie rolls slightly to resemble cat poop. **Trust me kids love doing this disgusting deed!
8. Bury tootsie rolls randomly in the cake and sprinkle with half of the remaining cookie crumbs. 9. Sprinkle a small amount of the green colored cookie crumbs lightly over the top.
10. Heat 3 or 4 of the tootsie rolls in the microwave until almost melted and lay them gently on the side of the kitty box and sprinkle lightly with some of the green cookie crumbs.
11. Sprinkle with any remaining cookie crumbs and place final tootsie roll poop on top on the cat to resemble a very full littler box.
12. Serve using the pooper scooper for a really gross Halloween dessert!

Halloween Recipe: Cheesy Ghosts

I found these cute easy snacks on the Pillsbury website.

INGREDIENTS
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese or Colby-Monterey Jack cheese blend (4 oz)
Assorted sliced olives and chiles, as desired

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray large cookie sheet with cooking spray, or cover with cooking parchment paper.

2. On cutting board, unroll dough; separate into 8 triangles. From center of longest side to opposite point, cut each triangle in half, making 16 triangles. Shape each as needed to look like ghost shape. Arrange triangles on cookie sheet, folding narrow point under about 1/ 2 inch, to form head of ghost.

3. Bake about 7 minutes or until slightly puffed and just beginning to brown. Sprinkle each ghost with 1 tablespoon cheese; top with sliced olives to form mouth and eyes. Bake 2 to 3 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Halloween Game: Find the Pumpkins

I have been trying to keep yall updated with good Halloween ideas. Today I was over at one of my favorite blogs Everyday Mom Ideas and she had the cutest game that costs basically nothing to do, but looks like hours of fun for the kids. Here it is:

Find the Pumpkins Game.

Need:

· Ten pieces of white paper

· Five pieces of yellow paper
· Five pieces of orange paper

· A crayon

· Scissors


How to play:

1. Draw ten white pumpkins, five yellow pumpkins, and five orange pumpkins.
2. Cut out all the pumpkins.
3. Decorate each pumpkin with a funny face.
4. Write the number 1 on the backs of the white pumpkins.
5. Write the number 5 on the backs of the yellow pumpkins.
6. Write the number 10 on the backs of the orange pumpkins.
7. Have a grownup hide all of the pumpkins.
8. You and your friends will try to find as many pumpkins as you can until they are all found or before the time runs out. (You could play a fun Halloween song and have them search until the song is over)
9. Players will add up the numbers on the pumpkins each of them found.
10. The player with the most points wins!

So do you have any great games with a Halloween tone that keep the kids entertained? If you do please share your ideas.

Halloween Treat Ideas

For all of the people that has been following me and the free and cheap stuff that can be gotten at different stores here are some great ideas on Halloween goodies to give out from your stash that you have been wondering what to do with..

Since we are coming close to the bewitching night, I thought I’d highlight these ideas so you can raid the stockpile and not spend any money giving away treats on Halloween.
Use a tray allowing a child to choose what they want is a great idea. You’ll be surprised at how many will choose the toothbrushes (without prompting from mom & dad) over candy
!
Ideas For Halloween Pass-Outs
• Bic Highlighters
• Bic Pens
• Crayons
• CVS Protractors, Rulers, Sharpeners, Erasers, etc
• Full Size Candy Bars (hey they were free and you can’t get snack size free)
• Hostess Outlet Items
• Juice Boxes or Pouches
• Mentos Gum
• Pencils
• Quaker Granola Bars
• Snack Size Cookies
• SoyJoy Bars (what else are you going to do with them?)
• Toothbrushes
• Trial Size Toothpaste
What do you pass out for Halloween!?

Halloween Recipe: Popcorn Witches

Make a Popcorn Witch

Popcorn witches are a clever food craft for the Halloween holidays and they are also a delicious way to get your entire family involved in the baking process. Holiday foods don't always have to be traditional and popcorn witches are a great treat for Halloween parties or can be given out in lieu of candy to neighborhood trick or treaters. In order to make a popcorn witch, you will be following a basic popcorn ball recipe and adding some creativity with candy, icing and other food items.


Make Popcorn Witches

1.Once the balls have cooled for about 15 minutes, you can press them into the pre-fabricated silicone baking cups . If you do not have special baking cups, you can use traditional baking cups that have been pre-decorated with one-dimensional paper clown feet. Gently flatten the top of popcorn ball so that you can add the witch hat.
2. Decorate the face. According to your preference, use candy pieces and licorice to create a silly or scary witch faces. Licorice is good for eyebrows, mouths and hair, while Red Hots work well for creating teeth and eyes. If the balls have cooled too much, you can use tube icing as glue.
3. Make the witch's hat. Place a small amount of icing on the top of the ball and add a chocolate sandwich cookie. Break or cut the bottom 3 inches of the pointed part of a sugar cone. Add more icing to the top of the cookie and assemble the cone, point up, onto the cookie.

Recipe: Salty Bones

It wouldn't be Halloween without a skeleton -- in this case, one that's been reassembled into a pile of tasty bones to pick.


Ingredients
1 tube of refrigerated breadstick dough (we used an 11-ounce tube to make 12 bones)
Coarse salt

Instructions
1. Unroll a tube of refrigerated breadstick dough and separate the rectangular pieces.

2. Working with one piece at a time, stretch the dough to lengthen it a bit and then use kitchen scissors or a knife to cut a 11/2-inch slit in the center of each end.

3. Roll or shape the resulting four flaps of dough into knobs that look like the ends of a bone.

4. Place the dough bones on an ungreased baking sheet, spacing them a few inches apart, and sprinkle on a little coarse salt. Bake the bones until they are light golden brown, about 12 minutes

Recipe For Fall: Mini Caramel Apples

Bite-size versions of the fall fair treat, these tiny "caramel" apples are a great party snack.

Ingredients
· 4-inch lollipop sticks
· Melon baller
· Granny Smith apples (one apple makes about 8 mini apples)
· Butterscotch or peanut butter chips or caramels
· Chopped nuts, nonpareils, sprinkles, shredded coconut (optional)
· Small paper candy cups

Instructions
1. First, cut the lollipop sticks in half at an angle (the pointy end will go into the apple pieces easier).
2. With the melon baller, scoop little balls out of the apple. Each ball should have a section of apple peel. Push half of a lollipop stick into the peel of each ball. ***VERY IMPORTANT ***Pat the apple pieces dry.

3. Melt the chips according to the package directions.
4. Dip and swirl the mini apples in the melted chips, then roll the apples in nuts, sprinkles, nonpareils, or coconut, if desired.
5. Place the mini apples in paper candy cups to set.

*I have been told that they do not do well in Fridge overnight, so you need to make them the day you need them. I made mine the morning of the Halloween Party so I have not tried leaving them overnight.*

Halloween Recipes: Spooky Brownies

I found these really cute Spooky Brownies at Be Different Act Normal. I think that they are so neat. I will have to try these this week.






Brownies

1 box Betty Crocker® Supreme brownie mix (with chocolate syrup pouch)
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for in brownie mix directions
Decorations

1 container Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy creamy white frosting
Neon green, pink and blue food colors
24 large marshmallows

Miniature candy-coated chocolate baking bits

Betty Crocker® black decorating gel (from 0.68-oz tube)

1 roll Betty Crocker® Fruit Roll-Ups® chewy fruit snack (any red variety)

Gummy worms candies


1 Heat oven to 350°F. Make and bake brownies in 13x9-inch pan as directed on box, using water, oil and eggs. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Cut into 6 rows by 4 rows, making 24 brownies.

2 In small microwavable bowl, microwave frosting uncovered on High about 20 seconds or until frosting can be stirred smooth. Divide warm frosting among 3 small bowls.

3 Decorate as directed below, using 8 brownies for each bowl of frosting. Franken-Brownies Add 5 drops green food color to frosting in 1 bowl; mix well. Top each of 8 brownies with 1 large marshmallow. Spoon 1 tablespoon green frosting over each marshmallow to coat. Decorate with green baking bits for eyes and ears. Use black gel for mouths and centers of eyes. Cut fruit snack to use for hair. Boo-Brownies Top each of 8 brownies with 1 large marshmallow. Spoon 1 tablespoon white frosting over each marshmallow to coat. Use black gel for eyes and mouths. Spider Brownies Add 5 drops pink food color and 3 drops blue food color to frosting in 1 bowl; mix well. Top each of 8 brownies with 1 large marshmallow. Tuck gummy worms candies under each marshmallow for legs. Spoon 1 tablespoon purple frosting over each marshmallow to coat. Use orange baking bits for eyes. Use black gel for mouths, centers of eyes and eyebrows.


*Line the baking pan with foil for easier cutting and quick cleanup.

*Look for neon food colors next to the standard food colors in your supermarket.

Recipes: Chicken Enchiladas

Today I am joining in Recipe Swappin Saturdays at A Fist Full of Dandelions

One of my favorite chicken recipes is Chicken Enchiladas. This is a very good one, I wish I had taken pictures but I haven't yet.

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cut into chunks
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained
1 (1.25 ounce) package mild taco seasoning mix
1 bunch green onions, chopped, divided
1 cup water
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
5 (12 inch) flour tortillas
3 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded, divided
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives


DIRECTIONS
Combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and chili powder in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, then turn off the heat and cover to keep warm.
Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the shredded chicken, chopped green chilies, taco seasoning, half of the bunch of chopped green onion, and water. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the lime juice, onion powder, and garlic powder; simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
Preheat an oven to 350. Stir 1 cup of the soup mixture into the skillet with the chicken mixture. Spread the remaining soup mixture on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture. Sprinkle Cheddar cheese over the chicken filling before folding the tortillas, reserving half of the shredded cheese for topping the enchiladas. Fold tortillas over the filling and place seam-side down in the prepared pan.
Pour enchilada sauce evenly over the enchiladas. Cover with the remaining 1 1/2 cups of Cheddar cheese. Sprinkle the reserved chopped green onions and the sliced olives on top of the cheese. Bake in the preheated oven until filling is heated through and the cheese is melted and bubbling, about 25 minutes.

If you get a chance to make it then stop back by and let me know what you think.

Halloween Recipe: Carrot-Finger Dip

In 2005 after hurricane Katrina there was not many places around here for the kids to trick or treat so I threw a Halloween party. This recipe was one of every ones favorite things I added a spider ring to mine and it was so cute! The only problem that I had was keeping the carrots in there and not on every ones plates lol. So I made up several extra fingers and placed them on plate around the dip so everyone could dip their own fingers.



You will need:
vegetable dip
4 long carrots
1 medium carrot
softened cream cheese
sliced-almond
baby carrots

Step 1
To prepare them, just fill a serving bowl with your favorite vegetable dip. Wash and peel 4 long carrots for fingers and 1 medium carrot for a thumb.

Step 2
With a paring knife (a parent's job), cut a flat, shallow notch in the tip of each carrot. Then use a dab of dip or softened cream cheese to glue a sliced-almond fingernail atop each notch.

Step 3
Stick the fingers in the dip, as shown, and serve with plenty of peeled baby carrots for dipping.

Halloween Food: Fruit Kabobs in a Pumpkin

Fruit Kabobs in Pumpkin

Buy a nicely shaped round pumpkin along with some waterproof paints or markers.
Use the markers to create a fun face on the outside of the pumpkin.
Buy your favorite fruits cutting them into bite size pieces and place them on wood skewers.
Using a small drill bit, drill holes around the top side of the pumpkin with a couple inches between each hole (the bit should be much smaller than the diameter of the skewers).
Stick the kabobs in each of the drilled holes to create a beautiful fruit arrangement.
*NOTE - depending on the strength of the kabobs, you may not need to drill the holes - they may just poke into the pumpkin directly without breaking*

Halloween Food: Pumpkin Veggie Tray

I found this really cute idea for a veggie tray. It looks quick and healthy!

Pumpkin Veggie Tray

What you'll need:
A large serving tray or cutting board
1 large bag of baby carrots
1 cucumber
1 head of broccoli
1 carton of your favorite veggie dip
Ramekins or small bowls
How To:
Create an outline for your pumpkin by laying some of the carrots out in an oblong circle. Once the carrot outline is to your liking, carefully fill in the circle with the rest of the carrots.
Remove enough of the carrots to create a cucumber-filled smile. Set the carrots you removed on top of the other carrots within your pumpkin.
Place halved cucumber slices in the space you created for your carrot pumpkin's smile.
Fill your ramekins with the veggie dip and shimmy them into place where you want the pumpkin's eyes and nose to be.
Slice off the stem of the broccoli head. Place the broccoli at the top of your pumpkin.