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HALLOWEEN VEGGIE PLATE

October 20th, 2015

halloweenveggieplate

Who says you can’t eat healthy during Halloween?  This super easy veggie platter was a hit at my taste test kitchen.  Kids loved the selection of veggies and you can even customize the platter to incorporate the vegetables your kids prefer… sugar snap peas instead of broccoli, white asparagus instead of cauliflower, I can go on and on!

HALLOWEEN SNAKE NEST CUPCAKES

October 19th, 2015

snakeeggcupcakes

These “snake nest” cupcakes were a hit at my recent Halloween taste test kitchen.  Moms loved the recipe because you can prepare the cupcakes  in a matter of minutes!

All you need are ready-made iced cupcakes, yogurt covered raisins, and gummy worms.  Place two or three yogurt covered raisins (“eggs”) on top of each iced cupcake and place a gummy worm (“snake”) around the eggs.  Place a small printed sign saying “BEWARE: Snake Nest Cupcakes” and watch them disappear!

Goblin Mimosas

October 18th, 2015

goblinmimosas

If you want a smiles from your guests this Halloween, make sure to surprise them with these adorable yet spooky Googly Goblin Cocktails at your next party!.

Ingredients

  • 5-6 oz Orange Juice
  • 1 shot Black Vodka
  • Black Olives
  • Cream Cheese

Preparation

Pour orange juice into a glass about half way. Pour black vodka carefully over the orange juice. A great tip is to pour the vodka over the back of a spoon so the vodka runs down the side of the glass. For “eyes” use pitted black olives stuffed with cream cheese. Cut up one olive into tiny little pieces, and use those pieces for eyeballs. Pierce the eyes over wooden toothpicks and place on the rim of the glass…. enjoy!

HALLOWEEN SPOOKY BATS

October 7th, 2015

Spookybats

Super easy and super fun!  These Halloween Spooky Bats can be created in minutes and kids LOVE them.  Just a few ingredients will bring a huge impact!! They are a perfect addition to your next Halloween dessert buffet.  All you need are some Oreo’s, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and Googly eyes.  I have also seen this idea with small Reese’s Peanut Butter cups as well.  You can add both sizes to your presentation to make it look like there are large and small bats.

1 package of Oreo Cookies (I used the reduced fat ones)
1 package of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
1 package of Googley Candy Eyes (you can purchase these at Michael’s or Jo-Ann’s in the baking section)
Cake icing or melted chocolate

Simply unwrap the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and place on tray or plate.  Take out an Oreo cookie and cut it in half.  Some of the cookies may not cut in half perfectly, so be ready for some scraps you can snack on! Take the half of Oreo cookie apart and add a bit of cake icing or melted chocolate so the “wings” so that they can adhere well. Then, place the two halves on top of the Reese’s.  The straight side should face the bottom.

Place a bit of cake icing or melted chocolate on the back of the Googley eyes and place on the wings, so that half the eye is on top of the wing and the other half is resting on the Reese’s.   Let dry for a few minutes and enjoy!

HALLOWEEN EYE BALL PIZZA

October 6th, 2015

eyeballpizza

What are you looking at?!  This giant Eye Ball Pizza is going to have your guests take a second look at what they are about to eat?  And isn’t that exactly what you want at your next Halloween party?!  This pizza was a huge hit at my recent taste testing Halloween kitchen and I’m sure it will be a huge hit at your party as well.  You can make your own pizza, buy a frozen one, or just order a cheese pizza from your local pizzaria.

This idea is super easy and requires very few steps.

  1.  Home-made, ready-made or frozen cheese pizza
  2.  1/2 red bell pepper
  3. 3 olives (sliced)

Take the pizza out of the box.  Dice the peppers and arrange them in a circle in the middle of the pizza.  Take your olive slices and place them right in the middle of the bell pepper.  Bake according to package directions and enjoy.  This pizza is a vegetarian option.  If you will be serving meat lovers, you can use pepperoni instead of bell peppers.

 

HALLOWEEN SCARY PRETZELS

October 5th, 2015

scareypretzels

Looking for a fun recipe to do with the kids?!  Here it is!!! My friend Tara sent this my way and of course I had to try it out at my recent taste testing!  The best part of the entire process was that the less perfect the pretzels looked, the scarier they turned out!!!  Each one is unique and I dare say, they look a bit spooky!!!  It was a TOP PICK at my recent taste testing Halloween Kitchen.

1 bag of pretzels
1 bag white candy melts
2 containers of googley eyes (you can purchase these at JoAnn’s or Michael’s in their cake baking section)

Lay out a sheet of wax paper for your finished dipped pretzels.  Melt the candy melts according to package instructions.  Dip the pretzels in the candy melts.  You can either swipe up or swipe down.  You can even try swiping them to the left or right.  If you look at my pretzels, you can see which ones were swiped up while they were dipped and which ones were swiped down.  Either one will produce good results.

Place the covered pretzels on the wax paper and place two eyes on them.  You may need to make sure that the holes, where you will place the eyes, have a good amount of candy melts within them.  The holes need to have candy melts otherwise the eyes will just fall through the hole and not adhere.

Let dry and place on a black platter for a spooky look!

SPOOKY HALLOWEEN FORTUNE COOKIES

October 4th, 2015

spookyfortunecookies

If you are looking for a fun and “funny” dessert at your next Halloween party, Halloween Fortune Cookies are just that!   You can get really creative by inserting your own fortunes… such as “Treat others as you would Treat yourself” or “Happiness is a large helping from our dessert buffet” or “Beware of people dressed up in costumes”.

If you want to get funnier, think about the guests who will be coming to your party as well as the costumes they will be wearing.  If you know that one of your guests will dress up like Superman, create a few fortunes that say “Superman will be entering your life tonight”.  To get guests to mingle, say something like “The stars will be aligned for you if you pull Superman’s cape!” Insert them into the cookies and your guests will get a kick out of reading the fortune and seeing Superman walk through the door.  You can get creative with all sorts of fortunes that are customized to your party.  If you know someone is coming dressed up like Dracula, you can create a fortune saying “Good luck will find you if you seek out dracula and tell him you like his fangs!” 

A little research goes a long way in making it seem like your cookies are predicting the future.

Ingredients

  • 1 bag Fortune Cookies
  • 1 bag Candy melts (available at Michael’s or any baking and hobby store)
  • Orange + Black sprinkles (available during Halloween)

Preparation

Arrange the fortune cookies on a sheet of wax paper. Pull out existing fortunes with small tweezers and insert your own (more info. below). Melt the Candy Melts. Dip the front (or back) of the fortune cookies in the melted candy. Cover as much of the cookie as you like. Immediately add sprinkles Refrigerate fortune cookies for 15 minutes or until the candy hardens. Enjoy!

PUMPKIN CHEESE BALL – PERFECT FOR HALLOWEEN

May 27th, 2015

pumpkincheeseball

Get ready for a delicious treat your guests will “ooh and aah” over!  This is the perfect recipe for Halloween and Thanksgiving.  Bring the flavors of fall inside with this delicious and super easy pumpkin cheese ball.

Ingredients

  • 2 (8 oz) Packages of Cream Cheese
  • 1 packet Onion Soup Mix or Ranch Dressing
  • 2 tsp Paprika
  • 1 Green pepper stem (you can also use a celery stick with leaves or a broccoli stem
  • 2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • Apples, pita chips, baked tortilla chips, or crackers

Preparation

In a medium bowl, mash cream cheese. Mix the dressing or soup mix and cheddar cheese into the cream cheese. Spoon the mixture into a sheet of plastic wrap and shape into a ball. Refrigerate until firm. Carefully remove the seran wrap and create ridges in the ball to mimic a pumpkin.

Presentation

Place the stem on top and put on a serving platter. Surround the pumpkin cheese ball with chips, crackers, veggies, or fruit. For an extra touch, you can also roll the ball in crushed nuts.

Delicious and Low Cal Sweet Pumpkin Dip

May 23rd, 2015

sweetpumpkindip

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup canned of pumpkin (you can add more if you would like a stronger pumpkin flavor)
  • 1/2 large container of Light and Fit vanilla yogurt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2/3 container Sugar Free Cool Whip
  • 1/2 cup sugar

Preparation

Combine all the ingredients and put in a bowl (or a hollowed out small pumpkin), I use sugar free and “light” varieties because I like to see how much sugar I’m putting in the dip. If this doesn’t matter to you, you can get the sugared varieties and skip adding your own sugar. Chill for at least 1 hour and serve with apples or sweet crackers.

HALLOWEEN STRAWBERRY GHOSTS – BOO!!!

May 17th, 2015

strawberryghosts

A dessert that is delicious and funny, with nothing to mix or bake? Gotta love these Strawberry Ghosts! Perfect for Halloween!!

Ingredients

  • 1 pkg Regular or organic strawberries
  • 1/2 pkg White Candy Melts (available at Michael’s)
  • 1/4 cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preparation

Wash and pat dry strawberries. Prepare a large piece of wax paper. Melt the Candy Melts in a double boiler or follow package instructions. Dip the strawberries into the melted candy and place on wax paper. Within a few seconds place the chocolate chips into the dipped strawberries before the candy “sets”. Melt the remaining chocolate chips in double boiler or follow package instructions. Once the chocolate chips are fully melted, you can either place it in a pastry bag or dip toothpicks into the chocolate and carefully draw the mouths on the strawberries with the chocolate on the end of the toothpick.

Presentation

You can refrigerate for a few hours up to a day, If you keep refrigerated for too long, the juice from the strawberries will start to seep from the candy.