Halloween Fun!

Well, I guess these are too late to try this Halloween season but you can file them away for next year! My kids love to do silly things to jazz up their food for the holidays, especially at Halloween! If I was smart I would do silly things to their food year round because it always makes them eat it better if it looks like a ghost, or a face, or the Eiffel Tower. Okay, so maybe the Eiffel tower is a bit extreme but there are lots of easy ways to turn regular food into "Monster Food"! Here are a few of the recipes I used to feed my little "monsters" this year! Hope you enjoy!

First, are the pigs in a blanket mummies! These are a favorite among my kids! I tried them with hot dogs once but they weren't quite as good...so we usually just make them with Little Smokies (because my kids will eat almost anything if it is bite sized). A funny story about my 2 year old is that she thought we were saying "Mommy's" as in those belong to Mommy. So she kept trying to give all of them to me and she would say "here Mommy, yours!". So cute!

Anyway, the picture pretty much gives you the recipe but here it is anyway:

2 cans of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
1 pack of Hillshire Farms Little Smokies
2 Tbsp. Mustard

Cut the crescent rolls into long thin strips and wrap around the little smokies (leaving room for the mummy face). Bake according to crescent roll package directions. Let cool for 2 minutes. Using a toothpick and the mustard make two eyes on each mummy face! I usually use regular yellow mustard because that is what my kids like but I like to dip mine in Dijon! Super easy and perfect for a quick snack after trick-or-treating!


Next is Monster taco Salad. I have a small Halloween idea book from Taste of Home. I'd seen this idea in it several years ago but usually didn't have time on Halloween to make taco salad. Since Halloween was on Sunday this year I had a little extra time and decided to give it a shot! The great thing was that I didn't have to buy anything special for this recipe, you just organize the ingredients differently to make it "spooky". Here's how it turned out!


I told my 4 year old to eat it before it ate her and she said, "Mom, that's just silly. It doesn't even have a mouth"! Obviously you can use any taco salad recipe to make this Halloween creation but here is how I make taco salad if you are looking for a new recipe!

1-2 lb. lean ground beef
2 cans Rotel tomatoes and green chile mix (drained)
1 packet taco seasoning mix
6 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 can corn
2 cans black beans
1 tomato sliced (slice it and then cut each slice in half for the eyes)
1 can sliced olives
sour cream
shredded cheese
tortilla chips

Cook the beef in a large skillet, drain. Add drained tomatoes and chiles. Add taco seasoning mix. (The extra water from the tomatoes cooking is usually enough to absorb the seasoning but if you need to you can add 1/2 cup of water to the mix). Crush the tortilla chips on the serving plates. Top with romaine, meat mixture, cooked black beans, corn, and cheese. To make the eyes place two tomato slices on top of salad. Top with a dollop of sour cream and an olive slice to make the eyeball! That's it!

And finally, ghost pudding pie! My mom used to make us ghost pie every Halloween and we'd eat it when we got home from trick-or-treating! I'm pretty sure my mom made it with the real kind of pudding that you cook on the stove so hers was much better than mine! Here is my copycat recipe using instant pudding:

2 small boxes instant chocolate pudding
3 1/2 cups milk
1 Oreo pie crust (or any brand of chocolate pie crust)
16 oz. whipped cream
2 chocolate chips (for the eyes)

Mix pudding and milk together. Add 1 cup of whipped cream. Mix until smooth. Pour pudding mixture into pie crust. Refrigerate until set (at least 2 hours). Use the remaining whipped cream to make a ghost on top and whatever other decorations you want on there. Place the two chocolate chips to make the eyes! Here's a pic of our ghost pie in all its glory! The blob is supposed to be the moon... I'm okay at cooking, not art! :-)