Monday, December 26, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Ten Fun and Creepy Halloween Party Snacks
It doesn't matter if you have a big family or if you're on your own... Halloween is one of the most fun holidays ever invented. But if you are a busy mom (and your house is the one house on the block where everyone goes for Halloween parties) you may be looking for some quick and easy Halloween party snacks to have ready for kids, visitors, guests, and freeloading adult friends during the Halloween season.
Looking for some new ideas for festive snacks that don't take a hundred years (or work your fingers to the bone) to put together? The ten Halloween party snack ideas below are lots of fun, simple to make... and some of them are even healthy!
1. Rotting Eyes and Severed Fingers
This is a very healthy but rather creepy Halloween party snack that makes good use of black olives and baby carrots. Arrange the black olives and baby carrots on a party tray with a bowl of your favorite dip (I like a cream cheese veggie dip). Inform your party guests that the tray is filled with rotting black eyes and severed fingers. And then watch this snack disappear. A good way to get your kids excited about veggies!
2. Jack o' Lantern Oranges
This healthy treat is so easy to make, and looks so pretty! Carve jack-o'-lantern faces into oranges and place on a platter. The kids will love it. And they can help, too, without ever having to pick up a knife. Have them simply draw the faces on with a black marker, and carve them yourself. Or don't worry about carving them-- they look just as good with faces drawn on.
As a variation of this fun Halloween party snack, I like to hollow out an orange with a Jack o' Lantern face and fill it with fruit salad. Healthy, easy and quick!
3. Easy Bugs in the Bone Yard
This is such a fun Halloween snack for the kiddos. All you have to do? Sprinkle raisins into a bowl full of white-chocolate covered pretzels. (You could also use chocolate covered raisins.) Kids will eat them up once they learn the name of this snack. Or they'd eat it up anyway, since this mix tastes divine.
4. Slimy Halloween Jigglers
You know those Jello jiggler molds? They work great for Halloween! Either use whatever you have lying around the house, or go out and pick up a brain or a heart-shaped Jello mold. Make up a batch of orange, black, purple, or flesh-colored Jello and pour into your mold(s). Or make a flat pan of Jello and cut out shapes with Halloween cookie cutters instead.
5. Ghost Cereal Bars
Prepare a batch of the Rice Krispies marshmallow treats recipe on the back of the cereal box. When the mixture has set up, cut out shapes with ghost shaped cookie cutter. Pour warm white frosting or melted white chocolate over the shapes to cover. Add M&M eyes and mouth. A delicious and easy Halloween party snack.
6. Green Gelatin Intestines
This is one of the grosser looking Halloween party snacks. Make lime gelatin and add pineapple bits, chopped marshmallows, sliced bananas and mandarin oranges. Pour gelatin mixture into an angel food cake pan and let set up. Invert pan to remove gelatin mold. Slice the mold horizontally into about 5 layers. Slice the layers in half and arrange on a platter in semi-circles to look like intestines. Gross!
7. Spooky Healthy Eyeballs
This Halloween party snack is both easy and healthy. Wash a bunch of green grapes. Insert a raisin into the stem end of the grapes and freeze them all until ready to serve.
8. Monster Crackers
Color some white vegetable spread or cream cheese with green food coloring and spread on your favorite crackers. Arrange small bits of green and red bell peppers to make a green-eyed, red-mouthed cracker monster. Use small amounts of broccoli sprouts to make the monster hair. A sneaky way to get kids eating their veggies.
9. Wormy Halloween Punch Recipe
No respectable Halloween party snack list would do with out having this squeamish punch. Just make green Kool-Aid and put in a clear glass punch bowl. Set the punch bowl on top of a glow necklace so the light shines through the punch bowl. Add some gummy worms and watch the kids squirm when they see it.
10. Vampire Blood
You use V8 juice for this one so it is healthier than the wormy punch above. Pour the V8 juice in a clear picture that you have labeled as "Vampire Blood." For an adult party, add the ingredients for a bloody Mary, if you like. For a kids' party, well... good luck getting them to try it. It is V8, after all!
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Thursday, December 15, 2011
Cooking with Robbie: Rice Krispy Treats
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Ten Cool Things to Do With Cookie Cutters
A simple cookie cutter doesn't seem like it would have many uses other than to cut out a cookie, but if you have a basket or drawer full of wonderfully shaped cookie, don't keep them stashed away for a day of baking. Break them out and use them for anything from decorating to children's craft projects. We've put together several great ways to put your cookie to good use all year round.
1. Use your favorite to decorate your kitchen. You can display them on a plate rail or mount them directly to the wall in a pattern for a bit of rustic, down-home charm. You might also consider suspending one or two in each window from a thin strand of wire or twine. If you have curtains in your kitchen, slip a cookie cutter onto each tie back. If you're handy with tools, you can even use several cookie cutters to replace the current knobs on your kitchen cabinets.
2. Create a shadow box for your favorite cook and include a favorite recipe written in beautiful script, a cookie, a few miniature utensils and whatever else strikes your fancy. This makes a wonderful house warming gift for someone who loves to bake.
3. The holidays give you lots of options for using cutters creatively. Tie a single cookie cutter onto each present in place of a gift tag. Choose that represent the person receiving the gift. For example, try an apple cookie cutter for your child's teacher, a megaphone for your cheerleader daughter and a cartoon favorite for your son.
If you're giving a plate of cookies to someone this holiday season, add a finishing touch that will make it truly unique. Wrap the cookies in cellophane and tie it with a bright bow. String along with a card containing the recipe for the cookies so they can make more any time they like.
4. Don't just use your cookie cutters for cookies. Lie out some cookie cutters upside down on a cookie sheet and then pack them with fudge or Rice Krispy treats and allow to harden. When the candy is set just pop the cookie cutter full of yummy goodness into a bag and finish up with a ribbon. These are great party favors for a children's party.
5. Decorate a holiday wreath with candy canes, cinnamon sticks, small measuring spoons and a few Christmas cutters and then finish it off with a gingham bow for a sweet wreath that your friends will love.
6. You can use your cutters in lots of way to entertain children. Simply stringing a few plastic on a length of soft ribbon gives you a cheerful rattle babies will love. As they grow older, teach them what each shape is as a learning tool. You can also keep a box or drawer filled with plastic cutters for little fingers to play with while you're cooking dinner.
7. Cookie cutters are wonderful for creative Play-Doh activities. Let your kids cut out their own set of animals, shapes and letters for hours of fun.
8. Cookie cutters are great for budding artists. Show your kids how to carefully trace around the outside edge and then fill in the details and color themselves.
9. Take cookie cuters to the beach. A stretch of wet sand is the perfect location to create sand art with an assortment of cutters.
10. Make your kids extra-special pancakes for their birthday, Christmas or just because. When you have the pancake batter ready, pour it into a metal that's been placed on the hot griddle. To prevent sticking, spray the edge and inside of the cookie with a non-stick vegetable spray. Keep the cutter on just until the pancake batter is set but not completely cooked. Lift off the cutter and flip the pancake. Your kids will love a plateful of Santa, kitten or dinosaur pancakes!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Fun Halloween Recipes and Ideas
Halloween has always been a favorite time of year for me. Not only is it my birthday, but the air is clean and crisp, the leaves have turned colors and it's just a very pretty time of year.
I'd like to share some fun Halloween ideas and recipes with you:
Halloween cookie cutters are a must. You can use these cookie cutters on bread to make Halloween sandwiches. Kids love jack-o-lantern shaped sandwiches. You can spread their favorite sandwich topping on the bread once it's cut.
Purchase M&M's from a store that sells specific colors. Buy orange and green M&M's and then use them in your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe substituting the M&M's for the chocolate chips.
You can also put those same M&M's in your favorite rice krispy treat recipe. It's amazing how these two colors transform recipes into Halloween recipes.
Look for mini cookie cutters. They can often be found in kitchen specialty shops. If you find pumpkin mini cookie cutters, these work great on cheese. Buy sliced cheese. Cut the cheese with the mini cookie cutters and then put the slice of round cheese on a Ritz cracker.
Prepare your favorite brownie recipe and then top with candy corn pieces.
Make hamburgers and use your cookie cutters on full size slices of cheese. Serve open faced so that the pumpkin or ghost shaped cheese is on top.
Many stores sell spinach pasta. Green pasta with red sauce is very Halloween looking to kids.
Make english muffin pizzas. Add sauce and cheese and then cover with pepperoni slices. Use pineapple chunks to make eyes, nose and mouth.
What would Halloween be without pumpkin flavored items? Here are a few pumpkin recipes for you:
Pumpkin Dip
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 large 30-ounce can of pumpkin
4 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger
Mix everything together and serve. Kids love to dip both fruit and cookies into this dip.
And what about pumpkin muffins? I love pumpkin muffins warmed with butter on them:
Pumpkin Muffins
3 1/3 cups flour
3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
2 cups pumpkin
Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix. Pour into muffin tins. Batter will rise, so only fill the muffin tins 2/3 of the way full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Decorating your table can be fun also. Use a combination of blacks and oranges. Use cat or witch shaped bowls. I have a friend who owns plates, creamers and tea pots in the shape of cats. You can also sprinkle your M&M's and candy corn on the table. The kids can eat the decorations.
Enjoy Halloween with your kids and their friends at home with all of the above treats and ideas.
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Saturday, November 26, 2011
Scary Halloween Leftovers
I hope you were strong. I hope you didn't let the diabolical marketers who put the Halloween candy out in July or August entice you into buying it, seeing it around the house, and then eating it so you were forced to buy it again. Personally, I think there should be a law that stores cannot put Halloween candy displays out before September 15th (or later). Write your representative.
But the day is here, and in theory, adorable tots should be showing up at your door to remove all the calorie-laden goodness and take it home to ruin their dinners for many nights to come. But if you're like me, and you live on a major street in a safe, kid-friendly neighborhood, you've laid in enough candy to decorate every witch's house from here to Düsseldorf, and that means you're going to have leftovers. So unless you want to fit into that Santa suit without padding by Christmas, it's time to get creative.
The simplest solution is to avoid leftovers in the first place by becoming increasingly generous as the evening wears on. If you're giving out one or two pieces of candy early in the evening, and you can see that you're going to have more candy than you need, start passing out double portions. The older kids tend to be the ones out well after dark, so it actually makes sense to hand out more candy per trick-or-treater at 8:00 than you did at 6:45. If you play your cards right, you can empty your candy bucket and turn your lights out when the traffic dies (around here, that's between 9:00 and 9:20).
If November 1st still dawns with pounds of sugary bliss left in your living room, start looking for places to give it away. A lot of schools and churches have leftover candy drives. Take it your next meeting. Take it to the police or fire station. Do not take it to work, as it will sit in a bowl on your desk and you'll still eat most of it. Look for places to take it so that other people will eat it.
If you really want to get creative, and you can do some advance planning, start looking at the candy in a new way. If you do Christmas baking like I do, you will soon be buying the ingredients for that baking, and if you think about it, you're going to be buying a lot of the same stuff you just gave away. Next year, before you buy your Halloween candy, take a look at the recipes for your Christmas baking. M&Ms can go into cookies and Rice Krispies treats. Hershey Kiss cookies? Hershey's Special Dark bars and nuggets can be chopped into chocolate chips or melted down for icings, fillings, and more. Jolly Rancher candies and Life Savers make gorgeous "stained glass" cookies. Do a search for "leftover candy recipes" and you'll probably find some way to use up whatever you're stuck with, and you might find a new recipe you really like.
If you don't bake, you might have a neighbor who does, and you can work a trade of ingredients for finished baked goods. If you like toppings on your ice cream, you can crush most chocolate candy bars into sundae toppings. Crush them up and place them in well-marked bags in your freezer; that way, they'll be out of sight (and hopefully out of mind) and you'll use them by the spoonful instead of by the bar. If you are really virtuous, you'll simply buy candy you don't like yourself, so you'll never be tempted by the leftovers. Write and tell me what that kind of virtue feels like, because I sure don't have it.
The bottom line is, get them gone. Get them out of the house entirely, or earmark them for another purpose and get them into the freezer. Otherwise, you'll hear them calling you in their little chocolate voices every time you pass by the bowl. And you don't want to pack on extra pounds now, because turkey, stuffing and pie are waiting right around the corner. Boo!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
5 Cool Ways to Throw a Vampire Party
The situation: New Moon DVD release party.
The issue: How to pass the time before the DVD arrives.
The solution: Twilight themed party.
Whether you party for the New Moon DVD release, your birthday party, or just because you love Twilight and want to celebrate with the characters, here are five tips that will make your vampire-themed party to die for.
What's a party without food? Yummy recipes can be found all over the Internet. If cooking isn't your strength, then store bought foods are just as good. For a Twilight themed party, red-colored rice krispy treats make for an easy treat. When using your favorite rice krispy treat recipe, remember to blend the red food coloring in the marshmallows before you put in rice cereal. Otherwise, the color won't blend in perfectly and it will look sloppy.
Pop fresh, plain popcorn to munch while watching New Moon. After you melt butter, add red food coloring and mix well. The drippy red butter will give an icky, blood appearance but still taste amazing.
Another fantastic treat is red velvet cupcakes, a traditional chocolate flavored cupcake dyed red. They are yummy and the bright red coloring is perfect for any bloodthirsty vampire. For drinks, mix pomegranate juice with club soda for a sparkly cocktail with the same color as blood.
Once the menu is selected, conquer party games next:
o Be each other's Alice by taking turns reading one another's fortune with Tarot cards or a crystal ball.
o Stump one another by playing trivia games that incorporate books, movies, and actor biographical facts.
o Slay vampires, ala pin the tail on the donkey. Put up a poster of James, Victoria and Laurent or of the Volturi. Take turns blind folding one another and trying to get "stake" stickers as close to their hearts as possible. Team Jacob can switch the poster to the Cullens and stake them.
o Have a beads craft activity where guests make Bella-like bracelets with wolf charms and crystal hearts.
o Using stills from the movie, take turns shouting out character's dialogue from the movie. The one who guesses the most correct stills wins.
o Have a karaoke tournament. Stop the music and have people sing the words that follow, each level getting harder and harder until one person is left standing.
o Don't forget to brainstorm more fun game ideas. Maybe you and your friends will come up with unique ideas.
Music plays a huge part in the Twilight movies and should be at the party. Play Paramore and Coldplay CDs. Don't forget to pop in the original movie soundtrack. Play Twilight music videos on television as your guests arrive.
Set the mood with soft lighting. For example, drape a red scarf over lampshades. Other decorating tips include lightings candles in the room and putting up your favorite movie stills, print outs, magazine pictures and other posters on the walls. With fabric paint, paint the Cullen's crest on white or red sheets to hang on the walls.
When the movie's over and its time to go home, give your guests a New Moon party favor. Make your own or buy them in stores. Prices vary, but most are inexpensive and fit any budget. Twilight party favors make a great memento of the millionth time you've watched the film.
Once games are won and the movie's rolling, sit back, relax and enjoy. Know your friends had fun playing games, eating vampiric treats, playing with their Twilight party favors and watching that gorgeous Taylor Lautner.
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Sunday, November 13, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Great Snack Ideas For the Classroom
Pre-schoolers and elementary students alike need a little pick-me-up now and then. Whether you need to send in treats on a regular schedule, or you have volunteered to help out with a special event, a special snack from this list is sure to please. Depending on how festive you want the occasion to be, you can package snacks in plain zip top bags, decorate your own bags, or purchase special treat bags that are designed to suit the occasion and then tie them up with pieces of ribbon when you have them filled.
Make sure you check with your school or teacher to see if there are any foods they don't allow at snack time. There are many restrictions in schools that don't allow you to serve certain types of foods to children, which can make it difficult to plan for snacks that are fun for kids. Many schools don't allow you to serve any peanuts or peanut butter due to allergy severity, and you may not have the option of giving kids foods that contain added sugar. If you are restricted to those foods that are deemed "safe and healthy", then you will need to add even more imagination to the presentation of the food to make it appealing to small children.
Great snack ideas:
Rice Krispie Treats are a favorite of children and adults alike. If you want to give them something besides the typical Rice Krispie square, mix up a big batch of the treats and add colored Krispies or food coloring. You do not need to be restricted to rice cereal-try a variety of different cereals for a different look, or go whole grain for a healthy, energy packed choice. Use cookie cutters in fun shapes or for the holiday to cut out the treats and you can add a popsicle stick to make eating them easier and neater!
Popcorn balls are a favorite treat, especially in the fall. Try mixing in a few M&M's and putting the ball on a stick. You can find many recipes online for caramel, cinnamon, and other flavored popcorn balls to give kids something a little less traditional. Popcorn may not be suitable for kids under the age of five, so be sure to check with your child's teacher if needed.
Veggies with Dip is a great snack for kids. One of the things that increases children's taste for vegetables is ranch dressing. If you can afford to get them the individual dipping cups with the dressing then have the carrot and celery sticks, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. already prepared, then it's just a matter of having the veggies divided and ready to eat. If this takes too much out of your budget, then get some little paper cups or holiday treat holders that won't easily spill and spoon out from the jar.
Fruit and Yogurt is another great snack time combo. Cut the fruit into small pieces for dipping, and serve with vanilla yogurt "dip. Home made trail mix is another great idea. You can easily make it in bulk, use the ingredients you want, and then package it in a variety of fun containers. This is a treat that is healthy, delicious, and approved by most schools! Ingredients can include any dry, bite sized morsels, like cereals, raisins, crackers, or seeds. Adding a small amount of a "fun" item like M&Ms can make your snack mix more appealing-just watch out for poachers!
You can also mix up a batch of "Chex" party mix. The recipe should be right on the box of cereal and is usually made in bulk. Kids will love helping to make their own snack right in the classroom and all you need are fun containers to scoop it into!
Whatever you choose as a snack for the classroom, keep in mind that packaging is a big part of the fun. Look for inexpensive and creative ways to serve great classroom snacks!
Monday, October 31, 2011
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