Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!!! Pictures from Halloween pasts

How is everyone on this wonderful holiday? I haven cooking and baking and putting the final touches on the house before trick or treaters come (at least I hope they come). I just want everyone to be safe and have fun! That is what it is all about having fun and eating lots of sweets and treats.


This was me back in either kindergarten or first grade I don't remember

This is how I decorated the house I grew up in

Pictures from some Halloween party I had
My first apartment decorated for Halloween
Yummy Punch
Dressed up for Halloween
This was at my second apartment another Halloween party (last year to be exact)
Food!
Homemade Pizza!!
Decorations
Yummy Pizza
Pumpkins my friend and I carved for his house
Yummy cupcakes, from a box lol
My friends spooky display
the Pumpkins lighted and ready to go!






I hope everyone has a safe Halloween this year and enjoy!!!

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Halloween Food Fun!!!

Hey guys whats cooking? I hope everyone has fun this weekend and just relax, enjoy and be safe. You should also get in that kitchen and make some fun treats!!! here are a few to get you started. English Muffins Mummies, Worms in a cup, Ants on a Log, and a Candy Corn mixture!! These are easy, fun and tasty!

English Muffins Mummies

Split English Muffins, put on tomato sauce or pizza sauce, add mozzarella cheese and olives. Bake at 375 until cheese is melted about 15 minutes.


My faces didn't turn out great, but its still fun!
Worms in a cup


Make any pudding mixture you want, add to cups. Add some crushed Oreo's. Top with cool whip then finish with more crushed Oreos and gummy worms.



Ants on a Log


Wipe and cut celery. Add peanut butter to top and place raisins on top of Peanut Butter

The Ants on the Log are next to the pumpkin and the Candy Corn Mixture is next to those.



Candy Corn Mixture

Mix Candy Corn with Peanuts--yum!----See picture above.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

More Fall Fall Food Finds


Hello everyone! I wanted to put up more fall food finds. These ones are fun and I hope you can find some of these still.

Is anyone throwing a party this weekend, or going to a party? I’m still working on my dinner for Halloween which I can’t wait to show you. It will have something to do with pumpkin I am sure but anyways I hope you guys like these finds!!

White Chocolate M&Ms These are really good, and a few people said the first bite reminded them of skittles. You can find these at Wal-Mart.

         
These are delish, check out yesterdays blog for a great recipe

Pumpkin spice Eggo's! I found these at target, these are really good, and has a great taste

I topped mine with pumpkin butter! YUM



Another Coffee-mate creamer-Warm Cinnamon Sugar Cookie-it smells amazing and has a nice sweet taste


Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Trick or Treat Pumpkin Spice Rice Crispy Treats


Hello everyone!! How are you this week? I am a little late this week posting a recipe but I will try to make up for it with an extra post this week. I got a few tricks up my sleeve. It has been gorgeous the past two days! I am sitting here with the patio door open and just sipping on my coffee, listening to the birds and enjoy this. I wish I had the day off, but I have to go into work in a couple hours.

I am in Halloween overload this week! I try to watch a ton of scary movies, the Simpsons Halloween Specials, Rosanne’s Halloween Specials, Food Network Halloween Specials and of course Halloween the movie. I actually wait until Halloween to watch that movie. I love having my baked goodies that day and I am trying to decide on a Halloween dinner. I am thinking of pumpkin pasta and garlic bread, Yum-O lol.

I also bought my Halloween candy last night. I was smart and used some coupons, but it is still expensive! I hope I get trick or treaters this year.

I wanted to share this recipe because it is getting close to Halloween and this would be great to make this week for a after school snack or work, or even for a Halloween party you are throwing or for your kids Halloween party. 

Pumpkin Spice Rice Crispy Treats. Yep you heard me right. You can find this awesome bag of Pumpkin Spice marshmallows at the store (I found mine at Wal-Mart). The recipe is on back but here it is for you. I added more candy to mind for more of a trick or treat feel. I hope you guys try this and enjoy!

How awesome!!1

They are shaped like Pumpkins!!

Imagine the bag is full and that there is butter there.

Filled with delish Candy!




Trick or Treat Pumpkin Spice Rice Crispy Treats

¼ cup of butter
1 bag of Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows
6 cups of Rice Crispy Cereal
Mixed Candy-your choice.

Melt the butter in a large pot on low. Once the butter is melted add the bag of Pumpkin spice marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat and add in Rice Crispy Cereal on cup at a time. Add in the Candy last.

Pour into a pan lined with foil and spayed with cooking spray. Let cool and enjoy!

Who can resist ad Rice Crispy treat?  They have the same taste with a little pumpkin spice kick at the end. This is fun. Get into the kitchen and have some fun.

Enjoy

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Halloween and New England Clam Chowder


 Happy Saturday everyone! It is finally the weekend and I hope everyone gets to go out and do something fun or if you’re like me you work on weekends. I have to go into work later tonight, so I am trying to catch up on my recorded TV and sipping hot coffee.

Halloween is a little more than a week away and I can’t wait. I LOVE Halloween. Almost as much as I love Christmas. I’m gearing up for it by doing a very toned down version of my Christmas baking by doing a few treats. I will share those soon.  I checked the Halloween hours in my town and it’s from 6-9! I am hoping to have lots of people come because the last two Halloweens I lived in an apartment and didn’t get anyone even though I bought candy just in case. I live in a small subdivision this year so I am hoping I get a few trick or treaters. I haven’t decided if I will sit out and scare the people or not lol. I also need to run out and get some candy I haven’t done that yet

 I wanted to give you guys a great soup to try this weekend and it’s even better if it’s a cold day. It gets better though, you can go back for seconds on this soup because it’s a very healthy soup. Yes for real, healthy.

This soup comes together pretty quickly and tastes great. I got this recipe from my Rocco Dispirito’s cookbook “Now Eat This!” which offers healthier versions of comfort foods. All foods in this book are under 350 calories! You wouldn’t even know the difference trust me. I made a few modifications, but you should try this one. There is no fish taste if you are worried about that.  If you are still scared of seafood, leave them out. I’m not looking.

Here is my take on Rocco’s New England Clam Chowder



Serves about six 6

1 large onion
4 cloves of garlic, finally chopped
4 cups of cauliflower florets1 bag of frozen corn
3 cups of skim milk
3 6.5 ounce cans of chopped clams with their liquid*
3 tbs of cornstarch
6 tbs of real bacon bits (Make sure these are REAL bacon bits)**
3 wedges of soft cheese (like laughing cow-Aldis has a version or 2/3 cups Greek yogurt)
½ cup of scallions (or 2 tbs of chopped chives)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot add the onion, garlic, cauliflower, corn and skim milk. Bring to boil over high heat then reduce to low, cover and simmer for about 7 minutes or until the veggies are tender.

While the veggies are simmering, stain the clams and reserve the juice. Stir in the 3 tbs of cornstarch into the reserved juice.

Raise the heat to medium and add the cornstarch mixture into the pot stirring constantly. Reduce the heat again and let thicken about 2-3 minutes.

Add your clams and bacon to the soup and remove from heat. Stir in your cheese and scallions. Season with salt and pepper (I used a ton and added some hot sauce). Serve.

My calorie count comes in around 300 calories. The original recipe used Greek yogurt but it wasn’t a good price at the store so I used the soft cheese which are very low in calories. I believe the yogurt was supposed to make it creamy and the cheese really does.

*If you don’t use the clams, reserve one cup of milk and stir in your cornstarch than add it to the pot. I am really serious about it not tasting like fish either. When I opened the claims there was a little fishy smell, but once added to the soup and the liquid it was gone and my house didn’t even smell like it either.

**You can omit the bacon if you don’t dig it.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Fall Food Finds part one…


How is everyone this cold, raining day (if you live in the Midwest)?  I am sitting here sipping a cup of coffee that is screaming hot.  I know you’re asking why screaming hot, because my heater is not working. Loads of joy. To be honest its not all that bad, but it is not fun either. I am planning my Halloween Baking so something will be going in the oven very soon to help warm it up while I am waiting for maintenance to come and fix my furnace.

I wanted to share a few food finds that I found recently.  I will be adding more as I find more fun foods! I hope you guys try these and enjoy!

Whoppers that taste like Peanut Butter, you cannot go wrong with Peanut butter

Ok Ok you can find it everywhere, but I am OBSESSED with this stuff

I know it has trans fats, but once in awhile its not bad. It has a nice Maple smell and slightly sweet taste

Good ol' Dunkin' Donuts. This was good, but has a spice undertone, not to much pumpkin

Found These at target. Taste pretty much like regular Dots

Yummy candy corn dots!