Day 20: Halloween {REAL} Food Ideas

If you’re hosting a Halloween party this year, I’m hear to share some creative ideas from my sister.  She’s hosted a Halloween party for the past 18 years, so she definitely has some ideas to share.  Over the years, she’s done all sorts of themes - harvest Olympics, chili cook offs, cupcake decorating contests, night of the living dead (Zombies), pumpkin carving and Minute it to Win it games.   This year’s theme is an outdoor movie night in her backyard.

She’s learned that as far as food goes, the simpler the better.  She’s found keeping it simple makes for more REAL food choices because what’s simpler than whole food?  She uses an 80/20 rule so she does include both REAL food and some processed.  She’s also learned to take the stress off herself a bit by letting people bring something if they want.

Here are some of her creative food ideas .

Appetizers

• Poison Apple Tray-Serve apple slices with caramel dip and label it poison apples with goblin snot dip! Or spread cream cheese in the bottom of a pie plate followed by caramel apple dip and serve with apples on the side.

• Pumpkin Cheese Ball -shaped a cheese ball like a pumpkin; use a butter knife to make side indents and celery stick for the stem; serve with crackers and veggies.

• Banana Ghost- bananas cut in half. Stand up on flat side. Use mini chocolate chip for eyes. Brush with lemon juice if not eating right away or you will have gray ghost.
• Frogs On a Log-fill a celery stick with cream cheese and top with green olive slices.
• Spider Eggs -make deviled eggs and top with half a green or black olive. Cut slices from olives and cut olive slices in half to make the legs for the spiders.
• Candy Corn Cheese Tray- Assemble yellow cheese cubes (or Colby jack) followed by orange cheese cubes then white cheese cubes in the triangle shape of a candy corn on a serving platter.
• Candy Corn Cracker-Spread cream cheese on a triangle shaped cracker and top with cheese slices in the color of candy corn and cut to fit the cracker. Yellow is the widest then orange then white.

Drinks

• Voodoo or Vampire Punch Bowl-peel apples and carve out faces or skull shapes. Float in red juice or apple cider.
• Hot Apple Cider Floats-top hot apple cider with whipped cream ghost with mini chocolate chip eyes or a scoop of vanilla or cinnamon ice cream.
• Homemade Hot Chocolate

Savory

• Three Cheese Pizza Candy Corn Slices-Sauce a pizza crust and sprinkle with shredded yellow cheese around the outer edge of the crust then do a ring of shredded orange cheese followed by a shredded white cheese circle in the center. After baking cut into wedge to resemble candy corn.
• Pumpkin Faced Black Bean Dip -Combine 1-15 ounce can of refried beans with 2 teaspoons taco seasoning and 4 ounces cream cheese. Spread into a pie plate or round baking dish. Topped with shredded cheddar and bake until warm and cheese is melted. Remove from oven and place down 2 blue corn chips for eyes and one for the nose. Arrange black olive slices to form a mouth. Serve with blue tortilla chips-label them bat wings or cat ears.
• 7 layer Mexican Dip. Make the last layer shredded orange cheddar. Do not cook. Make the face in the same way as above. Serve with blue tortilla chips. Label them bat wings or cat ears.
• Pizza Muffin Mummies-Spread pizza sauce on 1 half of an english muffin or sprouted grain or gluten free hamburger bun or use a cookie cutter to cut a circle out of you desired bread. Cut provolone or mozzarella cheese slices into strips on place on top of sauce; leaving space for the sauce to peek through even after the cheese melts. Tuck 2 olive slices under one strip of cheese and over another so that the eyes show. Bake in a 350 degree oven until cheese is melted.
• Zombie Intestines or Blood and Guts-Purchase hot dogs or sausages that are still linked together. Bake in a 350 degree oven and brush with BBQ Sauce or Ketchup. Remove from oven and serve on a platter labeled Zombie intestines. Let guest use scissors to cut of their own portion.
• Zombie Food-Spaghetti noodles with red sauce. Label it Brains!

Ghost Hunters Buffet

Fill clear jars and containers with the items below then make creepy looking labels and hang them on the jars.

• Bat Wings-chocolate covered pretzels
• Ravens Bones-white yogurt covered pretzels
• Rat Droppings-chocolate covered raisins, cranberries or cherries
• Witches Warts or Ghost Poop-popcorn or fresh mini mozzarella balls
• Pumpkin Teeth-baby carrots
• Werewolf Claws-cashews
• Frog Eyes or Toad Warts-green grapes
• Poison Apples-fill a jar with small apples
• Goblin Fingers-baby pickles in a jar
• Cat’s Tongue-place beef jerky strips in a jar.
• Franken Fingers-ham slices wrapped around cheese stick or ham sticks and cheese sticks

Here’s what she’s serving at this year’s party.

Steamed Hot Dogs in buns wrapped in foil and kept warm in a cooler. I have one of the short stackable Coleman ones. Love it! Fits in low profile place like on a boat or in the bed of a truck. It also keeps a 9x13 dish warm or cold. Easy to reach into even on a table.

Hot Chocolate and Warm Apple Cider

Popcorn and Kettle Corn

Pot Luck-whatever anyone else wants to bring. 

The party starts at dusk so everyone should have eaten dinner at home but never count on that! The simpler the food, the more the kids eat and then they don’t turn into crabby monsters when they get tired from all of the fun!

Looking for more REAL Halloween Recipes. Check out my sister’s Ebook at Get REAL for Kids .  She wrote the recipes and Dr. Sue and Angelle provided a lot of great content and ideas on how to keep your kids sweet without filling them with sugar!

Be back tomorrow with a simple, cute Halloween treat bag.  Thanks for stoppin by!

- Kim