Friday Fun Snack - Spider Chocolate Chip Cookies

I hope everyone's Halloween was a success! We dressed in our costumes, ran from door to door and collected bags full of goodies! Yesterday we made these cookies for Halloween but I still wanted to share them today. Aside from Halloween you can still make these any day. Maybe your kid has a thing for insects? ( thankfully mine do not) or simply as a fun way to spice up your kid's lunchbox.

What you need
I used my everyday Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe that I posted for a previous Friday Fun Snack.
Make sure to set a handful of chocolate chips aside to use later for the bug legs.

How you make them
After you mix up your dough and your cookies are baking, melt the chocolate chips you saved and put them in a frosting bag or a simple ziploc bag and cut a very small hole in the end corner.
While your cookies are still warm in the oven, take them out and place a chocolate chip upside down in the cookie (flat side up) this will be the "bug body". Bake the cookies for just a few more minutes.
Once the cookies are cool use your bag of melted chips to draw legs on the bugs.

So very simple!

Halloween Treat ideas and Trick or Treating Prep

When it comes to Trick-or-treating, I like to switch things up a bit. Instead of the expected candy bar and pop, I like to give out more healthier treats. Kids need proper hydration and nutrition on Halloween night. With all the walking, door knocking, sweating (in hot costumes) and sugar consuming it's nice to give them a little something to help keep them going all evening. It's also convenient to have healthy snacks for packing lunches the rest of the week.
Some great ideas for drinks are mini bottles of water or juice packs. Snacks can be granola bars, small sized apples, goldfish or a clementine. All of these are still just as cheap as buying a box of of mini chocolate bars. My kids actually get excited when they see a snack like this because they know they can eat it right away if they want, and they get thirsty often throughout the night so they know they can grab a drink when they see one.

Goldfish now come in fun Halloween themes

Draw jack-o-lantern faces on clementines to be festive

Halloween night is busy and exhausting but lots of fun for the whole family! Here are a few tips we follow to make sure our night is a success.

Eat a good supper - We all get together and eat a good meal so we've all got full bellies and lots of energy.
Plan out a route - We live in the country, and we like to trick or treat on foot, so we always go into town where houses are closer together and there are sidewalks. We all have select houses and neighborhoods we want to visit, so we make sure to plan out where we are going. We usually trick or treat on foot first in a familiar neighborhood and then drive to visit other friends and family around town.
Wear comfy footwear - heels might go with their costume, but my kids are wearing sneakers regardless. We do alot of walking and I'm not carrying anyone.
Bring extra layers or rain gear. Our weather changes every 5 minutes and we have no time to pause this game and run home.

4 more days until Halloween !!!

Friday Fun Snack - Caramel Corn Class Treats

Nothing says fall like Caramel Corn. If your kids like popcorn, this is the same except it's dipped in gallons of sugar, and it tastes so good.
Caramel Corn is fun and easy to make. You can be creative and add some extras to it or have it plain. I've mixed in nuts, pretzels, chocolate chips, and marshmallows. It's easy to bag up and store for snacks on the go, or giving away as treat bags for a party or gift.

I made some for my kids to take to school for their Halloween parties. I used cute Halloween baggies and mixed in some chocolate chips, marshmallows and pretzels.

What you need

1/2 Bag popcorn kernels
1 cup Butter
1 cups Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Corn Syrup
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Baking Soda

How you make it

Pop the popcorn
Pick out the un-popped kernels
Mix butter,brown sugar, and corn syrup and boil for 3 minutes (stirring constantly)
Remove from heat and add Vanilla and Baking Soda and stir
Pour over popcorn and stir
Bake in oven for 30-45 minutes @ 250 degrees

Enjoy!

Halloween Costume Ideas - Couples

Countdown to Halloween continues!
I've always enjoyed finding costumes for my kids, but never really put much effort into my own. I basically just grab whatever we have in our "tickle trunk". But lately Mike and I have been taking Halloween costumes more seriously and dressing up in couples costumes. They're fun to think up and people usually get a laugh out of them. Here are some of our previous costumes and some pretty great inspirations for next year!

We recreated the famous picture of the sailor and nurse from NYC

What's a ghostbuster without a ghost?

Our grand-in-laws - our kids loved it

You might find us wearing these next year.

Looking for a classroom snack idea for your kids to take to school? Come back tomorrow for Friday's Fun Snack and see what I cooked up!

7 days till Halloween!

Halloween Party Spooky Snacks

My Halloween countdown begins! It's my second favorite time of year!
On the weekend we threw our annual family Halloween party! One of my favorite parts is making spooky snacks. Here are a few of our party creations.

Nothing is spookier than punch with eyeballs and dead hands!

Finger shortbread cookies

Edible pumpkin throw-up chip dip

Halloween is so much fun, and gives me a chance to bring out my creative side. Kids love anything spooky, scary and disgusting. All of these snacks were huge crowd pleasers and got a few squeals out of my guests.

10 days until Halloween !!