You don’t have to give your kids, your family or your friends a sugar rush to ensure they have a happy Halloween. In fact, hosting a “healthy” dinner party or presenting your family with an extra special “spooky, playful meal” before donning costumes and heading out for a neighborhood Trick-or-Treat might be more novel than the traditional bobbing for apples or eating a ton of commercial candy.
With the convenience of the Internet, you can look no farther than cooking blogs and web pages for ideas. We googled “healthy Halloween treats” and here are some of the fun recipes we found. All can be made even healthier by adjusting some ingredients, choosing from organic produce, for example, or trading sugar for honey or agave syrup; swapping out organic cream cheese or using Vegenaise instead of mayonnaise.
You already know all this, because you shop with us. Just let us know if you try any of these fun recipes or let us know how you’re planning to make Halloween a healthier, happier event.
Yolkensteins from TLC Cooking website
Ingredients
| 8 | hard-cooked eggs |
| 8 | small tomato slices |
| 8 | wooden toothpicks |
| Mayonnaise | |
| 8 | pimiento-stuffed olives |
| 8 | black peppercorns |
| Parsley | |
| 16 | whole cloves |
Preparation
- Cut thin slice from wide end of egg so it stands upright.
- Slice egg horizontally, about 1/3 up from bottom.
- Place tomato slice on bottom piece of egg. Insert toothpick upright in middle of tomato slice and egg for “spine.” Reattach top piece of egg.
- Using dabs of mayonnaise, attach slices of olives for “eyes” and peppercorn for “nose.” Attach parsley for hair and stick 1 whole clove on each side of egg under tomato slice for “bolts.”
- Pipe mayonnaise “teeth” on tomato slice just before serving. Repeat for all eggs.
Serving Suggestion
Try serving these frightfully good treats to your kids for Halloween breakfast! Put out tiny plates of seasoned salt, sesame seeds, grated cheese, and celery salt for dipping the eggs.
Terrifying Tamale Pie from TLC Cooking
Ingredients
| 1 | tablespoon vegetable oil |
| 1/2 | cup chopped onion |
| 1/3 | cup chopped red bell pepper |
| 1 | clove garlic, minced |
| 3/4 | pound ground turkey |
| 3/4 | teaspoon chili powder |
| 1/2 | teaspoon dried oregano leaves |
| 1 | can (14-1/2 ounces) Mexican-style stewed tomatoes, undrained |
| 1 | can (15 ounces) chili beans in mild chili sauce, undrained |
| 1 | cup corn |
| 1/4 | teaspoon black pepper |
| 1 | package (8-1/2 ounces) corn muffin mix plus ingredients to prepare mix |
| 2 | cups taco-flavored shredded cheese, divided |
| Green and red bell pepper, pickle slices, pimiento pieces, chopped onion, chopped black olives and carrots for decoration |
Preparation
- Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook until crisp-tender. Stir in garlic. Add turkey; cook until turkey is no longer pink, stirring occasionally. Stir in chili powder and oregano. Add tomatoes with juice; cook and stir 2 minutes, breaking up tomatoes with spoon. Stir in beans with sauce, corn and black pepper; simmer 10 minutes or until liquid is reduced by about half.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease 1-1/2- to 2-quart casserole. Prepare corn muffin mix according to package directions; stir in 1/2 cup cheese. Spread half of turkey mixture in prepared casserole; sprinkle with 3/4 cup cheese. Top with remaining turkey mixture and 3/4 cup cheese. Top with corn muffin batter. Decorate with assorted vegetables to make monster face. Bake 20 to 22 minutes or until light golden brown.