Ghostly Shepherd's Pie

Emily has been making this little gem 2 years running and she said she'd be happy to share it with us! Besides that, she was cookin' up fun in her kitchen 5 days before having her first baby (CONGRATULATIONS!). You gotta give the girl props for that!:)

Ghostly Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 C. chopped onion
1 bag (12 oz) frozen mixed vegetables
2 C. diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, undrained (from 28-oz can)
1 jar (12 oz) beef gravy
1 3/4 C. water
2 Tbsp. butter/margarine
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 C. milk
2 1/4 C. Potato Buds mashed potatoes (dry) or any other dried potatoes
1/4 C. grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, slightly beaten

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 12-inch skillet with cooking spray. Add beef and onion; cook over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly cooked; drain.

2. Set 12 peas (from frozen vegetables) aside for garnish. Add remaining frozen vegetables, tomatoes and gravy to beef mixture. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender.

3. Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, heat water, butter and garlic powder to boiling. Remove from heat; add milk. Stir in dry potatoes and cheese. Add egg; blend well.

4. Spoon beef mixture into ungreased 2 - 2 1/2 quart baking dish. With large spoon, make 6 mounds of potato mixture on top of beef mixture to resemble ghosts. Place 2 reserved peas on each mound to resemble eyes.

5. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until potatoes are set and mixture is thoroughly heated.

Enjoy with your little ghosts & goblins!!

Spider Pizzas

You still have until Monday to leave a comment here and win a copy of Hello, Cupcake!
Happy National Cupcake Week!

I saw this on Womans Day and we tried it after school, the girls loved it! What is it that makes string cheese so darn fun for kids? Heck, I still like peeling away at it! You know what else? If you have a Spider-Man crazy kid, these would be perfect for a special lunch or Birthday Party snack!

Spooky Spider Web Pizzas
makes 4
Ingredients:
4 whole wheat pitas (or any pizza crusts--I just had the pitas on hand)
8 sticks string cheese
1 C. pizza sauce
10 large black pitted olives


Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lay pitas on baking sheet. Let the kids spoon about 1/4 c. pizza sauce on the pita and spread it around.

Now the fun part! Peel away pieces of the string cheese and lay on the pita to make a spider-web pattern. Bake for about 10 minutes until cheese is bubbly.

While pizzas are baking, cut olives to make spiders (see my quick video tutorial).

After removing pizzas from the oven, let cool for a couple minutes and add olive spiders. Serve and watch the spooks gobble them up!

Cupcakes-a-go-go & Giveaway

It's National Cupcake Week! October 18th is the official National Cupcake Day, but we're celebrating all week around here! Here are the ones I made for dinner tonight:
In honor of that perfect little culinary confection, we're having a giveaway! Just leave a comment and you're entered to win a new copy of my very favorite cupcake idea book: Hello, Cupcake!
Our Favorite Cake Mix Fixes (for fast and fabulous cupcakes!)

Fresh, Fruity, & Fun (this is our very favorite and the one I made today)
Ingredients:
1 pkg. Duncan Heinz cake mix---chocolate or yellow works best but you can use whatever.
¼ c. flour (for high altitudes only)
1 can mandarin oranges (about 11 oz.)
3 eggs
1/3 c. oil

Instructions:
Put oranges (juice and all) in blender and mix. Combine blended oranges and all other ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Put in cupcake pans with liners (or sprayed) and bake as directed on box.

Red Velvet Cupcakes from The Cake Mix Doctor

Ingredients:
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain German chocolate cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 bottle (1 ounce) red food coloring--yep, the whole bottle!
3 large eggs
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, water, oil, food coloring, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scrape sides and continue to mix until well-blen ded. Fold in the chocolate chips. Spoon into lined cupcake cups, filling it three quarters of the way full.
Bake the cupcakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 18 to 20 minutes.

Eyeballs, Eyeballs Everywhere!

How about an hour of work for a month full of fun food? These easy hard icing eyeballs take about an hour or less and you'll have decorations for the rest of Halloween (they'll last for months in an airtight container). Actually, they'd be cute anytime you need something fun on your food! For some reason, it cracks my kids up to see "eyeballs" on their food. Eyeballs, Eyeballs Everywhere
Ingredients:
Royal Icing (recipes below)
Black Food Coloring (or cocoa powder)
Wax Paper
Circular cake decorating frosting tip or Ziploc Freezer Bag
Directions: Tape wax paper to counter or table. Using black food coloring, tint 1/4 of your icing black (if you don't have black food coloring, you can use cocoa powder to make a dark brown--add a little water if your icing gets too thick). Using a cake decorating bag with a circular tip (or simply use a freezer ziploc bag and cut off a tiny bit of one corner if you don't have cake decorating supplies). Using white first, squeeze out a counter full of dots:

Add a small amount of black for the pupil (you can still do this while the white is wet):

Let dry overnight, peel off (the kids love this part!) and store in an airtight container, they will last for months. Pull a few out anytime you want to jazz up your food!

ROYAL ICING (Egg White Recipe)
Ingredients:
3 egg whites, room temperature
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
Combine ingredients, beat at high speed for 7-10 minutes.

ROYAL ICING (Meringue Powder recipe)
Ingredients:
3 tbsp. meringue powder (you can get this in the wedding/cake supplies at Wal-Mart)
1 lb. confectioners' sugar
6 tbsp. warm water (in humidity use less water)
Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks at low speed. Yield approximately 3 cups.

Notes: Please keep icing covered with a damp cloth or paper towel while not in use, otherwise it will harden. To attach eyeballs to food, moisten the back of the eyeball with a little water and it will stick to most anything.

Ghostly Pancakes

Your little ghouls will scream with delight when they see this spooky and fun breakfast! You could also use them for a Letter "G" snack!The best part? You probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry right now! They're a snap to make and they'll vanish before you can say, "Boo!"Ghostly Pancakes
Ingredients:
Your favorite pancake batter (or simple recipe below)
Chocolate Chips

Directions:
Spread pancake batter in blobs on griddle heated on medium-high heat. Don't worry too much about the shapes, just make sure they aren't circles.

Place two chocolate chips, pointy side down, on the pancakes for eyes and another chocolate chip for the mouth. Cook until bubbles form, flip pancake and cook for an additional 30 seconds-1 minute on the other side.

Remove from pan and serve!

Notes: MothertoMany had a great idea! She said, "A healthier version would be to use some "boo"berries for the mouth and eyes instead of chocolate chips, or raisins, or even craisins." Happy Ghosting!

BASIC PANCAKE BATTER
Ingredients:
2 c. sifted all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 c. milk
3 tbsp. oil
Mix all together. Pour 3 tablespoons batter in skillet. Brown on both sides until batter is done.

Witches Brew Puddings

Yesterday I cleaned out a few pantry items--of course I didn't want to waste them, so Witches Brew Puddings were born! I was surprised how excited the kids were about them!!
Click here to get the labels I made and feel free to substitute any ingredients you have on hand--the only two you really need are instant pudding and milk. I made up this little poem and labels and all the kids had a great time mixing their own "pudding brew" for dessert. Here's the poem in case you can't download it: It’s Halloween and time for treats,
But be careful about the things you eat!
If you’re brave here’s what to do,
We’ll mix up a little Witches Brew!
Pick your potion, mix it well,
and we’ll see if you fall under a spell!
If you turn into a frog, don’t have a fright,
You’ll turn back tomorrow night. Boo!!
Witches Brew Puddings
Ingredients:
Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix (Bone Dust)
Milk (Ghost Blood)

Optional Ingredients:
Chocolate Chips (Bat Droppings)
Mini-Marshmallows (Frog’s Eyes)
Granola (Smashed Tombstones)
Locorice (Goblin Guts)
Fruity Pebbles cereal flakes (Mystical Moonbeam pieces)
Orange Food Coloring (Owlish Orange)
Green Food Coloring (Goblin Green)
Pop Rocks Candy (Exploding Newt Eyes)

Directions:
Fill cups with various ingredients and attach labels. Give each child a glass with the poem attached (click here to download it along with the labels). Let them each put a few scoops of "bone dust" and pour some "Ghost Blood" in their cups. Add a drop or two of "Owlish Orange" or "Goblin Green" if desired. Let them add various optional ingredients (this is all the junk you cleaned out of your pantry;)) and then let them mix their spooky brew. Eat and enjoy!
Here's Big C slurping up her Goulish Creation!

Easy Homemade Butter

We have a ton of fun posts coming this week, sorry I've been busy with company.
Today the girls made their own butter in baby food jars! I love activities that show them how food is made and they LOVED eating their fresh butter wtih rolls for lunch. All you need is heavy cream, small jars or containers, and lot of shakin'! Cortini mentioned that they do this at Thanksgiving, what a great idea! You could give each child a jar and they can make the butter for dinner!:)

Fresh Butter

Ingredients:
Baby food jars (or other small sealable container)

Heavy Cream
optional: fresh herbs, honey, or other flavoring

Directions:

Fill baby food jar about 1/4 full of heavy cream.

Screw on lid tightly and shake!! It takes about half an hour, so let the kids run around with them outside, or shake them while watching a movie (or General Conference this weekend if you're Mormon. Ha!:)). Here's what it will look like when done.

At first, the cream will just coat the sides of the jar. Then, it will start to seperate into a watery substance and more solid cream. Keep shaking a few more minutes, and it will re-combine into creamy butter! You can add fresh herbs or even a little honey if you want some different flavors (add them after you've finished mixing the butter). Serve with fresh rolls or crackers. Yum!