Halloween Round Up

Ever since I was little, Halloween has been one of my favorite holidays because I viewed it as the wonderful day of the year when you get to dress up and get free candy. Over the years, however, I have come to love Halloween in large part because it marks the beginning of the holiday season. Halloween is the first of many festive celebrations with exciting traditions,delicious food, and spirited decor. So here is the first of many holiday round ups to come in the next few months.

Costumes

Baby Frida Costume DIY

Raggedy Anne Costume DIY for kids and adults

Too Big Alice in Wonderland Costume

Children’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s costume on Etsy

Decorations

 

Swarm of Batts Pupkin..since you don’t need to carve it, feel free to decorate this pumpkin in advance, or even do this to a sugar pumpkin so that you can bake tasty treats from the pumpkin after Halloween

Googly-eyed monster cups to make any drink more exciting

Tea light squashes for a more elegant take on the classic Jack-O-Lantern

Festive pumpkin cooler

Adorable free Halloween Bunting Printable

Pumpkin Cat…too cute not to include, but please do not try this at home!

Savories

Jack-O-Lantern Stuffed Bell Pepper

These Jack-O-Lantern tarts have a sweet filling, but with a spanikopita-style spinach filling they’d be absolutely divine!

Spiced Tofu Bruchetes….stick the skewers into a pumpkin for a festive update

Spiced Harvest Squash and Fennel

Mini Mummy Pizzas….so much cuter than the giant ones from the pizza parlor!

Candy Corn Crudite Platter with Pumpkin Dip for a healthy take the on the beloved candy

Baked Parmesan and Sage Truffle Fries

Curried Zucchini Roll Ups

Vegetarian Lasagna Bites

Innocent (or spooky) Owl Crackers

Sweets

Pumpkin Mouse Trifle (you don’t have to tall anyone that it’s healthy)

Candy Corn Butter Cookies

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Frosting

Candy Corn Candy Apples

Jack-O-Lantern Pop Tarts

Monster Candy Apples

Pumpkin Meringue Pie

Momofuku Milk Bar Remix: Candy Corn Chocolate Chip Cornflake Cookies

In my family, what began as a simple pizza dinner with friends before trick-or-treating has evolved into a fanciful feast with creative, themed treats and appetizers. It’s a wonderful time to chat with friends and family in a more relaxed setting before the candy-crazed kids begin their neighborhood roam. What are your Halloween traditions?

Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Quinoa

This is undoubtedly my favorite breakfast to make at home. Not only does it taste like a decadent serving of pie first thing in the morning, but also because you can make it a few days in advance, it takes less than two minutes to prepare in the morning!

I know that pumpkin season is over, but numerous studies have shown that canned produce, while much cheaper, has essentially the same level of nutrients as its fresh or frozen counter parts. And let’s be real for a second, even if it was pumpkin season, I’d still probably be using a super convenient can. It’s so worth it to take a few minor short cuts when it comes to cooking in order to avoid the cost and preservatives of  preserved food.

Prepare the quinoa with water and cinnamon sticks

Put 1/4 of the pumpkin in each jar

Pile the quinoa on top of the pumpkin

Pour milk atop the quinoa

Top the quinoa with flax seeds

Finish it off with a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves

Enjoy!

I developed this recipe when I got tired of my simple peanut butter quinoa or quinoa with milk and spices. I wanted something that was a bit more fun and that felt a bit more luxurious. Cue the pumpkin pie breakfast concoction.

Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Quinoa 

Serves 4

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup quinoa
• 3 cinnamon sticks (optional)
• 1 can of pumpkin (make sure it’s pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 1/2 cup skim milk, soy milk, or almond milk
• 1 teaspoon flax seeds
• 1/2 heaping teaspoon cinnamon (splurge on a good brand, not McCormick’s….I promise that the quality makes a huge difference)
• 1/4 heaping teaspoon fresh ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:

1. Fill a small sauce pan with the water, quinoa, and cinnamon sticks. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer and cover the pot. Leave the pot covered for 15 minutes, or until the quinoa absorbs all of the water. Remove the cinnamon sticks from the quinoa. In the mean time, combine the spice mixture in a small ramekin.
2. Divide the can of pumpkin even among four glass jars. Top the pumpkin in each jar with 1/4 of the quinoa.
3. Add slightly less than half a cup of milk to each of the jar. Then add the 1/4 teaspoon of flax seeds and finally 1/4 teaspoon of the spice mixture to each jar.
4. Stir the quinoa mixture together until combined.
5. Enjoy right away or refrigerate it for up to five days. For warm quinoa in the morning, microwave the glass jar for 90 seconds.

Tasty, Healthy Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

Coming back from a relaxing two weeks of break has had some of ym loved ones down, so I decided to bake a batch of these Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins to brighten up the morning.

These super moist and delicious muffins are as healthy as they are yummy, with antioxidant-rich dark chocolate chips, fiber-licious oats, and protein-full greek yogurt, and vitamin C-packed pumpkin.

The muffins take just a few minutes to whip up with this easy, one-bowl recipe.

I know that Valentine’s day is over a month away, but when I saw these cute heart-covered cupcake liners at the store, I just had to buy them. Besides, hearts are a good way to show people you love them year round…right?

So if you have a little free time on your hands, whip up these muffins for an easy weekday breakfast, an afternoon snack, or a healthy dessert. If they aren’t gobbled up immediately, they are great to freeze too!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ginger
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (regular or nonfat)
• 1 egg + 1 egg white
• 1 tbs milk
• 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Line a muffin tin with paper liners
3. Combine all dry ingredients (flour, oats, brown sugar baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger) in a bowl and stir
4. Add in all wet ingredients (pumpkin, yogurt, eggs, and milk), and stir until just combined
5. Add in chocolate chips and stir gently
6. Spoon in muffin batter until the liner is about 3/4 full
7. Bake muffins for 15-18 minutes, then allow them to cool

This is a very versatile recipe, so feel free to play around with it! Here are some possible alterations:

• Add nuts, cranberries, dried cherries, cocoa nibs, or pumpkin seeds in place of or in addition to the chocolate chips
• Swap out the brown sugar for  1/2 cup cucanat or 1/4 cup honey + 1-2 tbs molasses
• Use 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger
• Add almond milk instead of milk and flax eggs in place of the regular eggs to make it vegan

Namaste my lovely readers!