Cauldron Soup

OK, I admit it, this is regular soup with a fun name served in a black cauldron. But split pea soup is a perfect Halloween soup because it already is green and lumpy. Exactly how I imagine a witch's brew. In my family, we love to have this soup on a cold day, especially because you make it in the crock pot and your home will be filled with warm, delicious smells all day. Plus, it's loaded with vegetables, which is a nice change after all that Halloween candy going around.

Serves: 4
Start to Finish: slow-cooker recipe
Recipe By: Wholefoods Market

Ingredients:

1 (16-oz) package dried green split peas, rinsed
1 ham hocks or 1 cup diced ham
1 cup sliced baby carrots
1 cup chopped yellow onion (approx. 1/2 onion)
2 ribs celery, chopped (Chop these up really small. Celery doesn't turn to mush in a crock pot quite like carrots or peas so you will have big chucks if you leave them large.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth

Directions:

1. Layer ingredients in slow cooker in the order given, adding the broth last.
2. Do not stir ingredients.
3. Cover and cook on high 4—5 hours or on low 8—10 hours until peas are very soft and ham falls off the bone. (My slow cooker is tiny so every recipe I have ever made in it cooks in about half the time. This recipe only took me 4 hours on low. Go figure.)
4. Serve with warm rolls ... Mmm Mmmm

Jack-o'-Lantern Burgers

Who doesn't love burgers? These fun cheeseburgers set the Halloween mood with spooky jack-o'-lantern faces cut into the cheese. The hamburger has great flavor thanks to Vicki's seasonings. I personally am not a fan of horseradish sauce so I added a little less than the recipe called for and thought it was delicious. Mike, however, loves horseradish sauce so it was a big plus for him. It is a simple, clever idea that anyone can try and it is sure to bring the excitement of Halloween into your home.

Serves: 4 burgers
Start to Finish: 20 minutes
Recipe By: Vicki Schlechter posted on Allrecipe.com

Ingredients:

1/2 envelope onion soup mix
2 TBSP ketchup
1 TBSP brown sugar
1/2 tsp prepared horseradish
1 tsp chili powder
1 lbs ground beef
4 slices processed American cheese
4 hamburger buns, split
Hamburger toppings: ketchup, mustard, lettuce, onion, tomatoes, and pickles

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine soup mix, ketchup, brown sugar, horseradish, chili powder, and ground beef; mix well.
2. Shape into 4 patties.
3. Grill, broil, or pan-fry until the meat is no longer pink.
4. Cut eyes, nose and mouth out of each cheese slice to create jack-o'-lantern faces.
5. Place cheese on burgers; cook until cheese is slightly melted, about 1 minute.
6. Serve on toasted buns with your choice of toppings.

Frankenstein's Monster Casserole

This dish is very versatile. You can substitute the tuna noodle casserole for almost any casserole your family will eat. Just make sure it will still taste good topped with cheese and crushed cornflakes. Get your kids involved by letting them decorate the monster's face. They can be creative by adding olive warts, a bumpy, cauliflower nose, or pickle ears. If you are going to cut the recipe in half use an 8-in x 8-in square pan and adjust the face accordingly.


Serves: 8
Start to Finish: 1 hour
Recipe By: Tuna Noodle Casserole by Jani Jones, Frankenstein's monster idea by Howstuffworks.com

Ingredients:

6 cups cooked Rigatoni noodles
2 (6-oz) cans tuna, drained
2 can cream of celery soup or cream of chicken
1 cup milk
1 cup celery, diced (approx. 2 stalks of celery)
sprinkle of garlic salt
2 cups shredded Monterrey jack cheese, divided
corn flakes, crushed
Face Decorations: 1 green bell pepper, 1 (4-oz) can of sliced olives, 4 baby carrot sticks, two pickle slices, 1 tomato, and onion slices.

Directions:

1. Cook noodles al dente according to package directions and drain.
2. Chop celery stalks.
2. Mix noodles, tuna, soup, milk, celery, garlic salt, and 1 cup cheese together.
3. Pour into 9-in x 13-in baking dish.
5. Pour cornflakes into Ziploc baggie. Seal baggie and crush cornflakes to desired coarseness.
4. Top casserole with remaining 1 cup cheese and cornflakes.
5. Bake in 350*F oven for 15 minutes.
6. Add decorations to create the Frankenstein Monster's face.

Trick-or-Treat Turnovers with Spooky Potatoes

My favorite part about making this recipe was making the purple swirled mashed potatoes. Fun! Fun! Fun! I know there are other recipes out there for trick-o-treat turnovers, but the meat filling didn't taste quite right to me. So my husband recommended filling the turnovers with a tried and true Shepherd's Pie mixture and adding the potatoes as a side. This Shepherd's Pie filling is fantastic and the potatoes add more Halloween fun to the dish. All-in-all, a filling dinner with good flavor.

Serves: 4
Start to Finish: 60 minutes
Recipe By: Turnover idea by Marge Free; Recipe by Allrecipe.com

Ingredients:

1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 TBSP vegetable oil
5 chopped carrots (approx. 1 1/4 cup)
3/4 cup canned corn Niblets
1 TBSP flour
3 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce
1 TBSP ketchup
1/2 pkt brown gravy mix
1/2 cup water
1 tubes (16.3-oz) large refrigerated flaky biscuits
1 egg, lightly beaten
Your favorite mashed potatoes

Directions:

1. Chop carrots and onion.
2. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. (It doesn't have to be a large pot.)
3. Add carrots to pot and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes.
4. Drain and set aside.
5. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large frying pan.
6. Add onion to pan and cook until clear.
7. Mix ground beef with Worcestershire sauce.
8. Add ground beef to pan and cook until browned.
9. Pour off excess fat, then stir in flour and cook 1 minute.
10. Add ketchup, 1/2 packet brown gravy mix, and water.
11. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
12. Add carrots and corn; set aside.
13. Preheat oven to 350° F.
14. On a floured surface, roll out each biscuit into a 5-in. circle. (The thinner you roll them, the more meat filling you can add and the flakier they are after baking. Just don't make them so thin they can't hold together.)
15. Spoon meat mixture onto four of the biscuits.
16. Cover with remaining four biscuits to make a turnover
17. Place turnovers onto greased cookie sheet. (Give them some space; they rise while cooking.)
18. Using a sharp knife, cut out jack-o'-lantern faces (I tried both: cutting the face before making the turnover and after making the turnover. It was easier after the turnover was already made and on the cookie sheet.)
19. Brush with egg.
20. Bake at for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. (It took me the full 15 minutes to get them to brown nicely.)
21. Serve with mashed potatoes that have been colored with food coloring for that added Halloween spirit.

Candy Corn Pizza

Don't panic, there is no candy corn in this pizza. It just looks like a big piece of candy corn when it is cut into slices. This is such a simple recipe and the idea can be applied to many other kinds of pizza, depending on your family's preference. If you wanted a plain cheese pizza your stripes would be cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese covered with marinara sauce (so it looks red), and mozzarella cheese. If you wanted a pepperoni pizza your stripes would be cheddar cheese, pepperoni slices, mozzarella cheese. Well, you get the idea. You can't go wrong with pizza; just make sure the crust is a good one.

Serves: 4
Start to Finish: 30 minutes
Recipe By: Amber Brunson

Ingredients:

1 (6-oz) can pineapple tidbits
4 slices of ham, cut-up into 1-in squares
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup marinara sauce
1 pre-made Boboli pizza, or your favorite pizza crust (I tried a refrigerated crust for the recipe in the pictures, I like Boboli better)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to according to pizza crust package directions.
2. Slice ham into 1-inch squares.
3. Spoon marinara sauce evenly across your pizza crust.
4. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese in a circle in the center of the pizza crust. (Make this circle bigger than you would expect.)
5. Add ham squares in a ring on the outside of your mozzarella cheese circle. (You are going to want to layer the ham on pretty thick. It shrinks when cooked which allows the white mozzarella cheese to show through.)
6. Using cheddar cheese, sprinkle a border around the outside of the pizza crust; getting right up to the edge.
7. Add the pineapple tidbits to the top of the Cheddar cheese.
8. Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until edge is lightly browned and cheese is melted and bubbling.
9. Cut into slices and serve.