Mac and Cheese Coffins

A creepy spin on a classic favorite; bread hollowed out to resemble a coffin and a plastic dollar store find make this Halloween lunch extra special. If you are short on time you can use boxed mac-and-cheese or even your favorite frozen variety. I found a garland with four skeletons strung along it at my dollar store which was perfect for my family of four. But if you can't find them at your dollar store I have also seen the skeletons sold at megamarts such as Target and Walmart. I included a bread recipe that will give you four mini loaves that are ideal for this purpose but you can also just pick up small loaves of bread at your local bakery to shorten your time in the kitchen and get your little gremlins fed faster.

Serves: 4
Start-to-Finish: 1 hour 30 minutes (45 min prep time + 45 min bake time)
Recipe By: Betty Crocker's Cookbook

Ingredients:

2 cups elbow macaroni
2 TBSP onion, finely grated
3 TBSP butter, divided
2 TBSP all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/2 tsp pepper, divided
2 cups milk
3 cups American cheese or cheddar cheese
4 mini loaves bread (small loaves approx 6 inches long. For a recipe to make your own mini loaves click here)
4 plastic skeletons

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 375°F.
2. Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain.
3. Grate or cube the cheese.
4. For the white sauce, in a small pot melt 2 TBSP butter.
5. Add the flour, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper, whisking briskly.
6. Add milk; cook and stir till thickened and bubbly.
7. Cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes more.
8. Place half the cooked macaroni into an ungreased 2-quart casserole dish.
9. Sprinkle with half the grated onion, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, and half the cheese.
10. Repeat with remaining macaroni, onion, salt, pepper, and cheese.
11. Pour your white sauce over the casserole.
12. Dot with 1 TBSP of butter.
13. Cover and bake 30 minutes.
14. Uncover and bake 15 minutes longer.
15. Meanwhile, cut the very top off you bread loaves and hollow out the bread on the inside to resemble a coffin and lid. (You can get quite close to the edge of the loaf because you want the "bread bowl" to be able to hold lots of macaroni and cheese.)
16. Spoon the macaroni and cheese into the bread loaf coffins and top with a plastic skeleton.
17. Serve of a bed of baby greens or with other green vegetables. (For a particularly gruesome effect a ketchup for blood.)

Amish Bread

This recipe produces soft loaves with a dense bread and soft, thin crust. I like that is doesn't need as much advanced preparation as some breads because it only needs 1 hour and 30 minutes to rise. It is delicious with butter and jam and freezes well. I often substitute whole wheat flour (picture above with 100% whole wheat flour) for the white bread flour and the loaves come out fine.

Serves: 2 loaves (or 4 small loaves)
Start-to-Finish: 2 hours and 30 minutes
Recipe By: allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 TBSP active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 cups bread flour

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast.
2. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
3. Mix salt and oil into the yeast.
4. Mix in flour one cup at a time.
5. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth.
6. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat.
7. Cover with a damp cloth.
8. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
9. Punch dough down.
10. Knead for a few minutes, and divide into loaves.
11. Shape loaves and place into well oiled loaf pans. (two 9 x 5 pans or four 5.5 x 3 pans)
12. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
13. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Black Bean Bat Burritos

When my four-year-old saw me making these bat burritos he got very excited because he thought I was making Batman food. I tried to explain to him this was a bat for Halloween but he could not be swayed. He even ran upstairs to get his Batman action figure and show me the logo on his costume to prove to me that this was indeed a Batman Recipe and not a Halloween Recipe. In the end he was right; it does look like the Bat Signal. Two birds with one stone I guess, right? One of the great things about this recipe is you can add pretty much any burrito ingredients you like to the inside and still get the same bat effect with the black beans on top. I choose a simple "bean and cheese" burrito because it suites my children's lunch needs but it is versatile.

Serves: 4
Start-to-Finish: 10 minutes
Recipe By:

Ingredients:

8 flour tortillas
1 (15-oz) can black refried beans (If you can't find prepared refried black beans in your grocery store you can just use regular refried beans with black food coloring to darken the color. Or, if you are feeling super adventurous, you can always make your own.)
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 (2.25-oz) can sliced olives

Note: You do not have to use two tortilla shells for each burrito but I liked layering them like a sandwich because it helped even out the tortilla shell to ingredient ratio and the because blacks beans spread easier when they aren't going over the top of other ingredients.

Directions:

1. Using kitchen shears, cut eight tortilla shells to resemble bats. (You will be layering two tortilla shells for each burrito so cut the shapes to match each other. )
2. Set aside four tortilla shells for later.
3. Top the remaining four tortilla shells with 1/2 cup grated cheese, each. (If you want to add additional ingredients to your burrito such as salsa, shredded chicken, rice ... this is the time to do it.)
4. Microwave for 30 seconds, or until cheese is melted.
5. Top each tortilla shell with the remaining four tortilla shells to make a sandwich.
6. Spread a layer of black beans onto the top of the tortilla sandwich.
7. Microwave for an additional 30 seconds.
8. Top with olives slices for eyes and cheese wedges for fangs.

Mummy Pizza

This Halloween recipe, with its hand-sized portions and quick cooking time, it an easy choice for a busy October afternoon. My preschoolers helped me assemble these dressed-up english muffins and ate almost every bite (the olives were picked off as soon as the pizza hit the plate); so I can guarantee this meal is kid-friendly. I used a block of mozzarella cheese that I cut into thin strips because I made my own mozzarella cheese this month and really wanted to try it in a recipe but I think the kids would have a lot of fun pre-shredding all the string cheese into strips if you decide to use string cheese for your mummies.

Serves: 4
Start-to-Finish:10 minutes
Recipe By:familyfun.go.com

Ingredients:

4 english muffins, split
Pizza sauce (use premade sauce or make your own with a recipe from here)
1 (2.25-oz) can black olives
8 sticks of string mozzarella cheese, peeled into strips (or a block of mozzarella cut into thin strips)

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350º F.
2. Toast the english muffins until they are very toasty (The muffins will get a little soggy when you cook the sauce on top of them in the oven so the toastier you can get them, the better.)
3. On each english muffin, spread a tablespoon of pizza sauce.
4. Set two olive slices in place for the mummy's eyes.
5. Lay strips of cheese across the English muffin for the mummy's wrappings. (Have the strips of cheese premade so that the muffins don't get soggy with sauce while you are trying to prepare them. If you are using string cheese each pizza takes approximately one stick.)
6. Bake for 2 - 4 minutes. (You don't really want the cheese to melt too much in this step or you will lose the look of individuals wrappings and just get a big blob of cheese. Remember your english muffins are already toasted so you really just need to soften the cheese here.)

Homemade Pizza Sauce

Serves: 7 cups

Start-to-Finish: 55 minutes
Recipe By: allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

3 garlic cloves, minced
3 TBSP olive or vegetable oil
1 (29-oz) can tomato puree
1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 TBSP brown sugar
1 TBSP Italian seasoning
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, saute garlic in oil until tender.
2. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
3. Bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until sauce reaches desired thickness.