I love Halloween. Today for you Coffee Break readers, I  have two fun Halloween recipe ideas using refrigerated crescent roll dough  and refrigerated breadstick dough.  Couldn’t be simpler. And oh so cute!  Impress your family with these simple and fun ideas.

If you missed last week’s recipe for  Creepy Eyeball Treats, check them out.

Witches Hats

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Separate dough.  Shape each piece into a long triangle.Place 1 salami stick piece along base of each dough triangle.  Partially roll up dough to cover salami and create brim of hat.
3. Place 4 pepperoni halves on top part of each hat.
4. Place on ungreased nonstick baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown at edges.
5. Warm sauce in microwave.  Serve witches hats with warm sauce for dipping.

Breadstick Broomsticks

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Unroll dough and divide along perforations. For each broomstick, shape breadstick into 8X1-1/2-inch strip; twist one end for handle. Cut 5 or 6 slits (2 inches long) into opposite end; separate dough at slits for straw.
2. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets and bake 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.

Be sure to check out these other Liz and Kate Halloween ideas:

• Halloween Month: Creepy Eyeball Treats & Monster Mash
• Halloween Month: Disgusting Deviled Egg Eyeballs & Toads in a Blanket
• Disgusting Worm Salad
• How to make Disneyland Gourmet Caramel Apples

~Kate

Enjoy your Coffee Break!

• Halloween Month: Creepy Eyeball Treats & Monster Mash
• Halloween Month: Witches Hats & Breadstick Broomsticks
• Halloween Month: Disgusting Deviled Egg Eyeballs & Toads in a Blanket
• Disgusting Worm Salad
• How to make Disneyland Gourmet Caramel Apples

One of my favorite Halloween traditions is roasting the pumpkin seeds after my family carves their pumpkins. It’s a delicious and healthy treat that everyone will love.

How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds

1. After you remove the seeds from the pumpkin ( the ooey-gooey best part of carving pumpkins, in my opinion) rinse pumpkin seeds under cold water and pick out the pulp and strings. Do this right away before the pulp dries.
2. Place the pumpkin seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet, stirring to  sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Sprinkle with salt (garlic salt and seasoned salt are also delicious options) and bake at 325 degrees F until toasted, about 25 minutes.  Stir seeds about half way through cooking time.
4. Let cool and store in an air-tight container.

Nevertheless, I’ve come across quite a few spookily-themed foods of late. This one, in my humble opinion, is pretty jolly gross. And I figure, why should I have all the fun?

Mind you, this meal is someone else’s brainchild. It appears on AllRecipes, courtesy of Angela O. Maybe you could serve it just before heading out to trick… or treat. So without further ado, I bring you Bloody Baked Rats.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 (1.25 ounce) packet meatloaf seasoning mix
• 1 cup cubed Cheddar cheese
• 3 (10 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 ounce uncooked spaghetti, broken into fourths
• 1/2 carrot, cut into 1/8-inch thick slices
• 1 tablespoon frozen green peas

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, onion, egg, bread crumbs, and meatloaf seasoning. Use your hands to mix until well blended. Measure out 1/3 cupfuls of the meat mixture and mold around a cube of cheese like a meatball. Shape into a point at one end and lengthen the body a bit by rolling between your hands. Place your ”rat” into a shallow baking dish, and continue with the remaining meat. Insert pieces of uncooked spaghetti into the rounded end of the rats to make tails.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the tomato sauce, sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the rats in the dish and cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.
4. Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Uncover the dish and continue to bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, basting occasionally with the sauce to glaze the rats.
5. While the rats finish baking, heat the peas and carrots in a small bowl in the microwave for about 15 seconds.
6. Carefully transfer the rats to a serving platter so that their delicate tails don’t fall off. Press peas into the pointy end to make eyes, and insert carrot slices to make ears. Spoon some of the tomato sauce around them and serve.

-Liz

Check out Kate’s ideas for beating Halloween hunger here.

Recipe and photo for Bloody Baked Rats courtesy of AllRecipes.com

Disgusting Deviled Egg Eyeballs

Ingredients:

• 6 hard-boiled eggs
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• Pinch of salt
• Green and red food coloring
• Sliced black olives
• Toothpicks

Directions:

Peel the cooled hard boiled eggs and slice them in half lengthwise. Scoop out the yolks and mash in a bowl. Mix in the mayonnaise, mustard, and salt. Stir in a few drops of green food coloring.

Spoon the mixture into the center of the egg halves. Place a slice of olive on top of each half. Dip a toothpick into red food coloring and then use it to draw lines on the eggs to give a bloodshot look.

Don’t they look disgustingly delicious?

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Toads in a Blanket

Ingredients:

• baby dill pickles
• cream cheese
• sliced salami
• toothpicks

Directions:

Cut the pickles into fourths lengthwise, so the pickles are slightly larger than the salami slices.  Spread a thin layer of cream cheese on a slice of salami, wrap around a pickle slice and secure with a toothpick.

Be sure to check out these other Liz and Kate Halloween Ideas:

• Halloween Month: Creepy Eyeball Treats & Monster Mash
• Halloween Month: Witches Hats & Breadstick Broomsticks
• Disgusting Worm Salad
• How to make Disneyland Gourmet Caramel Apples

*Enter a comment at the bottom of this or any other post, and be automatically entered in this week’s giveaway!

Disgusting Worm Salad

by Whitney Hancock

These edible worms are a BIG hit for our Halloween Dinner. The first time I served these up the kids really freaked out. My daughter couldn’t even look at them at first, but after some coaxing and a little good natured teasing, she ate one. Then much too her surprise, she liked them.

“Will we be eaten? Or tossed to the curb with all that shiny fake green grass?”

Which is where I make a confession. As much as I love boiled eggs and deviled eggs, I have a real problem eating them after they’ve been dyed for Easter. Oh, sure. I know the dye is OK to eat, but there’s something about seeing that cooked white turned every color of the rainbow that just doesn’t sit well with me. Am I alone on this?

Anyway, I digress. Because a refrigerator full of eggs is opportunity in the making! So many things to do with those boiled eggs. So few hours in the day… So instead of me grumbling about the yucky color on the egg whites, let’s operate on the waste-not,-want-not premise – at least for today. May I present…

Liz’s Top Seven ways to use boiled eggs

• Deviled – or dressed – eggs. Mom often asks me to bring dressed eggs for family dinners. Does that mean the other eggs are naked? Or is it a throw back to the old saying “dressed for dinner”? Anywho,  cut the eggs in half, remove the yolks, mix some mayo, a pinch of sugar, maybe a dash of mustard, salt, pepper and paprika with the egg yolks and fill the egg white halves. When I’m feeling really creative, I put the yolk mix in a plastic baggie, cut off a corner of the bag, and pipe the mixture into the egg whites. Clearly, that doesn’t happen very often, but it sure looks good when it does.
• Egg salad. As far as I’m concerned, this is another way of saying easy deviled eggs. While this one may be a given, I also think it is often overlooked as an easy use for boiled eggs. It can be as simple as chopping up the eggs and throwing in a little mayo, salt and pepper. Or you can kick it up a few notches with some tuna, olives, capers, onions or whatever floats  your boat. Can be eaten on bread or toast, or straight out of the bowl.
• Spinach salad. What better way to go healthy than by throwing chopped or sliced boiled eggs on a mound of fresh spinach? Add some onion, mushrooms, and crumbled bacon, and whip up a nice hot bacon dressing. Dinner is served.
• Cobb salad. If you’ve never eaten a cobb salad, here’s a pretty traditional recipe to check out.
• Potato salad. What is more American than a good potato salad? Boil a few potatoes, add some mayo, pickle relish, onion, salt and pepper and fold in a few chopped boiled eggs. Summer comfort food, if you ask me.
• Giblet gravy. A hands-down favorite of mine. Ladle over fried chicken, turkey, pork chops or mashed potatoes.
• Easy chicken-rice casserole, courtesy of Cooks.com:

• 3 c. cooked chicken
• 3 1/2 c. cooked rice loosely, tossed
• 2 c. diced celery
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 2 tbsp. chopped onion
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 1/2 c. mayonnaise
• 1/2 c. water
• 5 sliced hard-boiled eggs (optional)

Mix chicken, rice, celery, cream of chicken soup, onion and lemon juice. Add mayonnaise which has been mixed with water. Add hard-boiled eggs. Fold all together gently and place in 9 x 13 greased pan. Make the day ahead. Take out 1 hour before baking. Top with crushed barbecue or regular crushed potato chips.

Bake at 375°F for 45 to 60 minutes. Don’t overcook.

Enjoy your boiled egg leftovers!

-Liz

Since April Fools’ Day is coming up in a few days, we decided this post from two years ago is worth a Second Glance...

It’s finally here.  The day when I get to release my pent up immaturity…the day when it’s perfectly acceptable for me to feel mischievous and sneaky…the day when I get to be all the things I try to teach my kids not to be.

I must confess, when I was writing yesterday’s ridiculous story, I kind of creeped myself out.  Talk about a prank gone awry.   I’m still paying for that one and will be for many, many more years. Just kidding about the whole awry thing.  It’s a prank that went wonderfully right.  (See yesterday’s post)

Anyway, here’s my prank for this year. I decided to play is safe and work with food.   It’s a TV dinner of a drumstick, mashed potatoes & gravy, peas & carrots, corn on the cob, and a brownie with sprinkles for dessert, all in a disposable store bought foil tray.  Here’s the catch…it’s all made of cupcakes.

Here’s how I did it…

Brownie – It’s just a cupcake frosted in chocolate swirled frosting with sprinkles on top.

Peas & carrots – It’s a cupcake frosted in green frosting.  The peas are green runts and the carrots are orange starbursts cut into 4ths.  Just place both randomly on top of the frosting.

Mashed potatoes and gravy – It’s a cupcake frosted with white frosting with a dip in the middle like real potatoes would have. .  The gravy is caramel ice cream topping.  The butter is a yellow starburst.

Corn on the cob – This is 2 cupcakes frosted with yellow frosting.  The kernels are various yellow Jelly Belly’s placed in rows.  The butter is another yellow starburst.  Finish off with corn picks in the ends.

Drumstick – This one is a bit more tricky, but still doable.  Put a donut hole on top of the cupcake then cover the cupcake top & the donut hole with the frosting, filling in the spaces.  Then cover the frosting with crushed graham crackers.  The bone is white chocolate.  Just melt some white chocolate chips in the microwave and put into a zip lock baggie.  Cut off one tip of the bag and squeeze the melted chocolate onto waxed paper in the shape of a bone.  Once it cools,  just stick it into the cupcake.

Have fun fooling your family with this one!

Also, check out this other fun April Fools’ Day Food Prank:

More April Fools’ Day Food Pranks

- Kate

(Or perhaps you’d prefer this meal featuring GREEN chicken or this GREEN breakfast idea.)

Today is St. Patrick’s Day. As you probably know, I’m all about the holidays. I like to have a reason, any old reason, to take what could be an ordinary day and turn it into a celebration. In my house, there are no little holidays, and St. Patrick’s Day is no exception.

When my kids were really little I tried making a traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal of corned beef and cabbage. That did not go over so well. I soon learned if I was going to have some St. Patrick’s Day fun, AND expect my family to eat, I was going to have to try a different approach.  That’s when my green meals began. We’re talking entire meals of green food, here. If you’re going to do it, you may as well go over the top, right?

Over the years, news of my green food shenanigans spread to  my children’s friends who would just happen to be over to visit at dinnertime. Thanks to this green food, for at least one night a year, I get the Cool Mom Award. I couldn’t quit this tradition if I tried. My children won’t let me.

So here is the dinner I’m serving tonight: green noodles with green alfredo sauce, green salad with green ranch dressing, green rolls, sliced green kiwis, green jello with green cool whip (not pictured), and green sprite (also not pictured).

The key to success in making a disgustingly green St. Patrick’s Day meal is GREEN FOOD COLORING. Practically any food can be made green, but it works especially well with foods which are light in color.  Just use your imagination. Green food coloring is your best friend on this holiday.

For the green noodles and green alfredo sauce I just boil the noodles in water with a generous amount of green food coloring. As the noodles cook, the green soaks into the pasta. Then, just add some green food coloring to you favorite homemade (or bottled) alfredo sauce.

Stunning, right?!

Add a quick little green salad with green food coloring mixed into the ranch dressing.

A green roll is always a nice touch. You can usually find green bread products in the bakery of your grocery store on St. Patrick’s Day. If you want to take it a step further, mix some green food coloring into some butter to add to the rolls.

Cut some delicious naturally green kiwis.

Now just add some green jello and green whipped topping and mix some green food coloring into any light colored beverage and you’re all set to go. Easy peasy, right? Now go impress your family and friends. I dare you!

Check out my other St. Patrick’s Day meals here and here.

Kate

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!

Oh yeah, and don’t forget to wear green. You don’t want to get pinched!

Related articles

• Top 10 Funniest St. Patrick’s Day T-Shirts (zazzle.com)
• St. Patrick’s Day Red Hair Roundup (bellasugar.com)
• 10 Ways to Do St. Patrick’s Day With Class (bellasugar.com)
• St. Patricks Day Flower Basket Filled With Potatoes (thegloss.com)
• St. Patrick’s Day DIY (tiedupwstring.wordpress.com)

How much do you love a holiday that has as it’s main objective encouraging you to pig out? I’m talking about Fat Tuesday, of course, which just happens to be today.  Or perhaps in this politically correct day and age, we should call it “big-boned Tuesday” or possibly “full-figured Tuesday”. You may also know this celebration as Mardi Gras ( French translation: Mardi – Tuesday, Gras – fat), Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, Paczki Day and Pancake Day. (I’m going to take the prerogative to completely ignore the whole bead throwing/flashing aspect of the holiday. Sorry guys!)

So how in the world did Fat Tuesday come to be known as Pancake Day? If you have no clue, well don’t feel bad, because until last night I had no clue either. Thank goodness for google. It seems that as medieval Christians were about to enter into the season of Lent (which is the period of 40 days of prayer, penitence, and self-denial leading up to Easter) they would enjoy one last day of feasting. On this day they would use up their eggs, butter, sugar and milk – all of which were forbidden during Lent – by making pancakes and pastries.

Over the years this tradition has evolved into Pancake day. In my house, Fat Tuesday gives us an official reason  to pig out on pancakes, bacon and hash browns. For me specifically, it’s an excuse to make an easy and delicious dinner that everyone loves.

So in the spirit of Fat Tuesday, I have three delicious syrup recipes for you to look through. Give one a try for your Pancake Day Celebration. If you don’t already celebrate Fat Tuesday, well, there’s no time like the present.

Magleby’s Buttermilk Syrup

(So unbelievably delicious, once you try it, you may never be able to use store bought syrup again!)

Ingredients:

1 cube butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. corn syrup
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Directions:
Bring first five ingredients to a boil. Remove from heat immediately and add Baking Soda. To avoid boil over, use a large pan.

Cheater Pancake Syrup

So what’s a “Cheater” recipe?  It’s a way to end up with a delicious home cooked meal, side dish or dessert without spending lots of  time to get there.

This recipe was sent to us by Coffee Break reader, Susan Stephens. I (Kate) decided to give the Cheater Chicken Parmesan recipe a try this week to see if the family would like it.  I took some pics to show you just how yummy it looked.

Cheater Chicken Parmesan

28-oz. jar spaghetti sauce

1/4 cup red or white wine or water

4 to 6 Tyson fully cooked frozen breaded chicken patties

4 to 6 slices provolone cheese

2 to 4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 13×9 pan with cooking spray.  Spread the spaghetti sauce in the pan.  Pour the wine or water over the sauce and stir.  Arrange the frozen chicken patties on top.  Place a slice of provolone on top of each patty; sprinkle with the Parmesan.  Cover the pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Uncover and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.  Serve over cooked spaghetti.

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The Verdict: Everyone LOVED it!!!

A big Coffee Break thanks to reader, Susan Stephens, who submitted this great recipe. If you have a cheater recipe you’d like to share with us and our readers, please send it to lizandkate@live.com.