Halloween is next weekend – funds a little tight? No need to worry. I have six recipes for Halloween that are not only affordable, but also frightfully fun!
The first recipe is for Scary Spider Pumpkin Black Bean Soup. This soup is quick and easy to make and actually tastes better the next day. So, you can make the soup ahead of time and simply reheat it Halloween night. Soup with garnishes comes in under $10 total for 8-10 servings! Wow!
The next five fun recipes are also very affordable, and all come in under $5 a recipe.
Whether you’re creating a pumpkin patch of mini pumpkin cakes or whipping up some Scared Silly Cupcakes or handing out Spooky Snack Hands or serving Spootacular Black and Orange BOO! Cups or Googly Red Eye Cakes, you’ll be celebrating a Spookalicious Halloween on a very small budget!
Spooky Spider Pumpkin Black Bean Soup2 Tab. Olive Oil or Canola Oil
1 Medium Onion, chopped (approx. 1 ¼ Cups)
4 cloves Garlic, minced
3 15-16 oz. cans of Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-16 oz. can of Mexican tomatoes – diced with jalapeno peppers
1 Tsp. Ground Cumin
½ Tsp. Chili Powder
1/2 Tsp. Kosher Salt
½ Tsp. Freshly Ground Pepper
3 Cups No Fat Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1 ½ Cups Pumpkin Puree --- not Pumpkin Pie Filling
Garnishes: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds, Sour Cream, Chopped fresh Cilantro,
Chopped Green Onion, Shredded or crumbled Cheese, Hot Sauce.
Put 2 tablespoons of oil in a large soup pot or pan, sauté chopped onion until tender, adding minced garlic for the last minute or so. Set aside to cool slightly.
In a blender or food processor, pour 2 cans of the rinsed and drained black beans (reserving one can whole). Add one undrained can of tomatoes with chilies along with the sautéed onion and garlic. Blend until smooth.
Transfer the pureed bean mixture to the soup pan used for sautéing the onion and garlic. Add the seasonings and the chicken broth and stir well or whisk. Stir or whisk in the pumpkin puree. Now, add in the third can of rinsed and drained black beans. Stir.
Bring to a low boil and then reduce heat and simmer for approximately 25 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings to taste. Serves 8-10.
Note: This soup tastes even better the next day, allowing the flavors to meld. If preparing to eat the following day, you may want to wait until you are re-heating it to taste and adjust seasonings.
I have made this recipe as a vegetarian soup, but you can also add ½ pound of chopped ham or smoked sausage if you like. It’s very versatile.
This is an economical, nutritious, low fat soup to serve any time of the year, but if you are looking to serve it garnished for Halloween, here’s how:
Spooky Spider Web Garnish
Place sour cream in a squeezable decorator container or a plastic bag with the end snipped. Ladle the soup in a large flat soup bowl. Pipe the sour cream in a concentric circle on top of the soup. Using a wooden pick or tip of a sharp knife, pull tip through the sour cream from the center to the border to make a web. You can add a dollop of sour cream in the center to add some extra black beans (spider eggs) or just add a plastic spider to the center of the web on the soup. You can also add roasted pumpkin seeds to the center of the web as the spider eggs --- just have fun with it!
If you do not have time to roast your own pumpkin seeds, you can purchase either raw pumpkin seeds or roasted & salted pumpkin seeds at the Jungle across from the Mexican section next to the containers of nuts, rice, and fortune cookies. A tub is only a few dollars --- of course, they’re free if you’re using the ones scooped out of your pumpkin carved for Halloween night --- your choice!
Black and Orange BOO! Cups4 Cups Cold Milk, divided
1 (3.9 oz.) pkg. Chocolate Fudge Flavor Instant Pudding
1 (3.4 oz.) pkg. Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
Few drops each Yellow & Red Food Coloring to Make Orange
12 Oreo Cookies, crushed
¼ Cup Halloween Sprinkles or Additional crushed Oreos
Top: Cool Whip, thawed, and mini-chocolate chips or
Gummi Worms.
Pour 2 cups of the milk into a large bowl. Add vanilla flavor pudding mix. Beat with a wire whisk two minutes. Stir in a few drips food coloring to tint mixture orange. Spoon orange mixture into 10 to 12 (7 oz.) glasses or clear plastic cups about ½ full.
Pour remaining 2 cups milk into another bowl and add chocolate fudge flavor pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes. Spoon chocolate mixture evenly over the orange mixture. Top with crushed cookies.
Refrigerate at least one hour or until ready to serve.
To serve: Add a dollop of thawed Cool Whip, forming a shape of a ghost (BOO!) – add two mini chocolate chips for the eyes.
You can also add Gummi Worms to appear to be climbing out of the Oreo dirt on top of pudding. You may need to add some more crushed cookies on top or you can simply garnish with Halloween sprinkles.
Pudding cups can also be served frozen. Prepare in plastic or paper cups (not glass) and freeze 3 hours or until firm.
Mini Pumpkin Patch Cakes
Quick and Easy Pumpkin Cake3 Large Eggs
½ Cup Canola Oil
1 Cup Canned Pumpkin (not Pumpkin Pie Filling)
1-3.4 oz. Package of Vanilla INSTANT Pudding Mix
1-18.5 oz. Package of Duncan Hines Spice Cake Mix
1 Tsp. Ground Cinnamon
½ Cup Water
In large mixing bowl, beat at medium speed the eggs, oil, and pumpkin. Gradually add in the cake mix, pudding mix, and cinnamon. Mix well. Add the water and beat for approximately three minutes more.
Bake in greased and floured Mini-Bundt Cake Pan at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the cakes until done when tested with cake tester or pick. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Make orange sugar glaze with confectioners’ sugar, water, drops of red and yellow food coloring and a splash of vanilla extract. Make glaze pouring consistency and then pour over the little cakes. Using green colored icing, add little tips of green in the center to finish your mini pumpkins. You could also use black colored icing to make jack-o-lantern faces on the mini pumpkins as well. These are as delicious as they are cute.
You can use this cake recipe to make a 12 cup Bundt cake, icing it orange and decorating it to be a jack-o-lantern or pumpkin. Use a flat bottom ice cream cone, iced green, placed in the center of the cake upside down as the stem of the pumpkin. Enjoy!
Spooky Snack Hands6 Cups Popped Popcorn
4 Cups Assorted Cereal***
100 Candy Corn Pieces – 10 for each glove
10 Clear Large Plastic Food Handlers’ gloves (no powder)
10 pieces of orange or black ribbon or string or raffia
You can also add:Nuts or Peanuts
Dried Mixed Fruit or Raisins
M & Ms or such
***Look for the Haunted Apple Jacks (Green with marshmallow bones , ghosts and masks) or Froot Loops with marshmallow bats, eyeballs and ghosts. Or use Cheerios or Honey Nut Cheerios or your child’s favorite brand and add mini-marshmallows if they like.
Toss the popcorn, cereal, nuts, and any other desired ingredients in a large bowl. You can simply use just popcorn if you so desire.
Place 2 pieces of candy corn with the white tips down in each thumb and finger section of the plastic glove to resemble fingernails. Fill the gloves evenly with snack mix and tie closed with ribbon or raffia.
Kids love making these themselves and make a fun project for children to do at a Halloween or school party.
Scared Silly Cakes1 (18.25 oz.) box Chocolate Fudge or Red Devils Cake Mix
1 (16 oz.) tub Dark Chocolate Frosting
24 Large Marshmallows
1 bag Halloween M & M chocolate candies
Prepare the cake mix according to the package instructions.
Pour batter into paper lined cupcake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 19-22 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Reserve a couple of tablespoons of the chocolate frosting in a re-sealable plastic bag. Spread the tops of the cupcakes with the remaining frosting.
If desired, you can sprinkle Halloween sprinkles on top of frosting if you have some.
Cut the marshmallows in half crosswise, so they look like two big ovals. Using the reserved frosting in the bag (snip the corner with a scissors and squeeze a little out at a time) attach two marshmallow pieces to each cupcake as eyes. Dot the center of each marshmallow piece with the frosting and attach a M & M plain chocolate candy for each center of the eye. Then, attach one M & M peanut below the eyes in the center of the eyes with frosting as the big nose. Scared Silly!! Makes 24.
Note: You can make this Scared Silly Spiders by cutting 48 red or black licorice laces into four equal pieces. Press four holes into each side of the 24 cupcakes with a toothpick and insert a licorice piece into each of the 8 holes for each spider leg, making eight legs per cupcake.
Googly Red Eye Cupcakes1 (18.25 oz.) box Red Devils Cake Mix
1 (16 oz.) tub Vanilla or Cream Cheese Frosting
1 bag M & M’s type candy
1 6 oz. tube blue decorating icing
1 tube red decorating gel
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with 24 regular size cupcake liners.
Prepare the cake mix according to the package instructions.
Pour batter into paper lined cupcake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 18-21 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
To decorate: Frost the cupcake tops with the vanilla icing. Use the blue icing to make an approximate one inch circle in the middle of each cupcake. Place one M & M candy in the center of each blue circle. Make red squiggly lines using the red gel, starting at the blue circle and going to the edge of the cupcake. Makes 24.
WISHING YOU A HAPPY SPOOOKY DELICIOUS HALLOWEEN!
Have Fun!!
Jungle Jim’s Margie Potts
