Ten Fun and Creepy Halloween Party Snacks

It doesn't matter if you have a big family or if you're on your own... Halloween is one of the most fun holidays ever invented. But if you are a busy mom (and your house is the one house on the block where everyone goes for Halloween parties) you may be looking for some quick and easy Halloween party snacks to have ready for kids, visitors, guests, and freeloading adult friends during the Halloween season.

Looking for some new ideas for festive snacks that don't take a hundred years (or work your fingers to the bone) to put together? The ten Halloween party snack ideas below are lots of fun, simple to make... and some of them are even healthy!

1. Rotting Eyes and Severed Fingers

This is a very healthy but rather creepy Halloween party snack that makes good use of black olives and baby carrots. Arrange the black olives and baby carrots on a party tray with a bowl of your favorite dip (I like a cream cheese veggie dip). Inform your party guests that the tray is filled with rotting black eyes and severed fingers. And then watch this snack disappear. A good way to get your kids excited about veggies!

2. Jack o' Lantern Oranges

This healthy treat is so easy to make, and looks so pretty! Carve jack-o'-lantern faces into oranges and place on a platter. The kids will love it. And they can help, too, without ever having to pick up a knife. Have them simply draw the faces on with a black marker, and carve them yourself. Or don't worry about carving them-- they look just as good with faces drawn on.

As a variation of this fun Halloween party snack, I like to hollow out an orange with a Jack o' Lantern face and fill it with fruit salad. Healthy, easy and quick!

3. Easy Bugs in the Bone Yard

This is such a fun Halloween snack for the kiddos. All you have to do? Sprinkle raisins into a bowl full of white-chocolate covered pretzels. (You could also use chocolate covered raisins.) Kids will eat them up once they learn the name of this snack. Or they'd eat it up anyway, since this mix tastes divine.

4. Slimy Halloween Jigglers

You know those Jello jiggler molds? They work great for Halloween! Either use whatever you have lying around the house, or go out and pick up a brain or a heart-shaped Jello mold. Make up a batch of orange, black, purple, or flesh-colored Jello and pour into your mold(s). Or make a flat pan of Jello and cut out shapes with Halloween cookie cutters instead.

5. Ghost Cereal Bars

Prepare a batch of the Rice Krispies marshmallow treats recipe on the back of the cereal box. When the mixture has set up, cut out shapes with ghost shaped cookie cutter. Pour warm white frosting or melted white chocolate over the shapes to cover. Add M&M eyes and mouth. A delicious and easy Halloween party snack.

6. Green Gelatin Intestines

This is one of the grosser looking Halloween party snacks. Make lime gelatin and add pineapple bits, chopped marshmallows, sliced bananas and mandarin oranges. Pour gelatin mixture into an angel food cake pan and let set up. Invert pan to remove gelatin mold. Slice the mold horizontally into about 5 layers. Slice the layers in half and arrange on a platter in semi-circles to look like intestines. Gross!

7. Spooky Healthy Eyeballs

This Halloween party snack is both easy and healthy. Wash a bunch of green grapes. Insert a raisin into the stem end of the grapes and freeze them all until ready to serve.

8. Monster Crackers

Color some white vegetable spread or cream cheese with green food coloring and spread on your favorite crackers. Arrange small bits of green and red bell peppers to make a green-eyed, red-mouthed cracker monster. Use small amounts of broccoli sprouts to make the monster hair. A sneaky way to get kids eating their veggies.

9. Wormy Halloween Punch Recipe

No respectable Halloween party snack list would do with out having this squeamish punch. Just make green Kool-Aid and put in a clear glass punch bowl. Set the punch bowl on top of a glow necklace so the light shines through the punch bowl. Add some gummy worms and watch the kids squirm when they see it.

10. Vampire Blood

You use V8 juice for this one so it is healthier than the wormy punch above. Pour the V8 juice in a clear picture that you have labeled as "Vampire Blood." For an adult party, add the ingredients for a bloody Mary, if you like. For a kids' party, well... good luck getting them to try it. It is V8, after all!

HOW TO..MAKE HALLOWEEN RICE CRISPY TREATS?!!

@AshleeVassei 's house for the weekend, we made rice crispy treats by hand, sticky BUT FUNN!!!! this is to show you how too and what we did. We got everything from WALMART :) Hope you enjoy it :) Follow on twitter @Meredithsays_ @AshleeVassei AshleeVassei's Youtube channel-www.youtube.com

ORANGE CAKE & HALLOWEEN RICE CRISPY TREATS

ORANGE CAKE & HALLOWEEN RICE CRISPY TREATS

HALLOWEEN RICE CRISPY TREATS 2010

HALLOWEEN RICE CRISPY TREATS 2010

Alternatives to Handing Out Candy at Halloween

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For most children, Halloween is all about the candy. It's the one time of year when all the talk about healthy eating goes out the window, and eating sugary treats by the pound begins. Although this is an exciting prospect for children, for parents, all they can think about is tooth decay and empty calories. Thankfully, there are alternatives to giving the children in your neighborhood a bucket of candy when they come trick or treating.

What Not To Give

Before deciding on an alternative to candy this Halloween, think about items that are not good ideas to give to children. Most Halloween safety web sites, as well as almost every local news channel, warn of the dangers of homemade treats. Stories of poisoned Rice Krispie Treats and apples with needles stuck in them are mostly exaggerated, but for safety's sake, parents are often warned not to let their children accept or eat these kinds of treats. Anything that doesn't come in a package is treated as suspect and disposed of by these safety-conscious parents.

Edible Alternatives

Instead of tooth rotting, fat building candy and chocolate, consider giving children sugar-free gum. This will satisfy the sweet tooth cravings all kids develop as Halloween approaches without the harmful side effects. You can also consider other, healthier snacks. Many people have offered Goldfish crackers as an alternative for toddlers and babies at Halloween, only to be surprised by how older kids reach for them too. Granola and cereal bars are also popular, healthier alternatives to sugary sweets.

Other Alternatives

Edible items are the traditional treat for Halloween, but there's no reason that you can't give out other items as well. Halloween is all about making the little ones happy, so anything that is interesting to them will be appreciated. Try giving out stickers with fun Halloween-themed pictures. Small, inexpensive party favors are a fun alternative as well. Temporary tattoos of bats, black cats, and witches would also be a big hit in the neighborhood. In order to make everyone happy, be sure to have some prizes that are appropriate for babies and toddlers as well - the point is to have healthy alternatives to candy, and you don't want to give a small child something that isn't safe for them instead.

Alternatives for Parents

If you are the parent of a child going trick-or-treating, you are probably concerned about what they are bringing home after their adventure in your community. Although you can decide what you give out for Halloween, you can't control what your neighbors give your kids. Refusing to let them have their hard-earned candy is going to be a struggle, so offer to buy it off of them by helping them get a video game or other toy that they've had their eye on in exchange for their candy. Cold, hard cash will probably get their attention as well.

By taking these Halloween candy alternatives into consideration, you can relieve some of the stress about your child's health this holiday, leaving you with more time to perfect your costume, rather than worrying about their next visit to the dentist.

Halloween Gift Baskets - Is Trick Or Treating Still Safe in Today's World?

Halloween...in years past was a fun, festive day for children and families across America.

Moms busied themselves, by cooking, baking and making their favorite treats for the kids school parties, while getting ready for those little ghosts, witches and goblins, who came knocking on doors, after the sun went down.

Halloween gift baskets and bags filled with popcorn balls, cupcakes, candied apples, Rice crispy treats and even store bought candy. Superhero and monster costumes were the fashion, as it is today.

The difference between now and then is ensuring the safety of our children.

Halloween gift baskets, candy baskets and candy gift boxes are still filled with the stuff kids love. Although, most generally, in today's world...it isn't safe for children to trick or treat alone or in a group, after the sun goes down.

Keeping our children safe is a parent's biggest worry. And having fun festivities and gift ideas that help curb that fear, while surprising the kids with safe goodies and treats has become the rage.

Today, many parents have affordable Halloween gift baskets delivered to their kid's front door or purchase the goodies that make up spooktacular Halloween treats at reliable shops and stores. They have parties for the neighborhood kids, go to the school's Halloween carnival or take the kids to a spooktacular city or county function.

Having Halloween gift basket ideas in your bag of tricks...may make the difference between being safe or unsafe.

Examples of Affordable Halloween Baskets and Gifts that Dazzle the Kids

Happy Haunting - gather all the neighborhood witches together for a seasonal treat with a bouquet of Witches Poo Black Cat Pops and much more. Bring the magic to your house this Halloween night.

Happy Jack's Pumpkin of Treats light little faces up with happy grins and hold the treats we think of, when we think of Halloween.

Boo! Mania holds enjoyable fun for the entire family, arriving with plenty of themed goodies in three candy gift boxes.

Hexes and Potions give the kids just enough treats to count, dump out and count again, as their evening fills with fun memories and popcorn becomes the biggest treat of all.

A Halloween Candy Pumpkin Cake...if you can imagine! Surprising the kids with chocolate bars, fudge and candy corn...shaped into a pumpkin cake, brings laughter and a spooktacular evening.

There are many ways to have a safe Halloween and dazzle the kids at the same time. And let us remember the kids who are living in dorm rooms and those of us, who never grew up.

2010 Halloween Gifts For Kids of All Ages

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Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31st. Its origin is from the Celtic festival known as Samhain, which was a celebration of the end of the harvest season. The ancient Celts believed that on October 31st, the boundary between the living and the dead disappeared, and the dead could become dangerous to the living by causing illness, damaged crops, and other problems. Costumes and masks were worn at the festival to mimic the evil spirits to placate them.

Today, Halloween has evolved into a holiday full of fun activities. Kids would put on their favorite costumes and go treat-or-treating for candies. Other popular activities include carving pumpkins to make Jack-O-lantern, and reading scary stories. Adults often celebrate with costume parties. Kids and adults alike, would love to receive a Halloween gift for the festivities. This article provides Halloween gift ideas for kids of all ages.

For young kids not old enough to go trick or treating, you can send them a plush singing count. The Count sings Monster Mash and sways to the classic tune. This friendly Count will sure delight your little goblin.

For kids who are old enough to go trick or treating, you can send them a Halloween gift basket. The plastic Jack-O-Lantern pail is filled with Halloween pumpkin stencils and pumpkin carver, marshmallow pumpkin peeps, silly string, a CD of spooky stories and sounds, glow bracelets or necklaces, flashlight for trick or treating on Halloween night, peanut butter pumpkins, Rice Krispie treats, microwave popcorn, 2 marshmallow eyeballs, witches warts candies, Halloween bats pretzels, M & M's milk chocolate, Reese's pieces, pumpkin ball and cup game. A trick or treat plush puppy dressed in Halloween costume delivers this basket. Alternatively, you can send a care package delivered by a teddy bear dressed as a witch, and is filled with Halloween story book, sticker sheets, kids card game, bubbles, silly string, relaxable pumpkin ball, spooky Halloween spring pop-ups, Dracula fangs whistle, body parts gummy candies, pixie sticks, Halloween pretzels, buttery microwave popcorn, Reese's peanut butter cup, Halloween marshmallow peeps, popcorn ball, milk chocolate candies, and other candy treats. The little goblins and witches will be busy playing with the games while enjoying their favorite treats.

For tweens and older kids, you can send them an activity bag that carries hand-held brain twister games, Squishy fun ball, relaxable smiley face ball, creepy crawlers gummi candies, Halloween bats and pumpkins pretzels. They will also find candy corn, chocolate bars, marshmallow ghost peeps, candy flavored bubbles, and other candies. This activity bag will provide hours of fun and treat.

For college students and young adults away from home, you can send them a care package. This care package consists of a black gloss gift box. A plush black cat in a pumpkin outfit delivers plenty of all-American favorite Halloween treats (candy corn, Hershey's chocolate ghosts, microwave butter popcorn, Reese's pieces, M & M's, Reese's Halloween peanut butter filled pumpkin, and Halloween candies). This Halloween themed gift box will remind them of the joy they had at home.

Halloween is not just for kids. Indeed, Halloween gifts are popular business gifts. They are inexpensive, fun, and convey plenty of good will to your clients and business associates. Send your friends, family or co-workers with a gift tower. This delicious 3 pieces gourmet gift tower is filled with Halloween themed goodies marshmallow ghosts, bats and pumpkin pretzels, candy corn, Halloween microwave popcorn, Hershey miniature chocolate bars, M & Ms, and more. If you would like to send a gift to multiple recipients without breaking your budget, you can send each of them a Jack-O-Lantern pail filled with an assortment of candy treats. The Jack-O-Lantern will bring the holiday festivities to the office.

In summary, Halloween is a holiday of fun activities and candy treats for kids and adults alike. Send a Jack-O-Lantern gift basket, candy bouquet, care package, gift box, or gift tower according to the age of the recipients. They will all remember the fun that you share.

Halloween Dessert Recipes Are High in Sugar Content - Good Or Bad?

Halloween dessert recipes are an essential component to fall festivities. While many are gathering up all of the essential ingredients to create their spookynite snacks, many will be purchasing sugar in order to mix in to give the desserts a sweet taste. Unfortunately, many people who will be purchasing this ingredient simply do not know or understand that there are dangers associated with this substance.

Here, I will be exploring the dangers of sugar in Halloween dessert recipes. If you have a sweet tooth, or you are concerned about your health and the health of those that will be consuming these Halloween treats, it is important that you pay special attention to the contents of this article.

When an individual consumes the sugar in Halloween dessert recipes, and other sweets, it throws off the natural homeostasis process. If you are wondering what this is, it is really simple to understand. Homeostasis is simply the equilibrium, or "balance" in the body that is considered to be "ideal".

It basically means that all of components of the body are working in harmony together for proper maintenance. As sugar enters the body, it throws off this natural and required balance in the body. One of the first areas that are affected in a negative fashion is the immune system of the body.

Sugar will actually have a negative impact on the defenses that the immune system sets up in order to fight against potentially threatening diseases and sicknesses. When the immunity of the body is suppressed, many health complications may arise.

Now, when creating those Halloween treats this year, there is a large possibility that children will be consuming them. If you will be using sugar as an ingredient, you may want to consider the effects that it can have on these kids. It has been discovered that adrenaline increases quite rapidly in the body of a child when they consume foods and beverages that contain sugar.

Furthermore, these children have been observed in experiencing high levels of anxiety and even signs of hyperactivity. Many medical professionals and parents who have observed the effects of sugar on children have noticed that many of these kids are not able to concentrate effectively.

Irritability and depression are also common side effects. Before creating a menu of all the Halloween dessert recipes that you will be creating this fall, be sure to consider not using as much sugar and finding another source of sweetener to add other than straight sugar. This is only a small list of the dangers associated with this substance.

Spooky Treats and Ghoulish Eats - Kids Halloween Recipes

These Halloween recipes for kids are a great addition to your holiday fare. This time of year is all about ghosts and goblins, witches and wizards, bats and vampires and even monsters and more. Making fun treats to eat at your party will set the tone for a spooky and scary good time. These ideas will need some adult supervision as there is some heating and cooking involved with these recipes. Don't forget some food coloring to make these ideas even extra special for the upcoming day. You can make creepy ice cream spiders, witches brew punch or even scrumptious munchable scarecrows.

Kids Halloween Recipe #1 - Ice Cream Spider Cups

Everyone loves ice cream and for your festive party they will love the looks of these spiders made from ice cream and other tasty ingredients.

Ingredients

8 individual graham cracker tart shells
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
16 Oreo Cookies (crumbled)
16 red M&M candy pieces
16 pieces of black shoestring licoRice

Directions

Lay out the shells on a baking sheet.
Add 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream to each shell.
In a bowl, crumble the Oreo cookies.
Sprinkle the crumbles on each scoop of ice cream to create a black furry looking spider body.
Put the filled shells in the freezer for 30 minutes or until ice cream is hardened.
Remove from the freezer and press 2 red M&M's into the front of each scoop for the spider's eyes.
Cut the licoRice strips into fourths.
Press 8 strips of licoRice into each ice cream scoop to form the spider's legs.
Return to the freezer until ready to serve.

Makes 8 servings

These simple little spiders are so easy make and the kids will love them. You can use any flavor of ice cream you want and different colors of M&M's for the eyes. Mix it up and give each guest a slightly different looking spider or flavor.

Kids Halloween Recipe #2 - Red Witches Brew Fruit Punch

This blood red punch will sure to quench the thirst of all the vampires attending your party.

Ingredients

3 (48 ounce) cans pineapple juice
1 (2 liter) lemon lime soda
1 large package strawberry or cherry flavored drink mix
1 can frozen strawberries
12 - 24 gummy worms

Directions

Place a gummy worm in an ice cube tray (1 in each tray). Fill with water and freeze.
Mix all other ingredients together and chill.
Once the ice cubes (with the gummy worms) are frozen, place in the punch and serve.

Makes about 1 to 1 1/2 gallons

You can make your witches brew even scarier looking by adding raisins and/or other frozen fruits.

Kids Halloween Recipe #3 - Coconut Munchable Scarecrows

These yummy scarecrows will brighten up your party with their bright clothes and tasty hat. Kids will have a blast frosting these little guys.

Ingredients

1 (18 ounce) package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 cup flaked coconut
Yellow, orange, red and blue food coloring
18 gum drop fruit slices
1 can vanilla frosting
1 package mini chocolate chips

Directions

Roll out the cookie dough on a flat surface. You can flour the surface to prevent sticking.
Use gingerbread men cutters and cut out 18 shapes.
Place the cutouts onto a baking sheet and bake according the directions on the package.
Remove the cookies and cool to room temperature on a wire rack.
Using a small bowl, mix the coconut and yellow food coloring to achieve a straw like color.
To make the scarecrow hats place the gum drops on a lightly sugared surface and press and roll them flat.
Using a butter knife, cut hat shapes for each flattened gum drop.
Place the vanilla frosting evenly into 3 separate bowls.
Add drops of orange, red and blue food coloring into each of the bowls (one color per bowl).
After the cookies have cooled, frost each cookie with the blue and red frosting making the shirts and pants. Make some shirts blue and pants red and with some shirts red and pants blue.
Next frost the head, feet and hands with the orange frosting.
Press your colored coconut into the hands and feet to form the straw.
Place the hat onto the scarecrows head by placing a little orange frosting on the back of the hat and pressing it onto the scarecrow.
Place 2 to 3 of mini chocolate chips down the front of the scarecrows shirt for buttons. Place chips on the head for the eyes, nose and mouth.

Makes 18 cookies.

These scarecrows will look so yummy that your guests will eat them quickly.