Easy and FUN Halloween Meals

It doesn't take much to make a regular dinner or snack memorable. Most of the things I make for my kids are thrown together on the spur of the moment when I get a hankering for something special. Even though not everything I put together is perfect or planned out, my kids are happy to have something a little different and I feel accomplished as a "fun mom" among all the un-fun chores and tasks I have to do.  Here are a few EASY examples of fun ways to liven up the every-day meals around Halloween time!

First I'll start this post with a VERY EASY and VERY FUN Halloween breakfast! Cut a bagel in half and toast it. Smear with plain cream cheese (so it's white) and make a ghost face using raisins for the eyes and a dried cherry for the mouth! Molly (5) was so excited for this breakfast and it was so simple!!

Next in the day is a snack! Here's a fun one I've seen on Pinterest: Jack-o-Lantern fruit cups! Simply use a black permanent marker to draw a pumpkin face on an individually packaged container of mandarin oranges or peaches. I drew my faces on the side and attempted to have my kids hold them up for a picture, but as you can see, they were being a little silly! Special note, however: I have tried to serve these peaches before and they were ignored and pushed away. As soon as I added a cute pumpkin face, my kids ate them up!!

I know I've seen these before in those little holiday magazines you can buy at the grocery store check-out, but this batch of Mummy Dogs was made and "planned" right before I popped them in the oven! Start with plain hotdogs and make a slit in each with a sharp knife. Fill it with a slice of American cheese - I only use a fourth of a slice in each hotdog. Now cut a refrigerated crescent roll into several strips, about half an inch wide. Wrap each hotdog with two or three strips to make mummies!

Bake your mummy dogs at 375 degrees for about 12 minutes. When they're done, add little eyes with ketchup and mustard and serve! I serve these kind of hotdogs every once in a while, but just wrapped up normally so the taste wasn't anything new to my kids, but Molly and Ben got a big kick out of this special dinner! This would be so easy to serve on the 31st before you head out Trick-or-Treating.