Chocolate Oatmeal

For some reason my husband associates Halloween with oatmeal. I don't know where the association comes from since he says he didn't usually have it for breakfast on Halloween when he was a kid or anything, but that's okay! I'm willing to roll with it. When he told me he wanted oatmeal for breakfast on Halloween last year I was happy to oblige and found this chocolate oatmeal recipe. I've changed it a bit (surprise!) and we love it. You could also add a touch of cinnamon or top individual bowls with mini marshmallows if you want.


Chocolate Oatmeal

2 C water
1/2 C milk
1 C old fashioned oats
1/4 t salt
1/2 C brown sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 C chocolate chips

optional: whipped cream and chocolate chips for garnish

Bring the water and milk to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Stir in oats and salt and simmer, stirring frequently, until oats are cooked and thickened (3-5 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar, vanilla extract and chocolate chips. If desired, spoon the oatmeal into bowls and top with whipped cream ghosts with chocolate chips for eyes.

Yield: 4 servings

Deviled Eyes

These spooky eyes are a yearly tradition for us. Mostly because we love any excuse to have deviled eggs and these are really cute! You can use your favorite deviled egg recipe. Normally I put dill in mine but I don't when I make these because I don't want little flecks of dill in the eyes.

Deviled Eyes

6 hard boiled eggs
4 T mayonnaise
1 T dijon mustard
1/2 t salt
1/4 t onion powder
4 drops green food coloring
for garnish: sliced olives

Cut the eggs in half and place the yolks in a shallow bowl. Mash with a fork. Add the mayonnaise, mustard, seasoned salt, onion powder and food coloring and stir to combine. Alternatively, you can mix it all up in the food processor so you won't have any little bits of yellow yolk showing in your green filling. Scoop the mixture into a small plastic bag and snip off the tip of one corner, then pipe the filling into the egg halves. Press one sliced olive into each egg half and arrange on a plate to look like pairs of angry eyes.

Yield: 6-12 servings

Vampire Bat Legs (aka Spicy Chicken Legs)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Okay, I know you probably aren't going to rush out to make Vampire Bat Legs for Halloween dinner tonight and eating something called Vampire Bat Legs any other time of year is rather odd, but the good thing is the rest of the time you can just call them Spicy Chicken Legs since that's what they are. We had these chicken legs (er, bat legs!) for dinner last night and they were SO good! The flavors combined perfectly. Kind of sweet, limey, spicy. My husband handles spicy pretty well and he thought they were hot too. I don't eat the skin so wasn't subjected to the full heat blast but the sauce did get cooked onto the exposed part of the chicken legs and I put a little dollop of it on my plate. The recipe also includes a lime sour cream sauce to dip the chicken into and that helped temper the heat in a very delicious way. The original recipe actually called for a full teaspoon of cayenne pepper in addition to the chipotle peppers. I left that out because I wanted us to have some tastebuds remaining so we could enjoy our caramel apples. Regardless, this may not be a good choice for little kids. You could just put some BBQ sauce on some chicken legs and cook them in a separate dish at the same time. Oh and I served my Vampire Bat Legs with orzo (aka maggots- I know it's disgusting but I couldn't resist).

Do you have a digital probe thermometer? I mentioned it earlier but didn't go into a lot of detail. I love my digital probe thermometer. It's one of my favorite kitchen gadgets. The reason it's wonderful is that you can stick the probe into the meat (or whatever) and leave it there as it cooks so you can check the temperature without opening the oven door. You can also set it to beep once it reaches whatever temperature you specify. I'm very very safety conscious when it comes to raw meat and this means I don't have to worry about undercooking the meat but also don't have to worry about overcooking it. My thermometer also has a timer :D My pet cockatiels had babies last year and I ended up having to hand raise 2 batches of babies from when they were a week old and this thermometer was actually perfect for checking the temperature of their formula (vitally important) and monitoring the temperature of their brooder that was on a heating pad- I set it to go off if the temperature rose too high. Of course this is not the standard use for most people but it just shows one of the things you can do with digital probe thermometers :D

Anyway, on to the recipe:


Vampire Bat Legs (aka Spicy Chicken Legs)

Chicken:

8 chicken legs

2/3 C BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)

1/2 of an 8 oz can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

1/2 t salt

1 T chili powder

1 T minced garlic

6 T lime juice

Cool Lime Sauce:

1 C sour cream

1-2 T lime juice (I used 2 T)

1 green onion, thinly sliced

1/4 t salt

Combine all ingredients for the chicken in a gallon zipper bag and squish it around so everything's mixed and all the chicken is coated. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. While it's refrigerating you can make the Cool Lime Sauce by simply stirring together the ingredients. Preheat oven to 425, line a 9 by 13 baking dish with aluminum foil, and grease the foil. When 30 minutes are up, pour everything from the bag into the baking dish and evenly arrange the chicken legs. Bake 15 minutes and then brush the chicken with the sauce in the dish. Bake 15 minutes longer or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the biggest chicken leg registers 165 degrees. Remove chicken from oven and brush again with the sauce (I suggest washing your brush first because there may be raw chicken juices on it from the first time you basted). Serve the chicken with the Cool Lime Sauce to help soothe the burn.

Yield: 4 servings (2 legs each)

Baked Mice (aka Mini Meatloaves)

I got the idea for these cute (or as cute as meatloaf can be) little Halloween mice from this recipe. They were easy to make and ended up tasting really good too. I would make these mini meatloaves the rest of the year sans mousie features. Lean ground turkey is usually pretty dry when made into meatballs or meatloaf, but I think the little hunk of cheese in the middle helped because mine didn't turn out dry at all. The cheese did leak a bit out of some of the mice but I think that just added to the effect! And yes, the noodle tails do cook completely in the oven. Serve the mice with mashed potatoes (the sauce is good on them) and a veggie.


Baked Mice

1.25 lb package ground turkey

1 egg

1/2 C seasoned bread crumbs

1 t garlic powder

1 t onion powder
1 t salt

1/2 t pepper

8 3/4 inch cubes cheddar cheese

3 spaghetti noodles, broken into thirds

16 oz can tomato sauce

4 T brown sugar

3 T yellow mustard

2 T Heinz chili sauce (not the spicy Asian kind- this is optional)

1/4 t black pepper

16 very thin carrot slices

16 black olive slices

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 7 by 11 baking dish. Combine the ground turkey, egg, bread crumbs and spices. Form 1/8 of the meat around a cheese cube, sealing well. Form a point on one end and make the other end rounded. Place in baking dish and stick one of the spaghetti thirds into the rounded end to make a tail. Repeat with the rest of the meat, cheese cubes and noodles. Stir together tomato sauce, brown sugar, mustard, chili sauce and pepper and pour over the mice, making sure to cover the tails. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes, then remove foil and bake until mice are cooked through (165 degrees in the middle), about 20 minutes longer. Arrange mice on plates, cut a small slit on either side of the heads, and insert carrot slices for ears. Place olive slices on the face to make eyes.

Yield: 8 mice, 4-8 servings

Chicken Strips

This recipe is from one of my favorite blogs, Southern Plate. If you've never checked out Southern Plate, you should. Christy is so sweet and nice! I've tried a lot of her recipes and have rarely been disappointed. This recipe for chicken strips (or chicken planks as she calls them) is no different. I first made them a year ago. It was my first time ever frying anything and I was a bit concerned but they turned out great! Tonight was my second time making them and again, great. Very easy to make and very good for an occasional treat if you want something really simple and homey. After tasting them you wouldn't guess they're breaded with only egg and crushed saltine crackers. They're quite filling too so I usually just serve them with a veggie.

I tend to only buy chicken breasts every 3 or 4 months and get a big package so I can get all the goo cleaned off and cut it into whatever size pieces I'll need for recipes before freezing. It works very well to pound the chicken and cut it into strips at this time so when I'm ready to make the chicken strips, all I need to do is thaw and bread them.

Quick Note: This particular chicken strip has pretty big pieces of cracker. It was just fine but feel free to crush them more if you want! My sleeve of crackers popped open on the end before I could get them crushed really finely and I just went with it.

Also, this recipe can be easily doubled. Just cook half the chicken, then add more oil and let it heat up again before cooking the rest!


Chicken Strips

1/2 lb chicken breasts
1 egg
about half a sleeve of saltine crackers
vegetable oil

Lightly beat the egg in a bowl. Thoroughly crush the saltine crackers with your hands while still in the plastic sleeve (if you only crush half the crackers, the rest should remain intact for later!) and then pour into a bowl. Place the chicken into 2 Ziploc bags (one inside the other) and pound to 1/4 inch thick with a meat mallet. Cut the breasts into strips as big as you'd like. One at a time, dip the chicken strips into the beaten egg, then press into the crushed crackers and set on a plate. I like to use a fork to move the chicken around because things don't get as messy that way. Once all the chicken has been coated, pour 1/4 inch of oil into a large skillet and heat over medium. When the oil is hot enough that a little piece of crushed cracker sizzles when you toss it in, add the chicken strips. Cook on one side until golden brown, then turn the strips with a fork and cook on the other side, about 4 minutes on each side. I always cut one of the fatter ones open at this point to make sure they're cooked through but I haven't had a problem with them being under done. When the chicken strips are cooked, remove them to a paper towel lined plate and let drain for a minute or two. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. We like barbecue sauce!

Yield: 2-3 servings

Fudge Icing

For a teaching with technology class I'm in I had to create a survey for my classmates to fill out. Unsurprisingly, I picked desserts for my topic and promised to bring in the class's favorite dessert. The options were cookies, ice cream, cupcakes, pie and brownies. Then they were to pick their favorite type of each dessert (ex: peanut butter cookies, snickerdoodles, chocolate chip cookes, etc). Brownies ended up winning (I was the only one who picked cupcakes!) and fudge iced brownies were the preferred type of brownie, so that's what I brought in to class today!

To be honest, I just used a big box of brownie mix for the brownies. It's the one baked good that to me without fail tastes better from a box than homemade. I did make this delicious fudge icing myself though, from this recipe. It's perfect! Easy to make, delicious, soft but not runny, creamy, glossy, chocolaty... YUM! The recipe says it's for brownies and it was perfect on them, but I think it would also be great on a cake baked in a 9 by 13 pan. I don't suggest trying to use it for a layer cake though because it's really runny at first and you'd probably either end up with a big mess or icing that's set up too much to spread.

Quick Note: Boil the icing for exactly 30 seconds and start counting once the mixture has reached a rolling boil. If you start earlier it will be too soft. Also be sure to pour it over the brownies or cake right after you take it out of the oven because some reviewers complained about the icing separating from the brownies or cake otherwise.

Sorry about the ugly picture, there weren't a lot of brownie survivors left to photograph. They went over quite well with my class and several other students and the teacher brought in cookies when they heard I was bringing brownies.


Fudge Icing

1 1/2 C sugar
6 T butter
6 T milk
1 C chocolate chips
1 t vanilla extract

Combine sugar, butter and milk in a small sauce pan and heat over medium-high, stirring with a wooden spoon frequently at first and constantly once it starts to simmer. Once the mixture comes to a rolling boil, let it cook for exactly 30 seconds while you stir. Remove from the heat, let it cool until it stops boiling, then stir in the chocolate chips and vanilla extract until smooth. Pour over still piping hot 9 by 13 pan of brownies or cake and spread to cover. Let set for several hours before serving.

Yield: Depends on how big you like your brownies or cake!

Wrapped Hot Dogs

My sophomore year of high school I was a foreign exchange student in Austria. The family I lived with was wonderful and the daughter is still my closest friend. She flew from Austria to Alaska to be in my wedding last year. My host mother (who is still one of my all time favorite people) made these frequently. Quick fact: In Austria they call hot dogs Frankfurters and another small sausage Wieners. In Germany, they call the hot dogs Wieners and the small sausages Frankfurters :D I always thought that was funny!

Anyway, my recipe for pizza dough makes enough for 2 pizzas so I often leave the extra dough in the fridge for a day or two and then make these. The dough is great after being in the fridge, it ages and the texture becomes chewier and more flavorful. You could make these with fresh dough too though. My host mother always topped them with cheese and caraway seeds. I'm not a big fan of caraway but feel free to include it!

Quick Note: You could easily make these into adorable mummy dogs for Halloween by leaving a gap in the dough at one end and then dabbing on mustard eyes when they come out of the oven, like this. I kinda meant to do that and made one of the hot dogs with a face peeking out, but... there was an "incident"... and that hot dog is no longer available to be photographed :D


Wrapped Hot Dogs

pizza dough, prepared according to recipe through first rise
hot dogs
grated cheese (optional)
caraway seeds (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or greased aluminum foil. Dry off the hot dogs. Divide the dough into balls about 2 inches across and, one at a time, roll the dough into a snake about 16 inches long. Flatten the snake slightly and wrap around the hotdog, pressing the seams to seal so the hot dog is completely encased. Repeat with the remaining dough and hot dogs. Sprinkle with grated cheese and caraway seeds if desired. Bake until golden, 15 to 20 minutes.

Yield: Depends on how much pizza dough you use! A full batch will get you about 12 hot dogs.