Cute and Delicious Halloween Cupcakes

My eldest's birthday falls just a few days before Halloween. If she is anything like her mother, Halloween will be her very favorite holiday. I imagine, however, that there will be few birthdays she is excited to share with ghosts, spiders and pumpkins.

This year she was excited to do just that, and a Halloween theme was chosen. Friends were thrilled to come in costume and Halloween activities were enjoyed.

Instead of cake I opted to create these super cute Halloween cupcakes I saw in Woman's Day. These were incredibly easy to make; the girls loved helping - and sneaking bits of candy!

All cupcakes begin with a cupcake base. We chose a white cake as it wouldn't clash with any topping flavors.

What you need for the spider: white frosting, Mallomar (we found a generic at Fareway), Tootsie Roll midgees, M&Ms and M&Ms Minis.

To do: Top cupcake with white frosting. Cut Tootsie Roll into 8 small pieces. Soften and roll between your hands to create legs. Place legs on cupcake, hanging down sides. Place Mallomar on top o legs. Use a tiny bit of frosting to make M&Ms stick.

What you need for the ghost: white frosting, M&Ms Premiums Mint Chocolate (if you have trouble finding these chocolate rocks would look nice, too). White fondant. Doughnut hole. Mini M&Ms.

To do: Top cupcake with white frosting. Place M&Ms mint chocolates (or chocolate rocks) around the edge of the cupcake. Roll fondant to 1/8" thickness. Use a large cup to cut into a circle (4"-5" diameter). Place over doughnut. Use a bit of frosting to attach mini M&Ms eyes.

What you need for the pumpkin: green frosting (or green food color and white frosting), orange frosting (or mix red and yellow food color with white frosting), fall leaves sprinkles (mine came in a jar of 6 different sprinkles made by Wilton), doughnut hole, green apple Airhead candy.

To do: cover doughnut holes in orange frosting and refrigerate (this will make them a bit easier to handle). Frost cupcake with green frosting. Sprinkle with fall leaves. Using a small pizza cutter, cut small triangles and thin strips from green apple Airheads. Roll strips btween you hands to create vines. Top cupcake with orange doughnut. Place vines and stem on top.

I snapped the image below with my phone while at the library, but didn't get the instructions, so we just guessed at how to do some things. I think our creations turned out adorable and the girls were very impressed!

We opted not to make the vampire. Click the image to see it larger to get the list of what you need. I think construction is really self explanatory.

Chef Mickey's Breakfast Pizza

When I was at Walt Disney World a few months ago I came home with cookbooks. I am finally getting the time to fix "fun food", as my girls call it. This easy breakfast pizza came from the cookbook Cooking with Mickey and the Disney Chefs . (affiliate link)

This cookbook is filled with recipes from Walt Disney World, Disneyland and the Disney Cruise Line, so there is a wide variety. One thing this cookbook lacks is photos of the food. This is both good and bad: I love to look at photos of food but there is no way my food ever looks so pretty. With no images to compare to I am free to think my food looks good!

This very basic breakfast pizza recipe can be "perked up" with meats, but we like it plain. The recipe calls for grated provolone, but I used sliced so I could include the iconic mouse silhouette.

1 12" pre-cooked pizza crust
2 large eggs
1/2 cup coarsely shredded/grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup coarsely shredded/grated Provolone cheese
1 cup coarsely shredded/grated Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste



Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place pizza crust on baking sheet or pizza stone.

In a medium bowl blend the cheeses together.

In a small bowl, beat the eggs, heavy cream, salt and pepper. Mix well and add to cheese mixture. Immediately (to avoid clumping), pour mixture onto the pizza shell.

**I used provolone slices, so I placed them on top of the cheese/egg mixture.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese mixture is set and is beginning to brown.

Cut into pizza wedges and serve hot.

Terrific with fruit "on the side".

Breakfast Tips from Midwest Dairy (+ a Giveaway!)

School has been in session for a couple of months now so you would think we would have our routine down. And some days we do. But other days...

Those other days can be hectic. And cause frazzled nerves (on my part) and a bad start to a long school day (for Brenna). And while I may have the best plans for a good breakfast for Brenna, some days I fail. Sometimes spectacularly.

Because a nutritious breakfast has been linked to sustained energy levels throughout the school day, improved attendance, higher math and reading scores, increased creativity and an improved memory I am taking a few steps to plan breakfast in advance- just like I do with dinner.

I wanted to share these tips from the Midwest Dairy Council which are designed not only to save time, but also help that ensure kids take on the day with a healthy and balanced breakfast:

· Set out cereal boxes and bowls the night before, add milk in the morning, and enjoy
· Divide mini pretzels, nuts, and dried fruit into baggies the night before to sprinkle over yogurt
· Bake a fresh batch of muffins with your kids over the weekend to grab on the way to school
· Stock up on self-serve options such as individual flavored milks and granola bars
· Heat nutrient-rich leftovers for a quick, non-traditional breakfast
· If kids don't have time to eat at home, take advantage of school breakfast programs

One thing I do is make pancakes, waffles or French Toast on Sunday, cool them and freeze individually. They are easy to toss in the toaster or microwave in the morning and top with fruit and yogurt for a quick, warm breakfast.

Win a Cool Touch Griddle Contest is now closed
Congratulations to lucky comment #5!

To help you get your mornings off to a great start Midwest Dairy is letting me give away a Cool Touch Griddle and a bundle of Midwest Dairy goodies- including an insulated shopping tote.

To enter just leave your best school-morning breakfast tip or your favorite eat-on-the-go recipe in the comments. One comment per person.

Want more entries?

1) Tweet this giveaway. Leave a comment with the link to your tweet. (copy and paste: Tweet as often as you wish.

2) Share this on your facebook page. Leave a comment with the link. One link per day, please.

Contest ends October 17, 2010 at 11:59pm. Contest open to US residents only.

I am also excited to announce that Midwest Dairy is an official sponsor of the I_Blog Conference!

Bonus!

Pumpkin Pancakes recipe from Midwest Dairy!

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10-15 minutes

Ingredients
2 cups low-fat vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 egg
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt


Preparation
In small mixing bowl, briskly combine vanilla yogurt, maple syrup and cinnamon until yogurt becomes looser texture. Reserve.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. In a medium bowl, combine milk, butter, egg, pumpkin and yogurt, mixing well. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture and stir until just moist. Do not overmix. Batter may be lumpy. For thinner batter, add more milk.

Lightly coat a griddle or skillet with cooking spray and heat on medium. Using a quarter-cup measure, pour batter onto hot griddle. Cook until bubbles begin to burst, then flip pancakes and cook until golden. Serve warm with maple yogurt topping.

Disclosure: Midwest Dairy gave me a dairy bundle (but not a griddle). I was not told what to write and all thoughts are my own.