No matter how much you try to impose moderation in your home, when it comes to Halloween and kids — it’s all about the sugar. You can hope for the best that your neighbors will be pushing dried fruit over M&M’s, but if you’re a realist you’ll accept the fact that chocolate and candy will be the treats of choice and that this is one day of the year that is very likely out of your control.

When you know your kids are going to be overdosing on the sweet stuff, you also want them to get something healthy and delicious in their little tummies. Making the foods you give them fun and exciting enough to compete with all those sugary sweets will definitely help your cause. These pumpkin milkshakes are really easy to prepare and a great way to get your kids (and you) involved in making something festive for the holiday.

Pumpkin is packed with vitamin A, potassium and beta carotene which is important for eyesight (especially important for little ones when they’re out chasing candy in the dark!).

So, when you want to make a special treat for your little pumpkins this Halloween, think like a pumpkin and try whipping up some of these milkshakes. They won’t cure your kids of their cravings for candy, but they should disappear just as quickly.

Pumpkin Shakes (Serves 2)

1/2 Cup Pumpkin (I used canned)
1 Cup Rice, Almond or Cow’s Milk (I used vanilla rice milk)
Pinch Cinnamon
Pinch Nutmeg
1 Tbsp Agave Nectar

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender.
2. Puree until smooth.
3. Serve.

Even though Kenya has no idea what a Mummy is, he absolutely loved these hot dogs wrapped in whole wheat pizza dough. I put one in his school lunch the other day with sides of ketchup and mustard to dip it in and he was in heaven! These are probably a better Halloween treat for bigger kids who really get what Mummies are, but they taste great and are fun to eat no matter what. So if you are looking for a fun meal to serve at a party this holiday weekend, or just a fun way to liven up your hot dogs, this is a perfect recipe!

Mummy Dogs (Serves

8 Hot Dogs or Veggie Dogs
1 Package Whole Wheat Pizza Dough or Weelicious Pizza Dough
Mustard and Ketchup

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Line a cookie sheet with foil and lightly grease with cooking spray.
3. Cut the pizza dough into 8 even strips using a pizza cutter or knife.
4. Stretch each piece of the pizza dough until it’s about 4 times the length of the hot dog.
5. Starting at the top, wrap the pizza dough around the hot dog until it’s completely covered allowing a small space for the face.
6. Place the wrapped hot dogs on the cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
7. When the hot dogs are cool, dot the ketchup and/or mustard with a toothpick for the eyes.
8. Serve.

Halloween is here and that means it’s time to come up with some SPOOKY culinary creations! The funniest part of this recipe is that you’ll have everyone guessing just how you got the “arms” and “legs” through the franks!

I test drove a batch of these Freaky Franks with some of Kenya’s buddies last week in advance of the holiday and the kids loved eating them. And parents can’t seem to get over how creepy they look covered in “blood” (tomato sauce). This is the perfect recipe to make WITH your kids before a long night of trick or treating.

Freaky Franks! (Serves 4-6)

Whole Wheat Spaghetti (I used 1/2 package)
Hot Dogs (I used Veggie Smart Dogs)
Weelicious Tomato Sauce or Any Jarred Sauce

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
2. Cut each hot dog link into 4 even pieces.
3. Line the spaghetti up and break in half into 4 inch pieces.
4. Poke the spaghetti pieces through the pieces of hot dog lengthwise.
5. Place the “Freaky Franks” in boiling water and cook for 10-11 minutes and drain.
6. Serve with tomato sauce.

Everyday I try to visit different message boards on the web to see what moms are talking about. Lately, I can’t get over the one common obsession that moms are asking about everywhere: How to cook a pumpkin! For a country obsessed with Halloween and pumpkins, it’s kind of ironic that we rarely cook with them, unless its using pumpkin out of a can on Thanksgiving.
Now, I admit it’s something of a mantra at weelicious that I don’t like using canned foods in general, but canned pumpkin is an exception to the rule. I once read Martha Stewart say that you shouldn’t waste your time cooking fresh pumpkin when making pumpkin desserts (because it’s very hard to get the exact flavor you want) and I believe she’s correct, but roast pumpkin on its own with a touch of cinnamon and maple syrup is heavenly.
When I was living in Australia years ago, I ate pumpkin every few days. Pumpkin is as common to cook there as sweet potatoes are in the States. The pumpkin down under was so sweet and creamy, I wanted to try and replicate the flavors that I remembered. There are several types of pumpkins this time of year at my farmer’s market, so it’s kind of hard to tell which one to buy, but I’ve found you can’t really go wrong no matter what you choose. I bought several varieties last weekend such as “autumn gold” and “sugar”, which are both high in vitamin A. The cooking time will vary a bit depending on the size of the pumpkin you buy, but whatever you get, with this recipe it will be tender and delicious.

Roast Pumpkin & Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

1 Pumpkin
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1/8 Tsp Cinnamon
Vegetable Oil Spray
Sea Salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Carefully cut a hole in the top of the pumpkin using a knife, about 2 in x 2 in. Remove the “top”.
3. Using you hands or a spoon, remove the seeds and rinse with water in a colander. Remove any of the stringy pulp pieces that stick to the seeds.
4. Lay the seeds on a towel to let dry.
5. Pour the maple syrup into the pumpkin and swirl it around coating flesh.
6. Sprinkle cinnamon inside.
7. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 40 minutes.
8. Place the top on the pumpkin and continue to cook for additional 20
minutes or until tender (the cooking time will vary depending on the
size of the pumpkin. Take a fork and pierces the inside to the flesh every 10 minutes towards the end of the cooking
time to see if it’s tender). Uncover the pumpkin and cool.
9. Spray another cookie sheet with a think coating of vegetable oil and evenly place the pumpkin seeds on the sheet. Lightly sprinkle pumpkin seeds with salt.
10. Bake the seeds 20-30 minutes or until the start to turn a golden color.
11. Cool and serve.
*If you’re making baby food puree, you can leave out the maple syrup

Some moms make their kids sugar cookies, some make them pound cakes. My mom made cheese wafers. I’m not talking about a tins worth, I’m literally talking pounds and pounds!). You would have thought she was starting her own cheese 
wafer business with the amount of cracker barrel cheese kept in our 
refrigerator. I remember standing by her salivating as she made them. 
Really they’re THAT good. She placed a perfect pecan on top of each one and added 
a touch of paprika for a little zip.
For my cheese wafers, I removed the zip and decided to roll and cut them into 
fun shapes for Halloween and Thanksgiving. I don’t know if any kid 
will accept cheese wafers instead of candy, but I know that if you 
offer these over those pre-packaged, oily goldfish snacks, they’ll not only beg for more but they’ll also avoid ingesting all those nasty preservatives, artificial flavors and dyes, too.


Kenya kept popping these in his mouth and crunching away so fast, I 
had to hide them from him. Now the only trouble is that I know where they are and I may eat the entire tin!

Cheese Wafers (Makes 3-4 dozen depending on the size of your cookie cutters)

1/2 Lb Sharp Cheddar Cheese
5 Tbsp Butter
1 Cup Flour plus additional for sprinkling

1. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and combine (dough may be a bit crumbly, but it will stick together).
2. Remove all the dough to a piece of parchment or waxed paper and shape into a thick flat circle. Cover with waxed paper and refrigerate for one hour or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
4. Open waxed paper and roll out dough on it into a 1/4 inch-thick piece.
5. Take small cookie cutters and cut out into shapes (you could also take an empty plastic medicine bottle to make circle shaped crackers. Just make sure you clean out the bottle thoroughly first.).
6. Place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with a silpat or parchment paper) and bake for 12-15 minutes. Let cool on sheet for 2 minutes before removing.
7. Serve.

We used these to make this recipe:

Silpat 11-5/8-by-16-1/2-Inch Nonstick Silicone Baking Mat