5 fun Halloween party games!

5 fun Halloween Games!

I have never thrown a Halloween Party and so I felt pretty clueless when I was put in charge of our cub scout Halloween party. I came up with a couple ideas - then my cub partner came up with a few too. It was SO FUN! Our cub scouts (and kids) had a blast!

Game 1:

Decorate your own cookies! Easy for the host and fun for the party attendant.

Make a "cookie buffet" by placing plates, cookies, frosting, knives, and candies. Everyone can decorate their own cookies! SO CUTE and EASY!

Game 2:

Simply blow up white balloons and draw "ghost faces" on them with permanent marker. The task at hand is to keep the "ghost floating" and to not hit the ground! WAY FUN!

Game 3:

Mummy walk challenge! Wrap your legs in white streamer paper AKA "Mummy Gauze". On the count of 3 walk, jump or wiggly and race to a designated ending point without the "mummy gauze" ripping!

Game 4:

Place light weight balls even distances away from a large pumpkin then say...

"These baby pumpkins have been separated from their mother. The only way to return them without harming them is to blow them or gently nudge them with your nose to keep them from crying."

 The first baby pumpkin to reach the mom wins! 

Game 5:

Halloween Bean Bag Toss! This classic game is fun for all ages. Using Halloween treat buckets as targets keeps with the festivity and fun! 

Need another game idea? We also played Halloween Bingo - I forgot to take a picture!
Print the Bingo Cards we used HERE

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Garden Fresh Tomato Soup

It's soup night! Use the surplus of tomatoes you have in your garden for a "Garden Fresh Tomato Soup." DELICIOUS! Dive in with a grilled cheese in hand and take a dip.

I love this time of year - it's getting cold and I'm craving soups; warm, rich, delicious, soul healing soups! Check this lovely ditty out. It's soup season, and this one is definitely a keeper!

Garden Fresh Tomato Soup

In a large pot combine:

2 T. Olive Oil

1 T. Balsamic Vinegar

1 T. Sugar

3 Garlic Cloves - minced

1 Onion - chopped

Saute over medium high heat until onions are transparent.

Add:

6-8 c. Fresh Tomatoes - chopped 

(You can remove the skins by boiling in a separate pot and taking the skins off before adding to the soup- but I didn't)

Simmer the tomatoes and onions about 10 minutes.

If you have an immersion blender - use that to blend the tomatoes and onions in your pot until smooth. 

**OR... if you don't have an immersion blender - place all ingredients in a large blender and blend until desired consistency. (This is what I did)

When all is blended - return to heat and add:

2 c. chicken broth

2 tsp. Basil

2 tsp. Salt

Simmer for another 10 minutes.

Dish up and serve with a dollop of sour cream and a grilled cheese sandwich.

DELISH!

Need more soup ideas?

Click HERE

Crock Pot Pork Curry

Crock Pot Curry has become one of our family's favorite meals. We eat it quite often. For one, I love preparing food early in the day and forgetting about it until dinner. That's the best thing about crock pots, they're EASY PEASY! And two, they taste AMAZING! My kids love "rice with curry gravy." Delicious! Check it out! 

Crock Pot Pork Curry

4-6 boneless pork chops - cubed

In a large blender place:

1 (13 oz) can Coconut Milk

1 (15 oz.) can Tomato Sauce
1 can Garbanzo beans/chickpeas - drained
1 Onion - quartered
2 Garlic Cloves - minced
1 Large Green Bell Pepper - core and seeds removed
2 T. Curry Powder
1 T. Salt

Blend until smooth.

Grease your crock pot with cooking spray.

Place your cubed pork into the crock pot.

Pour the curry "soup" into the crock pot. Give it a stir to be sure the pork is evenly coated.

Cook on High for 4-5 hours - or Low for 6-8.

Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro. DELISH!

Don't have pork? Try Chicken Curry!

Click HERE for my Crock Pot Chicken Curry recipe-
Same thing only add a sweet potato!

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Canning Ring Minion Goggles

Check out these easy 2 step Minion Goggles! I made these in seriously 4 minutes! OH YEAH! I had everything on hand - canning rings, tape, hot glue, and elastic... it was meant to be.

 When editing these pictures my little girl came over my shoulder and said, "Mom is that you?" I said, "Yes.... doesn't it look like me?" She said, "No, you look just like a minion! Bee doe bee doe." SCORE!

If I can fool my little girl that these were real Minion Goggles, I'm sure you can too!

 Only 2 steps to easy Canning Ring Minion Goggles!

Step 1: Tape 2 silver "regular mouth" canning rings together.

Step 2: Hot glue a piece of elastic (about 15 inches long) to both sides of the canning ring edges.

*Optional* Step 3: If you are wearing these awesome homemade goggles for a long period of time, I suggest hot gluing narrow pieces of felt on the rings edge where your nose hits. It will provide much comfort for long goggle wearing.

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Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken

Easiest Teriyaki Chicken EVER! Lately I've been in a "simpler is better" mind set and have been trying out things that are both easy and delicious! Yesterday's success was this delicious 2 ingredient Crock Pot Chicken Teriyaki; just teriyaki sauce and chicken! NO WAY - who knew it could be that easy?! DELISH!

Crock Pot Chicken Teriyaki

3 chicken breasts cut into strips

1 c. Thick Teriyaki Sauce

Place the chicken "strips" into a greased 4 qt. crock pot. Pour the teriyaki sauce over top. Give it a stir, and cook on HIGH for 3 hours or LOW for 5 hours or until chicken is done. Serve over rice or noodles.

*If you want a sweeter sauce - add 1 T. of sugar to sweeten it up! 

*This recipe is easily doubled for a bigger family/crowd.

Need more Crock Pot Recipes? Click HERE!

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Chocolate Cheerio Treats

Take a look at this 3 ingredient no bake dessert! Okay, I'm listening....made just like the famous Rice Krispie Treats - but with Chocolate Cheerios. I've been wanting to make this for sometime and yesterday, I finally did! Seriously AMAZING! If you're a chocolate lover - then this is for you. YUMM.....

Chocolate Cheerio Treats

1/4 c. Butter

1 (10 oz) bag small marshmallows

6 c. Chocolate Cheerios

Spray a 9x13 cake pan with cooking spray and set aside. 

In a large pot melt butter over medium high heat. When butter is melted add the marshmallows.

Heat until marshmallows are melted. 

Remove from the heat and add the chocolate cheerios. Stir until well coated. 

Place the mix into the prepared 9x13 pan and spread out evenly. 

Let set up for 20 minutes. Cut and serve! 

Need more No Bake Dessert ideas? Click HERE

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Simple Asian Salad

Yummy, easy Asian Salad. Simple ingredients for a delicious salad! Sweet, salty, crisp, and crunchy. Our family loves this salad! Take a classic salad and dress it up a bit with fruit, cheese, bacon bits and sunflower seeds. The light dressing lets all the ingredients shine. Man, I'm getting hungry writing this makes me want some of this salad - BAD!

Simple Asian Salad

1 (12 oz) bag "Classic Salad" (Iceberg - carrot sticks and red cabbage)

1 (10 oz) can Mandarin Oranges - drained

1 c. Mozzarella Cheese

1/4 c. Sunflower Seeds (kernels)

1/4 c. Bacon pieces

Place all ingredients in a bowl and toss. Add the dressing JUST before serving.

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Dressing

1/3 c. Oil

2 T. White Vinegar

1/2 tsp. Salt

2 T. Sugar

Place all ingredients in a jar (with a lid) and shake to mix. Pour over the tossed salad JUST before serving. 

* If you dress it early, it wilts down and doesn't look as nice or have the crispness it should.

Click HERE for more Salad Recipes

Click HERE to learn how to make your own Turkey Bacon Bits

(They're our favorite)

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Homemade Personal Pizza's

One of our family's most favorite thing to do these days is make our own personal pizzas. My kids love making shapes out of the dough - (as you can see my daughter made a heart) along with "decorating" them with their cheese and pepperoni. This is our favorite pizza dough recipe! It's fluffy and light - not to mention it only takes 20 minutes to make! My kids also LOVE to help me make homemade pizza sauce. We get the whole family involved when making pizzas and it's a BLAST! Make one large pizza for the whole family or small personal pizzas. 

Dinner time = Family Time

Homemade Pizza Sauce

1 quart Canned Stewed Tomatoes

1/2 Onion - chopped

1 tsp. Olive Oil

1 Garlic Clove

3 T. Apple Cider Vinegar

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Italian Seasonings

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1. Drain the canned tomatoes

2. Saute' the chopped onion in a small sauce pan with 1 tsp. Olive Oil.

3. Blend together the drained tomatoes, saute'd onion, garlic, apple cider vinegar, and salt

4. Pour the blended sauce into the small sauce pan used to saute' the onion. Add the Italian Seasonings and simmer for 10 minutes. 

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Homemade Pizza Dough

I have never made homemade pizza crust, so I found a fast and easy version of pizza crust HERE and used their recipe. IT'S DIVINE - fluffy like breadsticks!

1 pkt fast rising Yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp.)

1 tsp. White Sugar

1 c. Warm Water

2 1/2 c. Flour  (I used unbleached all purpose flour and it was delish)

2 T. Olive Oil

1 tsp. Salt

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F). 

2. In a mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let sit until creamy, about 7-10 minutes.

3. Stir in the flour, salt, and oil. Let rest for 5-10 minutes.

4. Place the dough onto a floured surface and roll out - making sure all "personal" crusts are even thickness so cooking will be even. 

(*You don't want one person's pizza to be burnt and one to be under cooked!)

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Make your PIZZA!

When dough and sauce are all made - start making your pizzas! Place the rolled dough onto the lightly greased cookie sheet. 

Start adding you toppings! Sauce - cheese - pepperoni - olives - bacon - peppers - onion etc. 

Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. 

DELISH!

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Spider Web Hair!

Halloween is upon us - are you ready? Check out this fun hair do I did on my little girl! We call it "Spider Web Hair!" If I can do it - you can do it!

Here are step by step picture instructions!

1. Part and tie 4 squares into small pony tails as shown above.

2. Tie another row of 4 square pony tails as shown above.

3. Work JUST with the first row - Grab half of each pony tail and 

tie a rubber band. 

Continue down the row. 

4. When you get to the last pony tail of the row - don't separate the hair simply tie it all together with the other half as shown.

5. Separate the "new" gathered hair into equal halves.

6. Connect half of the "new" pony tail with another half of the second row as shown.

7. Continue "halving" and connecting down the row.

8. Connect 3 and 3 as shown - then connect the last 2 together.

Finished! 

Spider Web Hair conquered! SO CUTE!

Click HERE for Halloween Craft Ideas!

 

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15 No-Bake Desserts

NO BAKE DESSERTS! YES PLEASE! 

Check out all of our favorite no bake desserts.

DELISH!

1. Rice Krispie Cake

2. Crunchy Peanut Butter Clusters

3. Lemon Orange Creamsicle Jello

4. Chocolate Cheerio Treats

5. Sweet Cream Strawberry Hearts

6. White Chocolate Oreo Popcorn

7. Lemon Lime Cremsicle Jello

8. Frozen Hot Chocolate

9. White Chocolate Popcorn

10. Mini Cheesecakes

11. Almond No Bake Cookies

12. Cream Cheese Pie

13. Classic Chocolate No Bake Cookies

14. S'mores Popcorn

15. Butterscotch Pecan Delite

If you consider a crock pot "no bake"
then this is a GREAT recipe!

Crock pot Blueberry Bread Pudding