Halloween is just around the corner and as this “holiday” approaches, I have been so surprised at how October 31st can mean and evoke such a broad spectrum of opinions and emotions.

 

First can I be clear- its HALLOWEEN not FALL FEST. okay!? Be free to embrace this holiday alongside your community and neighbors! Don’t segregate yourselves from connecting with your community. Here is why you can leave fall fest in the dust. What matters the most is your heart. Is your heart to worship satan and do animal sacrifices as a family?! I think not! Will you “accidentally” let evil into your home by giving your neighborhood kiddos candy? nope- not on your watch! As parents, we control the atmospheres within our homes.

What we say as parents, goes. When we trick-or-treat as a family and come across something sketchy, I just tell my kids how silly it is, then we move on. “oh that skeleton is a silly guy! we don’t need to be afraid of him- he’s not the boss of us!” Short and sweet. Distract and move on.

Focus on the fun. What you emphasize is what your kids will remember.  We don’t have to live in fear when we have authority over fear! Be discerning to protect your children- don’t take them to haunted houses where the whole point is evoking fear- but also be open to creating fun experiences for your family to connect. What other holiday can you find every person in their FRONT yard, giving out candy, excited to answer the door and say hello to one another!? It’s literally my dream. I want to be known as a light in my neighborhood, I want my home to be open to those around me.

 

So how do you halloween well?

 

Especially with little eyes and little ears and soft hearts? Here are MY family traditions that maybe this year YOU can adopt to make halloween memorable, fun, and wholesome!

 

First things first: costumes! 

Our cute and yummy In n’ Out burger!

 

Our Pilot and Flight Attendant!

 

 

Have fun with it. I went down memory lane to pull out these gems from some of my favorite halloweens with my family. You are welcome to laugh, we have always had fun with themes! And we have carried the theme idea into our own kids halloween- last year zeke was a pilot and everly was a flight attendant 🙂 Zekes first halloween we were In n’ Out servers and Zeke was a burger 🙂 Have fun with it! And no, you don’t have to be a Pinterest mom to get a theme pulled together! 😉

Here are some of my favorite halloween years growing up!!! go big or go home people!!

 

Family Recipes! I am opening up my family recipe vault and sharing some favorites in hopes that if you don’t have traditional recipes that now you do! There is something so nostalgic about saving recipes for certain holidays. For almost my entire life, we have made the same recipes that are now  Halloween staples! Below are the recipes, they are fun and they make your home smell SO yummy! Enjoy!

 

 

The Great Pumpkin Cookie: make sure to use that halloween candy and set out in bowls for kids to make their own creations! Photo cred is the original recipe that we still use to this day from a dear family friend Auntie Sherry! Check out the pumpkin cookie back in the day and then debuting last year with our kiddos for the first time!

 

decorating pumpkin cookies with friends as kids!

 

Zeke decorating his cookie with my parents for the first time last year!

 

Chicken Chili with Pesto:

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 3/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1.1/2 cups chopped carrot
• 3/4 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1/4 cup chopped green chilies (we used local hatched chilis!)
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/3 tsp. salt
• 1/8th tsp. black pepper
• 1 (16 oz) can cannellini beans or other white beans, drained and rised
• 1 (14 oz) can fat free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons Classic Pesto

Directions: heat oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and chicken; saute’ 5 minutes. add carrot, bell pepper, and celery, saute’ 4 minutes. Add chiles and next 6 ingredients, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes. Stir in Classic Pesto. Yield: 4 servings (serving size 1/1/4 cups). Note: we usually x10 the recipe for halloween gatherings!!

 

Mummy Dogs

Ingredients: Crescent Rolls// Hot Dogs// Peppercorns// Condiments (for dipping)

Directions: Heat oven to 375°F. Pop open the crescent rolls and spread out into one huge rectangle. Use a pizza slicer to cut the rectangle into strips. Take your hot dog of choice and wrap the strips around the hot dogs until a mummy forms. Use the peppercorns for eyes. Place on baking sheet and bake for 13 to 17 minutes or until dough is light golden brown and hot dogs are hot. Serve and enjoy! (We include the kids in this cooking activity- they LOVE getting creative and have made octodogs, baby mummies, the list goes on and on! It’s something that is very hard to mess up, so let your kids have fun with it! It’s also great getting some good protein and carbs in their bellies before the sugar!

 

Halloween Popcorn Bark

Ingredients:

• Chex Mix
• candy eye balls (i got mine from target!)
• pretzel sticks
• white almond bark
• white popcorn
• halloween colored sprinkles or toppings of your choice!

// This recipe is from the one and only J Garvin- we did this last year and it was a HUGE hit! It was so fun to make with my littles and the eyeballs really make it festive for Halloween! Here is the recipe taken from J Garvin’s Blog: On a huge sheet of tin foil, lay out pretzel sticks & chex rice cereal. Melt a tray of white almond bark, and drizzle half of it over the first layer of snacks. Then, layer on a bag of white popcorn (we use orville redenbacher tender white, the best popcorn ever!) onto the mixture while the bark is still wet, drizzle the second half of the tray on top, and sprinkle with toppings of your choice. Like candy eyeballs, sprinkles, candy corn, colored m&ms, chocolate chips, etc. Let the entire thing harden (maybe 15-20 minutes) and then break it apart into chunks to place in a bowl for serving. It is so yummy and SO addicting!!!

 

There you have it y’all!!!

It’s not too late to send out some text messages to friends and family, set up some tables in your driveway, and enjoy a family friendly FUN night of connecting and trick or treating!

 

Oily tip: Diffuse Thieves + Citrus Fresh to make your home smell yummy and it will help keep the immune systems strong! Then DIGIZE and TUMMYGIZE on all the bellies after a night of frivolity to help everyones belly’s settle to get a good nights rest!

 

 

xx