Halloween Donut Spider Snack

October 21, 2015 By Marijean

I love having my kids make holiday themed snacks. When I think about what kind of snacks to have them make, I make sure they are easy since I have a 7 year old and 4 year old.

I decided to have them make a Halloween Donut Spider snack. Very easy for my 4 year old to do himself, and my 7 year old was so excited!

What you will need:

Bag of Pretzel twists
Mini Donuts (We used Tastykake chocolate and powdered)
Mini M&M’s or Regular sized M&M’s
Frosting for the eyes

The first thing to do is break apart the pretzel twists so they look like legs. Carefully push eight legs into the donut.

The next thing to do is get the frosting ready. I used a small ziplock back to put a scoop of frosting in, cut off a tiny corner and pipe some frosting onto the mini donut, and use it to stick two M&Ms on for eyes. You can also use melted chocolate instead of the frosting.

As you can see this is a very simple Halloween snack that the kids will love to make. This snack would also be great to bring to a kids Halloween party, or even class party at school. Enjoy!!!

Marijean

My name is MJ. I have two wonderful children and work part time as well as volunteer at my children's school.

The Avenues Mall Kidgits Mall-O-Ween Boo Bash

October 16, 2015 By Marijean

THE AVENUES HOSTS KIDGITS MALL-O-WEEN BOO BASH
Kids are invited to Mall-O-Ween to enjoy fun and goodies in a safe environment!

All little ghouls, goblins and boo’tiful princesses 12 years and younger are invited to enjoy a spooktacular time at The Avenues Mall-O-Ween Boo Bash on Friday, October 23rd from 6-8 p.m.

WHAT: Spiders, bats, black cats and more… Let’s see what Halloween has in store! Your favorite little ghosts and goblins are invited to The Avenues for a fun and safe night at Kidgits Mall-O-Ween Boo Bash on Friday, October 23. Children of all ages are encouraged to sport their best Halloween costume to haunt The Avenues in search of candy.
The Avenues Halloween event, will host their Halloween celebration from 6-8 p.m. in Center Court. Attendees will enjoy a costume contest, pumpkin decorating, stilt walkers and a face painter! Additionally, all little ghouls, goblins and boo’tiful princesses 12 years and younger are invited to enjoy a spooktacular time trick-or-treating at participating retailers.

Toy weapons and costumes should be worn only during event hours and masks are allowed only on children 12 years old and younger. Come join us in a safe, well-lit environment and grab some goodies from The Avenues.

COST: Free for Kidgits Members. Not a member? Kids can join the club and join the fun for a $5 annual membership fee.

Visit www.simonkidgitsclub.com or Simon Guest Services at The Avenues to sign up.

WHEN: Friday, October 23
6-8 p.m.

WHERE: The Avenues – Center Court
10300 Southside Blvd.
Jacksonville, FL 32256

Marijean

My name is MJ. I have two wonderful children and work part time as well as volunteer at my children's school.

Delicious Kid Friendly Recipes by Chef Vivian Howard, PBS’s A Chef’s Life

October 16, 2015 By Marijean

As a mother of twins, Vivian knows how to create good food on the go that is both quick and fun to make with her children. Here are 3 yummy kid friendly recipes by Chef Vivian Howard from PBS’s series A Chef’s Life. This series is currently in its third season, make sure to check it out!

Rollups & Vanilla Pecan Butter

Rollups:
2 slices whole wheat sandwich bread of your choice
1/4 cup vanilla pecan butter
1/2 ripe banana, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds

Vanilla Pecan Butter:
makes 1/2 cup

2 cups pecans
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon salt

Make the pecan butter: In a 10-12 inch skillet or saute pan, toast the pecans over medium heat for about 2 minutes or until they are just becoming fragrant. The may darken slightly in color but do not let them get noticeably darker in places. If you find a few spots where this happens, pluck those pecans out.
Let the pecans cool completely, then transfer them to the bowl of a food processor along with all the little dark seeds from the center of the vanilla bean. Blend the pecans for 1 minute. Stop and scrape down the sides. Blend another minute. Scrape down the sides again and add the honey and salt. Continue blending a third minute or until the pecan butter is quite smooth and loose. The end product will be much more looser than any peanut butter you’ve ever seen and a bit less viscous than almond butter. It will pour off a spoon.
Depending on the power of your food processor or the sharpness of its’ blade making the pecan butter could take longer than 3 minutes. Just keep an eye out for separation of nut and fat. If this starts to happen, let the pecan butter cool down before blending further. Store the pecan butter, sealed at room temperature, for up to 2 weeks. Stir well before using.

Make the rollups: Use a rolling pin, flatten each slice of bread to 1/8 of an inch thick. Spread roughly 2 tablespoons pecan butter over each flat piece and lay the banana slices overtop. Roll the bread up in a pinwheel and take it wherever you need to eat.

Sweet Potato Pie Popsicles
makes 4 – 4 ounce popsicles

1 cup roasted sweet potato puree
1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt (I use full fat, but you could use non fat to good effect)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup milk (cow’s, almond, hemp or soy are all fine)
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Put all the ingredients in your blender and blend till the mixture is super smooth. Transfer to popsicle molds and freeze for 4 hours before serving.

Oven Okra Fries

1 pound okra, split or quartered lengthwise
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
12 turns black pepper

Preheat your oven to 400. In a medium bowl, toss the okra with the olive oil, coriander, salt and black pepper. Spread the okra onto your largest baking pan or two pans if necessary. What’s important is that the okra touch and overlap very little. If they are all piled on top of each other, they will steam, not roast.
Slide the pan onto the middle rack of your oven. After 10 minutes, toss the okra gently with a spatula and rotate your pans if you are using 2. Cook an additional 10-15 minutes. When the okra is done, it will be brown and crispy in a lot of places but shouldn’t smell burned. Serve warm or at room temperature as a snack. Sometimes I like to have a creamy dip with these.

Marijean

My name is MJ. I have two wonderful children and work part time as well as volunteer at my children's school.

Zillow’s Top 20 U.S. Cities for Trick-Or-Treaters

October 15, 2015 By Marijean

With Halloween just around the corner, it’s time for Zillow’s annual trick-or-treat index! This year, Jacksonville ranks #20 on Zillow’s list of the top 20 cities for trick-or-treaters. This index represents the cities that provide the most candy, in the least amount of time, with the fewest safety risks. Here are the top five neighborhoods in Jacksonville to trick-or-treat:

1) Ortega
2) Avondale
3) San Marco
4) Miramar
5) Riverside

Wondering what the method behind Zillow’s madness is? Zillow’s trick-or-treat index was created by four equally weighted data variables: The Zillow Home Value Index, population density, Walk Score© and local crime data from Relocation Essentials. To see what cities made the index last year, click here.

Marijean

My name is MJ. I have two wonderful children and work part time as well as volunteer at my children's school.

SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular 2015

October 11, 2015 By Marijean

If you want to have a fun filled day with your family, full of Halloween excitement, I highly recommend going to SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular event! This event is fun for all ages, but especially for the kiddos. There is so much to do and so much to see!

I got to attend the Media opening day event on October 3rd with my husband and two children. My children were super excited about trick or treating and seeing all of the Halloween decorations that SeaWorld has.

Here is some information about the SeaWorld Halloween Spooktacular:

Children and adults alike will be immersed in an underwater “fantasea” filled with trick-or-treating, dancing sea creatures and pumpkin fish, where kids can also create sea-themed arts and crafts.

Trick or Treat – Kids can follow the special Halloween Spooktacular pathways through many different stations filled with a wide array of sweets and treats as fun loving sea creatures greet and mingle with guests. Hop aboard the Seven Seas Railway with Otto the Octopus and enjoy a whimsical train ride through Shamu’s Happy Harbor®.

Penelope’s Party Zone – Located in Bayside Stadium, Penelope’s Party Zone comes to life when families dance and play along to the spooky sound waves broadcast by a live DJ, listen to spooky stories and enjoy fun activities with countless bubbles floating overhead and colorful pumpkinfish gliding beside. Dine with Shamu® Spooktacular

Brunch – Enjoy a delicious menu of seasonal and sustainable items while sitting at a poolside table that brings you closer than ever to our majestic whales. Sesame Street’s Countdown to Halloween – Join Count von Count, Elmo, and everyone’s favorite friends from Sesame Street for the kookiest, funniest Halloween hullaballoo ever!

This event is set up in the back of the park at the Ports of Call entrance. The event starts at 12pm, so if you want to get to the park early to enjoy some rides and see the Shamu show before trick or treating, that is a great plan! The event also closes at 7pm and runs weekends in October (3-4, 10-11, 17-18, 24-25, and 31) and is included with park admission. Costumes are not required but I do recommend wearing one!! Seeing all of the different costumes was so much fun.

I loved the different trick or treating candy stations. The signs are actually labeled with what kind of candy that specific station is giving out, which I think is a fabulous idea. So if your child doesn’t like Tootsie Rolls then you don’t have to waste time in that line!

The trick or treat trails are filled with colorful and friendly Halloween decorations. If your little one is scared of halloween ghosts and goblins, no worries!! Nothing scary at all. The trail is also filled with bubble blowing stations and I just love the fun music playing.

The event has “boardwalk” type games to play for prizes. Some of the cute prizes include a stuffed colorful skeleton and a stuffed bright orange pumpkin. They also have merchandise available, I love the bright orange SeaWorld Spooktacular tshirts! Over near Penelope’s Party Zone there are coloring activities and more fun games to play.

If you are hungry there are food stations set up, and also a kids cookie station!! For $7 your child gets an adorable Shamu souvenir bucket, frosting, candy toppings, milk or apple juice and of course a yummy freshly baked cookie. There are tables set up so the kids can decorate it right there, or they can take it to go.

This event is a ton of fun, and let me add that I LOVE that the event is included with admission price! I can’t wait to bring my children back next year!

To read more about this event, and/or to buy tickets please go to http:// seaworldparks.com/en/seaworld-orlando/events/seaworlds-halloweenspooktacular/?from=Top_Nav