Pasta e Fagioli

Ingredients:
 
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 14-1/2 oz can no salt added stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 15 oz can low sodium vegetable broth
3 cups water
1 15 oz can cannellini beans, drained
1 15 oz can red kidney beans, drained
1 cup green pepper, diced
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp basil leaves
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp rosemary
4 oz uncooked small shell pasta
 
Instructions:

Place oil in large pot before heating on medium-high until the oil is hot.  Then, add the onion and the garlic, cooking them until you can partially see through the onion.  Once that is accomplished, make sure that you stir in the tomatoes, broth, beans, parsley, pepper, seasoning, rosemary and basil, making sure that you leave the liquid with the tomatoes when pouring it in.  Cook everything together until the mixture begins to boil and then cover the pot with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes.  After the ten minutes are up, add the pasta and simmer continually until the pasta is soft and ready to serve.

Red Beans And Rice

Ingredients:

1 pound red beans, dry
8 cups water
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
4 bay leaves
3 Tablespoons chopped garlic
3 Tablespoons chopped parsley
2 teaspoons crushed, dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup chopped green pepper

Instructions:

Rinse and sort beans before mixing them in a five quart capacity pot with the bay leaves, celery, onion and water, bringing everything to boil before reducing the heat, covering the pot and then cooking for around 90 minutes until the be`ns are tender. Once they are tender, you can stir and mash them in the pan before adding the remaining ingredients and then uncovering the pot. Cook everything in this manner until the mixture is creamy, before removing the leaves from the mixture and then serving everything over rice.

Bloodshot Red Ghoul Eyes (Spooky Deviled Eggs)

What You Need:

3 C of hot water
2 T red food coloring
1 T of white vinegar
6 hard boiled eggs, cracked but not peeled
1/3 C of mayonnaise
1/4 C of green onions, chopped fine
2 T cilantro, minced
2 t Dijon style mustard
12 ripe olives, sliced
1 t ketchup

How to Make It:

Pour the water into a large mixing bowl.
Add the food coloring and vinegar and whisk to blend together well.
Add the eggs and if the water does not completely cover the eggs add more hot water.
Let the eggs stand for 30 minutes.
Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and peel.
Cut the eggs in half.
Remove the yolks and place in a small mixing bowl.
Place the whites on a platter and set aside.
Mash the yolks with a fork.
Add the mayonnaise, onions, cilantro and mustard and stir until well combined.
Stuff the egg whites with the egg yolk mixture.
Press 1 slice of the olive into the egg yolk mixture.
Fill the center ring of each olive slice with a dab of ketchup.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.

These devilled eggs are gruesome looking but really taste great and they will be the hit of the party.  For the best bloodshot effect serve them within 2 hours of preparation.

Makes 1 dozen

Total Time:  Approximately 25 minutes

Fruity Ghosts on a Stick

It just turns out that pears are just the right shape for making spooky ghost treats! These are an interesting alternative to the traditional candy apples.

Ingredients:

Wooden craft sticks, like for a popsicle
6 medium sized pears
10 – 12 squares of almond bark (2 ounce squares)
Handful of mini chocolate chips for ghostly eyes
Halloween cupcake papers

Instructions:

Line a cookie sheet or other flat serving tray with waxed paper, we aren’t actually putting in the oven so any moveable flat surface is good for this treat. Line up the cupcake papers across the sheet. Melt almond bark following the package directions. Poke craft sticks firmly into the pears. Dip each pear into the melted bark, you can use a spoon to help evenly coat the entire pear. Place each one in a cupcake paper, standing up as much as you can get it to. Place mini chocolate candies for face decoration. You can use any leftover almond bark to spoon ghost tails into the paper cups. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

Halloween Banana Bites

What You Need:

4 bananas, peeled and cut into bite size chunks
2 t Halloween sprinkles
2/3 C semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 C milk chocolate frosting

How to Make It:

Cover a serving plate with wax paper.
Place the banana chunks, cut side down onto the wax paper.
Place a toothpick into each banana chunk.
Place the banana chunks into the freezer for 20 minutes or until hard.
Place the Halloween sprinkles into a small cup and set aside.
Dump the chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl.
Microwave the chips on high for 60 seconds.
Remove the melted chips and stir until smooth.
Place the frosting into the bowl with the melted chip.
Stir the mixture until blended together well.
Place in the microwave on high for 15 seconds.
Remove and stir until the mixture becomes a dip consistency.
Remove the bananas from the freezer.
Dip each banana into the melted chocolate mixture until completely covered.
Sprinkle each dipped banana with the Halloween sprinkles.
Place the banana chunks back onto the wax paper.
Put the all the dipped banana chunks back into the freezer for 1 hour or until the chocolate has completely hardened.

If the chocolate frosting mixture begins to harden before you have all the bananas coated place it back into them microwave and heat on high for 10 to 15 seconds or until soft. Be sure to stir the mixture before you resume the dipping process.

Makes 10 servings

Preparation Time: approximately 15 minutes
Freezing Time: approximately 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time: approximately 1 hour 35 minutes

Nutritional Information (approximate values per 2 chunks)
Calories 190; fat 8g; sodium 0 mg; carbohydrates 30g; sugars 23g; protein 1g

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