Halloween Traditions

Happy {day after} Halloween!
What did you do last night?

Halloween Rewind: Halloween 90's Style; Tifi's Pumpkin

Its was pretty low-key day for us.
Church in the morning
and then volunteered at a
giant Fall Fest tonight.
This was the first year
that I didn't dress up.
I'm kind of sad that
the Dorothy streak
is over but
luckily her Aunt Judy bought her
her own costume so
Tifi's streak is just beginning.

One tradition
that I did keep this year
is chili and cornbread for dinner
on Halloween night.

Growing up my dad always took a vacation day on Halloween.
When we got home from school
the pumpkin would be carved
(with cinnamon sprinkled in the inside to give off a nice scent),
the chili and cornbread would be ready
and the spooky music would be playing.

Although my recipe is really different from his
I like the idea of
remembering him through carrying on his traditions.

{Don't Tell Them Its} Vegetarian Pumpkin Chili
15.5 ounce can each of dark kidney beans, light kidney beans and black beans, drained and rinsed
15.5 ounce can of petite diced tomatoes, drained and rinsed
3 - 4 cups water (depending on how thick you like it)
1 cup pureed pure pumpkin
2 jalepenos, diced
2 tablespoons crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika

1. Combine all ingredients in crock pot.
2. Cook on low for 5-6 hours.
3. Serve with cornbread and enjoy.
*Seriously, if you have picky eaters don't tell them its vegetarian but especially don't tell them it has pumpkin in it. Even if they notice there's no meat, they'll never realize that any pumpkin was involved.

Spicy Vegan Cornbread
1 1/2 cups yellowcorn meal
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 14.5 can corn kernals
6 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
3 jalepenos, diced
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup almond milk
3 tablespoons oil (I used coconut)
2 teaspoons honey

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease an 8 inch iron skillet or pan.
2. Combine flax seed and water using the egg substitute trick.
3. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt in a medium sized bowl.
4. In a seperate bowl combine the flax mixture, honey, oil and almond milk.
5. Add the almond milk mixture to the dry ingredients until just moistened.
6. Stir in the corn and jalepenos.
7. Pour into prepared pan and bake 20-25 minutes.
*If you don't care to make this vegan you can substitute an equal amount of regular milk for the almond milk and 2 beaten eggs for the flax mixture.


Hope you had a great weekend! What costume did you wear this year?

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