Autumn Pancakes

Autumn Pancakes

This is a great alternative to regular ol' pancakes! Double the recipe and put half of the batter in the freezer for another time!

1/2 c. quick cooking oats
1 1/2 c. boiling water
1 1/2 c. flour (can use whole wheat also)
2 t. baking powder
1/8 t. salt
3 T. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
1 c. milk
1 apple, cored, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/4 c. chopped walnuts
3 T. butter, melted

Place oats in small bowl. Pour boiling water over oats and let stand 5 minutes; set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cinnamon in large bowl. Add oat mixture, egg, milk, apple, nuts and butter; mix well. Cook on a lightly greased skillet like regular pancakes. Enjoy with whatever yummy topping you like.

Witches' Brew

One of our favorite Halloween activities for classroom parties is making a brew from all sorts of snacks and candies with gruesome names. You can either ask the children to provide a baggie of one or two ingredients, or gather them yourselves and hand them out the day of the party. It's especially fun if you or the teacher dresses up as a witch and has a big cauldron to mix it up in. We usually do this at the beginning of the party so that while the kids are at their other stations you can bag it for them to take home. Little ones love hearing the names of things and adding it to the brew. You just need about a cup of the number of items that you have people to give it to... so if there are 25 kids in the class, pick 25 items.

• Ghost Guts (Mini Marshmellows)
• Witches' Warts (Chocolate Chips)
• Withered Animal Carcasses (Animal crackers)
• Earthworm Knots (Pretzel Twists)
• Hollowed Out Fish (Goldfish Crackers)
• Bloated Ants (Raisins)
• Bugs and Beetles (Bugs Fruit Snacks)
• Shrunken Teddy Bears (Teddy Graham Crackers)
• Candied Spider Eggs (Gum Drops)
• Owl Eyes (Kix or Cheese Puff Balls)
• Chocolate-Dipped Houseflies (Chocolate-Covered Raisins)
• Compressed Cobwebs (Honeycomb or Chex Cereal)
• Crumbled Bat Wings (Blue Tortilla Chips)
• Dehydrated Dragon Wings (Doritos)
• Flatted Slugs (Fritos)
• Goblin Belly Button Lint Balls (Skittles or M&Ms)
• Plops of Pigeon Poop (Yogurt Covered Raisins)
• Rat Claws (Shelled Sunflower Seeds)
• Shredded Lizard Gizzards (Shredded Coconut)
• Vulture Toenails (Candy Corns)
• Warts from the White Witch (White Chocolate Chips)
• Dried Scabs (Craisins)
• Caramelized Mothballs (Caramels)
• Vampire Veins (Twizzlers)
• Goblin Fingers (Cheetos)
• Baked Skeleton Bones (Pretzel Sticks)
• Bat Brains (Popcorn)
• Splintered Turkey Bones (Shoestring Potato Chips)
• Tasted Cat's Eyes (Blanched Almonds)
• Dirty Shoelaces (Black Shoestring Licorice)
• Dried Seaweed (Chow Mein Noodles)
• Freeze Dried Drops of Blood (Red Hot Candies)
• Roasted Eyes (Peanuts)
• Boiled Lady Bugs (Red Jelly Beans)
• Braised Beetles (Milk Duds)

Of course you can come up with your own spooky ideas if the foods listed above aren't found in your pantry... If you have kids in the class with allergies to peanuts or other nuts you'll want to avoid those things too. The kids love it!