• There is more to Halloween food crafting than the popular pumpkin carving.pumpkin - halloween image by NiDerLander from Fotolia.com
  
  Children might find the kitchen a spooky place full of sharp knives, hot spots, heavy pots and frightening raw foods. Even though Halloween is a time known for unhealthy indulgence, by combining food and crafting, children can create healthy, culinary treats to surely please the palate and feed those monstrous appetites.
  
  

Party Food

• Get children involved preparing the party food by allowing them to embellish a cheese ball. To decorate as a goblin, use tortilla chips as ears, banana pepper for the nose, olives as fingers stuffed with bell pepper triangles for claws, olives as eyes, pepper strips for eyebrows and shredded cabbage for hair. If the sweet tooth is calling, make cupcakes, encouraging the kids to billow frosting to make them ghost shapes; if too young to apply the frosting properly, the children can place candied eyes on the sweet ghouls.
  
  

Healthy Bites

• For a savory treat, whip up some dip with your child. Arrange carrot fingers reaching out from the deep of the dip. Attach fingernails by using a dab of cream cheese to almond slivers and place on the carrot fingers. If desiring a healthy fruit snack, make some sinister eyes by layering dried apple slices, apricots and raisins.
  
  

Treats

• If your children are culinary capable, make the Food Network Kitchen's pecan-caramel spiders together. If they are more recipe remedial, have them insert the legs, arrange the hairy mass of shaved chocolate and arrange those beady eyes. Any level of kitchen prowess should allow kids to transform caramel apples into fun or gruesome monsters. Use assorted candies to build faces, add horns, hair or whatever ghoulish gear the group sees fit.
  
  

Creepy

• Make creepy apple bites by coring and quartering apples. Cut a wedge to form a mouth. Have the children insert slivered almonds to build a monster mouth full of sharp teeth. Make some finger food together by slicing string cheese in two. Use a paring knife to carve knuckles in the fingers. Cut a green bell pepper in fingernail shapes and attach with cream cheese.
  
  

Dinner

• Let the children make a family dinner by whipping up a mummy meatloaf. Shape a meatloaf into a round face shape. Dress with lasagna noodles or bread stick dough to serve as bandages. Use olives for eyes. Using much of the same ingredients, bloody eyeballs can be made. Shape meatballs and insert green olives for pupils. Cook as usual. Arrange a face on a bed of spaghetti.