Halloween Treats: Fried Brains (Spaghetti Fritters) and Green Goo (Avocado Pudding)

This Halloween post is two weeks late because we have been fortunate to have both my parents and Anthony's parents visiting over the past two weeks. While the day is past for goulish-themed meals, I hope you can still enjoy the recipes and pictures.

My kids love spaghetti, but the individual noodles are so slippery that there are always more noodles sliding out of their mouths than are wriggling their way in.  This frustrates all of us, as they zealously dig in to their meal, but end up dropping most of it on the floor.  I decided to make the spaghetti more finger-food friendly by pulsing it in the food processor, forming it into patties, and making a pasta pancake of sorts. This worked well for Sawyer, but when Abiline saw me slurping my own full-length spaghetti, she still wanted mine. I think she just likes sucking off the sauce and discarding the noodles.  The measurements are approximate on this one, as you can of course use whatever ratio of sauce to noodles that you like, or whatever leftovers you have on hand.

1 cup cooked spaghetti
1/3 c. marinara sauce
1 Tbsp. tahini
1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast (optional)
1/4 c. cannellini or  garbanzo beans
Olive oil for frying

Place the beans in a food processor and puree. Add the noodles, sauce, tahini, and nutritional yeast, and pulse to combine, just until the noddles are in bite-sized pieces.  Heat 1-2 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium heat (enough to coat the whole pan), and fry until browned and crispy, 3-5 minutes per side.





While the spaghetti fritters were more popular with Sawyer, Abiline is the number one fan of the green goo. This pudding has been part of a rebirth of her love of baby-food consistency dishes. When Abbie was first trying solid foods, she loved bananas and avocados, but then she quickly decided that she would prefer to eat the food off my plate rather than any baby mush.  Now, with numerous teeth coming in, the avocados and bananas are back in her good graces, along with oatmeal, yogurt, and soggy cereal. But you don't have to be a baby to enjoy this--just adventurous enough to pair avocados with sweet instead of salty.

1 medium, fully ripe avocado
1/2 medium banana
1/4 c. plain non-dairy yogurt
1 1/2 Tbsp. coconut sugar or sweetener of choice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. spirulina powder (for a deeper green color, which I think is more appealing)
1/4 tsp. coconut extract (optional)

Blend all in a food processor or blender until completely smooth. Serve chilled.

And now, finally, some cute Halloween pictures. If you are wondering why there are no pictures of Sawyer in his costume, that is because he decided that he doesn't like wearing costumes. Anthony was thrilled to wear the super-hero costume instead--along with Abiline's ladybug antennae, which I think hurt her head.