With Halloween fast approaching, I like to prepare early for all those trick-or-treaters by stocking up on plenty of sweets ready to hand out on the day. The problem is, will there be any left by the time Halloween actually arrives?
Yes, I admit it, I have a sweet-tooth.
The best thing about snacking for those with no will power like me is not to have these goodies in the house to begin with. But a little bit of what you fancy never did you any harm, right?
Then again, things have changed over the years when it comes to nutrition with increasing evidence that actually, snacking is good for us, if it’s the right kind of snack.
For instance, by reaching for a handful of salt-free roasted almonds instead of a bag full of sweets, not only are you giving yourself a nutrition-filled boost to your general health and well-being, but you are also helping to lower LDL, the ‘bad’ cholesterol.
In fact, the more I read about nutrition and diets, the more proof there seems to be that healthy snacks reduce blood sugar levels, give us more energy and help us lose weight. The benefits are endless.
I had never seen such an array of spooky treats for Halloween as when I volunteered to help out at my son’s first Halloween party during his kindergarten year in California. As I’ve said before, Halloween was very different for me growing up in England; I marvelled at ‘monster-hand’ see-through, plastic gloves filled with popcorn, ‘Vampire Teeth’ Candy Corn and ‘Sour Worms’ crawling through crushed chocolate cookie ‘dirt’. All great fun.
But it’s not until needing to come up with a Halloween-themed starter for a dinner party last year that I tried to think of something not only terrifyingly tasty but healthy too.
So I made this:
Eyeball Soup ~
Watch out, I’m keeping an eye on you…
(c) Sherri Matthews 2015
This couldn’t be more simple to make by using either your own home-made tomato soup, or, if pushed for time as I was, the ready-made low-salt option. The soup I used here is actually a basil tomato, hence the ‘bits’ floating around for a spookier, streaky touch.
Most supermarkets sell low-fat buffalo mozzarella which I used for the eye-ball by forming the ’rounds’ with an ice-cream scoop. A stuffed green olive plonked in the middle makes for a wonderfully, googly pupil with a bit of red in the middle for a nice blood-shot effect.
Tasty and healthy, more ‘light bite’ (pardon the pun) than snack, but even with the sharpest of teeth, Dracula himself can sip the soup without worrying about needing a bigger belt. Pretty fang-tastic, I would say.
After all, what could be better than a selection of spooktacular snacks that thrill and chill without frightening the waistline?
Happy Healthy Halloween Snacking!
A View From My Summerhouse 
Ha Ha! Great post Sherri, Love the look of this soup, even more so knowing that it is a healthy choice 🙂
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Haha…thanks Edwina! It’s so easy to make…my kind of cooking! Have a great weekend 🙂
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That’s why I like it! Happy Weekend to you too 🙂
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LOL! Thank you! 🙂
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You know Sherri, I’ve always thought you were sweet and normal, until I saw that soup. Now I’m watching you! Just kidding, you have a wonderful creative imagination!
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Haha…well, now you know the real me Donna! And I’m glad you’re watching me…making sure I don’t get into trouble, lol! Hope all is well with you, always love to hear from you… 🙂
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Yummy looking soup Sherri. . .if we’re not put off by the eyeball, lol. Yay, healthy snacks is where it’s at for many. That’s my snack of choice, roasted nuts; full of fibre, protein, and low on carbs! 🙂
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Lol!! Yes…makes for some interesting dinner talk and I’m the squeamish one 😉 Roasted nuts are a miracle food aren’t they? Thanks Debby, have a wonderful weekend 🙂
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Love your eyeball soup, but my goodness you gave me a fright. I thought I’d just lost three weeks of my life!!
Jude 😀
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Oh no!! Sorry about that…but at least it tastes good! Thanks Jude 😀
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Great fun! You are ready well in advance I’d say ……….
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Haha…yes, and normally not so, but then again, it’s easy to blog about it, another to do it… 🙂
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Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
Sherri Matthews gearing up for Halloween with some healthier snacks than usual. The eyeball soup should get everyone nicely terrified..
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Terrifyingly tasty I hope…haha! Thanks so much for the reblog Sally 🙂
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Spooktacular indeed! Great fun with the soup thing Sherri – I love stuffed olives!
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Haha…indeed! Yes, me too Jenny…who knew they would have such a fun alternative use 😉
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Hum…I’m not sure I could eat soup that’s watching me. 🙂 As for almonds, I eat them every day for lunch. They’re not only delicious, but extremely good for you. BOO! ❤
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Haha…well, you could always eat the eyeball first Jill 😀 Definitely, love almonds..and you just made me jump!!! 😀 😉 ❤
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Dear Sherri:
Another thing we have in common: a sweet tooth. I totally agree about substituting healthy snacks for the yummier, but bad for us ones. I find the more I eat healthy, the less tolerance my body has for unhealthy. It literally can’t process it. Now that doesn’t mean that when I take my kids to the movies tomorrow to see the Martian, I won’t indulge in a bag of miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups, but, overall, I do try and watch.
Love,
E
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Oooh…and why not? Never a better time to indulge than when taking the kids to the movies 😀 My favourite in the States were Mike & Ike’s or Red Vines. Yummy….! I know what you mean though about tolerance. We have to trick ourselves into the healthy foods, and then our body is better behaved…to a point! Love to you Elizabeth… 🙂
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It looks yummy! I wish I had some little ones so I could try this: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/509540145318946317/. Fun stuff. The best Halloween party I went to as a kid served us food blindfolded. We were told we were eating eyeballs, but they were really peeled grapes.
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Haha..oh what fun! You and me both Luanne, I wish though… I told my daughter about the peeled grape eyeballs and she remembers doing that at a school Halloween party. She loved this time of year when she was growing up. And…wouldn’t you believe it, we discovered a pumpkln patch a few miles from where we live, right here in the UK! Couldn’t believe it, will blog about it tomorrow. My daughter is 23 and she came with hubby and me…we were all three like little kids, haha 😀
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Ohh, there are no words to describe the differences between Hallowe’en in America and in England. I will never forget my American Hallowe’en experience in 2013. Honestly, far too much for a simple Briton like myself – traumatised for life! xD
What a good idea for healthy snacks, though! Tomato and basil soup, yum 🙂 Although, I would have to pass on the ‘eyeball’, since I hate olives and I can’t eat mozzarella! That’s okay though, I’ll just have ‘blood’ soup 😉
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Yes, and you spell it the correct way too dear Jenny Jen Jen! I remember our chats about it before, so very different our experiences…hope the trauma has settled somewhat! Oh dear…well, as you say, at least the ‘blood’ soup will be tasty just as it is 😉
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Ah, Halloween eyeball soup. It looks splendid and it does look spooky. I thought the bit of red in the middle was very clever. Was it food dye? Good to see you going for low-salt and low-fat options. Never hurts to watch what we eat, and our bodies will thank us for it later.
Halloween has never been big in my life. It really isn’t something my family has ever been into, and even today in Australia not everyone gets into the spirit of Halloween here. That said, it is always nice to see chocolate on sale in bulk this time of the year here and I do get myself a packet or two 😉 Hope autumn is treating you well, Sherri. It feels more like summer than spring here, and I love it 🙂 ❤
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Your Halloweens sound very much like those of my childhood and also still over here, although kids are much more into it now than previous generations. I didn’t even know what a ‘trick-or-treater’ was until I watched the original movie ‘Halloween’ back in the good old 70s and my American friends couldn’t believe it! But we had no such thing over here until recent years. But yes, it definitely is a great time to buy those chocolate deals 🙂 And the red in the middle of the olive is pimento, the green olives come stuffed that way in the jar, very handy for an eyeball snack, lol 😀 And autumn is indeed treating me well dear Mabel, it is a beautiful season, not too cold as yet, still enjoying that late in the season warming sunshine yet with a lovely crispness and freshness to the air. I know how you love your summer sun, I’m so glad you are basking it it and long may it last for you! Have a wonderful week and thank you for sharing your Halloween thoughts with me! See you very soon 🙂 ❤
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Oh I love the LOOK of that soup! And I do love a good tomato basil soup. Who would have thought something so mundane could have such an eerie look to it? Brilliant. I try not to buy candy as I have many very large sweet teeth. I’m getting larger by the day too. 😦 I wasn’t here last Halloween so I don’t know that we get many trick or treaters. I sure don’t want leftovers. Have a wonderful week ahead.
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It’s always hard to judge isn’t it when you move and don’t know how many trick-or-treaters to expect. That’s the trouble with leftovers, we eat them! Maybe if we stock up on eyeball soup we won’t be so tempted 😉 Thank you Marlene, and I hope you have a wonderful week ahead too. Autumn is lovely here right now, hope for you too 🙂
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Sound advice, Sherri. I don’t buy snacks except at Halloween and Easter. My downfall is cheese and rice crackers. Have to put a lock on the refrigerator freezer.
Your eyeball soup is chill-tacular. Mwahaha. 😀 😀 😀
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Oh I hear you Tess, I need a lock too as I also love cheese and crackers 😛 Hubby loves his savoury snacks too, so between the pair of us, we have to watch it 😉 Haha…glad you enjoyed the chill-fest, the hairs are standing up on the back of my neck as I type… 😀 😉
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Must stop thinking, talking, writing about food. It’s Thanksgiving weekend here and I’m stuffed from yesterday. More coming today.
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Oh Happy Thanksgiving Tess, have a wonderful weekend…and be sure to make room for what’s coming later today 😀 😛 😉
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I will. I will. 😀
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😀 ❤ 😀
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Sherri, I love the Eyeball Soup! I’ll serve it with our traditional “finger food”–3″ celery pieces with either cream cheese or peanut butter, and a slivered almond on the end like a fingernail. If you add a streak of pimento under the fingernail like blood, you get lots of gagging!
Happy Halloween, dear Sherri. I have a firm resolve this year. Jim went out and bought two 10lb. bags of candy bars (we have many treat’o treaters as long as Colorado doesn’t get a big snow on Halloween, and sometimes even then.) Jim has self-control, but I do not, so he has hidden the bags in a place where I won’t find them!
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Love your ‘finger food’ Marylin, what a deliciously dreadful snack, and yes, that streak of pimento really adds to the terror! That’s what’s inside the stuffed green olives I use. I should try and streak it across the olive for a more gruesome effect 😀 Thank you dear Marylin, and a Happy Halloween to you too, although I will be doing a few more seasonaly themed posts before the day…can’t help myself, lol! And I think I need Mike to do the same as Jim..just hide those bags of candy bars, as like you, I just can’t resist them 😉
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“Looks” nummy. 😉 I just saw a post (can’t remember who posted it) with a link and pictures to TONS of healthy, spooky snacks from Pinterest. (sp?) You should check those out if you’re on there. They were hilarious.
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Haha…here’s looking at you kid 😉 I took a quick look over at Pinterest (you got it!) and there are some amazingly spooky snacks over there. I’m in awe of people’s hauntingly horrific imaginations 😀
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That soup is proper creepy, the true spirit of Halloween!
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Haha…proper creepy, love that… 😀
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Oh you are a delight, Sherri! That soup is just the right colour for Dracula to sink his fangs into! I’m sure he’d say, ‘Fangs very much!’.
I’d like to see more effect of the hand-full of almonds on my waistline and health report card. And I certainly agree with you about the need to keep the house a junk-food-free zone. Can’t say I do it, but agree it’s good practice.
We didn’t celebrate Halloween over here when I was growing up. It is becoming more popular now with each year and we are seeing a lot more products in the stores and there are many more children out and about on Halloween night. Mostly they visit people known to them in the neighbourhood. We have no children living near us so have had no one daring to trick or treat for a long time. Since it’s never really been part of my life, I would rarely be organised for it if they did come a-knocking.
Enjoy your celebration!
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Lol! I do like to think that’s just what Dracula would say…and then sing something like ‘Fangs for the memory’… 😀 I wonder though if he might sent the eyeball flying through the air if one of his fangs didn’t catch it just right…!
It’s easy to blog about good practices, but actually doing it is another thing, I admit! I like to pretend that if I eat just one of those mini chocolate bars, then I’m doing so guilt-free; the problem is, I then eat two or three, so I may as well have eaten the original size bar! But it’s way too easy to kid ourselves isn’t it? I have to remind myself to keep those almonds to hand…in amongst the chocolate, haha 😀
Your experience of Halloween is just the same as mine Norah. Kids over here to trick-or-treat now (depending on where you live) but it’s still nothing like it is in the States. I would never have known about it until I moved there and then really got into the fun of it, dressing up, taking the kids out trick-or-treating and all that. One year though there was a big scare in LA of some madman putting razor blades in the candy which prompted warnings for parents to search their kids’ treat bags thoroughly before letting them eat anything. Just one more thing to make everyone paranoid. But we never had any problems and it was a fantastic time to meet up with neighbours, some of whom we only really saw at Halloween!
Thanks for bringing smiles to my day with your fun comment Norah…I needed that today and I hope you had a lovely weekend and a great week ahead 🙂
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Haha. Fangs for the memories indeed. That’s a good one from a memoirist! 🙂
I’m sorry to hear that you were in need of smiles, but pleased my comment helped. I hope you are feeling better now.
That razor blade story is awful. We have to be so vigilant, don’t we? I remember years ago there were tales of razor blades being put on water slides. I don’t know if these were urban myths or based on fact. After the finding of poisons and other foreign objects in foodstuffs, I am now very wary of packages that look like they may have been tampered with. Mostly they would be fine, but one never knows. I don’t want to find out the hard way!
Almonds inside the chocolate is always especially nice!!!
Thanks for sharing, Sherri. Have a good week. 🙂
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Haha…Oh yes, I didn’t think of that! Thanks so much Norah. I was having a bit of writing meltdown having discovered that the title I felt was so inspired, and which at last came to me for my memoir, is very similar to another memoir just out. So it was great to smile at your words 🙂 Yes, those scares are a mix of the real thing and urban myths, but as you say, we do need to be vigilant. Almonds make for the best kind of chocolate surprise, for sure! You have a good week too Norah, I’ll be over to asap 🙂
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Your title obviously was inspired! Someone else thought so too. You know what they say about great minds? Pity you hadn’t got in first, but never mind, now you can think of something even better! 🙂 Let me know if you need to brainstorm! 🙂
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Thanks Norah, I really appreciate that! And since I’m just replying to you now, I promised to let you know when I signed up to Twitter and, well, I have, literally just a few moments ago! I’ve decided to jump in at the deep end as I felt it was the right time so long as I keep it small, I hope! I’ve just set up my profile but haven’t got the gist yet of how to use it so haven’t ‘tweeted’ anything and not sure how to follow others yet either. Will get to that when I have a minute. Meanwhile, here is my twitter link, I think!: https://twitter.com/sherrimatt Hope I’ve done it right! 🙂
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I enjoyed this Sherri. I readily admit nearly every time we purchase candy for the kids we have to purchase more because it somehow disappears. Strange how that happens. 😉
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Haha…thanks Lilka, and yes, and I readily admit that I’m glad I’m not the only one…I’m still trying to figure this little mystery out. Perhaps by Halloween we’ll have solved it… 😉
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The secret to not eating the Halloween candy before Halloween is to keep it in it’s original unopened bags. My sister would always place the candy in ziplock freezer bags (yup, she opened the original bags and put them in ziplocks) and then she would freeze the Halloween (or Christmas, or Easter) candy so her children wouldn’t find it before the holiday. However, it was not my niece and nephews that scarfed down the chocolate. My sister ate it frozen, and always had to go out and replenish it before the holiday. If only healthful treats looked like chocolate.
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Oh I love this, thanks so much for sharing! ! I was reading it thinking “what a fantastic idea” and then laughed out loud only to discover that it was your sister who scarfed down the chocolate 😀 (I haven’t heard that expression for so long…’scarfed down’…love it, reminds me so much of my American life 😉 ) I love cold chocolate, so your sister and I have a lot in common by the sounds of it 😛
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I love the eyeball soup you have created, Sherri. It looks so mouth-watering and I can see it being a great hit during Halloween season.
As for a sweet-tooth…well I follow you on that. I don’t buy it now, but my partner does! Trying to keep my will power knowing there is chocolate in the fridge or a big bag of popcorn in the cupboard is very tough. Thank goodness it is satsuma season because I find eating one of those helps take the craving away.
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So glad you like it Hugh, even if it is a little ‘eye-popping’ 😉 I love that it’s so easy to rustle up for Halloween. Oh yes, that old sweet tooth is hard to control isn’t it? But we also share a love of satsumas 🙂 I love that they peel so easily (hope I don’t sound lazy, guess I’m always in too much of a hurry, ha!) and are so juicy and sweet. Love this time of year as I can tell you also do. Thank you for your fun comment Hugh 🙂
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Hi Sherri, I think I get my love of satsumas from the fact that I always found a few at the bottom of my Christmas stocking, along with a few nuts. I can just imagine the faces of children today if they were to find the same at the bottom of their Christmas stockings.
You are so right about me loving this time of the year. I wonder where you got that from?
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Oh Hugh, you and I had the very same at the bottom of our Christmas stockings! I wonder if today kids might expect an iPad or similar…but I better not mention that 😉 Haha…well Hugh, I wonder. Hmmmm…I love that you love this time of year, we’re just big kids at heart 🙂
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I can just imagine you dishing out the goodies in your witches smock, Sherri 🙂 I’m a bit naughty because I like my cashews salted. Sorry! 😦
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Haha…well, funny you should say that Jo, as in my latest post, I did actually pose as a witch at the pumpkin farm we discovered (although I preferred being a pumpkin to a witch…!). Well…I love salted cashews too 😉 As I said, a little bit of what we fancy doesn’t do any harm, salt, sweet or otherwise…that’s my story and I’m sticking to it 🙂
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Looks yummy!
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Thanks Elizabeth, enjoy 😀
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Great looking soup! This is the third post I’ve read on pumpkins. It’s making me crave them…
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Thanks badfish!
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Excellent, Sherri! Clever you!
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Thanks so much Ali!! 🙂
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Sherri my sugar frenzy eating days are rare these days. Although I am a savoury person mostly. Something happened after the children arrived. I craved chocolate….probably stress related when I think about it now. Halloween is not big in Australia, not yet. But I am seeing the supermarket isles fill with all sorts of ghastly looking sweets. We live so far from people we would never get a knock on our door. Not unless the cows have cottoned on to this festivity.
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Hi Kath, Australia sounds the same as the UK: Halloween is catching on but not as huge as it is in America. These cravings do reflect our present state of mind I think. Haha…well, if you do get any cows turning up at your door dressed up in scary outfits, make sure you get lots of photos! 😀
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Ha ha.Love the soup. I doubt I’ll make it for halloween but I’ll keep it ready for some time I want to scare someone. Halloween is getting bigger here although I have to admit I don’t even know the date. We will get a letter with a balloon on it in the letter box on the day. If we are happy for the kids to come calling we blow the balloon up and leave it out. I race around and try and pick up some treats to give them. The little kids come first followed by the older ones. The older ones scare the living daylights out of me so I usually pull in my black balloon, turn the lights out and pretend I’m not home. 🙂
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Haha…thanks Irene! I can just see you having lots of fun with this soup any time of the year 😀 That is so interesting about the letter and balloon you get, and what a good idea! We carve a jack-o-lantern out of a pumpkin, light it and put it outside our front door so that kids know they will get treats when they turn up, but we blow it out and turn off the lights when we’ve run out or want a bit of peace for the rest of the evening. It’s definitely bigger here when I was growing up (non-existant then) but still nothing like in the States. Some of those older kids can be pretty scary…and some of those would have been my kids at one time or another, yikes
😉 😛
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mmmm – I would love the eye the most – that cheese was calling my name! What a fun idea – and nice point about the healthy options- and almonds especially – trader joe’s seems the raw almonds in these little travel packs for under 6 dollars and they are so satisfying – as you note here – and give nutrients – ok – be back later to catch up – oh wait – sound like coolios and flies would go nice with this soup too. ha!
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Haha…yes, Buffalo!! I wish we had Trader Joe’s here. But we can always share a packet of coolios and some flies in the meantime, and how good they taste too! So lovely to have you pop in to the summerhouse again mon amie. Happy snacking 🙂 😀 😉
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when we first moved to VA there was NO trader Joe’s and it was rough. Then one opened an hour away and I would drive there once a month – and then one finally came closer – it surely is a special store.
ok – be back later – and this time for some tea! 🙂 ha! xoxo
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Love it when that happens! And yes, see you soon, the kettle is simmering away and will email you, as soon as I can. Meanwhile, have a great day mon amie 🙂 ❤ xoxo
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🙂 ttys
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