Traditions. We are all about them. For every holiday. For every special occasion. You might even say our weekly “routines” have become traditional in a sense.
The month of October is no exception. We get giddy with excitement as we carefully plan every outing, every decoration with much detail. We reminisce of Octobers and Halloween of years past… the festivities, the adventures, the memories.
One of our favorite traditions is our 31 Days of Scary Movies (one scary movie every night of October) marathon. Certainly this particular tradition takes a bit more dedication and time than others, but we really try hard to pull it off because all the fun is totally worth it. In fact, we even have a detailed spreadsheet of every possible scary, cheesy and totally kid-friendly Halloween/horror movie out there (you know to help keep us focused).
However, if I am being honest, this year has been more difficult than others to pull off this tradition. Call it a side affect of getting older, being more busy, having more responsibility, having to wake up super early, or whatever; it is so much harder to stay awake during a movie these days. Nonetheless, every night around 9 pm, you can find me curled up on the couch, in my favorite pajamas (don’t worry, I have lots and lots of favorite pajamas) eager to watch our next scary (and sometimes silly) Halloween movie.
And does anyone want to take any guesses of how many Halloween/horror movies I have actually watched from beginning to end so far during these 21 days of October? I think a whopping 6 maybe 7 (and those are on days when I had to stay up late to work)!
Oh well at least I am enthusiastic and give it a good ole college try (oh, speaking of college, I was notorious for falling asleep at the actual movie theater in college… I guess with all that studying I did, and having to juggle a part time job, that was the only time I could get some shut eye!)!
As an incentive to stay awake past 10 pm a few nights ago, Eric decided we needed to whip up a good Halloween treat to enjoy during our movie. We came up with this Mega Monster Munch Popcorn (an adaption from this Bunny Bait I shared a few years ago for Easter); a popcorn loaded with all sorts of our favorite Halloween goodies!
This popcorn was so fun to make together (kids will totally love it and can help make it)! We each picked some of our favorite treats to add (although I was hesitant at first, Eric was instant about the candy corn, which actually was a delicious and festive addition!) and then went to town mixing, drizzling and eating our monster of a concoction!
Go on, grab your favorite spooky movie, whip up a batch of Monster Much Popcorn and make memories!
PS: All this week I will be continuing another Halloween tradition… Ghoulish Grub week on Kitchen Concoctions! Stay tuned as every day this week (through Saturday) I will be sharing some sort or cute, festive, ghoulish treat!
One Year Ago: Graveyard Pudding Pie
Two Years Ago: Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette
Three Years Ago: Eyeball Cookies and Ghost Cookies
Four Years Ago: Espresso Brownies
Five Years Ago: Sesame Crackers
Mega Monster Munch Popcorn
Printable Version
Prep Time: 10 minutes Wait Time: 15-20 minutes Serves: 6-8
Ingredients:
5 cups popped popcorn (plain or light butter)
10-12 Halloween Oreo cookies, quartered
½ cup Halloween/Fall chocolate candies or peanut butter candies
½ cup candy corn
½ cup peanuts (unsalted, lightly salted or honey roasted)
½ cup pretzel twists, broken in half
8 ounces vanilla almond bark or white candy melts
For decorating (optional):
1/3 cup orange candy melts
1/3 cup yellow candy melts
1/3 cup chocolate chips or candy melts
1 tablespoon coconut or canola oil, divided
Directions:
Line a baking sheet with wax paper.
In a large bowl, toss together popped popcorn (any unpopped kernels removed), Oreo cookies, chocolate candy, candy corn, peanuts and pretzels. Set aside.
Place the vanilla almond bark in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 15-20 second intervals, stirring after each time, until almond bark is melted and smooth.
Drizzle the melted almond bark over the popcorn mixture and stir to combine, making sure everything is evenly coated.
Spread coated popcorn mixture in an even layer on wax paper lined baking sheet and let cool, about 15-20 minutes. Break into pieces and serve.
Optional (for additional decoration): Before breaking coated popcorn into pieces; place orange, yellow and chocolate candy melts in three separate microwave safe bowls. Add 1-2 teaspoons coconut oil to each bowl. Microwave each bowl of candy melts in 15-20 second intervals, stirring after each time, until candy melts are melted and smooth. Drizzle melted candy melts over popcorn mixture on baking sheet. Allow mixture to cool, break into pieces and serve.
Adapted from this Bunny Bait recipe and this Monster Munch/Halloween Snack Mix via Lauren’s Latest
Other Halloween recipes you might enjoy:
Mummy Nutter Butter Cookies and Pumpkin Oreo Cookies
Monster Munch Cookies
Casper the Friendly Ghost Smoothie (a.k.a Very Vanilla Smoothie)
Graveyard Pudding Pie
Mini Graveyard Cakes
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