WIAW: Dia de los Muertos

Happy Halloween, all the way from Montana. Though we had no real plans for the holiday, I managed a last minute costume for trick-or-treaters - let's just say that the rest of the costume involved black leggings with sequins (but the best part was Scrappy's matching collar!). Apparently it wasn't too bad of a choice since I just got hit on by a group of high school? err, middle school boys? at the door. Perhaps that was my fault - after all, I did tell the one boy that I liked the pikachu pillowcase he was using to collect candy.

With the general lack of trick-or-treaters though, we have about half a bowl of candy left. Even worse, it's all of our favorites - Snickers for me, Peanut M&M's for Trevor. Plus, the credit union where I work has been celebrating "customer appreciation month" since the start of October, I've eaten far too much candy - after all, there's been a huge bowl of it just four feet from my desk. Ugh.

While I'd like to say that this post is going to be full of healthy salads and carrot sticks to balance out all of the chocolate - it's not. Instead, we've been eating lots of filet, lots of bratwurst, and too many sweet potatoes in an effort to battle the cold weather that's settled in. (Though today's sunny 60's weather just might be proving me wrong.)

Today, though, in honor of Dia de los Muertos - and my love of Mexican food - Trevor made the world's best nachos for dinner. You may think I'm exaggerating but really people, chicken? smoked cheddar cheese? guacamole? salsa fresca? I've never had better. That's why I thought I'd share them for this week's What I Ate Wednesday, hosted by Jenn over at Peas and Crayons. (Was my last WIAW post really in September?!)

Making your own is easy, so easy, that I'm not even giving you real directions. For these, we combined Nacho Cheese Doritos and Mission Tortilla Chips - healthy, right? Then, we topped them with sauteed chicken prepared with taco seasoning. The key to nachos is in the layers and the next was made of refried beans, black beans, sweet corn, red onion and poblano peppers. The cheese on top? Grated smoked cheddar and monterey jack.

We suggest baking at 450 until the cheese is melted. Though a spring form pan isn't a typical choice for baking nachos, it worked out perfectly for our heaping pile of chips and melted cheese.

After the nachos come out of the oven, you'll want to top them with heaping piles of guacamole and salsa fresca. While you can find my favorite guac recipe here, salsa fresca is simple! Simply combine red onion, roma tomato, scallions and cilantro to taste. Then, toss it in a mixture of vinegar and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper, then pile it on top of your nachos... as well as breakfast the next day. To be completely honest with you, it has become a staple in our house lately.

For now, I'm off to watch a scary movie with Trevor - I'll try not to eat my fearful emotions and consume the still half-full bowl of candy on the table. Considering another group of non-costumed teenager boys just knocked on the door, I'm finding that awfully difficult.

"Trick or treat!"
"Nice costumes. What are you guys supposed to be?"
"I'm a teenage boy."
"Creative."
"God you're hot."

I'll take that as a compliment. Apparently I must not have gained ten pounds from all those Snickers I've eaten.

What's your favorite Halloween candy?

Ten on Tuesday: Howl-O-Ween Theatre

With the creepiest of holidays approaching, even the horror-movie averse find themselves searching for an appropriate film to get in the Halloween spirit. Being unknowledgeable in the realm of scary movies, I recruited my boyfriend (also known as Rudedog Chew) for his cult film knowledge. I'm excited to say that this Ten on Tuesday list will provide you with more than enough films for the last week leading up to Halloween.  And, I'm proud to say, I've even made it through a few of the movies on this list... Though, I guess that means they might not be that scary. After all, we all know that I only watch horror movies under a blanket with desperate pleas to change the channel. While making this list, we thought of countless films worthy of watching but hopefully these ten will leave you unable to pick up the remote. Though you likely won't find these classic films in RedBox, you can click on each title to rent or purchase the film from Amazon.


But, without further ado, here's Trevor to tell you just which films to see this Halloween season:


1// Bram Stoker's Dracula is the truest-to-form Dracula movie we've seen. And, since it's directed by Francis Ford Coppola, from costume to storyline - everything's epic til the end. (Plus, it's kind of a love story, so it get's Jen's approval, too.)

2// The Crow will always be known for it's unfortunate on-set mishap. That being said, it's also the film that put Brandon Lee over the top despite his untimely death during the movie's filming. As an added bonus, it has a cool soundtrack. Very gritty and very dark, it's a perfect film for Halloween.

3// Wolfen is a suspense-thriller that follows Native America lycans as they commit murders through the South Bronx. A seasoned police detective unearths the truth about the situation and has to take the law into his own hands.

4// House of 1000 Corpses is Rob Zombie's 2003 take on the 1980's retro horror films. For that reason, we suggest you watch Wolfen or The Howling before this cliche tale of teenagers lost in the backwoods of Texas. Though the story line might be unoriginal, the film features Rob Zombie's own macabre style and is definitely worth a watch.

5// 30 Days of Night is about the only vampire movie that Jen can stand, let alone watch with her eyes open . The vampires are bad ass; the thought of 30 Alaskan days without sunlight, terrifying. And well, you do the math.

6// Nightbreed is full of cool costumes and cooler monsters. This film by Clive Barker tells the tale of a town of monsters and mutants who must escape from the terror brought on by a psychotic serial killer (played by famous director David Cronenberg) and redneck vigilantes. If you have any doubt about watching, it may help to know that the film features our fine American actor and York, PA native, Craig Sheffer.

7// The Lost Boys is a cult classic that features perhaps the creepiest of actors, Keifer Sutherland and one of the 80's favorite pairs, the two Coreys. The movie tells the story of a family harassed by teenage vampires after moving to a California beach town plagued with strange deaths.

8// The Exorcist III may not be the most obvious choice but with Brad Dourif's performance as the Gemini Killer, a demon who haunts Father Karras' soul, the film is even more bone-chilling than it's predecessors. And for those of you wondering, this horror story makes sense even without having seen the first film in the series.

9// The Howling features a rehabilitation center, The Colony, whose werewolf residents aren't expected by the TV newswoman sent to live at the center .. Really, hippie werewolves, what more could you ask for?

10// Pumpkinhead is another cult classic, released in 1988. In this creepy tale, a man conjures a gigantic demon to seek vengeance against the teenagers who were responsible for his son's death.


So tell us, what are your favorite Halloween movies? 
Jen's? Halloweentown.