Last Minute Halloween Printables

Not in the Halloween spirit? No worries! Slip some spooky yet sassy printables into your picture frames and go from blah to boo in seconds! While you're at it, dress up your digital device with matching cheeky wallpaper!

Get PDF printables here.

Get iPhone and Android wallpapers here.

Happy Haunting!

Murderously Enticing Blood Velvet Cake

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Make your guests fear for their lives but crave dessert. Inspired by Bloody Good Cheesecake, I just did not have the time, fridge space or ingredients laying around to pull this recipe off. With a little Frankenstein-esque brain power, my Murderously Enticing Blood Velvet Cake was born, a half-homemade success. It saves time and money but spares the creepy effect.

Drunken Apple Cider with Shrunken Heads

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The key to any good party is a signature cocktail. For Halloween that means something creepy, preferably straight out of my the witch's cauldron (aka crock pot). No need to spend the party heating up individual cocktails to order, what is this, a short order kitchen? Dust off your crock pot, it is Crocktober after all, and let it flex its muscles a little.

Rotting Deviled Eggs with Creepy Crawlers

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Deviled eggs are a standard party recipe, but go the extra mile for Halloween by letting them rot before serving them to your guests. This recipe is pretty easy, but is time consuming thanks to the extra creepy steps. These were a creepy, tasty treat that really freaked out my guests. Definitely worth the effort! Despite the effort, eggs are a great budget-friendly item at the grocery store. 1 dozen at my local Aldi store costs only $.89 and yields 24 of these spooky deviled eggs. The remaining ingredients are standard pantry items, requiring no additional investment. You'll also score bonus points from your gluten-free and dairy-free friends for this recipe!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

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I received a sample of Splenda Naturals Sugar & Stevia Sweetener Blend from Crowdtap to try in a baked recipe. In the past I have tried splenda and similar products in baked goods and the results have been less than delicious. Past experiments with straight subsitutions of sucralose for sugra have generally resulted in gooey cookies and cakes that fall flat. I have kept my sucralose supply for drinks, cocktails and other liquid sweetening.

I was inspired by the flavors of fall (basic, I know) to give this product a try in my spin on pumpkin bread.
Because the Splenda Naturals Sugar & Stevia Sweetener Blend isn't just straight stevia, it worked into my pumpkin bread really well, in a 1:2 ratio of traditional sugar. Rather than 1 1/2 cups of sugar, I stirred in 3/4 cup Splenda Naturals Sugar & Stevia Sweetener Blend and   I must say, it made for a delicious breakfast on this gloomy Monday morning (and no calorie guilt)!

Apple Pie Chai Chia Pudding

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I love a slice of apple pie, but there's something about it that always made my mom say "no" when I reached for it at breakfast. I always had a convincing counterargument..."but mom, its apples. apples are healthy." She always won. Here I am at 29 still trying to have apple pie at 8 AM. This recipe has become my favorite chia pudding by far. It's like warm apple pie without the guilt. It is easy to make ahead of time, store in the fridge and reheat the apples as necessary. This makes a delicious breakfast or afternoon snack to hold you over until dinner. If you're one for texture (to reminisce about pie crust), try sprinkling some unsweetened toasted nuts on top.

Mason Jar Baking Mixes

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Crafting helps me clear my mind, focus on being creative and relax. This can be anything from decorating and filling my Happy Planner to making greeting cards or gifts on my Cricut. Although my crafting hobby can be tedious, it successfully gets my mind off of work and allows for drinking on the job ❤🍷

Last weekend I found myself headed to a bridal shower. I had gotten the bride a 5 piece baking set, which included an 8-in cake pan, loaf pan, muffin pan, 9"x13" bar pan and a cookie sheet, along with various other kitchen items off of her registry. Although these were all gifts that the bride had asked for, the package still seemed cold and impersonal. This is a feeling that I struggle with often, especially when gifting gift cards or registry items. These gifts tend to lack a personal touch.

I Support the Girls

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With fall comes the tradition of packing up summer clothes and bringing down winter's sweaters from the attic. When I do the last loads of summer laundry and unbox last seasons fluffy stuff, I try to make an effort to set aside items that don't fit right anymore, have grown out of style or I just didn't wear that much. But what about bras? I hate throwing them out, just because they are not a perfect fit. They are expensive, they don't belong in the trash. Someone must need them, but it's hard to find somewhere to donate them, especially once the tags have come off.

In the aftermath of this summers hurricanes, I heard about an organization called I Support the Girls. They do just what I've been dreaming about and they are just the people that I've been hoarding my old bras for. I Support the Girls collects new and used bras and sealed tampons and maxi pads to distribute to homeless women and girls and those affected by natural disaster throughout North America. In the last 20 months, they have distributed over 200,000 bras and 900,000 menstrual hygiene products.

I'm Supporting the Girls

I'm collecting new and used bras, maxi pads, tampons and hotel/sample sized toiletries to donate to I Support the Girls. For more information on what you can donate, check out my infographic below. If you would like to join in on my donation, send me an email (abby@allaboutthebenjamins2015.com), comment this post or reach out to me via Facebook.

Not local to me? Check here for a list of other I Support the Girls locations that need your donations.

World Mental Health Day - My Secret Struggle with Anxiety

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Rock Bottom

Since starting college in Miami in 2006, I have flown nearly 100,000 miles. Throughout school I regularly flew between Florida and New Jersey at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and sometimes Spring Break. After graduating, I started dating Ross and we began travelling together regularly at our birthdays and randomly during the year. We have traveled to Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Orlando, Honolulu, Cancun, Istanbul, the Bahamas, and Punta Cana. I love travelling, packing up, turning off my phone, getting some good nights of rest without the dog pushing me out of the bed, and seeing new places.

My excitement to travel slowly transitioned to fear, starting in May, when I woke up having nightmares before our flight to Nassau. I was wide awake at 4 AM, sick to my stomach until my parents came to drive us to the airport. Once I was at the airport and through the lines of checking my bag and security, I was good.

Seventh Generation Free & Clear Packs - Review

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I tried a sample of the Seventh Generation Free & Clear Laundry Packs for free from the Generation Good Community. I have used other Seventh Generation detergents in the past and loved them, so I had high hopes for these laundry pods.I was really hoping to like these pods. They feature

• Quadruple-Enzyme formula to help remove stains
• EPA Safer Choice Certified Product
• USDA
  Certified Biobased Product - 94%
• All-temperature laundry packs work in hot and cold water
• Effective in HE and standard washers
• 0% dyes, synthetic fragrances and artificial brighteners
• Laundry packs are gentry scented with essential oils and botanical extracts

October - Dance in the Leaves

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October is here and with that comes (at least in the Northeast) changing and falling leaves as the days turn crisp and the nights get cold. Fall has begun and winter is just around the corner, although with the temperature for majority of the last week in the 80's, you would never know. Finally, this weekend we are getting some seasonal weather and I'm getting inspired to dive into everything fall. That means pumpkin spice (yeah, I'm basic, tell me something I don't know), chai lattes, apple cider, fresh squash and my favorite, mulled red wine...basically, if i'ts not a shade of red, orange or brown, get it out of my face.