Feed 8 for Under $100 with a Green Frugal Feast: Have a Ghoulishly Good Time

It's that time of year again. Oh how I just love an excuse to be someone else for a night. But Halloween isn't about plastic costumes, sugar laden junk food, and artificial dyes. It's really a celebration of the season with the addition of a few quirky details. This year plan a ghoulish get together on the cheap. These ideas can feed a crowd and leave some dough left over for an adult beverage or two.

Instead of carving the pumpkin, turn it into a soup.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, soup is always a great way to feed a crowd and Emeril's Wegmeyer Pumpkin Soup is easy and delicious. Pumpkins are widely available this time of year and they're inexpensive. Use them in all your favorite recipes. And don't waste the seeds, roast them.

Cost: $11.00

Ward off the vampires with this garlic pasta.

If you want to remain free of blood sucking vampires, this garlic pasta might do the trick. Either way, this garlic pasta is inexpensive and packed with flavor and a dish like this goes a long way to feed a crowd. You can substitute whatever vegetables that you have available locally in the pasta but try and use your less sweet vegetables so that the dish is nice and garlicky. Pair the pasta with my homemade focaccia. It's made with ingredients that you likely already have in the pantry and it goes really well with a rustic pasta dish.

Cost of pasta: $26.00

Cost of focaccia: $9.00

Carrot cake cupcakes scream autumn.

I've always been a fan of carrot cake though to be completely honest it's mostly because of the cream cheese icing. Cream cheese icing is my favorite because it has a depth of flavor not present in most icings. I got this recipe from Ina Garten as I do many of my baking recipes because she is just so talented. These sweet potato muffins are a similar concept but they use sweet potatoes. Either way, these sweet individually sized wonders are a great way to end the meal. If you want to decorate the muffins, do it naturally with a curl of sweet potato or carrot.

Cost: $23.00

Wash it all down with a sustainable red wine.

A spicy red wine seems the perfect accompaniment to this ghoulish feast and there are quite a few choices out there today. Planet Green's guide to sustainable wine is a great tool to find good wines.

Cost: $30.00

Total: $99.00