Concocting Halloween treats that sneak in fruits and vegetables and that are fun for kids can be a gruesome task. The Canned Food Alliance has teamed up with Chef Andrew Schloss to create a spooktacular selection of recipes that would make any ghoul grin.

These nutritious and tasty treats feature canned ingredients that are packed with essential nutrients and screaming with flavor. It's no trick – a University of California, Davis study confirmed that canned, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables provide nutrients needed for a healthy diet, and exclusively consuming fresh fruits and vegetables ignores the nutritional benefits provided by canned products. And these graveyard goodies not only are nutritious, but they're also quick to prepare thanks to the convenience of canned food.

These recipes, courtesy of www.mealtime.org, provide a great balance between offering fun for kids and nutrition for moms. So whether it's a snack for the little goblin or fiendish fare for an annual monster bash, these recipes will do the trick (or treat) anytime.

Munch-A-Roaches

1 can (15 ounces) tropical fruit salad, drained and finely chopped
3 tablespoons butter
1 package (10 1/2 ounces) mini marshmallows
6 cups crisped rice cereal
48 currants or dried blueberries
10 licorice laces, any color

Sandwich the fruit between two layers of paper towel and blot away as much moisture as possible. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat and stir in fruit and crisped rice cereal until cereal is uniformly moistened. Scrape onto a sheet pan and cool.

Wet your hands and form cereal mixture into 24 tablespoon-size, egg-shaped balls (bodies) and 24, 1 1/2 teaspoon-size balls (heads). Stick the heads onto the bodies and decorate with currants or dried blueberries for eyes and small pieces of licorice for legs and antenna. Makes 24.

Eyeball Sub

1/2 cup drained, canned cannellini beans, or other white beans
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon apple butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
8 pitted colossal green olives, cut in 3 round slices
2 cans (15 ounces each) tomato sauce with Italian herbs
1 to 2 small black olives, cut in 1/4-inch dice (you will need 24 pieces)
12 small club rolls (about 5 inches long), split
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F. Mash the beans with a fork, potato masher or food processor until completely smooth. Mix with egg, ketchup, apple butter and soy sauce. Mix into the ground turkey using your hands until completely incorporated. Wet your hands with cold water and form into 24, 1 1/2-inch meatballs, and put on two sheet pans leaving plenty of space in between. Push a green olive ring deeply into the center of each meatball, with the circular side facing up. Mold the meat around the olive into a football shape so that each meatball looks like an eye. Bake for 10 minutes until the meat is cooked through.

While the eyeballs are cooking heat the sauce in a saucepan until simmering, and keep warm. Remove eyeballs from the oven. Dab away any juice from the top with a paper towel and insert a piece of black olive into the hole in the center of each green olive giving each eye a dark pupil. To serve, spoon 1/4 cup sauce in each roll, top with 2 tablespoons cheese and insert two eyeballs side-by-side staring out from each roll. Makes 12 servings.

Halloween Test Tube Shooters

1 package (3 ounces) orange-colored gelatin powder, such as orange, peach or apricot
1 cup boiling water
1 can (15 ounces) peaches, apricots or pears in juice or extra-light syrup, not drained
2 1/4 cups purple grape juice (see note)
1/4 cup hot-chocolate mix (see note)

Mix gelatin powder and boiling water until the powder completely dissolves, about two minutes. Puree the canned fruit in a blender or food processor until completely smooth. Mix with gelatin and divide between 18, 2-ounce test tubes. You should fill each test tube about halfway. Refrigerate until firm. Heat the grape juice in a sauce pan until simmering. Stir in the hot-chocolate mix until it dissolves. Refrigerate.

To serve, fill the test tubes with the grape-juice mixture. Poke a skewer down the sides of the test tube into the gelatin so that the grape-juice mixture flows down creating dark stripes through the orange gelatin. Makes 18 servings.

Note: For adults; in place of the grape juice mixture substitute with 2 1/4 cups sparkling wine.

For more information, visit www.mealtime.org.