Healthy Halloween Tips

Is there any possibility that we can skip past October 31st and pretend like Halloween never happened?

Call me bahumbug, but it really is my least favorite day of the year! Maybe it’s the creepiness,  my distaste for dressing up, the extra effort it all requires, or the toxic handfuls of “treats” passed out to small children. Either way, now that I do have young children and they think Halloween is fun, I have no choice.

If you know me, you know that my kids don’t eat candy. In fact, if you go with us to the grocery store, you will most likely hear my 4 year old pointing to everything on the shelves that is colorful and loudly declaring, “Momma, that is yucky food coloring!”

Of course, there was one time he was actually pointing to an apple, so I corrected him with “No honey, that’s an apple and Jesus made it red.”

There was another occasion at the grocery store check out line where my precious 6 year old loudly shared with the little boy behind us who was picking out a bag of M&M’s that “that’s not healthy. You shouldn’t eat that.” But don’t worry…my daughter then quickly turned to me and asked, “Can I have one?” Ha!

What can I say?! My efforts aren’t entirely in vain, but my children are real kids and have real life desires!

So, in our house, we have a annual visitor named, “The Great Pumpkin.”

The Great Pumpkin comes every year in the middle of the night and takes the candy back to candy land. In return, he leaves a present for the full bucket of candy he collects.

It’s a win-win, right?!

Here’s how it worked specifically for us last year:

• My kids got dressed up and enjoyed the experience of carrying their plastic pumpkin door-to-door declaring, “Can I have some candy?” (We are working on having a “Trick or Treat” this year.)
• Then, they each got to eat 2 pieces of candy…1 while trick or treating and 1 afterwards. However, the candy they chose could not have any food coloring or high fructose corn syrup. (Yes, this involved my sitting on the floor and reading every! single! label! until we FINALLY found a piece of candy that was Season Johnson approved.)
• After they enjoyed their 2 pieces, they placed their toxic filled pumpkins…uh hem, I mean candy…in front of the fireplace.
• Then, they wrote a letter to The Great Pumpkin and went to bed so that The Great Pumpkin could come and leave surprises.

Last year, Selah received a princess dress, and Kicker received a sword and shield.

And the candy…we dumped it in the trash. I am just NOT going to donate it to the less fortunate, send it to soldiers or save it until next year. It’s not worthy of  consumption, especially by anyone that I care about!

Here’s a few additional ideas to make Halloween Healthy:

Breakfast:

• Sourdough Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins/Loaf – This recipe is delicious and nutrient dense. My kids know that it is Halloween morning because they get this special treat! Also, make sure to use Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips because they are soy-free and refined sugar-free.

Snack:

• Mini Pumpkins – These are tangerines with a celery top.
• Ghosts – These are bananas with chocolate chips for eyes. You can attach the chocolate chips with nut butter.
• Dinosaur Blood – This is freshly squeezed juice made of an apple, orange and beets.

Dinner:

• Pumpkin Casserole – This is a hearty, delicious dinner full of healthy fat and protein. It also has a sweet taste that your kids will love! To make it even more special, serve it in a carved out mini pumpkin!

 

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