Healthy Halloween Themed Snacks
As a mom of ADHD kiddos, I tend to be careful about the foods I bring into my home. Food can make a difference between “reasonable amount of energy” and “descending into utter chaos”, and I try to stay out of the “utter chaos” area as much as possible. So, when holidays like Halloween come around, I have to groan a bit on the inside. Candy. Sugar. Corn Syrup. Food Dyes. Late night. It’s all a recipe for disaster! Making healthy Halloween themed snacks is one way that I combat the looming sugar rush, and keep us from experiencing too much sugar-based distress. Way back when our family was smaller (and our income was higher) I would order in a box of organic sweets for us to use through the holiday season. I liked the YumEarth variety packs, as they gave us a good variety of sweets to choose from. Then I would buy things like organic crackers or chips and it would leave our kids pretty happy! Now, they’re all older, and they know if we touch their precious Halloween candy, and it’s harder to control what comes into the home. Add into that the fact that our budget is significantly tighter than it used to be, and I am finding myself in quite a dilemma this year! I’ve already started to prep the boys for the fact that most of their candy is getting thrown out, but I need to replace it with something fun and enjoyable, so I’ve started to come up with a list of fun and healthy Halloween themed snacks that we can enjoy through the season.
Healthy Halloween Themed Snacks · Jack-o-lantern oranges and Banana Ghosts. This is a fun activity to do with kids! Peel some Clementine type oranges, make “stems” from chopped celery, and decorate the oranges with shapes and pieces cut out from fruit leather! For the ghosts, peel bananas and cut them in half. Melt some chocolate, and dab tiny bits on to create a face. · Celery Spaceships. Another snack that can use fruit leather shapes, cut celery into 3-4 inch long pieces, fill the center with peanut butter, and decorate the top with shapes, raisins, pretzel pieces and organic chocolate chips! · Pumpkin bread. Use your favorite banana bread recipe, but replace half or all of the bananas with pumpkin puree instead! If you replace all the bananas, add in a healthy sweetener like honey or coconut sugar to adjust the taste. Pumpkin puree can also be added to pancake and waffle batter! · Hulk Dip. We have one slightly picky eater, and I’ve found that we can make new foods fun by relating them to superheroes. Hulk Dip is just guacamole with lots of green stuff added. Cilantro, limes, green bell peppers… serve it with cucumber slices! Top a spinach salad with a dollop! Basically, anything green. Because Hulk is green. And eating green things makes them like Hulk! · Fruit Kebabs. This is a fun activity for kids as well – creating patterns on the sticks with the fruit – and it’s a great way to practice some fine motor skills. Buy corn syrup-free marshmallows to make it even more delicious!
Tips for creating Healthy Halloween Snacks Make it fun. Half the excitement of Halloween is being able to dress up and have fun with friends. If you know of another family that is trying to keep their Halloween on the healthier side (for whatever reason) then plan some time to make snacks together! Get the kids involved in setting up the snacks, and creating new treats. Host a party and have your children help set up the snacks. Make plates with your healthy Halloween themed snacks and deliver them to friends. Another tip: Don’t stress. It’s easy to feel like everything needs to be Pinterest Perfect in order for it to “count”, and that’s just not the case. Your kids won’t remember how the lighting was just right. They won’t remember how you wiped up every stray smear of peanut butter. They might remember you fussing when you’re supposed to be letting them have fun, so release the urge to fuss, and just let them be kids. Messy, loud, excited kids.
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