We love Halloween around here, it’s our favorite holiday! 👻
Now that I’m retired (true story), I’ve whipped up several batches of my famous pumpkin chocolate chipcookies this fall. They’re super famous in our house, a cozy fall favorite that fills the whole kitchen with cinnamon, nutmeg, and chocolatey goodness.
When Eben was little (y’all, he’s 24 now and finishing his Master’s degree!), Mr. Sweet Greens used to read us spooky stories in the dark by candlelight. Those were the best nights, a little creepy, a lot cozy, and full of laughter.
I’m secretly hoping Eben comes home sometime in October so we can watch a scary movie together. Fat chance though, he’s busy these days with school, work, teaching, friends, and a lovely girlfriend! (I can’t really blame him!)
At our house, we fill October with all the fun fall traditions, baking, pumpkin carving, long walks, and yes… Mr. Sweet Greens has been “making” me rewatch all of the Harry Potter movies. I’ll admit it, I slept through most of them the first time around.
Now that we live full-time in the mountains of North Carolina, I get to soak up all the Halloween and fall magic, crisp morning hikes, colorful leaves, and small-town festivals that make autumn feel like home.
So tell me, does your family have any Halloween traditions? Costumes, movie nights, spooky books, or fall baking favorites? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!
My family loves Halloween, it is our favorite holiday! You get to dress up like anything you want, decorate your home with pumpkins and ghosts, spend time sipping hot apple cider with family and friends, and then, there are the goodies! Oh my! What’s not to love?
Well, I am not a fan of treats packed full of artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, or high fructose corn syrup or the tons of non-recyclable candy wrappers! Instead, I like to choose goodies that are good for my family and the environment!
Read on to learn my favorite 6 healthier sweet treats for Halloween and give a couple a try this year!
1. YumEarth If you are looking for yummy, natural, and organic sweet treats that your whole family will love, look no further than YumEarth. All of their Halloween goodies are incredible! These yummies contain NO artificial colors, flavors, or high fructose corn syrup. These are a staple at our house during Halloween. We are huge fans of the pomegranate pucker lollipops! And all of YumEarth’s goodies are gluten-free and vegan too! Perfection!
2. Bitsy’s Brainfood If your child loves cookies (who doesn’t?), put these treats on your grocery shopping list! With yummy flavors. They are baked with veggies! We love them!
3. Unreal Candy I have to admit Eben loves a sweet treat – and while we like his sweet spot to be satisfied with whole fruits – he enjoys a candy treat here and there. Unreal Candy fits that bill! We were talking about making our Unreal Candy caramel apples last night. Made with NO artificial colors or flavors, high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, and NO GMO’s! We keep these on hand for the trick or treaters, as ice cream toppings, and even used them (but up) on our caramel apples this year! They are available at your local retailer and taste better than their toxic-chemical counterpart.
4. Plum Organics You may know Plum Organics for their certified organic foods for babies and toddlers, but now the company is offering goodies geared especially for the older kiddos! The new certified organic goodies include applesauce mashups! Yummy for Halloween and every day!
5. CLIF Kid Every year a Halloween favorite at our home is CLIF Kid’s Full Moon Brownie organic Zbar! These are perfect for everyone in your family! Not only are the Zbar’s certified organic, but they are also the yummiest chocolate brownie bar sprinkled with white chocolate chips! Packed full of 12 vitamins and minerals, 8 grams of whole grains – these are the perfect treat for that added boost of energy before your children head out to trick or treat! We pack these for our hiking and paddleboarding adventures.
6. Homemade Organic Treats One of my favorite Halloween treats is those that you make with your children! This October, Eben and I have made organic vegan pumpkin carob cookies, vegan peanut butter cookies, oatmeal cookies, and vegan peanut butter cups! I like to make our own treats because I can ensure that we are only using the freshest, organic, vegan ingredients and it’s a great excuse to spend a day with my favorite person!
How about you – what healthier Halloween sweet treats do you choose for your littles?
I came across a fabulous Pinterest board full of free vintage printables. It’s an archive of thousands of FREE high resolution images of vintage travel posters, botanicals, birds and a lot of other lovely images (like these Halloween images).
These printables are at a high enough resolution that you can print them out at a poster size without the image being fuzzy or pixelated. Just save the image to a flash drive and take it into your local oversize printing center or order online. Once they are printed, you can put them inside a ready made frame with matte and voila, you have a beautiful piece of artwork for a fraction of the cost.
One of my favorite areas to decorate for Halloween is our front porch. It’s the perfect spot to share your Halloween decorations with visitors and neighbors! These painted glass lanterns are one of my favorite projects to pull out of storage every year. They are just so delightful!
1. Spray the glass containers inside and outside.
2. Once dry, paint on the design or face that you would like.
3. Place a rechargeable or solar powered tea light inside.
4. Watch the delight on the faces of your neighbors as they walk by.
Halloween is my favorite holiday – mostly because it is an anything goes, don’t hold back, get as creative as you want, holiday! I have been adding a little spookiness into Eben’s snacks by getting creative with fruits and vegetables. He seems to enjoy these “sweet” treats just as much as a sugary alternative – maybe even more. Read on for 5 spooky fruit and vegetable Halloween treats that I have used as inspiration for celebrating the holiday with my healthy kid.
#1: Jack o’Lantern Fruit Plate
This may be one of the easiest treats in the bunch – simply peel, cut, and arrange a selection of organic strawberries, clementines, blueberries, and grapes and you have a Halloween treat that is sure to please everyone! + Jack O’Lantern Fruit Plate + via Wholesome Dinner Tonight
#2: Veggie Skeleton
Looking for a fun way to get your child to eat more vegetables this autumn? Look no further than this adorable veggie skeleton. This, along with the Jack O’Lantern Fruit Plate would be perfect for your child’s class Halloween Party or your family’s spooky get-together! + Veggie Skeleton + via Feeding Four Little Monkeys
#3: Pumpkin Oranges + Banana Ghosts
Yum! These goodies are definitely calling my name – I bet the bananas would be even better if they were slightly frozen! These would be great for a kids party – just grab and go.
#4: Apple Teeth Treats
While these little yummies might take a little more time to prepare – I bet they are worth all of the compliments you would get at your Halloween party.
#5: Halloween Sweet Potato Fries
I want to whip up a batch of these yummy sweet potato fries to go with Halloween dinner. Not only does my family love them – but the spook factor will win them over for sure.
