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.
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. YumEarth’s Natural Sour Jelly Bean and Organic Gummy Bears and Lollipops are fantastic! 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!
+ Yummy Earth 2. Bitsy’s Brainfood If your child loves animal crackers, put these treats on your grocery shopping list! With yummy flavors. They contain Omega 3’s, Vitamins A, B12, B6, D3, and Folic Acid and No GMO’s. We really enjoyed them – especially the zucchini gingerbread carrot. Yum!
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! Hooray for Eben! The new certified organic goodies include; soft-baked graham bars filled with yogurt, yummy bite-sized granola clusters, squeezable fruit, and yogurt smoothies, fruit, and veggie gummy snacks, freeze-dried yogurt dots, and mini peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. 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?
Many of you may have a family apple-picking adventure on your fall calendar. We try to visit our favorite apple orchard The Historic Orchard at Altapass in North Carolina. We have so much fun hiking through the orchard picking and eating apples as we go!
If you find that you have more apples then you know what to do with after your orchard trip, you can make simple, dried apple slices. These treats are perfect for the school lunchbox. Read on to learn how to make these simple treats in a couple of short steps.
What you will need:
– organic apples
– cinnamon
Directions:
Dehydrating: Line your food-dehydrator shelf with parchment paper. Cut your apples into super-thin slices and arrange the slices on the shelves of your food-dehydrator. Sprinkle with cinnamon and either dehydrate at 135° until crisp.
Baking: Line a baking sheet with a reusable mat or parchment paper. Cut your apples into super-thin slices and arrange the slices on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake in the oven at 225° for about 1.5 hours.
Do you make apple slices during the autumn season?
The 4th of July weekend is here! It’s a weekend of reflection, celebration, and a great excuse for a BBQ!
There are many eco-friendly ways to make the holiday more sustainable. To get you started here are 5 quick tips to make your day of red, white, and blue a little more green.
#1: Think Reusable – Not Disposable
If you will be celebrating the 4th of July at home, choose reusable dinnerware instead of the disposable kind. It will only take a few minutes more to load them into the dishwasher and will save the environment a lot! Consider a great recyclable or compostable alternative if reusable simply isn’t an option. #2: Get it from the Garden
The 4th of July is the perfect time to share the abundance of goodies from your garden with the neighbors. Instead of letting all of those zucchinis and cucumbers go to waste, invite your family and friends over for a vegetarian BBQ and encourage them to bring a vegetarian dish to share – skip the meat and the environment will smile.
#3: Entertain the Kids with Nature Crafts
You don’t have to purchase anything new to entertain the kiddos on the 4th of July, instead, encourage them to create their own to make their own recycled lava lamps, succulent gardens with paint-dipped dinosaurs, or organic pine cone bird feeders. These activities will keep them busy all day long! Other fun options include encouraging them to have a bicycle parade around the neighborhood or a watermelon eating contest.
Instead of purchasing fireworks that only last a few seconds and create pounds of toxic garbage – visit your local park or beach for the community firework show. They are going to shoot the fireworks off anyways, you may as well enjoy the show.
How will you add a little green to your 4th of July celebration?
The holiday season can be downright magical — but it can also be pretty darn wasteful. Despite the fact that 81% of global consumers feel strongly that companies should protect the environment, many of us forsake sustainability for tradition during this time of year.
The reality is, though, that you don’t necessarily have to choose between the two. There are plenty of ways to deck your halls in a way that doesn’t hurt the planet. Here are just a few ideas to provide you with some holiday decor inspiration that’s a little bit greener.
Collect Your Own Greenery
American homeowners (who move every five to seven years, on average) really love their green space. Being surrounded by natural elements will come in handy when you want to decorate your home this year. Take yourself on a little nature walk to gather up some greenery. Branches, berries, pinecones, and other natural materials can easily be turned into garlands, wreaths, centerpieces, swags, and other decor elements. You might pay a pretty penny for imitation versions at the store that are made from plastic, but you can make use of what you already have in your own backyard and save money. Best of all, you can probably compost them after the holidays are over!
Consider a Real Christmas Tree
There’s a lot of debate when it comes to real vs. fake trees. Although it might seem rather wasteful to get a real Christmas tree every year, there’s actually a good argument for this option. Although fake trees can last for years and reduce waste on an annual basis, most artificial trees are made in factories that require the use of raw materials and potentially harmful chemicals before they’re transported long distances. Artificial trees don’t decompose once they’re thrown into landfills, either. Real trees are usually grown locally and on area farms and are carbon-neutral. New trees are planted every year and real trees can also be made into compost. You can even “rent” a Christmas tree in some areas, which allows the farm to actually reuse Christmas trees from year to year. As long as you’re being thoughtful about where your tree goes after the fact, this is a surprisingly sustainable tradition you can keep.
Use LED Lights
When it comes to decorating the tree, ornaments get a lot of the glory — but it’s the lights that keep everything together. Of course, you may be using more electricity during this time of year anyway, given that there are fewer daylight hours available. Instead of relying on incandescent lights, consider switching to LEDs this year. They tend to last longer, will use less electricity, and will emit less heat. When you aren’t celebrating, however, you should unplug the festive lights. Since appliances use electricity even they’re switched off (with a desktop computer using around 80 watts even when it isn’t in use), you can save even more energy by unplugging completely.
DIY, Thrift, or Get Hand-Me-Downs
If your mantle or tree are looking a bit sparse, don’t be so quick to run out to the store for new stockings and ornaments. You can probably DIY some homemade alternatives that will be a lot more meaningful. For stockings, you can use an old sweater to make your own. There are also a number of DIY ornament tutorials that use items like scrap ribbon, sticks, salt dough, recycled paper, or dried citrus to create beautiful baubles. And if you aren’t much of a craft queen, don’t fret. You can probably ask your relatives for some hand-me-downs they aren’t using, especially if their decor style has changed or they have pieces from their own parents hanging around the attic. If all else fails, head to a local thrift store in your area. You may be able to score a bargain and support your local community, all while keeping unwanted items out of landfills.
Because this time of year has become so commercialized, it’s easy to fall into the trap of believing you need all new decor for the holiday season. But if you make use of what you already have and employ a little bit of creativity, you can make your home look perfectly festive while saving money and the environment.
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.
Many of you may have a family apple-picking adventure on your fall calendar. We try to visit our favorite apple orchard 
