Tag Archives | halloween treats

6 Healthier Halloween Sweet Treats for Green Kids

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!

+ Yummy Earth

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! 

+ Bitsy’s Brainfood

 

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.

+ Unreal Candy

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!

+ Plum Organics

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.

+ CLIF Kid Zbar

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?

5 Spooky Fruit and Vegetable Halloween Treats for Healthy Kids

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

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is HalloweenVeggieSkeleton-742x1024.jpg

#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.

+ Pumpkin Oranges + Banana Ghosts
+ via Kid Party Food Ideas

#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.

+ Apple Teeth Treats
+ via All Recipes

#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.

+ Halloween Sweet Potato Fries
+ Simply Jillicious

Organic Recipe: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Eben and I are a little obsessed with pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. It’s only September 9th and we have already baked a huge batch. They are delicious. We have been baking these together since he was a toddler and now that he is a teenager, we have the recipe memorized. They make our house spell like pumpkin heaven. You should definitely make a batch – here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 cups organic flour
  • 1 tsp organic baking powder
  • 1 tsp organic baking soda
  • 1 tsp organic cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp organic nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 cup organic butter
  • 1 1/2 cups organic sugar
  • 1 tsp organic vanilla
  • 1 egg or egg replacer
  • 1 cup organic pumpkin
  • 2 cups organic chocolate chips or vegan chocolate chips

Preparation:

1. Combine organic whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl and mix together.
2. Add butter and sugar in a stand mixer, mix well. Add vanilla, egg and pumpkin and mix well. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix well on medium speed. Add organic chocolate chips and stir together.
3. Bake in traditional oven at 350 degrees for 18 minutes.
4. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes and enjoy.

What is your favorite fall cookie?

 

7 Simple Ways To Green Your Halloween

Halloween is quickly creeping up on us and it’s time to start planning. It’s a good idea to start early to prevent any last minute trips to the store to buy Halloween stuff that has a high-impact on the environment and your health. The best part about Halloween is that you can use many things that you already have in your home – things that you can use to decorate, plan a party, and use as costumes. Let’s get started with my 7 favorite ways to green your Halloween.

1. Repurpose
In our new space, we have a large entry way on the main level that I wanted to decorate for Halloween. However, I didn’t want to purchase anything new – I took a look around my home for things that I could repurpose into Halloween decorations. For example: I took the large glass jars that usually hold flour and sugar in our kitchen and transformed them into apothecary jars full of scary items. The idea is to get creative and use what you already have on hand.

2. Reuse
Since Halloween is our favorite holiday we have a lot of decorations that we have been using for years. I like to find my Halloween decorations at our local thrift stores or we make them ourselves. Since these decorations are only used in October – I don’t feel the need to buy new decorations every year saving us money and saving the environment. Other ways to green your Halloween would include reusing costumes, swaping with a friend or using pieces from an old costume to make a new one.

3. Do It Yourself
A couple of years ago, the mister made a spooky picket fence and tombstones for our front yard. These were made using salvaged wood that we saved from a construction dumpster and no-VOC paint. He has also made two tombstones for our front yard – this time using a salvaged wooden palette that he found in a dumpster. Again, you want to get creative and find new uses for items that are no longer being utilized.

4. Treats
When it comes to Halloween candy – try to go organic and buying less is always better. Yummy Earth has a great selection of lollipops and gummies that fit the bill. If you are going the chocolate route, choose chocolates that are fair-trade and organic, if possible. And when it comes to candy packaging, you want to choose the candies that are minimally packaged.

5. Party Supplies
Almost every Halloween we have a party – some things that I do to keep the party as eco-friendly as possible are: using cloth tablecloths and napkins for the table, skipping the disposables and using our every day dinnerware and making the food ourselves, rather than purchasing pre-packaged items. When it comes to treats for the kiddos, we keep the goody bags minimal and try to choose the most eco-friendly items to go inside.

6. Pumpkins
Every year when we take our annual fall trip to North Carolina, we visit our favorite organic pumpkin patch to pick up pumpkins and gourds. We enjoy spending the entire day at the farm supporting the local farmer and community. The idea is to think local when it comes to picking your pumpkins, support a local farm rather than picking up the pumpkins at the big-box store. And don’t forget to bake the seeds for a yummy treat and use the pumpkin for baking when the holiday is over.

7. Bag It
There is no need to purchase a new Halloween trick or treat bucket for your child each year. I understand that your child wants the Star Wars bucket that matches their Halloween costume – believe me I have been there. If you do purchase one, it should be a one-time purchase, choose a bag that can grow with your child or use a reusable shopping bag or a pillowcase. Eben received a cool pillowcase-like Halloween bag many years ago from his Godparents – and he still uses it to this day!

What ways do you green your Halloween?