I love Halloween! I hate Halloween!
I love decorating the house, discussing and planning costume options with my 7-year old daughter, carving pumpkins together and planning what we can hand out to the little neighborhood trick-or-treaters.
After Halloween, I hate fussing with my daughter over limiting her Halloween candy. It’s not punitive; it’s about what’s good for her little growing body and excessive amounts of sugar, colorings, flavorings and additives are not good for her — or me either, for that matter.
After the Halloween Candy Battle of 2011, I discovered that my daughter’s pediatric dentist would buy her Halloween candy for $1 per pound. The dental office would then send the candy to US troops serving overseas. She agreed to sell her candy when we decided she could purchase the toy of her choice with the money she received from the dentist. Since then, My Little Pony has become the post-Halloween treat at our house.
However, my daughter’s love for My Little Pony is waning. This year, I’m planning to participate in the dentist’s candy buy-back program while also providing my daughter with fun and healthier options to get her fueled for a longer trick-or-treating session on Halloween night. My mission is to keep her mind off the candy and the money from the dentist in her piggy bank!
Now she is also excited to help create fruit and chocolate-based treats to bring to the gathering of friends before they all go out trick-or-treating. We decided to stick with fruit, veggies and chocolate, which is a more tooth-friendly treat than other candy, according to her dentist. The dentist also recommended staying away from caramels and other chewy candy, hard candy like suckers and lemon drops, plus sugary sweet candies like gum drops and jelly beans.
These are fun to make and fun to eat! I fully expect her to eat at least one of each – and happily turn over her candy at the end of the night. Now I just have to keep her father away from it!
Healthy Halloween Treats: Ghost Pops & Cutie Pumpkins
Healthy Halloween Treats: What You’ll Need
To make the Ghost Pops, you’ll need: bananas, semi-sweet chocolate chips and wooden popsicle sticks.
To make the Cutie Pumpkins, you’ll need: whole mandarin oranges and celery.
Healthy Halloween: How To Make Ghost Pops
Step 1: Peel the bananas. Then cut the bananas in half. (Parents, please help with this step!)
Step 2: Place chocolate chips on the bananas to represent the ghost’s eyes and mouth.
Step 3: Gently push a popsicle stick in the bottom of the banana.
Healthy Halloween: How To Make Cutie Pumpkins
Step 1: Peel the mandarin oranges. (Parents, cut the celery into 1-inch pieces while your kiddo is peeling.)
Step 2: Insert a celery piece into the top of the pumpkin so it looks like a stem.
