#happyhalloween

Happy Healthy Halloween

Each year I try to come up with healthy Halloween treat ideas yet Dr. Potts is always concerned it is going to end up in our house getting egged.

So far what has worked best for handouts around the neighborhood is nothing healthy - just candy. In this circumstance we try to encourage moderation over avoidance. Fruit alternatives are never exciting, raisins and stickers seem to be a disappointment. Little plastic toys just make me sad for ocean creatures, etc. Suckers, fruit snacks in halloween pouches, pennies sometimes work.

So far what has worked best for my children is buying back the sack of candy. I look at the fair market value and bump it up a little, they love it. Before they saw the value in money I had a nice toy waiting for them to see if they would trade and the toy totally won. There once was a Halloween fairy that came to our house to trade the candy for money but that did not go over well. I’m not over the top anti-sugar (or fun) I just see a trend 7-10 days after Halloween peoples allergies worsen and so do acute illnesses. I’m trying to find the sweet spot between fun and illness. My kids get to keep their top 10-20 favorite candies and we have 1 sweet a day as long as there are no signs of acute illness coming on or major emotional melt-downs. They seem satisfied, I’m pretty happy and we move on to Thanksgiving.

This year I tried a new experiment - individually packed naturally sweet teas, not at our house too risky of an experiment but at a Halloween event. It went over surprisingly well. There were plenty of no thank-you’s and with that response we told a cheesy Halloween joke (see below). Yet there were some fun comments, a girl around 7 stated excitingly that she was going home and having tea tonight. There were plenty “I love tea" comments and even one person who sought out our booth.

Here are some of the picked teas that will be distributed*:

*These links are affiliate links to Amazon, #commissionsearned

Please note: the tea’s that will be distributed were purchased through Frontier Co-op. If I were to purchase them through Amazon these are the ones I would pick but no experience with the sellers.

Stash Double Spice Chai

Stash Maple apple Cider

Stash Pumpkin Spice Tea

Stash Cinnamon Apple Chamomile

Here are some of the reasons these teas were picked:

  • Aroma; aromas are memorable they can help you remember a particular event, emotion, even thought.

  • These spices are warming in constitutional nature, good for a cool evening or morning

  • These spices help digest food

  • One thing about black tea, cinnamon clove, and ginger -they are lovely however heating and drying in nature. Too much can dry out your internal system so think about pairing with your faviorite milk or creamer.

Is your tea not quite right? Try;

  • Adding a splash of your favorite milk to add moisture

  • Adding a splash of apple juice

  • A couple of drops of stevia

  • Consuming while eating a handful of trail mix with dried fruit to enhance the sweet taste in your mouth.

Enjoy a postcard summarizing the blog on Healthy alternatives to Halloween treats

Spark some joy! They are cheesy but fun. Adapted from: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/halloween-ideas/a32998753/halloween-jokes/

What do baby ghosts like to play? Peek-a-boo

Why did the zombie stay home from school? He felt rotten

What make-up does witches wear? Mas-scare-a

Where do spiders shop? On the web

What comes out when a ghost sneezes? Boo-gers!

Why did the zombie finish trick-or-treating? Because it was dead tired

No one wants to go trick-or-treating with Dracula…because he’s a pain in the neck

Why do skeletons walk? So dogs don’t chase their bones

Why do skeletons stay away from Halloween candy? Because they don’t have a stomach for it!

What truck is driven the most on Halloween? A monster truck