The Healthy Mom and Halloween: What to do with all that candy!

Trick or Treat! Yes it’s that time again! Whether or not you participate in Halloween festivities, there is one thing that is hard to avoid this time of year: candy.

In October, if your little ones go trick or treating, attend church fall fests, or even just look cute while standing in line at the grocery store, someone is bound to give them candy! Some parents are more relaxed when it comes to junk food, and the sudden inpouring of chocolate, sticky candies, and jawbreakers doesn’t phase them. However there are others, like myself, who have a hard time allowing their children to undo the last month of healthy eating by binging for the next 3 months on candy full of sugar, artificial colorings, and preservatives. So what is a health-conscious mom to do with all that Halloween candy?

The easy way to solve this problem would be to simply not participate in any of these activities that include candy, but that’s just mean! I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my kids to resent me for keeping them from all the fun October festivities, and I also don’t want to rob our family of those fun memories! So here’s a couple ideas for limiting the junk without inhibiting the fun!

Trick or Trade

At our house, we have a very strict no sugar rule. No, this isn’t because we’re sugar Nazis! When our daughter Paislee was a baby, we found out that both her and I were battling Candida, which is basically an overgrowth of yeast in your body. Those of you who have any knowledge of or experience with Candida, know that it’s no little thing! It took us months to finally get healthy again, and we’ve learned that once you have it, you have to really watch what you eat to avoid getting it again. Because of the huge battle we went through, we just don’t allow sugar into our house. It’s not worth the stress and tears we experienced in the past.

So that definitely makes Halloween challenging for us! When recently thinking about how I would allow Paislee to have fun trick or treating this year, without setting her back health-wise, I came up with this “trick or trade” plan!

The basic idea is that you explain to your child before going out why you don’t want them eating the candy. I believe honesty is always the best policy, and that this situation presents a teachable moment for you to explain why candy isn’t healthy. Paislee knows that we don’t eat sugar because “our bodies don’t like it”, so it was easy for me to just explain that candy is full of sugar and isn’t healthy for our bodies.

After your child understands WHY they can’t have the candy, here’s where you get to make it fun! Pick another fun treat or prize you know your child will get excited about, and tell them you will trade this prize with them for all their candy. For Paislee, we are trading her coconut date rolls, stevia sweetened chocolate, and popcorn for all her candy. She couldn’t be more thrilled! When pitching this to your little ones, remember to sell it like it’s your job! We did a little happy dance about all the fun treats she would be getting, and she definitely does not think she’s missing out on anything!

The Candy Fairy

I have my good friend Jennifer to thank for this idea. She is one of my more relaxed friends when it comes to letting your kids have fun treats, which is great because it reminds me that it’s okay to loosen up occasionally. She has decided to let her children join in the candy fun on Halloween, but, like many of us, she doesn’t want it to linger on for weeks. Candy sickened, desperate mothers of the world, I give you the “Candy Fairy”.

In a moment of pure genius, my friend came up with the  idea of letting her children indulge on Halloween night, but then prompting them to leave their candy out that night for the Candy Fairy. This magical fairy comes on Halloween night to take your candy, leaving you a fun surprise to play with in it’s place. The beauty of this idea is that it not only gets rid of the candy, but it also just increases the fun factor! The next morning they wake up to something like play dough, a toy car, a doll, etc. It doesn’t need to be expensive, just something they’ll get excited about!

For the Older Children

If your kids are older, chances are that they’re not going to go for either of the suggestions above. I don’t suggest pitching the Candy Fairy to your nine-year-old. You will lose major cool points. However I do suggest using honesty just as I mentioned above. Don’t pass up on the opportunity to explain to them why you don’t want them to eat candy. It will only help them to understand that you’re really not the candy villain.

You might offer a trading system for your older kids that includes something more age appropriate. Pick something of interest to them like art supplies, music, a trip to the dollar store, etc. If you worried about them trying to eat as much as they can in one sitting so that they don’t have to give it up, put a limit on it. Tell them that they get to pick “x” pieces of candy, and the rest gets traded in.

I hope these ideas help you to find that balance in your home between being over-indulgent and unpermissive. Remember to enjoy these moments with your children, and don’t let stress ruin your memories!

What about you? What do you do with the abundance of Halloween candy? I’d love to hear your take on it, and your suggestions!

Photo Credit: Jamal Fanaian

Creative Meals for Kids: The Carrot-Soup-Making Bunny

Our two year old daughter, Paislee, has several nicknames. One is peanut, since she’s cute and tiny. Another is silly monkey, since she’s so silly and fun. The last nickname is the juicer, because her capability to extract the juice from her vegetables and leave a pile of pulp on her plate puts the Omega Juicer 9000 to shame.

Carrots are her juicing vegetable of choice. She will sit there and chew until the cows come home, but WILL NOT swallow them! So I finally decided to be smarter than the two-year-old! I started searching for a creative meal for kids using cooked carrots. I ended up coming up with my own recipe for carrot soup, and was excited about being able to include homemade chicken broth in the meal as well! (If you don’t already know, homemade chicken broth is a nutritional powerhouse, and is super easy to make!) However, after spending an hour in the kitchen preparing this daring, novel, two-year-old’s delight, I became increasingly concerned that this time-consuming exploit might be a complete waste. I could already see her “this doesn’t look right” stare, and could hear her “this not tasty mom” whine.

Crap.

I had to think fast, as dinner time was quickly approaching. My husband and I, in desperate attempts to get Paislee to eat, have come up with all kinds of fun, creative meals for kids in the past. So I began racking my brain and searching the internet. I couldn’t believe what I found.

We’ve all heard of the Easter Bunny, but have you ever heard of the Carrot Soup Bunny who makes soup in your kitchen and leaves it for hungry girls and boys?!! That’s right. I found a video of a man dressed like a bunny cooking carrot soup. The video is ridiculous and a gem all at the same time.

When Paislee woke up from her nap, I said, “You won’t believe what happened while you were sleeping! I saw a bunny making carrot soup!” I then showed her the video. She was thrilled. Especially when the bunny took a 10 second break from cooking for a dance off to “Ice, Ice Baby”. True story, my friends. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I wanted to.

Then in the most excited voice I could possibly compose, I said, “Oh my goodness! Do you smell that?! I think there’s some carrot soup for you too!”

She ate 2 bowls full, and kept thanking the bunny for making her soup. It was the most adorable and successful dinner yet.

I hope you enjoy this fantastically, cheesy bunny video as much as Paislee and I did! It was definitely a hit at our house, and I hope it brings you just as much success and delight!

Also, I have included my recipe for Carrot Soup.

Carrot Soup

Ingredients:

5 cups sliced carrots

4 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup Raw Milk (See my post on choosing the right milk.)

2 1/2 Tablespoons Parsley

2 1/2 Tablespoons Basil

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Directions:

1) In a medium saucepan, bring chicken broth and carrots to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until carrots are tender.

2) Using an immersion blender, blend soup until creamy, (You can also transfer soup to a stand blender, but do so in small batches after allowing the soup to cool a bit,)

3) Add in milk. parsley, basil, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir and allow to cook for 5 minutes on medium low heat.

4) Cooking time and temperature will change how thick or thin your soup is, so adjust consistency to your liking by adding more or less broth or milk.

4) Serve and enjoy!

Now it’s your turn! How do you get your little ones to eat carrots?

Also, remember to follow me for more healthy and creative ideas in the kitchen!

Photo Credit: George Grinsted

Raising Healthy Eaters

“No me like peas!” says the tenacious two-year-old. The exhausted mother replies, “But peas are soo yummy! They’ll make you big and strong! And, did you know that mommy eats peas, daddy eats peas, brother eats peas….” While the mother is completing the list of all humans and animals who eat peas, plus throwing in a threat from Santa Clause, who clearly doesn’t bring non-pea eaters presents, the two-year-old then surmounts the mother’s plea with folded arms, a “this is war” stare, and a firm “No.” Knowing the strength and determination of her pint-sized opponent, the mother sighs, retreats, and goes for the reliable pea substitute, Goldfish. Another battle lost, and another strike against poor old Santa Clause.

Can you relate? If you’re a mother of any age child, chances are good that you’ve fought a few food battles. And because we have a primal instinct to nourish our children, we will go to any length to get them to eat. So how do we encouraged healthy eating but avoid the battles? Here are a few strategies to help cultivate good eating habits in your children.

1) Let Them Grocery Shop

Just like us adults, kids like being a part of decision making. As children, so much is already decided for them like what they wear, where they go, or who they see. So when you give the opportunity to decide something for themselves, they’ll rarely turn you down! Use this to your advantage when picking out produce! Instead of choosing that week’s vegetable for them, ask them what they’d like to have! Try taking them to the frozen vegetables and allowing them to pick two bags they’d like to try. That way when peas show up on their dinner plate that week, it’s no longer a battle between what mom wants me to eat and what I want to eat.

2) Let Them Help Cook

When you allow your children to cook with you, not only are you passing on recipes, techniques, or your joy for cooking, but you’re also introducing them to new flavors and making them feel more involved in their dinner menu. When Paislee and I cook together, it always amazes me how adventurous she is in trying new things. She’ll often ask for a taste of raw garlic, a lick of the lemon slice, or even a sprinkle of cinnamon. If I were to give her a plate of these items on her table, she’d probably turn up her nose and try and feed it to the cat. However, since these items are not being forced on her, but instead just left out on the counter for her to choose to taste, she goes for it! Now she’s inheriting my love for cooking and expanding her palate all at the same time!

3) Play with Their Food

Whoever said that we shouldn’t play with our food, obviously never sat through dinner with a toddler. Some of my favorite memories from mealtimes growing up include Bugs Bunny shaped waffles, sandwiches cut into pinwheel shapes, and ants on a log. It was my mother’s creativity with these foods that made them magical! Simply changing the appearance of dinner also changes the mood of dinner. It becomes fun and inviting! When food at a restaurant comes out perfectly plated and garnished, it entices us and makes our dinner more enjoyable. So think of this as garnishing your child’s plate! Make Mickey Mouse heads out of rice balls, bunny faces with carrots, or whatever your inner-child can think of! Maybe even make a game out of it. We like to pretend broccoli gives us turbo-speed at our house, and will run around the kitchen after eating! Have fun with it!

4) Try, Try Again

I have a rule we use in my house, you must try something 3 times before you can dismiss it. This means that for any food item, you have to allow me to make 3 separate dishes that include that ingredient, before you can say, “No thank you” to that food. This rule started with my husband when we first got married, as he was not fond of my “rabbit food” cooking! However, now I’m using the same rule for myself as I prepare food for Paislee. There are plenty of foods that were a complete bust the first time I tried them with Paislee. You would have thought I gave her gasoline if you saw her face after tasting avocado. I didn’t give up though! I kept trying, and now she LOVES avocado! Make a decision to serve food items AT LEAST 3 different times to your child before giving up! Sometimes they just need to acquire a taste for it.

What about you?! I want to hear your tips for raising great eaters! What crazy things do you do at dinner time that your kids love?

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