Halloween can be a dangerous holiday, health-wise at least. With all the tempting candy and festive witch’s brew, it can be easy to over-indulge. Luckily we have you covered with our 5 tips on how to have a healthy, happy Halloween and a delicious recipe for pumpkin muffins!
1. Hand out treats that are healthier and more nutritious rather than candy this year! Some ideas include:
- Granola bars
- Mini packets of trail mix
- 100 calorie Snack packs (i.e. animal crackers)
- Whole Wheat Fig Newtons
- Non-candy Halloween treats: stickers, bookmarks, tattoos, erasers, and pencils.
2. Make sure your children eat a healthy meal before they go trick-or- treating so that candy is a dessert, not supper.
3. Limit the number of treats that you allow your child to have each day after Halloween.
- Decide on the number of pieces of candy that you will allow him/her to eat each day after Halloween.
- 2-3 pieces of snack-size candy (i.e. size of 2 Hershey Kisses or a mini bar) per day is a fair amount.
- Talk to your your children about healthy eating and why limiting candy consumption is important (i.e. bad for good oral hygiene, few vitamins and minerals, lots of sugar and fat, etc.)
4. After Halloween, keep candy out of reach to prevent continuous and mindless eating. This will benefit everyone! Put all collected candy into an airtight container, jar, or box that’s out of everyday view. Out of sight, out of mind!
5. Encourage your children to eat a piece of candy with a glass of milk or some apple slices to try to include some healthy nutrients.
*Note: Remember that young children are at risk for choking because of their limited chewing and swallowing abilities. Do not feed babies or young children foods or pieces of food that are the size or shape of a marble. Foods this size can be swallowed whole and could become lodged in a child’s throat and cause choking. Examples of choking hazards include: peanuts or other nuts and seeds, hard candy, jelly beans, chewing gum, popcorn, hot dogs, whole uncut grapes, cherries, melon balls, or cherry/grape tomatoes.
Halloween Recipe Idea: Pumpkin Muffins
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Sift together:
1 ¾ cups whole-wheat pastry flour (or half whole wheat and half all purpose flour)
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon of ginger
Beat in a separate bowl:
2 eggs
Add to the eggs:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
¾ cup low-fat milk
1 cup canned pumpkin
Directions
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients with a few swift strokes (don’t over mix).
- Fill greased muffin cups two- thirds of the way full and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
- Makes a dozen muffins.