Eating Well

The Halloween extravaganza has already begun.  My son came home from preschool today with 17 bags of treats from his classmates.  My husband's office Halloween party for the kids is this week, we're going to a trick-or-treat event Sunday, and then finally the neighborhood trick-or-treating on Monday.  Wow, the amount of candy that we'll be bringing into our house is more than I care to think about. 

 

When it comes to handing out treats, and being a dietitian, I feel like I have a moral obligation to be somewhat "nutritionally responsible" with what I hand out.  However, I also don't want to be hated in the neighborhood because I am spoiling the fun by offering treats that are too healthy (like Scarrots!).  Here are some Halloween indulgences that I am more likely to endorse:

 

Raisinets - Less fat than most other chocolate candies, and at least there is some fruit in there!

 

Peanut M&Ms - The nuts provide a bit more protein and fiber than other treats, so at least they aren't completely empty calories.

 

Dum Dums or Tootsie Pop Miniatures - Only about 20 calories per sucker, and they take awhile to eat.  A good answer for an occasional sweet tooth! 

 

Angie's Kettle Corn - Target has a big bag of snack packs of this Kettle corn, which is sweet, salty and delicious.  The snack packs are only 70 calories each, and the ingredients are all familiar: popcorn, corn oil, sugar and sea salt.  B and I both love this snack!  It would be pricey to hand them out if you get lots of trick-or-treaters, but for a school party or something, they're great!

 

Coupons to be used later - I love this!  For only $1, you can buy coupon books from Wendy's that have 5 free junior frosty coupons.  For $20, I got 100 of these coupons, and I mail them to my nieces, nephews and far away kiddie friends who can't get treats from me in person.  This is also what we gave out to B's preschool class.  The coupons can be used November through February, which are not ideal ice cream months, but they allow for a treat later, after all the other Halloween junk is gone.  FYI, a junior frosty is 180 calories and 4.5g of fat, not too bad for an ice cream treat. 

Snyder's Pretzels - I include this because my B loves pretzels!  If it's a food that he loves to have as a treat, who cares if it isn't sweet?  I don't think there's a written rule that Halloween treats have to be full of sugar.

 

In addition to the candy that B brought home today, he also brought home a lot of Halloween "stuff" - spider rings, ghost stickers, a pumpkin straw, a stretchy skeleton, some festive erasers, and he was just as excited about those as he was the candy.  I was thrilled that he was thrilled, so don't be afraid to shy away from the candy in exchange for some cool toys to give away. 

 

Don't forget, the best treats to hand out are ones that won't tempt you to eat them all yourself.  I will be handing out suckers again, because they can sit in my cupboard for months and I won't eat them.  Raisinets or Peanut M&Ms would not last until Halloween in my house!

 

Check out some tips I posted last year to help keep you from over indulging this Halloween. 

 

Healthy Regards,

kate