How do you handle Halloween when you spend at least 90% of your time trying to avoid candy? There are so many ways depending on your preferences. In our case artificial colors and flavors are out because of the havoc they wreak on behavior. This year we have to add wheat to the list of no-no’s because we have a newly diagnosed allergy. This may sound like it leaves nothing for the kids to enjoy on Halloween, but check out the photo below and see what you think –
When my kids come home from Trick or Treating with their friends we have a deal. We sort through their haul, reserving anything that can be eaten without worry, then they trade the loot they brought home for a new bag full of treats. We live in a huge neighborhood so they bring home a ton of stuff. I try to make the trade somewhat even so they don’t feel like they’re getting shortchanged. Sophie and Max love opening the new bag, and we take the old candy to a local dentist who pays them a dollar per pound for it. Score! And I can relax knowing we won’t have unimaginable tantrums, behavior issues, and allergic reactions from now through Thanksgiving. Double score!!
So what’s in their bag? Here’s a list of what they’re getting at the end of the night:
Candy:
UnReal Candy - mini chocolate/nougat bars
UnReal Candy - candy coated chocolate (like M&Ms)
YummyEarth Organic Lollipops
Junior Mints – yep, no artificial colors/flavors/preservatives
Sno Caps – also have no artificial colors/flavors/preservatives
Lay’s Potato Chips
Panda All Natural Cherry Licorice
Go Naturally Hard Candy
LifeSavers Peppermint Candy
Chocolate Chips (I’ll divide these into small bags)
Not Candy:
Pencils
Fun Erasers
Spooky Spiders/Snakes
Fun Markers
Sticker Book
Flarp
Book (“Read It, Don’t Eat It”)
Have fun tonight — Happy Halloween!!
You may also like:
Those are great treats! Especially glad to know Jr. Mints don’t have too much “junk” in them. I LOVE Yummy Earth lollipops, too.
Thanks Erika! It’s probably worth noting that these are not meant to be healthy but like you said, they are treats that don’t have too much junk in them. An occasional splurge is A-OK in my book.
The Jr Mints and Sno Caps at my grocery store both contain vanillin. . . ?
They do contain vanillin. There are two forms of vanillin, one is natural and one is synthesized from chemicals. You can’t tell which version a product contains by reading the label. In this instance I decided to go for it since it’s a once a year treat and is FAR better than the stuff that came home in the Halloween buckets.
I’m blown away that Junior Mints don’t have any artificial colors, flavors or preservatives – that’s awesome! I think I may be the latest victim to the wheat allergy (I’m kind of still in denial, even though I know it’s 99% likely that’s the case) so I’m looking forward to your gluten-free recipes!
They do contain vanillin as a flavor. There are two versions of vanillin – one is natural and one is sythesized. There’s no way to know which version a product contains, and I normally avoid it, but in this instance I decided to go for it because it’s a once a year treat. Sorry to hear about your wheat allergy suspicion, but on the bright side, you feel so much better almost immediately after giving it up that you’ll never look back.
My 3 year old little man FREAKS OUT after a dose of candy, so we rarely, if ever, give it to him except as very special treats and he got hooked up on Halloween. After that he was a turd monster for like 2 days. Do you think he might be having more of an adverse reaction to the bad things in it rather than the sugar? Think I should substitute a choc chip for a bland maria’s cookie, ya know, the kind in the tube for lie .79 cents?
My opinion is that sugar has very little to do with behavior – artificial ingredients are what cause issues for most children. Have you read my Six Week All Natural Challenge? It explains how I treat my daughter’s ADHD symptoms through an all natural diet and will teach you which ingredients to avoid and why. If you have concerns about behavior eliminating artificial ingredients will make a huge difference.