Like most holidays, Halloween is a time of indulgence. Which is exactly what we need, more indulgence! Its not like we chow potato chips on the regular, eat bacon double cheeseburgers three times a week and guzzle soda like planet Earth has run out of water…oh wait…yes we do! In case you didn’t pick up on it, that was sarcasm.
I think its great the kids get a day of running around town all dressed up and picking up some sweet treats along the way, but it seems, for many kids, Halloween is a two week rage of solid sugar, high fructose corn syrup and who knows what else. Ad that to a diet that may (or may not) already consist of pop tarts for breakfast and Coke as the main source of hydration, you have a real dangerous cocktail for a developing young body!
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Okay, that’s enough pissing and moaning about the evils of that almighty sweet stuff. Here are 3 of my favourite healthy Halloween snacks. Feed these to your kids on the big day and give their bodies a boost of vitamins and other healthy shit ;
1) Ice Blood Slush
This one is SO easy, I dare to call to it a recipe! I place one cup of frozen raspberries in a blender with one cup of orange juice and blend until smooth. Voila! Now just ad a few eyeballs, spiders or other spooky decoration and you’ve got a slushy treat that you can eat with a spoon, or drink like slurpy! The ‘eyeballs’ shown here are slices of banana with a chocolate chip in the center. I used a toothpick and natural food colouring to make the ‘bloodshot’ effect.
2) Cauliflower Brains
This is a great idea that I originally found at RecipeTips.com. I think they look utterly disgusting, but its Halloween, so I guess that’s a good thing? Pretty self explanatory, just hollow the stem out of a whole cauliflower and fill with my Guacamole Recipe (the brains), and you can choose to serve on top of salsa, or not. Fill a squeeze bottle (like mustard) with ketchup (or blended salsa) and squeeze into the grooves for the blood effect. Serve with nachos and veggies!
3) Stuffed Jack-O-Lantern Peppers
These little dudes are super cute and wicked tasty! Great as a snack or a meal and can be made with fresh ingredients available year round! You can find the recipe and instructions right here.
I hope you try one or all of these great healthy treats this year and please have a safe and very SPOOKY Halloween!