Halloween ?

redheadmommy

Today I was trying to bake some paleo chocolate cupcakes , because I volunteered to bring the teats for my son kindergarten class Halloween party.
It was an epic fail, because they came apart, and I ended up eating a bunch of the broken pieces. I volunteered to do this , so I can make sure the party won't be a gluten infused nightmare.

Anyway, It got me thinking about the whole Halloween. We are still going to go trick or treating for sure. I probably will throw out the gluten type of treats like kit kats, but I will let my kindergartener some lollipop and candy.

I am still debatng what to give out for the kids. It just feel bad to buy candy . I am thinking to give out gum and/ or small bag of chips for the bigger kids, and I usually give toys for the small kids anyway.

I' d like to know how other paleo/ primal people manage the whole trick or treating an other aspect of Halloween ! Please share your thoughts with me!

ginnyntonic

I was wondering the same thing actually. For my kids we have a tradition of Nov 1st is Candy for Dinner Day where my kids can eat as much as the want that night but then everything disappears after that. I figure one night of excess is recoverable and the excitement of one night without limits makes up for the fact that they lose out on a lot of their loot. I was thinking of giving out gum or something similar as well.

TriLifter

My son's school doesn't allow homebaked treats, only store-bought ones so you're lucky!

For Halloween we're handing out whatever crap mixed bag of snickers, skittles, etc. that my husband bought. If other parents don't raise their kids paleo, I'm not spending extra money to feed them that way.

melba_321

Even before getting into Primal/Paleo, I was always pretty careful with Halloween, especially when my daughter was so young. I never did agree with the unlimited pounds of candy that was collected during Trick or Treating (that would take over a year to consume, or get thrown away lol). What I use to do (my daughter is 19 now, wow...time flies!) is take my daughter to the fun Haunted House events at what was considered safe community for Trick or Treating, or to parties that either my other adult friends or myself put together for safe fun. I guess I was somewhat of "meanie" and just turned out the lights and we watched scary movies or we went somewhere to avoid the trick or treat knocks and providing candy. (I am not a Jehovah witness) LOL When I did participate in gifting Trick or Treat'rs, I made little treat bags that contained silly Halloween inspired toys, pencils, erasers, etc.. with a few healthier treats like individual serving packs of gummy worms and somewhat better choices of candy. My daughter didn't "love" Halloween though...us adults got more into dressing up than she did. --She preferred either visiting family or the parties.

For ideas, if you have a kindle or don't mind downloading the free kindle application on your pc, there are a bunch of free kindle books that may give some ideas (for the non-paleo cookbooks, possibly they will give ideas for paleo-izing or give inspiration for decorating)...

Games for Hallow-e'en : http://www.amazon.com/Games-Hallow-een-Mary-E-Blain-ebook/dp/B00846RV68

Halloween Class Gifts: 11 Candy Free Projects : http://www.amazon.com/Halloween-Class-Gifts-Candy-Projects-ebook/dp/B00FY8O14Y

101 Halloween Jokes : http://www.amazon.com/101-Halloween-Jokes-Shelley-Carpenter-ebook/dp/B00FHBTFLM

Halloween Treats (In the Kitchen Cooking) : http://www.amazon.com/Halloween-Treats-In-Kitchen-Cooking-ebook/dp/B00FYCP1OO

Easy Halloween Costumes (Instructables Halloween) : http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Halloween-Costumes-Instructables-ebook/dp/B0096DWIRA

Halloween Food (Instructables Halloween) : http://www.amazon.com/Halloween-Food-Instructables-Authors-ebook/dp/B0096DIIVU

Halloween Tricks and Treats for Busy Moms (Holiday Entertaining) : http://www.amazon.com/Halloween-Tricks-Treats-Holdiay-Entertaining-ebook/dp/B00FZFGB8K

Iron Man Costumes (Instructables Halloween) : http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Man-Costumes-Instructables-Halloween-ebook/dp/B0096DIJ5U

299 Halloween Jokes for Kids! Joke Books for Kids : http://www.amazon.com/Halloween-Jokes-Kids-Joke-Books-ebook/dp/B00FM2QXC0

*in the kindle search, you can find free Halloween stories, activities, etc... too. --Just make sure you choose priced low to high in filtering after.

Some Paleo web links, I found that might be useful...

http://paleodietlifestyle.com/paleo-halloween-recipes/

http://swisspaleo.ch/paleo-halloween-ideas/

http://paleoparents.com/2011/a-healthy-halloween-recipe-round-up/

http://www.paleodietfoodlist.net/2012/10/paleo-halloween-snack-ideas/

http://everydaypaleo.com/halloween/

http://paleononpaleo.com/paleo-halloween/

http://www.paleoasis.com/2012/10/kids-paleo-and-halloween.html

http://paleodietnews.com/2883/halloween-the-paleo-diet-for-kids/

and, I am sure doing a simple google search, you will find many more.

Rei1988

I was wondering the same thing actually. For my kids we have a tradition of Nov 1st is Candy for Dinner Day where my kids can eat as much as the want that night but then everything disappears after that. I figure one night of excess is recoverable and the excitement of one night without limits makes up for the fact that they lose out on a lot of their loot. I was thinking of giving out gum or something similar as well.

I like that idea, let's them "live a little"

spatulathumbs

I personally love date rolls, with coconut and chopped nuts. Yummers. H'ween is also my birthday, so I am a little bit lenient with myself. But in terms of what to hand out? If you don't feel good about buying candy, what about fruit snacks? There are some nice natural brands that, while still sugary and not paleo, are greatly appreciated by parents. Or you could do stickers, small toys, temporary tattoos?

nellyett

My son's school doesn't allow homebaked treats, only store-bought ones so you're lucky!

For Halloween we're handing out whatever crap mixed bag of snickers, skittles, etc. that my husband bought. If other parents don't raise their kids paleo, I'm not spending extra money to feed them that way.

ditto here....except that we will buy them the day of so my husband and I don't eat them all before hand. LOL

My daughter has always inadvertently been a Primal 80/20 type thing. She was never a big bread or cereal eater anyway. She likes oatmeal and the occasional side of rice. She is more of a 'picker' than one to sit and eat a meal so it's easy. Some fruit, veg and protein. However......she LOVES sugary candy stuff. We really make the effort to keep that limited.

I allow her a little bit of something each day. After halloween she gets a little treat in her lunch as do all the kids at school...the novelty wears off not too long after. She's never once finished off a bag of candy from halloween, easter or xmas. It's usually my husband, myself and our friends that end up digging into it! LOL Not this year though....:)

TriLifter

My son's school doesn't allow homebaked treats, only store-bought ones so you're lucky!

For Halloween we're handing out whatever crap mixed bag of snickers, skittles, etc. that my husband bought. If other parents don't raise their kids paleo, I'm not spending extra money to feed them that way.

ditto here....except that we will buy them the day of so my husband and I don't eat them all before hand. LOL

She's never once finished off a bag of candy from halloween, easter or xmas. It's usually my husband, myself and our friends that end up digging into it! LOL Not this year though....:)

I honestly don't know where the cheap candy my husband bought is...and I'm better for it because, like you, I have no control hahaha!

I also give my son non-primal treats. He had a paleo pumpkin muffin for breakfast, but a mini non-paleo cupcake at lunch. Whatever makes him happy--his favorite things are avocado, broccoli, salmon, macademias, and coconut cream. I'm not too worried about him.

homesweeths

I was wondering the same thing actually. For my kids we have a tradition of Nov 1st is Candy for Dinner Day where my kids can eat as much as the want that night but then everything disappears after that. I figure one night of excess is recoverable and the excitement of one night without limits makes up for the fact that they lose out on a lot of their loot. I was thinking of giving out gum or something similar as well.

I like that idea, let's them "live a little"

That's what my mom did. Except it wasn't "candy for dinner" but "all you can eat before bedtime" because she made sure we had a quality dinner (meat and potatoes) before we went out to trick-or-treat.

homesweeths

My son's school doesn't allow homebaked treats, only store-bought ones so you're lucky!

For Halloween we're handing out whatever crap mixed bag of snickers, skittles, etc. that my husband bought. If other parents don't raise their kids paleo, I'm not spending extra money to feed them that way.

ditto here....except that we will buy them the day of so my husband and I don't eat them all before hand. LOL

She's never once finished off a bag of candy from halloween, easter or xmas. It's usually my husband, myself and our friends that end up digging into it! LOL Not this year though....:)

I honestly don't know where the cheap candy my husband bought is...and I'm better for it because, like you, I have no control hahaha!

I also give my son non-primal treats. He had a paleo pumpkin muffin for breakfast, but a mini non-paleo cupcake at lunch. Whatever makes him happy--his favorite things are avocado, broccoli, salmon, macademias, and coconut cream. I'm not too worried about him.

After seeing PGPR on so many candy labels over the last few months, I finally looked it up. I have no desire to eat my old favorites anymore...

hookilau

Today I was trying to bake some paleo chocolate cupcakes , because I volunteered to bring the teats for my son kindergarten class Halloween party.
It was an epic fail, because they came apart, and I ended up eating a bunch of the broken pieces. I volunteered to do this , so I can make sure the party won't be a gluten infused nightmare.

Anyway, It got me thinking about the whole Halloween. We are still going to go trick or treating for sure. I probably will throw out the gluten type of treats like kit kats, but I will let my kindergartener some lollipop and candy.

I am still debatng what to give out for the kids. It just feel bad to buy candy . I am thinking to give out gum and/ or small bag of chips for the bigger kids, and I usually give toys for the small kids anyway.

I' d like to know how other paleo/ primal people manage the whole trick or treating an other aspect of Halloween ! Please share your thoughts with me!

Just because my family eats this way doesn't mean others will embrace it :laugh:
To this end, I give out regular candy to regular kids. Shrug. Easy peasy.

sallydurkin

we give out mini playdoh, made for trick or treating... kids love it. They are mini size we buy at Costco but I have seen at Wal-Mart or toys r us... well almost anywhere now.... in the Halloween sections

redheadmommy

we give out mini playdoh, made for trick or treating... kids love it. They are mini size we buy at Costco but I have seen at Wal-Mart or toys r us... well almost anywhere now.... in the Halloween sections

Do you do that for all kids? I like the playdoh for the preschool age kids, and I do all kinds of toys including crayons, stickers, haloween themed jewelry , noisemakers etc. Small kids love it including my own, but I am afraid the bigger kids 10+ yrs may egg my house for it.