Trick or Treat...

I'm sure any of you reading this with kids can relate to the "Halloween Buzz" that filled the air this morning. My kids are so excited about their Fall Celebrations at school today, but even more so for some Trick-or-Treating tonight! With each passing year it seems the kids want to stay out longer and walk farther than ever before. My husband and I now know to bring back-up bags with us to hold the overflow of candy. By the time we get home I feel as though we've all had a good workout hauling buckets filled to the brim with goodies.

So, the big question is...do I let my kids eat the candy?! This blog is all about promoting healthy eating for kids, right? The fact of the matter is YES...I let my kids eat candy. If you're new to the blog you can go back and read my thoughts on this subject HERE. The reality is that we do want our kids to enjoy the time honored tradition of trick-or-treating. Very rarely do our kids eat candy so on a special occasion like today, we are a.o.k. with candy.

Having said that, there is absolutely NO WAY my kids could consume all the candy they come home with. Because we don't eat a lot of sweets anymore I find my kids lose interest in candy a lot faster than they did before. I've always struggled with what to do with the candy after Halloween, but a friend of mine recently suggested I buy back the candy! What a brilliant idea! My kids are all about earning and saving money so I knew thought this would be a perfect solution for us. After the kids get home tonight we will let the kids sort through their candy and keep some of their favorites, but we'll offer to buy back all the leftover candy. My plan is to buy the candy from my kids to use on an upcoming "countdown to Christmas" project we do every year (more on that later). The extra Halloween candy would be perfect for that project so it saves me from having to run out during the holidays. I'll be sure to show you how I use the candy in a little closer to Christmas, but just know we hope to bring some smiles to the faces of the firefighters and police officers in our town as we thank them for their service.

Today's Halloween lunch includes: nitrite free ham/cheese trick or treat bag sandwich with a rope cheese handle, cheese/grapes, carrots, chocolate granola bar, trail mix in the "candy" container (I made this using the roll from an empty tin foil box, orange tissue paper and a sticker) packed in a Planet Lunch Box