Fall is here once again and with it comes some awesome holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving. Jack O’ Lanterns, trick or treat candies and pumpkin pies are just some of the things we have come to expect around this time of the year. But it does not have to be all about sugar and chocolate. (Who am I kidding?) There are several eco-friendly treats that you and the kids can enjoy for the fall season.
Your first instinct might be to buy a bunch of those assorted bags of candies at your nearby Wal-Mart, Target or K-Mart. Yep. The truth is that most of those candies are toxic; well not in the sense that if you eat one you will die. The materials that are used in their construction are harmful to the environment and let us not mention the fact that a lot of the people making them are doing so under some questionable working conditions. So for Halloween this year, why not go for the healthier eco-friendly alternative?
Granola Bars might not seem like the ideal choice for a trick or treat bag but it is healthy with a number of vitamins, proteins and fiber to keep your kid regular. Best of all, because Granola bars are made with natural ingredients you will not have to worry about any of those difficult to pronounce ingredients on the back of the label that you might be feeding to your kids or your neighbors’ kids. Just make sure that that manufacturer of the granola bars does not use GMO, which are genetically altered materials like yeast, insects, plants, fish or mammals.
Now for the next item, I know apples get a bad rap. Some think apples are too healthy while others are simply traumatized by the story of Snow White and the delicious red apple given to her by the evil queen that put her in a death-like sleep. But that is fiction. In reality, apples, especially green ones are delicious. They are great for your teeth and they do not have any of that extra sugar and artificial ingredients that can make your child obese or as I like to call mine, fluffy like a marshmallow. To ensure that you are being eco-conscious, pick only organically grown apples from your local market.
Another great treat that can get you through the fall season is an orange-ganic snack. All you need are 3 oranges and a celery stick. You start by peeling the oranges and placing them on a plate. Then you cut the celery stick into 3 pieces. Then ease each celery piece gently into the center of the orange where it splits and voila! Instant treat! It looks like a pumpkin but taste like an orange. Orange you glad it tastes good.
With Halloween practically done and over with for the year, you are looking at a lot of pumpkin seeds left behind. Of course you can always use the pumpkin that was once your carved Jack-O-Lantern to make a pumpkin pie or you can buy a new slice of pumpkin at your local store to make a pie too. Just do not throw those seeds away. You can actually roast pumpkin seeds, let them cool a bit and then suck on them. It has a natural sweetness to them that is absolutely delicious. If sucking on pumpkin seeds is not your idea of a good time, you can always turn good old Jack into pumpkin cookies or pumpkin muffins too.
Who could have imagined that fall treats, particularly those typically seen during Halloween, could be healthy, eco-friendly and organic?