SAN ANGELO, Texas —Halloween is a favorite holiday for my family, and the household is hustling and bustling to get ready for Sunday. The husband ventured into the dusty attic to retrieve our favorite spooky décor. The eerie jack-o'-lanterns are in place as is the motion-activated skeleton. Spiders and cobwebs are showing up all over the place, and I've even been wearing my skull-n-bones pirate earrings this week.
The kids and I had good fun making our Halloween wreath. we started with a black feather-covered base, and made our own ghosts (some with markers and white ping-pong balls, some with tissue) to stick on it. I glued cool lavender roses between the ghosts. Next we'll move onto carving and decorating some fresh pumpkins.
More importantly, the invites have been sent. every year, we get together some friends and their families. while the husbands take the kids trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, we wives relax I mean, get supper ready.
I usually like to come up with weird things or spooktacular twists on the usual. one year I made blood-spattered black spaghetti — the blood was marinara sauce with chunks of vegetables, and the black spaghetti was a squid-ink pasta I was lucky to discover in my travels. Another year I made monster meatballs — these were larger-than-average meatballs. after baking them, another mom and I inserted matchstick carrots for the hair, green olive slices for eyes and radish fangs. Yes, a lot of patience was required, but the giggles of our little pirates and princesses made it worth all the work.
Stephanie Stipanovic, another San Angelo mom, also believes in involving her kids in the kitchen, and started them when they were as young as 2. "Working in the kitchen teaches them lots of things and yes, it can be messy, but we have fun," she said. one dish, Graveyard Pudding Dessert, is a perfect project for Halloween and popular with both Stephen, 12, and Zachary, 6.
In other words, try to focus on the fun rather than the candy for Halloween. However, step into any grocery store and you'll be overwhelmed by the candy and sugary treats available. According to the National Confectioners Association, Halloween is the season with the highest candy sales. think of all the empty calories coming into your house. Scary.
Now, Halloween comes only once a year and I let my kids enjoy all the fanfare and candy collecting glory of it. nevertheless, I do try to bring some balance to the candy overdose and I try to circumvent the aftermath. Halloween may be just one evening, but the candy remains tempting us day after day. so here are some tips for a healthy Halloween.
1. Eat healthy before you trick or treat: Have a healthy snack before trick-or-treating and have a nutritious warm supper afterward. Have plenty of veggies and fruits available before and along the route so that little tummies are not hungry. and after the walk in the cold, the trick-or-treaters are ready for something warm when they get back. Before setting off, the parents should emphasize the safety rules, including the one about parental review of candies before anything can be consumed.
2. Sort and share: when the kids were younger, the candy fairy would visit us Halloween night and make most of the loot disappear. Now I involve the kids in the discussion. we keep some, but we share the rest with the many wonderful organizations around town, like the Family Shelter, or the Concho Valley Girls Home, among others. A Christoval lady told me her church pools together half of all the candies collected by families and sends them to soldiers overseas.
3. Give away non-candy treats. I've stopped buying candy on Halloween, and instead give away neat squeezable monsters, cool rings, bouncy balls, jump ropes, flying disks, stickers and stamps. As I've explained to the kids, once the candy is eaten it's gone; but you can play with those other things much longer. Don't worry, the kids aren't deprived because most of the other houses (9 out of 10) will be giving out a variety of candy.
4. portion control and healthy sides: If you say no to all and any candy, you'll end up making it even more attractive. instead, keep an eye on the portions. If your child wants to have the mini-chocolate bar, offer it with a glass of milk. that way you balance the empty calories with something nutritious. (By the way, dark chocolate is heart healthy and it's mine when it comes into the house. I share.)
5. Go for the gum and brush: Give out packs of sugar-free gum. Chewing gum can help prevent cavities because the extra saliva produced helps wash away cavity-causing bacteria. of course, the more sugary and sticky candy — caramel, toffees and hard candy — are worse for you. instead give out packs of baked Goldfish, or nuts and raisins, or packages of hot cocoa mix or juice (100% fruit) boxes. and always make the kids brush their teeth after a candy-indulgence.
6. Store candy wisely. I used to put some of the leftover candy in a pretty bowl and set them out. Guess who ended up consuming most of them — me, myself and I. so now I put some in out-of-the-way places — high cabinets and shelves, behind things. most of the time, it's out of sight and out of mind. but if I get a desperate craving, enough to make me climb on a step-stool, move and replace the glassware well, then I earned it. but the best idea is point 2 — get it out of the house.
Until next time, happy Halloween and happy eating!
Rashda Khan is a San Angelo-based food enthusiast, writer and culinary instructor. She can be reached at Or follow her @SpiceBites on Twitter for more kitchen adventures, cooking tips, and local food happenings.
Some fun recipes to try this Halloween:
Monster fingers with Slime Glop
For the fingers you can use long, tapering foods like asparagus (the white ones look ghostly, blanched), baby carrots (monsters come in different sizes), pickled okra also known as Lady's Fingers, jicama, celery and cucumber sticks, reduced fat mozzarella sticks. If you're feeling creative you can use a knife to shape and cut notches at the digits of some of these, use peanut butter or cream cheese dabs to stick on sliced almonds or pieces of red and green bell peppers for nails.
Serve with Guacamole or Artichoke-Spinach Hummus (either can masquerade as slime glop).
Artichoke-Spinach Hummus
ingredients
1 15-0unce can garbanzo beans or chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of packed baby spinach leaves
½ cup marinated artichoke hearts, drained
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon cayenne powder (optional)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
— Extra water to add if the mix is too thick and stiff
— Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1 Place all ingredients except extra water and salt and pepper in a food processor and pulse until smooth.
2 Scrape into a dish, taste, add more water if needed (tablespoon at a time) and season with salt and pepper. The consistency should be like guacamole.
Graveyard Pudding Dessert
Stephanie found this recipe in the Cooking for Kids Cookbook she picked up at Stephen's preschool book fair. She has fun helping her sons pick out recipes they can work together on as a family. both Stephen and Zachary have individually picked this recipe to make. and Stephanie and her sons have wowed friends and family with the pudding time and again.
ingredients
3½ cups of cold milk (Stephanie uses 2 percent)
2 packages (4 servings) Jell-O instant chocolate pudding mix
1 12-ounce tub cool Whip or other whipped topping (you can use fat-free or sugar-free versions)
1 16-ounce package chocolate cookies, crushed to resemble dirt (she used Oreos)
— Some rectangular shaped cookies and decorator icing to create tombstones
— Candy corn to create a picket fence
Directions
1 Pour milk into a large bowl, add pudding mixes and beat two minutes or until blended.
2 Stir in whipped topping and half of the crushed cookies.
3 Spoon into a 9 X 13 dish.
4 Sprinkle the remaining crushed cookies on top and refrigerate for an hour.
5 Meanwhile, use the icing to turn the rectangular cookies into tombstones by writing messages like RIP, dates etc.
6 To decorate, insert the decorated cookies strategically on your dessert. Scatter some of pumpkin candies throughout to add color.
7 Alternate the direction of the candy corn — one up, one down — to create a Halloweeny picket fence.
RASHDA KHAN: Keep Halloween fun but not too unhealthy
eerie jack, halloween wreath, ping pong balls, pumpkins
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