Not So Scary Halloween Treats: Cut the Sugar, Keep the Fun

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If you get frightened just thinking about all the candy your little goblins will bring home from trick-or-treating, relax. We’ve got some tips and tricks that will take the fear factor out of Halloween. Go ahead and gather the goodies – that’s half the fun. But balance it out with healthy food to avoid feeling haunted by a sugar-induced hangover.

Play with your food

Let the kids get creative with their food, and they’re more likely to eat it. For example, set out a spread of colorful sliced veggies (peppers, celery, carrots, and broccoli all work well) so that kids can each assemble their own “skeleton.” Serve with low-fat dip and watch them devour their creations.

Even little hands can make “eerie eyeballs” by starting with a dried apple ring for a base and adding a dried apricot and dried cranberry. Carrot rounds with cream cheese and an olive slice make cool eyeballs, too.

Boo-nanners were my all-time favorite when my kids were young: cut a banana in half down the middle, insert a wooden craft stick in the base, dip each banana briefly in orange juice, and then roll it in unsweetened coconut. Add two chocolate chip “eyes” to your ghost and then either enjoy straight away or serve frozen.

Bananas that go “boo”!

You can make some easy “witches’ fingers” by cutting a mozzarella cheese stick in half and carving three slits to look like knuckles. Adults can pre-cut “fingernails” out of red and green peppers and let the kids attach them with a dab of cream cheese.

Cute little tangerine pumpkins also couldn’t be easier. Simply peel some small oranges and pop in a celery stick stem.

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Shapes and colors

Fun shapes and a few drops of food coloring can turn a ho-hum healthy dish into an exciting snack. Tint cream cheese with orange and spread it on a circle of bread, then cut out shapes for a pumpkin face. Red, green, and orange-colored cream cheese spread on whole wheat muffins is a great alternative to sugary cupcakes.

Use ghost-shaped cookie cutters to make peanut butter or jam “ghost-whiches” or carve a jack-o-lantern face into a tortilla and set it over a second tortilla covered with grated cheddar and melt in the microwave or a frying pan for a quick Halloween quesadilla.

These cute “pumpkins” couldn’t be easier

Spine-tingling suppers

Instead of focusing on candy, why not use Halloween as an excuse to invite friends over for dinner? Fueling up on healthy options first means less room for sugary treats. Even if you’re too old for trick-or-treating or don’t have little ones at home, plan a potluck and see who can bring the scariest supper. With imaginative garnishes like olive “eyeballs” and basil or lettuce “hair,” appetizers like deviled eggs, nachos, sliders, and dips can easily be transformed into impressive party platters. A great way to add a finishing touch to dips or chili is with a sour cream spider web. Place sour cream in a plastic bag, snip off one corner, and pipe four concentric rings. Take a butter knife and drag the knife across all four circles, starting in the center and working out toward the edge. Repeat to make a web-like pattern.

Devilish drinks

Add a ghoulish twist to beverages by freezing individual ice cubes with colored water and Gummi worms. If they don’t fit in the mold, just let them hang over the edge. Power up your punch bowl with a “dead hand” made by filling a food-safe latex glove with colored water, freezing it, removing the glove, and floating the hand in the punch bowl. Fresh juices in bright Halloween colors can be a good option for kids.

Drinks are a great way to add a Halloween twist to a party

Cook up a spooky storm

If you are planning a Halloween supper, this is a great recipe to have up your sleeve that will suit Halloween guests young and old.

Spaghetti and Eyeballs
Serves 6

500g lean ground beef
1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 egg whites
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon oregano
1 jar of pimento-stuffed green olives
1 (14-ounce) jar of spaghetti sauce
1 (8-ounce) package of spaghetti noodles

Preheat oven to 375ﹾF (190ﹾC). Mix the ground beef, breadcrumbs, ketchup, egg whites, and seasonings in a large bowl. Form the meat mixture into 18-24 eyeball-sized balls.

Press an olive into each eyeball, pimento side out. Place the eyeballs in a baking dish, top with the spaghetti sauce, cover with foil, and bake for 35-45 minutes.

Prepare pasta according to package instructions. Spoon eyeballs onto pasta, irises up. Add sauce.

Variation: Instead of pasta, serve the eyeballs on small slider buns and add basil “hair.”

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Images: unsplash.com (Xiaoli Zhao), Pxhuel, Kirsten Harrington

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