By By Penny Randall / staff writer
October 27, 2004
When the ghouls and goblins come knocking at your door this Halloween, surprise them with a spooky concoction instead of the same old candy.
Spider web cupcakes are easy to make and kids of all ages love the tiny baked treats. Cookies of all kinds are a favorite among children, but this Halloween you may want to spruce up that old boring cookie by adding colorful icing.
Sometimes it seems that every holiday and celebration in this country revolves around sugar. Halloween is no exception. This year, tame the sugar monster in your kids by offering healthy alternatives to typical Halloween treats.
The book "Healthy Food for Healthy Kids" offers suggestions for tasty low-fat Halloween treats, such as Honey Bear Snack Mix and Pumpkin Pudding.
Honey Bear Snack Mix is a good alternative to sugar-filled candy and children will like it because they can eat it with their hands.
In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of honey bear-shaped graham snacks, 1 cup of Honey Nut Cheerios and 1 cup of honey-roasted mixed nuts. Mix well and store in an airtight container.
This high-protein snack can be served at parties or divided into small bags for lunchtime snacks. It makes six servings.
Pumpkin Pudding is another tasty low-fat sugarless treat.
Combine 2 cups of pre-made pumpkin pie filling with 11⁄3 cups of plain nonfat yogurt or mashed silken tofu.
Stir well with a spoon. Ladle pudding into separate cups and garnish with whipped topping and Teddy Grahams. This fat-free snack is a great source of protein, vitamin A, riboflavin, magnesium and calcium. The recipe makes six servings.
Parents remember, no matter what savory sweet your children receive in their Halloween hunting bags, inspect the food before your child eats it. Look at the wrappings carefully and toss out anything that looks suspect.
To help parents out, the Radiology Department at Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center will X-ray Halloween candy on Saturday night from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Remember, by mayoral decree and a county supervisors' vote, trick-or-treating in Meridian and Lauderdale County will happen Saturday instead of Sunday.
Bug Brew: You'll need clean, empty wide-mouth jars. Think Ball canning jars or jars that spaghetti sauce comes in. Fill with chilled green Gatorade and a handful of plastic bugs and worms. In spidery handwriting, print Bug Brew'' on a label and stick on each jar. (Double-face tape works better than glue on glass.)
Haunted Popcorn Hand: Place two or three pieces of candy corn look for the larger size corns pointly side first into the fingers of clear plastic gloves, the kind that come in home hair coloring kids, also available in bulk at the supermarket. These are the fingernails. Then fill the glove with popped popcorn. Tie at the wrist with ribbon, yarn or twine.
Spooky Spider: Purchase cinnamon rolls or bake a batch of the packaged variety. Store-bought will already be frosted; the packaged kind comes with icing. Sprinkle with black sugar sprinkles (or dark brown chocolate jimmies). Secure a black gum drop with a toothpick for the head. Use candy to make eyes; white yogurt covered Raisinettes work well. Cut eight licorice legs 3-4 inches long. Poke holes in both sides of the roll and press licorice legs in them.