Too Much Halloween Candy? Here is what to do

I’m not sure about you, but I’m not a big fan of Halloween now that I’m a parent. It’s not because I don’t enjoy helping the kids dress up and go trick-or-treating…it’s because of all the candy we come home with at the end of the night. Right now, I only have one child old enough to trick-or-treat, I can’t imagine what parents with two or more kids trick-or-treating come home with on Halloween night!

For me, the issue is that candy doesn’t have any nutritional value to it and has a horrible side effect on kids (it makes them crazy!), plus there’s too much of it collected in one night and we end up eating candy every day until Thanksgiving it seems. I know I’m not the only parent out there who feels this way, so I did a little research looking for ways to get rid of the extra candy. Below are some of the ideas I came across.

• Save It for Later – One of the best ways to save Halloween candy for later is to freeze it. Just like with meat and other perishable foods, candy can also be preserved by freezing. Why would you want to freeze candy? Some candy can be used for ice cream shakes or even a sundae or you could make your own sonic-like blast. Another idea is to keep candy like bite size snickers, mini reese’s pieces and rolo packs for cookies!
• Make a Healthy Snack – Combine some of the candy (M&Ms, Reese’s Pieces, etc.) in a bowl with nuts, raisins, mini marshmallows and other yummy treats for a fun trail mix the kids will love munching on. Trail mix is good because the nuts contain all the protein kids need for a midday snack, but the candy gives it the sweet taste it needs to keep the kids coming back for more.
• Keep It for the Holidays – There’s no arguing that kids can get a lot of Halloween candy. Most parents don’t want their kids munching on it for weeks, but hate to throw it out because it’s good. The solution is to stash half of it (or more) away until the holidays roll around. This is an even better idea if you’re having Thanksgiving and/or Christmas dinner(s) at your house as everyone loves candy. So, why not share?
• Keep for Emergencies – As parents, we have all been in out with the kids and need a good bribe to get us through the rest of the trip. Candy makes for an excellent bribe! So, stick it in your purse, the diaper bag…shoot, even the glove box in the car. Just make sure you have something other than chocolate in case your kids are wearing a boys formal suit or a special occasion dress!