Category: Holidays

The Art of Eating Halloween Candy; Part 7 in the Art of Halloween Series

10/30/2014

Now I know I promised in the next Art Of Halloween series a project and I will share it as it will be just as great for Thanksgiving too; but I came across an article of what I thought had some vital information. You see if you are anything like me you miss going Trick Or Treating as a kid. So you may be tempted to dress up and hunch down and brave the door to door faking the "I swear I'm a teen"..."really"...or settle for second best and eat the left over bowl of candy you doled out to the kiddies. Maybe you are one of those who sneaks into your kids treat bag and say...well maybe just one. Well this post comes just in time for you. Being a big kid means that the treats you choose out of the bag goes straight to the hips, belly and god knows that booty train following behind on low steam. I swear I have a caboose on top of that.

Consider these numbers: Three miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups fill your belly with more sugar than a glazed doughnut "Get in my Belly!"; half a pack of Skittles has more sugar than a scoop of Haagen-Dazs Cookies and Cream Ice Cream; nine Twizzlers carry as many calories as a Wendy’s Double Stack Burger. That’s scary! Here are some after Hallows eve tips; tit for tat which treats to choose that wont go straight to fat. Just swap outlined here just once and you’ll see, nearly 400 calories saved would be better for thee.

Tit Column "Don't Eat"

WORST “FUN SIZE” CANDY BAR: Butterfinger 100 calories, 4 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 10 g sugar

MORE CALORIES THAN TWO BREYERS PURE FRUIT BERRY SWIRL POPSICLES!

Many candy bars are high in sugar. Many are high in fat. But Butterfinger has magical ability to be high in both. Adding even one “fun size” Butterfinger to your food intake every day is enough to add more than 10 pounds to your body in the next year. There’s nothing fun about that.

Tat Column " If you Must..."

Eat This Instead: 3 Musketeers (that's the name btw do not actually eat 3...)

63 calories, 2 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 10 g sugar

WORST CLASSIC FRUIT CANDY: Brach’s Airheads (3) 140 calories, 1.5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 19 g sugar

MORE SUGAR AND CALORIES THAN ½ CUP OF EDY’S SLOW CHURNED MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP!

Here’s the basic formula for an Airhead: Sugar and filler carbohydrates, artificial colors and flavors, and partially hydrogenated oils—the source of trans fat. Dum Dums might not be nutritional paragons, but they do have two noteworthy advantages over Airheads: 1. No heart-wrecking oils, and 2. They’re made from hard candy. That means they dissolve slowly on your tongue, letting you enjoy the sweetness over time and preventing you from feverishly tearing through Airheads. Cool Dum Dum Halloween trick: Wrap each in a white tissue, secure with a small rubber band, and have the kids draw faces on these “ghosts” to hand out to the neighborhood trick or treaters.

WORST MINIATURE CANDY BARS: Twix Miniatures (3)

150 calories, 7 g fat, 4 g saturated, 15 g sugar

MORE CALORIES THAN TWO FUDGSICLE ORIGINAL FUDGE POPS!

Twix has the worst saturated fat profile of any candy in your kid’s trick-or-treat bag. Think about it like this: Each serving of these bite-sized candies carries 20 percent of the saturated fat you should consume in an entire day. Switch to Tootsie Rolls and you’ll cut your calories by more than half and trim your total fat intake by a whopping 79 percent. (Better yet, treat yourself to some quality dark chocolate. It’s one of 8 Fatty Foods That Actually Make You Skinny and the intense flavor will give you your chocolate fix in fewer calories.)

WORST CHEWY CANDY: Brach’s Milk Maid Caramels (4)

160 calories, 4.5 g fat, 3.5 g saturated fat, 16 g sugar

MORE CALORIES THAN ½ CUP OF HAAGEN-DAZS CHOCOLATE SORBET!

Doesn’t Milk “Maid” sound a lot like Milk “Made”? But rest assured—they’re not the same. This candy contains a couple milk derivatives (whey and “lipolyzed butter fat”), but it hardly constitutes a dairy product. Plus, 90 percent of the fat is saturated. That’s bad news for your heart. If you enjoy the challenge of fighting chewy candy out of your teeth, switch over to Now and Laters and save more than 100 calories per serving.

WORST SEASONALLY THEMED CANDY: Reese’s Pumpkin (There goes my favorite...)

170 calories, 10 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 16 g sugar

MORE CALORIES AND SUGAR THAN FIVE NABISCO GINGER SNAPS!

This one should send your gimmick radar into the red zone. If it were flavored with pumpkin puree that would be one thing, but it’s not. It’s an oversized peanut butter cup shaped in a pumpkin-like mold. And what price do you pay for such fanciful novelty? Nearly two-thirds more calories than a regular Reese’s peanut butter cup. If you want to create a festive atmosphere, stick with Candy Corn and you’ll save yourself the calorie hangover.

WORST MINT CANDY: Junior Mints (1 fun size box)

76.5 calories, 1.35 g fat, 1.13 g saturated fat, 14.4 g sugar

AS MUCH SUGAR AS 3 CHIPS AHOY! CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!

Junior Mints are hard to resist because they’re poppable; you feel like you’re getting a lot because you get to enjoy them over and over until the box is gone. What you’re actually getting more of, though, is calories and sugar. Stick with Charlie Brown’s ambiguously gendered girlfriend, Peppermint Pattie, and cut your calories by a third. (Thirty calories may not seem like a lot, but that’s enough to add more than 3 pounds of flab every year to your fine frame.)

WORST CRUNCHY CANDY: M&Ms Peanut (1 fun size bag)

90 calories, 5 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 9 g sugar

MORE SUGAR AND CALORIES THAN A CUP OF HONEYCOMB CEREAL!

Wait a minute, you might be saying—aren’t peanuts good for me? Not when they’re wearing a spooky costume of fat and sugar. You can satisfy your desire for chocolately crunch, and save sugar, fat and calories, with the pretzel version. The salty-sweet combo will also make them more satisfying. (If you’re genuinely hungry, turn to one of the 50 Best Snack Foods in America rather than filling up on candy.)

WORST LOLLIPOP: Blow Pop (1 regular)

70 calories, 0 g fat, 13 g sugar

AS MUCH SUGAR AS 5 CUPS OF KIX CEREAL!

Blow Pops are a pure rush, but not the good kind. If you’re looking for a great seasonal option to handout on Halloween, grab a box of Caramel Apple pops. The combination celebrates the season at less of a caloric cost than a Blow Pop. Plus, we all know the gum is a throw away since the flavor is gone in minutes. The caramel on the outside of these pops make them last longer, keeping you from diving into the rest of your candy stash.

WORST CHEWY FRUITY CANDY: Skittles (fun size package) 60 calories, 0.6 g fat, 0.1 g saturated fat, 11.3 g sugar

MORE SUGAR THAN 3 KEEBLER SANDIES SIMPLY SHORTBREAD COOKIES!

Repeat after me: If it’s your waist you want to whittle, keep your fingers off the Skittles. Sugar, corn syrup and food dye—that’s all you’re getting from a package of Skittles. Starburst cuts the sugar nearly in half by using apple juice concentrate to add extra sweetness and cut down on the corn. (Don’t get us started on food dyes. Red dye comes from one of the 9 Bugs You Don’t Know You’re Eating.)

WORST PEANUT BUTTER CANDY: Reese’s miniatures (5)

220 calories, 13 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 23 g sugar

AS MANY CALORIES AS TWO CANS OF RED BULL—AND NEARLY SIX SUGAR PACKETS WORTH OF SUGAR!

The American Heart Association says an adult woman should have no more than 25 grams of added sugar a day. Reese’s manages to pack almost that much into one serving of these miniatures. Maybe they should be called “maxiatures”? (Why not ditch the candy altogether and treat yourself to a dessert you’ll actually savor from our list of 10 Restaurant Desserts Under 400 Calories?)

WORST JELLY CANDY: Mike & Ike (1 small box)

Eat This Instead: Spangler Dum Dum Pops (3) (Yes you can eat 3 this time...Yea!)

60 calories, 0 g fat, 11 g sugar

Eat This Instead: Tootsie Rolls (3) Yep 3 of them. And sorry I know that isn't a "Real" Tootsie roll, but dang how cute is that kid ...and...yeaaaah don't eat your kid either.

70 calories, 1.5 g fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 9.5 g sugar

Eat This Instead: Now and Later (4) 4 pieces...nod.

53 calories, 0.5 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 10 g sugar

Eat This Instead: Brach’s Candy Corn (11)

81 calories, 0 g fat, 16 g sugar

Ok guess I skip both of these...Candy corn...Blech.

Eat This Instead: York Peppermint Pattie (1 snack size piece)

60 calories, 1 g fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 11 g sugar

Seriously this is almost the same thing and they taste better! This one is an easy swap!

Eat This Instead: M&Ms Pretzel (1 fun size bag)

60 calories, 2 g fat, 1.2 g saturated fat, 7 g sugar

Eat This Instead: Caramel Apple Pop (1 regular)

60 calories, 0.5 g fat, 10 g sugar

Eat This Instead: Starburst (fun size w/ 2 pieces)

40 calories, 0.8 g fat, 0.1 g saturated fat, 6.7 g sugar

Eat This Instead:

M&Ms Peanut Butter (2 packages). Ok I am all over this one. I love these and it will cure that crave for the peanut butter cup plus you will feel like you are eating more.

190 calories, 11 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 17 g sugar

Eat This Instead: Jelly Belly Jelly Beans (mini pack)

35 calories, 0 g fat, 7 g sugar

These are all of course just suggestions but you will be able to see the above and recognize them at a glance. Staying healthy is hard when you have so many health issues like me. Look at your body and mind and understand what a creative piece of fragile artwork you are. Try to make wise choices and most important of all: Be safe on Halloween. Wear reflective gear. Take flashlights. Use reflective tape on treat bags. Be aware of your surroundings at all times. Have fun!

0 Comments

The Art of Halloween Preparation Part4

10/3/2014

0 Comments

This is part 4 in a series based on The Art of Halloween Preparation. I want to share with you a fun alternative to candy to give to your trick-or-treaters and or to make with your kids. These are also great party items for treat bags for classes. We will cover homemade treat bags later in the series but today we are going to cover making Ooze that you can use! As you can see on the left this is the finished product. You can add flys, googly eyes or plastic spiders and eyeballs and you can get these items at the Dollar store!

There are many jars you can find and use for this project. I am including this link for the fun purple jars on the right. I have ordered from this company before and the product was excellent quality and inexpensive. The 4 oz. jars they have in the purple would be perfect for our project since they look so Halloweenie and yes "Halloweenie" is a technical term. Please note that I do not endorse any company but I will point out where I got things as well as any good deals I find. In this case you can get 24/4 oz. plastic purple containers with lids for $13. 92 not including shipping. If you do the math it comes out to less than .60 cents a jar. Now depending on if you want to use this as a party favor or for trick or treating these will go over great since they are so cute. I am so digging the purple over the clear. The 4 oz. jars are unit #0066-08. Here is the link for the jars: http://www.sks-bottle.com/fin133y.html

Moving on. To make your own Ooze you will need the following; Note this recipe is for each jar or you can split it so adjust accordingly:

Jars with Lids
2 Tsp Guar Gum (available at Health food stores)
2 Tsp Borax
5 1/2 cups Hot Water around 110 degrees (So boil and let sit a bit till it cools down)
A few drops Green food coloring
Strainer
Spatula
Print out labels; Double sided tape for this or a glue stick to adhere labels to top of jar.

To make the slime you will take the Guar Gum and stir it together with green food coloring and 4 cups of hot water in a glass bowl (Glass;to assist with non staining and cleanup). Once the concoction is mixed you will push this green stuff through a strainer with your spatula to remove any lumps. Set this aside. Next take your borax ( Adults only here) and mix it with 1 1/2 cups of water till its dissolved then slowly stir it into your Guar & Green booger mixture. I know you were thinking it at this point come on. Once mixed let it cool down in the glass bowl.

Now all you have to do is decant it into your awesome purple containers and add your plastic creatures. I also found some cool "Slimy Spider" Labels on Martha Stuarts' for Slime which I have included here for you to print and add to your lids. Or you can make your own using our cool free Vintage images. Just secure with double sided tape or glue stick.

slime-labels-clip-art-1014.pdf
File Size:	111 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Now the cautionary to ruin your fun. Just remember this stuff can stain so be sure to supervise play, keep off clothes, carpets and pets. Do not eat it and its not for kids under 3-4 years of age. Borax, sodium tetraborate decahydrate, is not acutely toxic and a very significant dose of the chemical is needed to cause severe symptoms or death. Even so please please use caution when mixing it with the water. Do no breath the fumes and make sure only an adult does the borax step so as not to breath in fumes and or powder. Borax is after all a cleaning chemical and I say always err on the side of caution. As like anything too much of a good thing can be harmful. Have fun at your own risk.

Join us for The Art Of Halloween Preparation Part5 where we will design cute treat bags using Vintage images from GrafXQuest. Thanks for coming all the way from your place to mine today.

0 Comments

The Art of Halloween Preparation Part3

10/3/2014

0 Comments

As promised here is the delicious Witches Candy Corn brew recipe. Kid safe and fun for everyone. Get on your brooms and lets go for a ride and some fun!

First off depending on the event you plan on throwing will determine how many you make. The great thing about this recipe is that you pretty much make it by the glass so easy peasy! Lets start with the Black sugar rimmed glasses then the brew and last the cute little witches broom added for flair.

First deciding how many glasses is important. The best and most fun thing to do for the brew is to use mason jars or mason jars with handles as you want to be able to see your brew. The foam on top is very special!

So after decided on what clear glasses you will use lets move on to the black sugar you will rim your glasses with. Now just a heads up we are going to make our own because people out there are charging an arm and a leg for it and guess what? Its easy to make!

Lets make a trip to the Craft store and while there you will pick up the following items in the baking aisle: Sanding Sugar and black powdered food coloring. You want to use the powdered kind because its less messy and its ready to go right away. No drying time. You will also need a plastic baggie that zip seals.

- Fill the sandwich baggie with 1/2 cup of sanding sugar. Sanding sugar is a large-grain sugar that sparkles like crystal, holds color well, and won't melt in hot conditions. You can find sanding sugar in the baking section of craft stores.
- 2 Add a pinch of black powdered food color. Powdered food coloring works best for coloring sugar because it spreads evenly and is ready to use right away. You can find powdered food coloring in the baking section of craft stores.
- 3 Shake the bag until the color is evenly distributed. You can use the sugar right away because powdered food coloring doesn't require any time to dry or set. Add more color if you want a deeper black

That's it and you sugar is ready to go.   Now how do you add it to the glasses? Well that's easy too. You will need some corn syrup or equally sticky sweet stuff like Agave. But since you really can't be watching your weight around Halloween we are going to use the real stuff Buahaha.   Now grab a glass and pour a little corn syrup into a bowl.   Dip your glass rim in the bowl to lightly coat it with the corn syrup, lift and let it run off till its not dripping.   Next you will dip it into your black sugar and walla!   Black sugar coated rims. (Insert witches cackle here).

Now just a tip on the Black food coloring. Trying to mix powdered food colors like red, green etc... to make black will often produce a dark gray color. Pre-made black food coloring is the best choice for this. So buy yours early before they run out. The closer to Halloween the shorter on the supplies.

Next on to the Candy Corn brew. The brew is actually made of a couple of layers. Here are the ingredients:
2 Liters of Ginger ale
1 Liter Mango Nectar (you can get this in cans in the Hispanic section of grocery or in the health section in the refrigerated drink area).
1 Bottle Grenadine
1 Long Eyedropper
Scissors
1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
2 Tbsp Of Sugar
2 Tsp of unflavored gelatin (careful on this one in case you are serving a vegan)
Enough Long Cinnamon sticks to supply each glass with one
Black paper cupcake liners
Corn Syrup bowl from dipping sugar above

Lets go ahead and make our brooms so they have time to set up.   Taking a black cup cake liner make a cut into it to the center.   Insert your cinnamon stick, leaving about a half inch, into the back side of the liner. Dipping your finger in the corn-syrup bowl paste some around the 1/2" end of the cinnamon stick to "glue" down your cup cake liner. Use the photo above for reference. Pinch and twist your liner around the end of the cinnamon stick to achieve a triangular appearance. Use syrup as needed to paste your ends to meet. Then taking your scissor cut fringe on the end of the cup cake liner to emulate broom bristles. Set your completed brooms aside to dry.

The foam on top of the brew is as follows. Whip together 1/2 cup of whipping cream with sugar and gelatin.   Whip until it starts to get fluffy then add the other half of the whipping cream. Whip until it is foamy and stiff/fluffy. Set aside.

Now the brew. Fill your mason jars with 1/3 ginger ale. Slowly layer in about 1/5 mango juice. The idea is to not let it mix completely with the ginger ale. Next take an eyedropper with grenadine and insert it into the center all the way to the bottom of the drink and squeeze out. You should see layers like the photo above. Take the foam you set aside and spoon some onto the top of your brew enough to cover the top with a layer. Insert your broom!   Walla a tasty Witches Candy Corn Brew. You can even add a little candy corn on top of the foam if you like but not necessary.

0 Comments

The Art of Halloween Preparation Part2

9/27/2014

Welcome to part two of the Art of Halloween preparation. As mentioned in the previously article we will be having a a lot of preparation sessions to get ready for my favorite time of the year Fall and Halloween. So get out your broom and dust off your printer lets get started!

Today we will be covering inexpensive ways to create decorations that are fun, easy and look awesome. Visiting our friends at the Shabby Nest I borrowed some of her photos to show you some clever ways to use the free Vintage printables on our Freebie page.

As you can see above and on the side here the Shabby Chic had a great idea on how to use the Vintage bug printables by turning them into a fantastic Mantel display. By printing out the bugs in color or hand coloring them after your print you simply cut them out and can double stick tape them to a fallen branch creating a fun creepy crawly display. Cut a few more out and add them to lamps and picture frames or candlesticks.

Here was a simple and beautiful focal point for the mantel. Paint a pumpkin white with white acrylic paint and hot glue or double stick tape a bug on the side. These are projects you can do with the kids by spending time together and coloring the bugs and cutting out. Decide together where to put them. Time well spent with the family is satisfying for everyone. You can find our great vintage Halloween image freebies by clicking on the button here:

Images

Thanks for joining us for session 2 of The ART of Halloween Preparation. Short and sweet but the time was neat! Next time we will be covering a great witches brew with yummy sugared rimmed glasses.

The Art of Halloween Preparation Part1

9/22/2014

With Halloween nearly a month away, How do you keep the spooks at bay?

You start very early and what can I say
but work on projects, prep and play.

Think of your kids and trick or treaters alike,
snacks for home and the traveling tyke.

What is good for your kids should not be the same
as what you give at the door you don't want the blame.

Exposed treats like apples and such
are not appreciated by strangers much.

All the trouble you go through today
will just be taken and thrown away.

You protect your kids more than any other
and so will that little trick or treaters mother.

So throughout the next week and month or so,
I will show you samples of whats good to go.

Using vintage freebies from my freebie page
we will create treats that will be all the rage.

So stay tuned my friend for Halloween fun
there's so much more in the days to come.

One more thing before I go,
I must tell you I appreciate you more than you know!

Search the site...

The Art of Eating Halloween Candy; Part 7 in the Art of Halloween Series

Tit Column "Don't Eat"

Tat Column " If you Must..."

WORST JELLY CANDY: Mike & Ike (1 small box)

The Art of Halloween Preparation Part4

The Art of Halloween Preparation Part3

The Art of Halloween Preparation Part2

The Art of Halloween Preparation Part1

About this page.

Archives

Categories

Free Content

Advertise on our site

FAQ

Search the site...

Tit Column "Don't Eat"

Tat Column " If you Must..."

WORST JELLY CANDY: Mike & Ike (1 small box)

About this page.

Subscribe to our mailing list

Archives

Categories