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Wholesome October Recipes
I have found October a month that many people, especially mothers, dread. What about all of that junk food and candy? Tooth decay, sugar rushes, putting on weight from empty calories... we all know how bad the stuff is for us. The answer is to make sure that there are enough mouth-watering, truly healthy alternatives around to make it easy to say "No, thank you" to the junk.
Perhaps many of you are already turning down the bad stuff and only eating the nutritious. In this case, congratulations on your determination to be healthy. I am certain that you will enjoy the recipes that I have to share with you.
However, I am going to guess that, for many of you, October is a month when the usual standards of eating slip. To you my dear friends, I am going to say something remarkable: Once you have enough delicious treats at home, the temptation to eat junk disappears. This will be especially true if you eat healthy on all other occasions. Stunned parents watch as my kids, at the end of the night, give all of their trick or treat candy away without so much as a whiff, a bite or the slightest regret. We have parties where the treats served are healthy yet the guests are still satisfied that they fulfilled all of their sweet treats expectations. You can have all of the fun of treats without the guilt and worry. You can have all of the delicious tastes without that heavy, weighed down feeling afterwards.
I'll start with the simplest ideas. How about dried fruit? Golden raisins, Medjool dates, date and almond bars, dried pineapple, dried papaya... the list goes on. These are all marvelous treats and available at any market. They do have a lot of sugar and should be used only as treats. However, as I am sure you already know, they are packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber and all sorts of other good things. Add some roasted almonds, cashews and/or other nuts and you could even make it a meal.
 Delicious Carob Worms Carob Peanut Butter Banana spiders Peanut Butter Banana Slugs are healthy alternatives that I have created. You can whip up any one of these three recipes in 5 to 15 minutes. This doesn't include the time to make the funny shapes. If you are short on time, just form balls, better yet, shapeless blobs and use your imaginations. If you have kids, they will have a great time forming the shapes and it is good exercise for developing the fine motor coordination in their little fingers. If it is a kids party, you could even set out the bowl of unshaped dough and let the guests form their own shapes. Each of these three recipes are low in sugars, high in protein, rich in healthy fats and filled with lots of calcium.
Part of the fun of Halloween is making cookies using different Halloween cookie cutters. Try my Poppy Seed Cookies or Coconut Cookies for a healthful, delicious alternative.
Finally, you can look through my ever-growing database of delectable recipes for entrees, appetizers, cakes and snacks that would be suitable for parties.
Happy cooking,
Aura
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