Even though I tend to keep the family eating on the healthy side of things, I usually throw all of that out the window every October when Pumpkin Spice Scones are readily available and Halloween treats must be created.
Because I’m planning a huge party this Halloween, I’ve been a little more focused on Halloween treats than usual. After all, what’s a party without gooey white chocolate eye balls and buckets of candy corn?
Even though my thoughts are wandering to sugar this year, I also realize that when you have a room full of kids, sending them home hyped up from too many goodies isn’t going to make me the most popular mom at school. But when it comes to tables full of sweet treats, how do you balance everything out with healthier options that they’ll actually want to eat?
For Halloween, I think the lure is in the presentation. Simply put, if you make a dish, even fruit and vegetables, look spooky enough kids will go for it. The only trick is setting up a great looking buffet table.
The first step to having a festive Halloween table is having enough platters for all of your food options. I like to use platters in different shapes and styles for different tables – something that doesn’t take away from the rest of the table decorations, and gives you a variety of sizes so you have cool display options no matter what you’re serving. You can try the Tannex Inca serving platter or the Tannex Aubergine oval serving platter to start.
Let’s take a look at a few healthy Halloween options that will have the kids reaching for veggies at the buffet, not sugar.
Pumpkin Orange Slices
Although they are so simple, these are so cute that everyone will want one. Simply slice an orange up and lay it down on a platter. Cut out tiny pumpkin eyes, nose, and a mouth from fruit roll ups and decorate your ‘pumpkins.’
Peanut Butter Banana Ghosts
Take a banana and cut it in half. Use a cake pop stick or Popsicle stick and place the banana on it. Brush the banana lightly with peanut butter and roll it in coconut. Use raisins to make tiny eyes and mouth.
Pumpkin Peach Cups
For this treat, all you need is a big bowl and some peach fruit cups from your local grocery store. Draw cute pumpkin faces on them with a magic marker and display on your table.
Spooky popcorn fingers
Air pop some popcorn. Take a rubber glove and place a piece of candy corn at the bottom of each fingertip. Stuff the glove with popcorn and tie with ribbon.
Witches broomsticks
Cut string cheese up into 3 pieces. Take a piece and fray it at the edges by pulling the cheese apart. Insert a pretzel in each piece and ‘tie’ the broom stick with a sliced up piece of chive.
Jack-O-Lantern Veggies and Dip
This one is especially easy if you have an oval platter like the Tannex Aubergine oval serving platter. Just arrange carrots around the platter and place small containers of dip to create eyes and a nose. Cut up zucchini into triangles and arrange for a mouth.
You can also do a pumpkin dip by hollowing out a pumpkin and filling it with ranch or your favourite veggie dip, then surrounding your pumpkin with veggies for dipping.
Once you get started creating healthy Halloween snacks, you’ll be having so much fun you won’t want to go back to the sweet stuff.
This month it’s all Halloween all the time on Shelly’s Friday Favourites. If you haven’t checked out the post on Halloween Sugar Cookies, be sure to take a peek. Tune in next week when we’ll create 5 different types of super scary Halloween cupcakes.
