Do you have so much Halloween candy you feel like it’s coming out of your ears? We feel your pain. If you’re looking for something to do with your Halloween candy, short of throwing it all in the trash, we’ve got a few great suggestions for you at our guest post over on Moms LA.
Check it out, and let us know if you have any more suggestions to add!
Oh, yes we did! We are celebrating Halloween with a decadent treat that has no food coloring – and no one is complaining. Today’s treat, butternut squash donuts (well, technically butternut squash zeppoli), are light and fluffy with a nice fall flavor. When you take a bite, they’re a nice cheery orange color inside. What’s not to like?
Butternut Squash Donuts
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup roasted butternut squash, mashed (see note)
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Oil for frying
1 to 2 cups powdered sugar
In a large bowl, mix ricotta cheese, butternut squash, and eggs until thoroughly combined. Add flour, baking powder, and salt, and stir until just mixed. Heat the oil to 350 degrees. Carefully drop the dough, in rounded teaspoonfuls, into the oil, leaving plenty of space between each donut (they will puff up). Allow them to cook for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, or until dark golden brown. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with a paper towel. Meanwhile, fill a brown paper bag with powdered sugar. When the donuts are cool enough to handle, put them, 2 to 3 at a time, in the paper bag and shake to coat. Serve immediately. Makes approximately 16 bite-sized donuts.
Note: To prepare the butternut squash, slice the squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and dot each open face with a small amount of butter. Place the halves in a large pan, filled with about an inch of water, and roast at 375 for approximately 90 minutes, or until soft. Scoop out the flesh, and mash it with a fork to use in recipes.
Other note: Technically, this recipe cheats on our Unprocessed October resolution. But since it’s the last day of the month – and a kids’ holiday – we’ll let this one slide.
In case you’ve been trapped under an enormous pumpkin for a few weeks, you probably know that there’s a little holiday coming up called Halloween. And kids eat a lot of not-so-good foods on Halloween. And kids’ nutrition writers are working overtime to come up with all sorts of ways to make the holidays healthier, or else come up with strategies for moderation. So yeah, there’s a lot of Halloween food news this week. Where to start…
If you’d like to kick off the weekend with an orange meal, you’ll have to try this Orangest of Orange Pumpkin Curry from Cute and Delicious. It features pumpkin, sweet potatoes, orange cauliflower, and curry powder (and it’s vegan too!). Sounds yummy – will your kids eat it too?
If you’re looking for gluten-free treats, Red Tricycle Moms has a nice list. Also for your consideration, MSNBC features some organic Halloween treats. And if you’re wondering if any of these taste any good, Huffington Post did a kids’ taste test of organic Halloween candy (surprise ending: no candy was left untouched).
If you want to get your Halloween party into high gear without food dyes or food colorings, Jolly Tomato has a roundup of brightly colored party foods that you can make with natural ingredients. Hint: Think brightly colored fruits and vegetables.
On the other hand, if you’re curious about just how much candy other kids eat, you may be interested in this Kids Talk About: Halloween Candy article from KidsHealth. Curiously, half of the 1,200 kids interviewed said they had no limits on how much candy they could eat, yet just 20 percent said they eat ALL of their candy.
And last, if you are overly worried about candy on Sunday, maybe it’s time to relax. The New York Times has a story about Dr. Samira Kawash, the “Candy Professor,” who tries to inject a little reality into parental worries about candy. After all, she says, why worry about the sugar in candy if you’re feeding your kids chocolate-chip energy bars and Gatorade? Food for thought.
Happy Friday to all!
