Trick-Or-Treat
With Halloween right around the corner, I thought I’d offer up some helpful information that has made this time of year a little easier for my family and be more of a treat than a trick!
I absolutely love Halloween——kids in adorable costumes, candy, cider, and all of the food—-you really just can’t beat it. I have such great memories of Halloween growing up. My birthday falls around this time of year, so there were lots of Halloween themed birthday parties growing up, where my friends would come over in their costumes and we’d bob for apples, eat donuts on a string and binge on candy. When I got a little older, I’d go out for hours with my friends trick-or-treating, filling pillow cases up (because back then we didn’t get the cool Halloween baskets that everyone buys now). We’d quickly empty it out when it was filled and go back for another round. At the end of the night, we’d all trade candy to make sure we had exactly what we wanted. And then that stuff would last for what seemed like forever. Besides my parents having to check to make sure nothing was opened, I didn’t give it a second thought. If I liked the candy, I’d eat the candy. As an aside, now that I’m older and a parent myself——I realize that “check” was just a ploy to grab a few pieces of candy that they wanted to eat too.
It makes me a bit sad that those memories won’t be the exact same for my kids, but that’s just our reality so we make the best of it. I realize in the big scheme of things, these are very small problems… but nonetheless things that we do now that I never had to even consider in the past. Sure, my kids will go out trick-or-treating for as long as their little legs will carry them. And they’ll fill up their tiny Halloween bucket—-which btw fills up WAY faster because it’s so little and has to be emptied like non-stop…so could we please all rally and make pillow cases cool again? Anyways…once they’re done collecting the goods, there is definitely much more thought put into trading candy. And “checking” candy…I try to get my husband to take mostly ones that they can’t eat.
On the plus side, if my daughter starts to go low while she’s out trick-or-treating, she has plenty of diabetic supplies. Skittles are 1g of carbohydrate each. Starburst are 5g each. It’s nice to be able to know how many carbs you are correcting a low blood sugar with so that you don’t end up with a blood sugar skyrocketing out of control. I do have to laugh a little bit because we say trick-or-treating is great for stocking up on free low supplies for a few months! But we do have to carefully check candy, to make sure that it’s gluten-free before she eats it. Easier said than done on some of the candies when they aren’t always labeled, so if we’re unsure she might just have to not eat it out of an abundance of caution. Not only that, but many of the fun sized candies don’t have carbohydrate counts listed, so bolusing is either a best guess or googling labels before she can eat anything. Add in another kid with a peanut allergy, and this trick-or-treating and candy trading business really takes some work.
It’s all so worth it. They all still have the best time getting dressed up and going out with their friends. And there are plenty of candies that they all can safely enjoy. There are many resources out there that I’ve found useful while figuring out which candies that are safe for my kids and recipes to help us celebrate the fall season. Here are two that I’ve found extremely helpful to help you feel prepared.
Halloween-candy-carb-counts is a quick reference from JDRF for common Halloween candies and their carbohydrate counts.
Gluten Free Apple Cider Donuts is a great recipe for gluten-free cider donuts.. I’ve made them ahead before so that I have a gluten-free option for my daughter if we go to any halloween parties. They freeze really well, so if you do make it save a few in case you unexpectedly go to any fall festivities. I also have made this recipe from Chef Alina into donuts by just leaving off the frosting and baking in a donut pan. I’m sure the cupcakes are absolutely delicious, so if anyone makes it feel free to share.
Gluten-Free Candy List from the Celiac Foundation lists certified gluten-free candies. It doesn’t include candies that may be gluten-free, which I’ve found typically means they were processed on equipment that also processes gluten-containing items.
With a little more effort, we still enjoy Halloween. Hopefully this will help you do the same.
