Feltre Party of Four

My mother is famous (at least in our family!) for her Banana Bread recipe.  Over the years, she has tweaked the recipe to sub out some of the ingredients with healthier options. I’ve further perfected the recipe over the past year or so, with frequent experimentation to try to improve the fiber, protein, or texture. My older son loves Banana Bread, therefore I make Banana Bread frequently!

Here is my Ultimate Banana Bread recipe. I’ve incorporated healthier ingredients, such as Coconut Oil, Coconut Flour, and Chia Seed into my recipe. I’ve found that Banana Bread is better the second day. We store it tightly wrapped in foil in the refrigerator for up to a week, though it rarely makes it that long without being fully consumed!

It’s a couple days past Halloween, and I gotta say – – I’m sick of having all this candy laying around the house. I have very little willpower when confronted with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Even less when it’s a ‘fun size’ Milky Way.  Every time I walk by the various Halloween candy containers in our kitchen, it’s hard for me not to dip my hand in and pull something out.

One problem we have is that we had far fewer ‘trick or treaters’ this year versus years’ past.  The other problem is that because of that fact, the neighbors were extremely generous when my children went trick or treating in our neighborhood. While we were equally generous with the candy by the time the highschoolers were coming around later in the evening, we were still left with the equivalent of one Costco sized bag of candy, plus two huge buckets from my kid’s trick or treating. It was fun for a few days, but now it’s time to do something about all the extra candy!

If you find your family with an excess of Halloween candy, here are some tips with how to manage the leftovers.

Tip 1: Pare down the collection.

We’re a couple days into November. The Halloween decorations are packed away, and now it’s time to move on! It’s fun for the kids to have this huge collection of candy for a couple days. Sometimes they pour it out on the floor, stare at the colorful packages, sort it. They put it back in the bucket without ever eating a single piece. To their credit, they have been great about sticking to our two-pieces-a-day rule. But it’s obvious that some of the candy won’t get eaten – – the Now and Laters, the Laffy Taffy, the Sweet Tarts.  Tonight we’re going to go through the collection and have them take out everything they don’t like.  Our goal is to get down to about 25% of what they currently have left.

Tip 2: Donate it!

A great way to teach children about charity is to encourage them to donate their leftover treats to one of the many charitable organizations that accept candy. One of the most popular options is to send the candy to our troops via Operation Shoebox, which runs a candy donation drive.  Heat resistant candy (i.e. Sweet Tarts, Smarties, Twizzlers – – anything not chocolate) is preferred.  Having been the recipient of one of the Operation Shoebox packages while deployed during my time in the U.S. Navy, I can tell you that these donations are very much appreciated by our troops and sailors, especially during the Holidays.  My kids are extremely excited that their unwanted candy will be going to a soldier or sailor!

Tip 3: Hide it!

Once you have pared down the candy collection to an acceptable level, ask your kids to hide the remainder from you. I’m like a bloodhound when it comes to chocolate, so this helps me break the cycle of eating candy every time I walk by their buckets.  This strategy only works if your kids understand that by hiding their candy, they can’t eat it whenever they want. But then again, when the candy is gone, it’s gone, so if they do eat it all in one sitting, it’s not the worst thing in the world.  Given the small amount of candy remaining after we pare down and donate, I expect the remainder of the candy won’t last more through this coming weekend – – and that is a good thing!

Hopefully these tips will help your family manage the excess Halloween candy that may be leftover from the past weekend!

I started making smoothies for breakfast back when my first son was born six years ago. It was really the only way I could eat breakfast at all with a colicky newborn, and over time it became a habit because of its ease, portability and the fact I could pack a lot of satisfaction and nutrition into the first meal of the day. Since then, it is really the only way I want to start my weekday. Weekends I crave eggs and bacon, but weekday mornings I find that I only want a smoothie. Throwing a bunch of vegetables, a little fruit, a little healthy fat, and some protein in a blender is the easiest way for me to start the day off with as much nutrition as I can get in a glass.

Over the years, my taste in smoothies has changed from being primarily fruit based to being more veggie based most days.  With that change I have also found that I want less sweetness.  The below recipe for my Superfoods Smoothie is my go-to recipe; it includes my favorite superfoods including spinach, coconut oil, chia seeds, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and  bananas.  The only other addition I make somedays is to include frozen blueberries for another superfood boost and a little extra sweetness.