Healthier Candy Choices – Payday® Candy

The Payday® candy bar is one of the healthier candy choices. It is still candy. Payday® is not a health food and yet it is very similar or even better in ingredients than most protein or power bars. The Payday® is a good choice candy bar when you are looking for healthier Halloween choices without taking all of the fun out of Halloween.

Payday® is high in protein

Just like most power bars Payday® includes a healthy dose of protein. Payday® is a peanut and caramel candy bar. It is delicious and nutritious. Peanuts are not really a nut, but a legume. Legumes are edible seeds enclosed in pods like black beans and soybeans. Peanuts contain protein and amino acids, the building blocks for muscle. I actually use Payday® as a protein bar for may post workout snack sometimes. Peanuts are natural sources of vitamin E and B vitamins. The B vitamins found in peanuts are important to energy production in your body. Milk, soy powder and egg whites also add to the protein in a Payday®.

Payday® is high in carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are important for energy production and also muscle building. The sugar in a Payday® is corn syrup. This is not the healthiest choice of sugars and yet it is not the worst choice either. Corn syrup is far better than the high fructose corn syrup that is in most candies. The carbohydrates in Payday® are great for a post work out snack and a better choice for your kids on Halloween.

Payday® is low in chemicals

The Payday® candy bar has low in artificial flavors, chemicals or colors and relatively low in “unknown” additives. The Payday® has only carrageenan, (a plant based color), mono and diglycerides, (made from coconuts). Although I do not advocate those ingredients as being good choices, the Payday® is a pretty “clean” candy or protein bar compared to the competition.

Teach your children good candy choices

Life is about choices. Halloween can be a terrific opportunity to give your kids the gift of healthy for the future. Halloween can be fun and healthy too! Teach your children how to have fun on Halloween and make better choices that will impact their lives into the future. Learn more about good family food choices when you just click here.

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Healthy Halloween Treats

These Krispy Brown Rice Treats have wholesome whole grain goodness of brown rice and the same yummy flavor as the refined rice counter part. Halloween doesn’t have to teach kids about ghoulish gluttony! Use this fun season to show your kids that snacks, candy and desserts can be good for you. White rice and flour is nothing but sugar and man-made vitamins. Brown rice and wild rice are whole grain. These family favorites include natural whole grain goodness and they taste the same! Teach your kids to that treats can be made healthier too. Click my picture to learn healthy tricks on how to keep your family on the right side of health with good food choices.

Ingredients
40 large marshmallows (this is generally one bag)
½ cup unsalted butter
1 box Brown Rice Krisp Cereal (10-13 oz.)
One Individual Serving Bag Of M&M chocolate candies

Method
Put cereal into a large bowl.
Melt butter & marshmallows in a large saucepan over low heat until smooth.
Pour melted mixture over the cereal and mix well.
Immediately spread this mixture into a 9×13″ baking pan that is lined with parchment paper. (or greased or sprayed with canola oil)
Sprinkle M&Ms evenly over the top.
Press and shape treats by pressing down and shaping with parchment paper to fit pan. Cool completely. When cool, cut into squares.

Watch for more healthy snacks and healthy kids ideas for your trick or treaters over the next couple of weeks. Your family deserves the best! Happy Cooking, Deb

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Fun School Assembly

Funny Debbie Banana Teaches Kids To Eat 5-A-Day.

Today, I am presenting the school assembly Debbie Banana And The Mad Scientist 4 times. The Coudersport Elementary School in Coudersport, Pennsylvania invited me to present two assemblies to the students and two to the parents coming this evening to the parent teacher night. In this hilariously funny assembly, Debbie Banana teaches the kids that they will grow up to be healthy when they eat 5 fruits and vegetables a day. The Mad Scientist teaches them what is really in that box of macaroni and cheese. The evening events will be a short, adult version of the same assembly, Debbie Banana And The Mad Scientist.

All Schools Have Wellness Guidelines

The state of Pennsylvania, like most other states, has wellness policies for schools. One of the policies in PA is that all of the schools are required to have wellness committees that plan, organize and provide wellness education for students, staff and parents. It amazes me how many schools can not afford to have Debbie Banana come to assist them in that process. Other school districts, some in that appear to be less privileged districts seem to find the funds necessary to give the students the information they need to live healthier into adulthood. I would think that wellness education of children would be a priority everywhere.

Wellness is not a choice!

The health and wellness of students is not a choice that should be taken lightly. For a child who is not healthy, a good education in math or science is basically useless. I don’t understand why faculty and parents put off health in favor of other parts of education. I am really impressed with several of the school districts that I am working with such as Coudersport Elementary and York City Schools, who choose to find the funds to invest in the most important part of their children’s education, health.

Educated Kids Make Good Choices

Today, after the assemblies, I had two kids from the older grades come up to me and say that they are never eating macaroni cheese in a box again! The Mad Scientist mixes up a batch of macaroni using the chemicals that are in that box of yellow chemical concocted stuff. They had no idea that there were so many chemicals in it and now they do. These kids, about the age of 12 have decided to ask Mom to make scratch macaroni using the recipe that Debbie Banana gave them. They are willing to try a home made whole wheat recipe! If those two kids are the only ones who make a change in the way they think because of my presentation, then my day was a success. I am certain that everyone in the room will remember the assembly for the rest of their lives and it will impact their future at some point.

Kids Love Snacks

Debbie Banana loves snacks and so do the kids. Debbie Banana teaches the kids to eat 5 fruits and vegetables a day. She also teaches choices. Life is all about making little choices that will affect you all your life. Kids love snacks. Snacks, even chips and tortillas can be good-for-you choices. Debbie Banana talks about the difference between good chips and bad chips. Some chips or tortillas are full of sugar and chemicals and some are not. There are good chips and there are bad chips. Life is about choices! We can choose healthy snacks, fruits or vegetables or we can choose good chips. As I typed this article a young boy named Cole came up and sat next to me. Cole appears to be about 6 or 7. He said that he likes fruit and now that he knows fruits and vegetables will help him to live a better life and grow up healthy so he can be an astronaut he has decide that he is going to try to eat more vegetables. He said the banana thing was really funny and everyone was laughing there heads off. (I hadn’t noticed!)

Kids Learn More When They Have Fun!

Debbie Banana And The Mad Scientist is not your typical boring school assembly. Kids have fun, laugh and get involved. Everyone buys, learns and invests in life based on their emotions. When an assembly engages the kids the way this one does, they have fun in school and become emotionally involved. This creates an immediate impact in their lives now and for the future. My mission is to change the way kids eat now and into the future. I made good progress toward that goal today. Let’s see if I can do the same tonight with the parents in half the time!!?

Principles Prioritize Students’ Healthy

Congratulations to Coudersport Elementary School principle, Sherry Cowburn for putting a priority on the wellness of their students! There is nothing more important for the future of kids than their health. When more schools and school principles see the importance of wellness education, we will begin to reverse the epidemic in childhood disease and obesity. Mrs. Cowburn, Coudersport Elementary School and the staff are ahead of the majority of schools in Pennsylvania. Congratulations Coudersport! Click HERE for more info on Debbie Banana.

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