Healthy Halloween Treats

As Halloween approaches I begin my yearly dilemma of what to give the kids and still stay focused on good-for-you food choices.  Kids need to have fun. It is part of being a kid.  They also need to understand food choices so that they can maintain lifelong good health.  Last year I gave out Brown Rice Krispie Treats for Halloween.  The children loved them.  They taste the same as the conventional white rice krispies. I also gave out the recipe on a card with a short note on the value of whole foods.  I wanted the parents to see that there are healthy Halloween choices.  Halloween does not have to be a day of total gluttony.
Related Post: Recipe Brown Rice Krispie Treats

Halloween Diet Foods

I just sent out the Foodfocus recipe of the month club for October and used the Brown Rice Krispie recipe as the featured recipe.  Some of the email questions and comments that I got back this week are as follows:

• Where do I find brown rice krispie cereal?  What brands should I be looking for?

There are several brands of brown rice cereal.  I use Barbara’s only because it is available in my local conventional grocery store’s “healthy section”.  Most grocery stores now have a healthy or organic section, so I would look there first.  If you do not find it there, then check your health food stores.

• It is a lot more expensive!

Yes, it is more expensive and like anything else, you will get what you pay for.  I have found that it is less than a dollar more and the value is huge.  Teaching your children whole food choices even on a gluttonous holiday will pay off long term in their medical costs.  How can you put a dollar value on your children’s health?!  The reasons that I am willing to pay the price for whole-grain foods and real food cereals like brown rice krispies are:

1. More fiber
2. More vitamins and minerals
3. Better flavor
4. White flours and refined grains increase your chance of cancer
5. Hidden sugars cause obesity
6. Hidden sugars cause diabetes
7. Excess sugar consumption increases your chance of cancer

• Deb, If you think using brown rice krispies makes it healthy, you are crazy!

You are correct Jason, using brown rice krispies for rice krispie treats certainly is not a health food snack or diet food.  Kids want to have fun.  It would not work to give out carrot sticks or even raisins on Halloween.  They are just not fun enough.  Making one small change in this kid favorite “candy” goes a long way to giving it better value.  The children are getting whole food, fiber and some vitamins with their snack instead of empty calories.

Here are the ingredients of the Barbara’s brand brown rice cereal that I use:
Organic Whole Grain Brown Rice, Organic Fruit Juice Concentrate (Apple, Peach, Pear or Pineapple), Sea Salt.

Those are all real food ingredients and the product is sweetened with fruit juice concentrate.

If you look at the label of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies these are the ingredients: Rice, sugar, salt, high fructose corn syrup, malt flavoring.

White rice is just the sugar part of the rice as the bran and germ have been removed.  In this case the product is made from 4 sugars.  Kellog’s Rice Krispies have absolutely no natural food value and no fiber.

Related Post: Recipe Brown Rice Krispie Treats