The biggest Silver Lining of the week was being introduced to Foodbabe.com. Holy moly do I ever have a hugmongous girl crush! Before our daughters went to yoga, a mom and I were talking about our dread of Halloween…and the candy. In addition to trepidation about the manic excitement and the ingestion of sugar, we shared a mutual dread of exposure to the candy with GMO’s (genetically modified organisms), controversial chemicals and other additives like artificial food dyes. Almost instantaneously, my friend turned me onto the FoodBabe who (like me!) votes for more healthy ingredients with her dollars each and every day.
The FoodBabe is Vani Hari. For most of her life, she ate anything she wanted. Vani was a candy addict, drank soda, never ate green vegetables, frequented fast-food restaurants and ate an abundance processed food. Her typical American diet landed her where that diet typically does, in a hospital. It was then, in the hospital bed more than ten years ago, that she decided to make health her number one priority.
Vani used her new found inspiration for living a healthy life to drive my energy into investigating what is really in our food, how is it grown and what chemicals are used in its production. She had to teach herself everything. As she began to learn more, she was no longer duped by big business marketing tactics, confused by lengthy food labels, and it became easier for me to live in this over-processed world. Most importantly, the more she learned and the more lessons she put into action, the better she felt and wanted to tell everyone about it! This is the Silver Lining for all of us!
One of my favorite parts of her site is offering better alternatives to ingredients currently on the market. Below are her recommendations that I am following this Halloween and holiday season and am all too excited to share with you!
Many of the better and GMO free candy options are available to purchase at local health food stores, on the internet and at even some mainstream stores like Target.
- Endangered Species Organic Chocolate
- UnReal Candy #54 and UnReal Candy #41
- UnReal #8
- Panda Raspberry or Cherry Licorice
- Annie’s Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks – (FYI – Annie’s was bought by General Mills, Lovely Candy Company is another great alternative that tastes like Starbursts)
- Yummy Earth Organic Gummy Bears
- UnReal #77 Peanut Butter Cups
- Surf Sweets Sour Berry Bears
- Yummy Earth Organic Candy
For some other ideas that are not candy, consider handing out:
- Organic Granola Bars
- Organic raisins
- Small Tangerines
- Glow Sticks
- Stickers
- Cookie Cutters
- Hot Cocoa Mix
For party snacks to enjoy while the trick or treaters come by, check out the recipes below:
- Creamy Kale & Artichoke Dip with Homemade Chips (One of my favorite snacks to make for a party!!!)
- Halloween Stuffed Sweet Potatoes and Fudge Treats
- Pumpkin Soup
- Pumpkin Spiced Nuts
- Raw Cacao Candy Crunch
- Almond Chocolate Freezer Fudge
- Almond Butter Brownies
- Chocolate Goji Berry Drops
- White Chocolate Coconut Crispy Treats
Hope you enjoy checking out these links and be sure to check out FoodBabe.com!!