Ideas for a Healthier Halloween

Good morning everyone! Halloween is Friday! Who's excited? I'm totally excited, especially to hand out treats. ( They've been tempting me...) So the topic is a healthier Halloween. I'm going to give some tips on party foods, activities, treats to hand out and such. Also you'll notice a lot of these are from Biglots...I'm out to save you money. :) your welcome.



Treats : 

Great ideas for treats to hand out this Halloween! 

Justin's Peanut Butter cups are awesome for Halloween, and Organic! I got these cheap at Biglots :) 

These are cute Organic Candies avaliable from this site
 http://www.naturalcandystore.com/product/bug-bites-organic-milk-chocolate/organic-candy

Cute Organic Lollipops from this site
 http://www.naturalcandystore.com/product/yummy-earth-organic-lollipops-mix/organic-candy



Non-Food Treats : 
 

These little plastic fangs are great to hand out. They're fairly cheap as well. http://www.biglots.com/p/c/candy-and-party-supplies/glow-in-the-dark-fangs-30-pack

Safety and Fun ( I so use to pretend i was a fair when I got glow sticks as a kid) http://www.biglots.com/p/c/candy-and-party-supplies/47ct-glow-stick-monster-pack

Cute little erasers, kids will love these, and they're useful! 
 http://www.biglots.com/p/c/candy-and-party-supplies/seasonal-erasers-50ct





Party Food Ideas : 

Having a party? Kids having a Halloween sleep over? Want to serve something healthy since they came home loaded with Halloween candy? I have a list for that. 

This is an adorable way to serve a stuffed pepper! Kid will love it, just keep the filling healthy

A Pumpkin shaped veggie or fruit tray makes veggies fun!

Stuffed Dates make a creepy but super nutritious food.




Activities : 


1. Tell Scary Stories

2. Halloween "tag" ( great way to get the kids off the couch)

3. Pumpkin Bowling

4. Halloween Bingo

5. Mummy Wrap game  ( basically using white streamer paper and wrapping kids up in it )




For more ideas check out my Pinterest Fall board!
 http://www.pinterest.com/happyholisticli/fall/
 

Wontons

I know, I've done a post on Wontons before.....that was a recipe though. Today I'm just sharing tips for stuffing those awesome little crispy wrappers. I've been working on a new recipe for my cookbook. ( It's coming I swear, I'm just still writing it. Coming up with interesting healthy recipes is hard. ) So anyway, while I'm making this awesome recipe (involving wontons) I decided I should do a post on stuffing wontons. I stuff mine with anything and everything. I've even done cheddar cheese ( not for me, but for my sister who doesn't really like Asian food).

This is an example of what normally like to stuff my wontons with. Sometimes it's just bok choy or even normal cabbage. Sometimes there's rice, or beef or shrimp. It really just depends on what I have at the time.
I use a variety of sauces, or just adding left over stir fry's, and other Asian cuisine to help season the extra veggies I add. So that's pretty much it. Wontons make perfect little packets of healthy food. ( when stuffed with veggies )Below I'm adding some links to recipes that use wonton wrappers .


 http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/monica-bhides-chile-pea-puffs-recipe.html


 http://bevcooks.com/2013/09/pan-fried-pork-dumplings/



http://www.halfbakedharvest.com/seared-ahi-tuna-poke-salad-hula-ginger-vinaigrette-wonton-crisps/


http://www.feastie.com/recipe/yup-its-vegan/avocado-edamame-potstickers

Healthy Snack Delivery Services

Who loves snacks? I do! Especially healthy snacks! Know what's better? When they're delivered and you can just stay inside because it's rather chilly out. The best rainy cold days are spent indoors, eating yummy healthy food, doing an at home exercise routine, and then camping out under blankets watching Netflix with a pot of tea. Am I the only one who enjoys that? Fair enough.

So this is the snacks that were delivered today! Yay! These are from Graze.com 
This service is awesome. It's all healthy, perfectly portioned, and just yummy! Basically you can go through the snacks and pick what you prefer, they even had a dietary preferences feature that allows you to exclude snacks you prefer not to eat. They now have a waiting list for Big Bags of snacks. Each box costs around $6. But it's soo worth it. You can even choose when to have it delivered. I'm low on cash so this it the first and last for a while, until I can get a bit more financially stable.

Oh and those cookies? They're Vegan chocolate chip Cookies! Have I mentioned I'm making a cookbook? It'll be an Ebook and App.  Those are a new recipe I've come up with and will be in the cook book. ( something to look forward too! I'll be sure to post about the book when it's done! )

Nature Box is next on the list. It's a cool healthy snack delivery service. They have a ton of snacks, and alot are vegan , gluten-free, and non-GMO! These all come in big bags, so lots of yummy snacks!

Snack Nation   sends popular healthy snacks to, for $29 a month.

Nibblr is similar to graze and cost about $5.99 a month or week I'm not totally sure.

Healthy Surprise  is quite similar to Snack Nation. You can get a subscription for a month for $40


These are just a few healthy snack services! When deciding to get a go for a snack delivery service, make sure you check them out thoroughly and pick whats best for you.

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie

Don't lose your head pumpkin lovers , keep calm! I've already lost my head this morning! Then I regained control while I did dishes.(Yuck) This smoothie is sooo creamy! It's like almost like a shake. Very thick. This idea just struck me as I was weakly trying to open my jar of cocoanut oil, ( I never did get it open...I swear it super glues it's self shut). I decided I needed some breakfast, and I really wanted a smoothie. However I'm short on fruit, other than the frozen stuff that I didn't want to use an ice pick on...

( Yes I know the pictures are crap... I prefer natural sunlight and it just wasn't happening this morning..and no amount of fake lights I have did well at all. Also..Pumpkin can be sooo not photogenic, it's a drama queen I suspect. It was having a tantrum. )

Then I spied the pumpkin, right on top of my new tub of yogurt. That's when it hit me. It's October, Pumpkin reigns supreme. Pumpkin is smooth and creamy and yummy, and super good for you. That settled it. I yanked out random ingredients and set to work. Now we have a pumpkin smoothie! Recipe is below :)

*Remember to try to use Organic

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie 

* 1 1/2 Cups 100% Canned Pumpkin 
* 1/2 Cup Organic Yogurt
* 1/4 Cup Green Juice 
* 1/2 Cup Water
* 3 tsp Dark Brown Sugar
* 1/8 tsp Vanilla Extract 
* 1/8 tsp Pumpkin Spice Seasoning 
* Drizzle of Honey

Directions: 

Add the Juice and water to the blender first. Next add the pumpkin, the spice and Sugar and honey.  

Now throw in the yummy creamy yogurt! Now Blend Blend Blend! 

You can totally top it with whipped cream for a special treat or just some granola...or leave it alone..whatever you like.

Enjoy :)

The Perfect Pot of Tea

So tea...it's great right? Totally great. Especially when you've caught a nasty cold ( me *cough cough* ) So today I'm showing you how to make the perfect pot of tea..since it's about all I can manage to make right now...

Directions for the Perfect Pot of Tea :

First, get some water boiling. Make sure it's enough water to fill your tea pot! 

While the water get's hot, get your tea bags, or loose tea and put it in your tea pot. 

When I do a Loose Tea I prefer to use a Tea Ball . So all you do with a tea ball is simply open it, add your desired amount of tea, and close it up and put it in the tea pot. 

Now when your water is boiling, add it to the tea pot. 

Allow it to steep for 3-4 minutes.

To keep it extra warm, you can cover it. 

After it's the steeping time is up, take out the tea bags or ball. 

Now , if your using a tea bag, give them a squeeze. Before you scream " but it's too hot to touch!" see those small orange tongs? I use those to effectively squeeze the bags. Some people say to squeeze, others say not to...I do simply because I believe it adds more flavor. 

I add Honey to my tea, right into the pot. Just a little. 

Now pour yourself a big cup..or small cup..I drink mine out of a soup mug. Don't Judge. 

 There you have it. A Perfect pot of tea. Oh and that little cream jug? I never use cream, so I just put sugar in it, since I don't have a sugar thingie with the tea pot.

So tell me..what are YOUR fave teas? Got a cute tea pot you love? I like pictures...I have a tea pot obsession. Delight me? I'm sick.

Enjoy your tea!

Pumpkin Parfait

It's a cold October morning! You know what everyone loves in October? Pumpkin! Usually it's pumpkin pie, cheesecake, cupcakes...pumpkin everything really. I'm on board with the whole pumpkin everything, thing. Really, have you carved a pumpkin lately? Opened a can of Organic 100% pumpkin? It smells awesome! So of course I've made a Pumpkin Parfait this morning, because it's fall, it's easy, and I had a very long week last week, and I'm tired.

So below is this beyond simple recipe. *  Remember to try to use Organic.



Pumpkin Parfait 

* 1/2 cup 100% Pumpkin (not pie filling) 
* 1/3 cup Organic Vanilla Yogurt 
* 2 tsp Dark Brown Sugar
* Sprinkle of Pumpkin Pie Spice
* Splash of Vanilla Extract 
* 1/4 cup Organic Granola 
* 3-4 whole Walnuts. 

Directions: 
Put the pumpkin in a small bowl, mix in brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla. Next take a pretty parfait dish or just a pretty tall glass, and begin layering the ingredients as follows : Small spoonful of yogurt, sprinkle of granola, spoonful or two of pumpkin mix. Repeat. Top with Granola and nuts.

Enjoy :)

Curried Fall Chicken Breast and Brussels Sprouts Salad

OK, my house smells like butter, brown sugar and bacon. No I'm not baking maple bacon cupcakes or anything like that. ( I haven't had a cupcake in a while.) Should I mention that my house also smells of curry powder, Dijon mustard and other wonderful things? See NOT cupcakes. I swear, there's the pic below.

 See!! Yummy chicken, and roasted Brussels sprout salad! ( I may have roasted the Brussels sprouts a bit too long, so we're adjusting the time >.> I shall not depend on other people's suggested timing.  But we like them with some crunch... ) The Recipe is below, I know it looks like a lot, I just got carried away! I swear the roughly 2 1/2 hours of time will be worth it! Besides most of the time is baking..so you can relax with some tea and read a magazine. Also for the vegetarians and vegans just skip the chicken, and the bacon, and change accordingly to the salad, it's awesome on it's own.

* Remember to try to use Organic
 





 For the Chicken:

 * 1 pound boneless, skinless Chicken breasts.
* 2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
* 2 tbsp grape seed oil 
* 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
* 1/2 tsp Organic Yogurt 
* 1tsp chili powder 
* 1 tsp curry powder
* 1/2 tsp paprika 
* 1/2 tsp sage
* 1 tsp garlic powder.  
* 1/4 cup Honey or Molasses or Organic Agave syrup or even Maple Syrup
* Dash of Kosher Salt

For the Salad :
* 1 pound Brussels Sprouts
* 2 tbsp Bacon or Bacon Bits
* 1 and 1/2 tsp curry powder
* 1 tsp dark brown sugar
* 1/2 tsp sage
* 1/2 tsp paprika 
* 1 tsp kosher salt
* 1 stick of butter, melted.
* 1/2 cup chopped pecans
* 1/2 cup mixed dried cranberries, cherries and golden raisins  

For the Drizzle Dressing : 
* 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
*  1/2 tsp brown sugar
*  pinch of kosher salt
*  1/4 tsp  garlic powder
* 1/4 tsp curry powder
* 1 tbsp apple cider vinager
* 1tsbp grape seed oil 

Directions : 

Mix all the seasonings for the chicken marinade together in a bowl. Add the Chicken. Allow to marinade for 20-30 minuets.

Preheat the oven to 350, line a baking sheet with foil, spray with cooking oil, place the chicken on the pan and pop in the oven. 

Bake for 35-40 minuets. Once done, Cover and allow to rest. 

Now, while the chicken is baking,clean, trim and slice the Brussels sprouts in half. Once the chicken is done, take it out, and tent with foil. Allow to rest.

Preheat oven to 400. Now, melt the butter with ALL the seasonings with it, meaning, the brown sugar and bacon bits too. (leave the pecans and berries to the side.) Stir well, pour half the butter mixture on a baking sheet, add the Brussels Sprouts to the pan, cut sides down. Pour remaining butter mixture over the Brussels sprouts. Pop in the oven for 25 minuets, or until lightly browned. Add in chopped pecans. Baked for remaining time or until the Brussels sprouts are tender, and pecans are warm. Toss the berry mixture in with the Brussels sprouts and mix. 

Next grab a bowl and whisk, Mix all ingredients for the Dijon salad "dressing" well.  

Assemble salad and chicken how you like, drizzle the dressing over the salad and chicken.  Top with seasoned roasted tomatoes if desired. 

  

To make those seasoned roasted tomatoes simply pour some olive or grape seed oil on a baking dish, and spread it all over. Add 15- 20 grape tomatoes, or large tomato slices. Season with Italian seasonings,  salt and garlic. Bake at 200 for 30-40 minuets, or until the tomatoes are shriveled and at your desired done-ness. 

Enjoy :)