If you are like many parents in America, Halloween can be a dreaded time of year for one reason: excessive amounts of sugar! We can recognize that your average trick-or-treater is not going to bring home a "moderate" amount of candy. Rather, most kids will bring home an INSANE amount! According to a Kids' Health website survey of about 1200 kids, "Most kids said they get at least 50 pieces of candy, with over 44% saying they get more than 100 pieces." If this number frightens you (not to mention your dentist), consider donating your candy to help support the troops this year.

There is a non-profit charitable organization called Boatsie’s Boxes whose staff gather and ship supplies and packages to soldiers. They have not been able to send chocolate since May because of the extreme heat temperatures, so this is a perfect time of year to gather your Halloween chocolate, spare your teeth a bit and pass along!

My brother, 1LT Christopher Moskoff, is a Colorado National Guard helicopter pilot. He spent a year at Balad Air Base in Iraq in 2007, and reminded me of the value of sending packages to our soldiers. "It was the highlight of the week to get a care package. We have very few luxuries in Iraq and Afghanistan, but getting a care package was the best reminder that your family and friends still miss, love and support you," he said. You can find the mailing address for sending donations to Boatsie's Boxes here.

If you want to avoid the cost of shipping your candy, look for a local dentist who might be taking donations. We have a dentist in Boulder, Colorado who is accepting donations and PAYING $1 per each pound of donated candy! He will then pay the shipping costs to send the candy to U.S. troops.

For younger kids (under 4), they might not even notice the candy contents had diminished. But for older children, it can be a great learning experience about sharing with others, donating to charities and eating sweets in moderation.

And if you are still looking for another way to disperse your Halloween candy, consider starting an unlimited sweets drawer experiment like we did. (And be sure to let us know how it worked.)

And whatever you choose to do this year, we hope you have a very happy, healthy and safe celebration!

You have likely heard that you need fiber in your diet, but do you know why? How much do you and your children need? Do you know which foods are the best sources of fiber?

Fiber is found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, beans and lentils (not in dairy or meat products). A high fiber diet helps to promote regular bowel movements and gives your body a sense of fullness after eating it, thus helping to prevent obesity. By offering high fiber food choices to our children, we are encouraging them to establish eating patterns that may help reduce their risk of developing heart disease and some types of cancer later in life.

If you are 18+ years, aim for 25-35 grams fiber per day. For your children, follow this rule: AGE + 5 GRAMS FIBER PER DAY (Example: A 7-year old would need 12 grams fiber per day).

If you want to increase your daily fiber intake, do so slowly to allow the intestinal tract to adapt. If your current intake is only 10 grams and you are aiming for 35 grams per day, increase this gradually over 2-3 weeks. And be sure to drink plenty of fluids with high fiber intake.

You can easily read food packaging labels to determine the fiber content of specific foods. A “high” fiber food has 5 grams or more of fiber per serving and a “good” source of fiber is one that provides 2.5 to 4.9 grams per serving.



Fiber Content of Foods:

• 1 medium apple, orange, banana or pear: 3-4 grams


• 1/2 cup raspberries: 4 grams


• 40 grapes: 2 grams


• 1/2 cup beans (kidney, black, pinto): 5-8 grams


• 1/2 cup green beans: 2 grams


• 1/2 cup corn: 5 grams


• 1 ounce (20-25) almonds: 3 grams


• 2 tablespoons peanut butter: 2 grams


• 1 slice whole-wheat bread: 3 grams

Try some of these creative tips to incorporate fiber throughout the day into your family’s diet:

• Use whole grain breads and crackers (look for whole wheat flour to be the first or second ingredient in these products).


• Top cereal, yogurt and ice cream with berries, nuts and/or wheat germ.


• For baking, use half whole wheat flour and half white flour instead of 100% white flour.


• Add canned pumpkin to homemade waffles, pancakes and breads.


• If your children are old enough, encourage them to eat the skins of vegetables and fruits. (The skins are the high fiber part!)


• Add almonds, chickpeas and beans to salads or vegetable casseroles.


• Make a smoothie at home with frozen fruits, milk, honey and wheat germ.

Remember that good eating habits for your family today…will lead to a lifetime of healthy habits for your children!

Photo by The Wandering Angel, shared via Flickr

If you avoid candy most of the year but find yourself stocking up on it to appease the trick-or-treaters of the neighborhood, here are some healthier and earth-friendlier sweets to consider for this year. Some are a bit more expensive, so you might consider a blend of these options that suits your budget - keeping in mind that natural, more healthful or Fair Trade-certified food does cost more than true "junk":

• Dagoba Fair Trade Tasting Squares


• Divine Fair Trade Milk Chocolate Foil Balls


• Snikiddy Snacks Packs - we love these, and reviewed them here


• FruitaBu Fruit Leathers (We love these too, see our review here.)


• Organic Lollipops


• Sensible Foods Crunch Dried Snacks

To help you out with your trick-or-treating, we have a Snikiddy Cookie Adventure Pack to give away - it contains five small "snack pack" bags of their great cookies. Share them with the neighborhood or just keep them in the family!

This will be a quick giveaway - the deadline for entry is 1 p.m. CT on Oct. 17. To enter, comment on this post with your favorite Fair Trade or healthy alternative to standard Halloween candy. We'll pick a winner at random from all eligible entries.

Official Rules: No purchase necessary. One entry per person per eligible post will be accepted, and comments that do not answer questions posed in posts for entrant response will be invalidated. Entrants must be 18 or older and reside in the United States. Item will be shipped to a U.S. address only. Winner will be contacted via email and winner's name or handle will be posted to PRIZEY Winners; failure to respond within 24 hours from first contact with a valid U.S. mailing address for shipment will result in forfeiture of prize and awarding of prize to an alternate designated by ZRecs. Neither the prize sponsor nor ZRecs is responsible for items lost or damaged in transit. Winner will be selected on or around Oct. 17, 2008.