Halloween Candy

Halloween has come and gone. Brody and Skylar had a great time celebrating Halloween with their cousins, both sets of grandparents, and even great-grandma.  It was absolutely perfect that Halloween fell on a Saturday night so the kids stayed up a little later than usual.

And now the aftermath... we still have lots of candy left.

I always try to think of ways to use candy from trick-or-treating.  So if you are planning on just throwing away your children's candy, read this first, and you might find a better use for them.

- Donate the candy to your children's teachers.  I know most teachers have treasure boxes and would gladly accept donations.

- Make a care package for our troops and include some sweet treats.  Check out Operation Shoebox, where you can find information on how to send care packages and notes to our deployed troops.

- Melt plain chocolates like Hershey bars and Kisses in the microwave with a little bit of milk or cream to make chocolate fondue.

- Chop up the chocolates and use for toppings to make ice cream sundaes for dessert.

- Save the candy to make goody bags if you are hosting any upcoming birthday parties (if you see candy on sale at the stores, now is a good time to stock up if you are planning on having a candy station or dessert table for an upcoming birthday party.  If you check the expiration dates, most of these candies don't expire until after a year.)

- Use M&M's and candy corn and add to nuts, raisins, and pretzels to make your own trail mix.  Or click on the photo below to go to The House of Hendrix for instructions on making a cute Harvest Trail Mix.

- Save the candies such as Skittles, Smarties, and Kisses that can be used for decorating your gingerbread house during the holiday season.

- Use the candies as treats for your Advent Calendar.  We have a little wooden advent calendar house with doors that the kids get to open in December, so each little door has some sort of candy or small surprise.  If you don't have an Advent Calendar, click on the photo below from I Heart Naptime on how to make your own:

- Bake, bake, bake!  Here are a few of my favorite recipes, just click on the photo to take you to the source.

Chewy Butterfinger Cookies:



 Chunky Chewy Snickerdoodles:

 

Crispy Chocolate Chip Crunch Oatmeal Cookies:

  

Enjoy!