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Making your life greener - one bite at a time.

Planet-friendly Halloween food can and should be a delight to look at and to eat, as well as being nutritious, the main thing to keep in mind when preparing parties for Eco kids is to keep the food organic, simple and easy to eat.

Be creative in order to fight the attraction of their playmates 'candy /sweets' trick or treats and party food.

Frequently explain and read books to Eco kids the benefits of organic living foods. Subconsciously, they will retain what you tell them.

Serve healthy, organic and seasonal foods. Organic produce bought at farmers' market, or picked from your own patch, will not only taste better but saves energy.

Halloween trick or treat edible items are made from healthy and whole ingredients and do not include hydrogenated oils, trans-fats, artificial colors or flavors. Don't serve honey products to under two's and always check with parents for allergies, especially with nuts.

Pumpkins are not just decorative items. The tender meat of the seasonal gourd can be pureed for soups, mashed for pies, muffins, cookies and scones or spiced up for main family Halloween fare.

Serious Eco kids chefs might consider whipping up some pumpkin pesto, and apple pie.

Apples are at their best this time of year. So make use of the crunchy fruit.

Fill party bowls with several varieties of fresh apples, from tart Pippins to sweet Spartans.

Bake a few apples for a healthy, tasty dessert. Add organic sultanas/raisins/dates to cored centre and drizzle with organic coconut oil and sprinkle of orange juice and cinnamon and get a grown up to put in the oven.

Halloween Party Favorites

There really is no need for an elaborate smorgasbord. Eco kids will be delighted with their old, tried - and - true favorites. Plan a simple meal with a lot of presentation.

Use Halloween cookie cutters to cut fruit, salad vegetables and bread.

Fruit Platter - apples, watermelon, grapes, cherries, strawberries - fresh pineapple and banana rolled in organic coconut - or any local organic fruit in season. Make little white ghosts - cut bananas in half and dip in orange juice, roll in coconut - freeze. (use raisins or chocolate chips for eyes and mouth).

Carrot + celery sticks, snow peas, cucumber straws - to be dipped in hummos / beet / avocado dip or pumpkin pesto. Use a white platter and arrange the dip in a small white bowl for the head and decorate with carrot straws / sprouts for hair and arrange veggie sticks etc for a skeleton body.

Fresh organic fuit juices - water + fresh coconut water (drill a hole in the centre of coconut, insert straw).

Fresh brewed organic chamomile flower tea, or freshly juiced organic apple juice.

Dried fruit + Nuts (be sure they are grown and dried organically) organic dates - raisins - sultanas - figs - cranberries etc, raw activated almonds and pumpkin seeds. Make up a trail mix with pumpkin seeds, coconut, dried fruit and organic chocolate.

Homemade ice cream / put frozen fruit through champion juicer / food processor with metal blade. Optional toppings of chopped raisins, shredded coconut and pumpkin seeds. Place in a bowl and decorate with an ice cream cone as a witches hat. Create a spider by forming prepared frozen fruit as the body and decorate with organic licorice for legs, 2 slices of kiwi for eyes.

Make small cakes or muffins and decorate eg use organic licorice as legs and ice and use raisins or cranberries for eyes and you have tasty scary spiders!

Jellies made from organic fruit juice and agar agar, set in molds and decorated with slices of fresh fruit. Fruit skewers and bowls of melted organic chocolate to dip.

Special sandwitches - open sandwiches of sprouted bread / best-quality organic bread - use Halloween cookie cutter to cut shapes - spread with avocado / pumpkin pesto, don't put too much filling on the bread, or it will be difficult for small children to manage. Children can make faces, withches or designs with grated carrot, raisins, cheese, snow peas, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, sprouts or anything that takes your fancy! Or create witches by adding a small icecream cone as a witches hat and children can pile the salad filling from the bread into the cone and enjoy!

Pizzas - organic pita bread spread with organic tomato pizza/pasta sauce, top with grated cheese and bake, can make scary skulls by cutting out eyes with a scone cutter.Again, children can help create pizzas.

Bugs in a Blanket - Pre cook organic sausages and roll in puff pastry, place thin potato straws for legs, bake and you have tasty bugs.

Organic cheese shapes (made with small Halloween cookie cutters).

 Toasties http://ecobites.com/eco-kids-magazine/101-ecokids-1/789-cooks-corner-

Even after the remnants have long since graced the compost heap, roasted pumpkin seeds can make delicious munchings. Most pumpkins have lots of seeds to spare, even after you have saved samples of the best ones for next year's crop.

http://ecobites.com/eco-news-articles/organic-gardening/1092-the-organic-pumpkin-patch

A few healthy treats for trick and treating, muffins / cookies / coconut balls, made with love and care and organic ingredients without added sugar / junk.

Don't forget to decorate the Halloween celebration table with baskets of homemade organic (no added sugar) sweets, organic popcorn - popped in organic coconut oil (for over -3s).

Apple Pie

Pick apples

8 cups of apples, (peeled and sliced thinly)

Add a tablespoon of cinnamon + 1/2 teaspoon organic vanilla powder.

Add 3/4 cup pure organic maple syrup to the apples + 1/4 cup organic honey.

Pour over two tablespoons of organic coconut flour to the stickey apples.

In a separate bowl add 1 teaspoon of celtic salt to 3 cups of organic whole wheat flour (sift together).

Crumble in 3/4 cup of organic butter, cut into little cubes.

Knead well.

Add 10 tablespoons of liquid ( water / juice / milk).

Roll the dough out and line a pie plate.

Add apple and top with dough, decorate with dough cut outs if desired.

Bake for 10 minutes in a 475 degree oven; then 30 minutes at 350 F.

Halloween Pumpkin Muffins / Cake

1 cup organic dates

½ cup organic plain yogurt

2 cups flour of choice (1 cup organic coconut flour + 1 cup orgran SR flour) / (buckwheat + millet meal + brown rice flour)

½ cup fruit juice (eg grape / orange) / water

1 egg

Coconut milk

Simmer dates in juice – cool

Blend yogurt + egg

 Process / sift flour

Add yogurt mixture to flour and gently fold through

Add coconut milk if too dry

Bake preheated oven 180 for approx.30 – 45 minutes for one large cake pan or 15 minutes for muffin tins.

Variations:

Halloween Pumpkin Cake... add ½ cup cold cooked organic pumpkin

Sultana Cake...add ¾ cup organic sultanas

Mixed Fruit... add 1 cup mixed organic fruit for dates, add mixed spice + ginger + nutmeg

add freshly grated beet and corgette /zucchini + sultanas/raisins

Grated corgette and cooked chickpeas

Apricot...add chopped organic apricots for dates + shredded organic coconut Top with optional carob frosting (blend banana + carob powder + rice syrup/honey/coconut oil + organic arrowroot)

Halloween Party Game

Dunk for apples or bite apples from a string. Try bobbing for apples. Not only will you save money, you’ll save preparation time and people will have just as much fun.

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