Candy Craze!
Halloween is slowly starting to creep in and you might be finding yourself surrounded by so many sweets! Take control of the season by learning about what exactly is in your sweets and explore some alternatives that are more nutrient dense than these processed snacks.
Hershey’s Milk Chocolate
Serving Size: 2 Pieces (38 grams)
Calories: 130
Protein: 2 grams
Carbohydrates: 15 grams
Fat: 8 grams
Sugar: 14 grams
Sodium: 20 mg
Dietary Fiber: 1 gram
Hershey’s Dark Chocolate
Serving Size: 3 pieces (38 grams)
Calories: 170
Protein: 2 grams
Carbohydrates: 23 grams
Fat: 11 grams
Sugar: 19 grams
Sodium: 15 mg
Dietary Fiber: 3 gram
M&M Fun Size Bags
Serving Size: 1 package of M&M fun size
Calories: 80
Protein: 3 grams
Carbohydrates: 12 grams
Fat: 4 grams
Sugar: 11 grams
Sodium: 13 mg
Dietary Fiber: 1 gram
Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
Serving Size: 1 package containing 2 cups (42 grams)
Calories: 210
Protein: 5 grams
Carbohydrates: 24 grams
Fat: 13 grams
Sugar: 21 grams
Sodium: 150 mg
Dietary Fiber: 1 grams
Alternative:
Take 1 tablespoon of low sodium peanut or almond butter and form it into a ball. Make as many balls as desired and let them sit in the fridge for about 2 hours to become firm. Once firm, take them out of the fridge and dip them in melted chocolate chips. Approximately 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips should cover one peanut/almond butterball. Set them on a tray and put them into the freezer to harden! 1 ball is approximately 170 calories and more nutritionally dense and filling than Reese’s!
Using real chocolate and peanut/almond butter, as opposed to the processed snacks, are a better option since they have not lost their nutrients from being overly processed.
Kit Kat
Serving Size: 1 package (42 grams)
Calories: 210
Protein: 3 grams
Carbohydrates: 27 grams
Fat: 11 grams
Sugar: 21 grams
Sodium: 30 mg
Dietary Fiber: 1 gram
Alternative:
Homemade Kit Kat Bars! You’ll need:
½ cup of mixed nuts
½ cup of mixed seeds
1 ½ cup of chocolate chips
½ cup of a sticky sweetener (aka maple syrup or honey)
¼ cup of coconut oil
1 cup of almond butter
2 cups of granola
To make them:
Add granola, nuts, and seeds into a large mixing bowl. Set this aside.
In a microwave safe bowl or stovetop, combine your chocolate chips, sticky sweetener, coconut oil, and almond butter and heat until melted.
Combine your dry mixture from step 1 and the now melted mixture and mix evenly.
Pour mixture evenly into a 10x10 pan and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before slicing into bars! This makes approximately 20 bars. 1 bar is about 150 calories depending on what nuts, seeds, sweetener, etc that you use.
Again, these bars tend to be a better option due to using whole foods that contain more vitamins and minerals.
PRO TIP: if you use honey, use honey made in your state! Using honey that was made in your state and eating it weekly can actually help your body lessen allergy symptoms and help you better deal with your allergies. Bees will pollinate with pollen in your state that causes many of our allergies! Since many of us deal with allergies in October and into the colder months, this might just help!.
