No Tricks, Just Treats
By Lucia Rossi
If you’re worried about health, there are constructive ways to handle the candy chaos.
Whether it’s from a Halloween party, lack of trick or treaters, having a trick or treater live in your home, or just not resisting half-price candy sales, you’ve got a massive haul of sweets and you just can’t handle it.
First, let’s start with the most obvious. You can eat it. But not just eat it, you can bake awesome things with it. There are great recipes online to try that will help get rid of a lot of candy in one go. Plus, it’s great for get-togethers.
You could make things like: s’mores bars, chocolate covered popcorn, cakes, milkshakes, cookies, brownies, crescent rolls, doughnuts, hot chocolate or mocha, your own trail mix, no-bake pies, cheesecake bars, mixed fudge bars, dessert pizza, candy bark, and biscotti’s.
Since Thanksgiving is right around the corner, use the candy to your advantage for the big feast. You can make Thanksgiving treat cups for guests or use it to decorate your tables with festive containers.
You can freeze the candy and use it slowly throughout the year as well. If you’re constantly on the go, you could keep a few pieces of candy in your bag for when you need a sugary fix.
Make the most of your midnight munchies by sprucing up that ice cream sundae, add it to cookie dough, or just to have a bite with a glass of wine.
Speaking of alcohol, you could even use it to make your own homemade flavored vodka just by letting it soak in the bottle.
As ridiculous as it sounds, companies are already preparing for Christmas. You can use this candy overload for this occasion too.
If you save the pretty wrappers or the candy itself, you can use it to stuff gift mugs, decorate the inside of boxes, or fill small gift bags instead of just using tissue paper. No one can resist that type of filling.
You can also use the candy this Christmas season to make ornaments for your Christmas tree or to decorate your own gingerbread house.
Your special stash can even be incorporated into game nights with your friends. You could use them in board games or card games as gambling chips. Get creative with this. If anything, you can give it away at your school or job where surely people will take it off your hands.
If you’re really feeling generous, send the candy overseas for donation. America’s troops love candy too. You could donate it to Operation Shoebox, Operation Gratitude, or through Halloween Buy Back.
There are so many ways to have fun with your food. Disposing of tempting candy doesn’t have to make you feel guilty. Don’t just let it go to waste in your kitchen cabinet! Make your time with it sweet.
