I LOVE Halloween! It was one of my favorites as a kid and even more so since I’ve gotten older.

Free candy in a bag that could double as luggage in a pinch? Hell yeah!

All the scary movies I can handle? Come and get me, Freddy Krueger.

Even in college, I managed to get myself to a haunted hayride or two. I loved being scared and I loved candy. It was the best and the worst of times. I had serious sugar overdosing and brain celling killing from all of those horrible movies we watched. The Night of the Living Dead, Swamp Thing, Sleepaway Camp— these were THE WORST! I feel like kids today have much better movie choices, with many I have a hard time watching because they are TOO scary.

But candy? That pretty much has stayed the same for 40 years. Milk Duds, Fun Dip, Snickers, Mr. Goodbar, Kit Kat, Nerds, Blow Pops…these were my faves as a kid and they are STILL around.

However, I have a hard time buying these for my neighborhood kiddos because I know all the unhealthy ramifications sugar, food dyes, and artificial ingredients have on the bod. You guys. Did you know the recommended daily allowance of sugar for kids is 12 grams…A DAY? This makes my brain fog hurt just thinking about how much they actually get…at LEAST 10 times that. Fruit, milk, cereal, yogurt, simple carbs like rice, bread and crackers…BOOM! They’re over 100 before they even eat dinner.

I’m not a fun hater, really I’m not. But once I learned about all the health issues caused by sugar and artificial ingredients in foods, I can’t help but cringe when I watch kids down a movie size box of candy. I truly think a piece of my heart breaks off with each nibble and chomp.

Maybe you are hating on me right now and that’s okay. This post probably isn’t for you. At least, not right now. But I’ll be here when you’re ready.

But if you’re anxious about the upcoming holiday because not only do you not want your kids to OD on corn syrup and food dyes, you don’t want it lying around to tempt you! Maybe you’ve given up sugar for the #Last90Days challenge and this is the LAST thing you need around the house right now. I get it. Breaking the sugar habit is fooking HARD. Have no fear…I’ve got some ideas of what to buy for your neighborhood trick-or-treaters that will relieve your guilt of handing out garbage and that you won’t mind if there are leftovers.

1. Organic popcorn—This may be a bit more on the pricey side but you can buy a 4 - 6 count packs of Skinny Pop or Boom Chicka popped popcorn for a non-sugary treat. (Also available at Target but you’ll pay A LOT more). If you want to save on space in your witches kettle, you can also buy mini microwave popcorn bags from brands like Field Day.

2. Made Good Mini Granola Bars - This is a 36 ct. box of mini bars with only 3 grams of sugar per bag. The downside for me is the sweetener is agave nectar but 3 grams is pretty good for a treat.

3. Wholesome Lollipop Candy—Their lollipops have less than 5 ingredients and are 4 grams of sugar per pop and come individually wrapped in this 30 count bag.

4. Yum Earth Candy

   While these aren’t sugar free, they are free of high fructose corn syrup and artificial food dyes. They are also free from most major allergens like eggs, milk, peanuts, shellfish (? no idea why you’d have to point this out on the label but okay), soy, tree-nuts, wheat and more.

   They are stamped USDA Organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and nut free as well. For the peanut allergy folks, these candies are manufactured and packaged in a peanut free facility

   There are a variety of candies to choose from like Yum Earth Gummy Fruits, Candy Corn, and Fruit Pops.

5. Mountain High Hot Chocolate drink packets—These have only seven grams of sugar per packet (rather than the 20+ grams per packet) with minimal ingredients

6. Annie’s Snack Variety Pack — This is an assorted 12 count box of Cheddar Bunnies, Bunny Grahams, and Cheddar Squares. The graham crackers have 7 grams per pouch but the others have 0-1 only.

7. Boxed Water Minis — Yep, mini boxes of water. Hate on my all you want with this but kids run around all night and mine always stopped by the house to guzzle some water so they can keep going. I HATE plastic bottles and was thrilled when I saw that Boxed Water made mini versions to hand out.

8. Non-candy ideas: If you want to skip the food altogether, you could choose to hand out fun items like pencils, stickers, bouncy balls, mini notebooks with pens, mini cans of Play-Doh, and temporary tattoos. A great place to go for these would be Party City.

Maybe you’ll get egged or maybe parents will hand deliver a thank you note for giving their littles poison disguised in miniature pre-packaged bags. But again, one thing you can guarantee is that you won’t be dealing with the shame that comes from eating ALL the leftover candy. Plus, the non-candy goodies can be saved for the next Halloween or used for other things throughout the year. Unless, you get egged. Theeennnnn, I suggest you dress up in costume next year and sit on your front porch like a statue so you can scare the shit out of those little fockers if they try it again.

Who says Halloween is just for kids? ;)