Healthy Halloween!

This is a HUGE week at Pathfinder Village, not only because we’re celebrating Halloween, but also because we are opening our second Pathfinder Produce Market!  The new market will open this Friday afternoon, October 28, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Morris United Methodist Church, on Church Street.  The Friday market is a partnership with the UMC, the Morris Central School 5210 Program, and Bassett’s Research Institute.  The market will be organized and run by members of our Adult Day Program, who are truly dedicated to their work and take such great pride in serving the public each and every week.  Talk about service with a smile! The Edmeston market will continue at its regular place and time, at the Village Commons at Pathfinder Village, on Thursdays from 1 to 5 p.m.  Please feel free to share our Facebook posts (Pathfinder’s FB page), blog (pathfinderproduce.blogspot) and price flyers, to spread the great news about ways you can serve high quality, competitively priced fruits and veggies to your family! **** Halloween is almost here, although I think a part of me is still in denial that it’s OCTOBER already! Spooky decorations and carved pumpkins decorate front porches, stores are filled with amazingly realistic costumes for kids (seriously, where were these options when I was growing up?!), and the television line-up is featuring classics such as Hocus Pocus and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. It’s easy to see why, for some, this is a favorite time of year. However, if you’re anything like me (or if you have kids who are as addicted to Skittles as mine are), Halloween also means way too much candy and apple cider donuts. Don’t get me wrong—I think it’s okay to indulge in some chocolate once in a while, but between class parties, trick or treating, and special events or activities, the sugar can add up! It’s impossible to think you can shield your kids (or, let’s be honest, yourself) from ALL of the goodies that are likely to be put in their path, but here are some ways you can minimize the sugar fall-out. Consider Donating Some of Your Candy to Soldiers! Each year, Operation Gratitude (an organization dedicated to sending care packages to U.S. military service members deployed overseas) runs its Halloween Candy for Heroes program. Rather than leaving that giant bowl of Trick or Treat goodies sitting on the kitchen counter where it’s way too available to everyone, have your kids select a few of their favorite pieces and send the rest to soldiers overseas. Your kids get to enjoy some of their Halloween bounty, you get to skip the temptation to dig through the bowl searching for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups after the kids go to bed, and everyone can feel good about supporting our military overseas! It’s a win-win! To learn more about this program, click here. Substitute the Candy with Some Health(ier) Treats! Hosting a Halloween Party? Receive a memo from school asking you to sign up to contribute to the class Halloween Spectacular? Try out one of these recipes instead of a giant bag of fun-sized candy: Skelton Tray: Still spooky, but packed with nutritious vegetables! (Click here!) Pumpkin Cupcakes: They look like cupcakes, and they taste like cupcakes, but   there’s some hidden nutritional value in them! (Click here!) Boonanas and Pumpkintines: Adorable and nutritious! (Click here!) Hand Out Toys Instead of Candy Instead of stocking up on bags of fun-size Snickers and Hershey Bars to hand out, head to the store and buy small toys to give to Trick or Treaters. The Dollar Tree, Party City, and even Walmart sell small toys in bulk, typically in the party favor aisle. Kids will still be more excited than when well-intentioned adults give out those bags of pumpkin-shaped pretzels, and you won’t be stuck with seven pounds of extra candy at the end of the night. Here’s to a safe, happy, and healthy(ish) Halloween! Maura (and Lori)