Mambo Sprouts

Halloween Candy Doesn’t have to be Scary!

You can run, but you can’t hide. It’s lurking around every corner. You lock your doors, but somehow it still ends up in your own home. It’s Halloween candy…ahhh! Follow these simple tricks so your little goblins can enjoy healthy(er) treats. This year, when you and your kids check out their candy stash, instead of dividing it into piles of” likes” and “don’t likes”, divide into piles of “healthy” and “junky”.

Top Ten Healthy Halloween Candy

1. Three Musketeers—All of that yummy nougat stuff is light and fluffy, so there are fewer calories.
2. Mini Kit Kat—The middle contains crispy wafers, not solid chocolate, which cuts calories.
3. Tootsie Rolls—Chocolate flavored taffy-like substance doesn’t have as many calories as a solid piece of chocolate.
4. Hershey’s Kiss—If you can limit yourself to one or two, these are a delicious treat!
5. Junior Mints and York Peppermint Patties—Their minty filling cuts down on calories from chocolate and fat.
6. Snickers—Even though it’s higher in calories, you get more satisfaction because of the nuts inside. Plus, you’ll feel fuller longer!
7. Dum Dum Lollipop—Again, if you only eat one, the calories are minimal.
8. Dots—These chewy fruit-flavored jellies are fat free.
9. Raisinets and Goobers—The raisin or peanut inside is healthier than a solid chocolate alternative.
10. Plain Dark Chocolate—Good-for-you antioxidants are found in dark chocolate

If you want to avoid chocolate covered treats all together, consider handing out these delicious and nutritious alternatives this year:

1. Individual packages of applesauce and pudding
2. Granola bars
3. Mini raisin boxes
4. Fruit bars

Kids of all sizes love Halloween. It’s a time for dressing up as their favorite character and getting rewarded with candy! But, remember to always enjoy in moderation. Even the healthiest of treats can be bad for you if you overindulge.

This Halloween, being green can save you some money. Whether by making your own eco-friendly costumes or decorations, buying plentiful local organic food on sale, or giving out healthy snack treats to have on hand after Halloween, there are many ways to celebrate and save this season.

Free Download: Tips, Treats and Recipes for a Healthy and Safe Halloween. Click Here to download this PDF

Here are five favorite money saving Halloween tips!

1. Save money on Halloween costumes by making your own using reusable and recycled materials. It’s more creative, eco-friendly and saves money. Consider trading used costumes with friends and neighbors, or look for ‘gently used’ costumes at your local thrift store.

2. Create your own SPOOKY Halloween decorations rather than buying them. Put a white sheet on a lamp post that looks “Ghostly” - rather than buying and lighting separate Halloween lights or decoration…

3. Bring out those Halloween supplies that you stocked up on last year – or buy at great savings after Halloween for next year! Click here for more great money saving Halloween tips from Mommysavers.com

4. Buy seasonal organic produce (apples, pumpkins, squash, etc.) at a local farmer’s market or grocery market on sale given the plenty! Celebrate the harvest season by supporting local sustainable farming and save money by buying seasonal organic produce at your local farmer’s market.

5. Choose to give out healthy Halloween treats that you like for healthy leftover snacks for lunchboxes or “on the go”!

HAVE A HAPPY SAFE AND ECO FRIENDLY HALLOWEEN!

Each day, our school aged children walk into their respective cafeterias to eat lunch among their peers.  While many children are content with healthy home packed lunches, often children want to fit in with their peers who are either eating low quality cafeteria food or unhealthy home packed lunches.  Each day, food conscience parents are faced with the particularly difficult dilemma of providing a well balanced nourishing meal or allowing your child to fit in comfortably with their peers.

Childhood obesity and diabetes are rising at obscene rate.  This current generation of children is expected to have a shorter projected lifespan, due in part by poor nutrition.  If one thing is clear, it’s that we are in a health crisis and proper nutrition is paramount to a full life.  Read the rest of this entry »

Back to school means going back to school shopping. Crazy days are filled with trips to the mall to find the perfect first day of school outfit and hours are spent fulfilling the “school supplies list.” This has heavy-footprint-on-the-Earth written all over—but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Green is in this year. Send your kids back to school in style with environmentally friendly (and teacher approved) products. Check out these simple tips:

1. Recycle. Go through your kid’s school supplies and see what you can salvage from last year. Unused (or slightly used) notebooks, binders, pens, pencils, erasers; just about anything. Even school uniforms can be recycled and passed down to younger siblings. Read the rest of this entry »

Before you reach for the baby food, you might want to think outside the jar. HAPPYBABY offers fresh frozen organic baby meals that are convenient and healthy. All 15 delicious varieties of fruits, vegetables, grains and meats are 100% natural, certified organic, free of added salt, sugar, artificial flavors, preservatives and GMOs. HAPPYBABY is allergy friendly and contains no dairy or soy and is made in a nut-free facility. A healthy baby is a happy baby. Visit www.happybabyfood.com

Warm weather brings fresh opportunities to boost family wellness, while also having a great time. Here are six easy ways to encourage radiantly healthy, happy kids as the sun shines:

Encourage Outdoor Activity

Most kids love to get outdoors, but can fall into the habit of heavy TV viewing. Help renew your child’s appreciation of nature by visiting parks, walking, hiking or biking together. Your own backyard is a great resource too. Kids of all ages enjoy digging, planting and watching things grow. If you have limited space, try a container garden. Cherry tomatoes work well, or try mini herb gardens. Kids will enjoy picking their own basil, mint and oregano. They can even customize their projects by decorating their pots with acrylic paints.

Emphasize Power Veggies
Encourage children to “eat a rainbow” by offering a vibrant array of produce. Try a kids Power Salad night, allowing children to create their own masterpieces with spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, red cabbage, carrots and other favorites. Fun, healthy toppers include beans, shredded cheese, avocado, sliced hard-boiled eggs, raisins, chopped almonds and sunflower seeds. Kids will love picking their favorite dressings, like Ranch or Honey Mustard. Not only will they have fun, they will be more likely to eat salads they have created themselves.

Encourage Power Fruits

Aim for a wide array of fresh fruits in season. Warm weather offerings include a delicious range of sweet, fresh berries, cherries, apricots and more. Enjoy luscious exotics too, like mango, kiwi, pineapple and papaya. After school, serve a platter of fresh sliced fruit instead of cookies or chips. This nutritious, hydrating snack is also less likely to spoil kids’ appetites for a healthy dinner.

Include Power Snacks

Healthy snacks are important for lasting energy. Good choices include fresh almonds, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds, peanut butter on whole grain bread, soy or dairy cream cheese on wheat crackers, and low-sugar, high-fiber protein bars. Try fruit smoothies made with fresh and frozen fruit, soy or whey protein powder, and dairy, soy or almond milk. Kids love them, and they allow you to incorporate several servings of fruit at once. You can also purchase popsicle molds, letting kids make their own variations from the array of healthy, antioxidant-rich juices you provide. Blend in some yogurt with juice for a creamier version.

Go Organic Where it Counts Most

If you haven’t gone 100% organic when shopping for food, don’t worry, any action you can take towards reducing chemical exposure for your family helps. You might target produce with the highest pesticide load for starters. According to the Environmental Working Group, some of the top fruits and vegetables most heavily laden with chemicals are: peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines and strawberries.

See all 43 fruits and vegetables in order of their pesticide load at www.foodnews.org.

Protect with Nutritional Supplements

Since not all children eat enough nutrient-dense foods each day, a broad-spectrum multi-vitamin mineral formula is important.

Fresh, natural foods offer benefits beyond what supplements can provide, so a complement of both nutritional supplementation and meals based on fresh, whole foods is ideal.

These tips are simple to incorporate, but they can go a long way in promoting joyful, energetic little people. Try one or more, and see what works for you. Here’s to healthy kids!

A life without love is like a year without summer. -Swedish Proverb

Sweet, Sweet Summer

The best things in life aren’t complicated—in fact they are blissfully, undeniably simple, especially in summer. With a warm breeze in the air and the outdoors beckoning from every open window, escape your everyday routine while enjoying these seven extraordinarily sweet—and simple—summer pleasures. (Note: a green lifestyle isn’t a pre-requisite for enjoying summer’s best, but we find that the simplest pleasures are all-natural and therefore pro-planet. Read the rest of this entry »

Cyclomethicone. Sodium Cocoyl Sarcosinate. Methylchloroiso- thiazolinone. Chloromethylisothiazolinone. Do any of these names sound familiar to you? Better yet, can you even pronounce any of them? They’re toxic chemicals and chances are that your home is covered with them. If you go into your kitchen and read the back of any of your cleaning supply bottles, guaranteed that you’ll see at least one of the above ingredients.

A cleaner doesn’t deserve a “clean” name if it pollutes your home, your health and the environment. There are an overwhelming number of cleansers and disinfectants designed to make our countertops glow, showers sparkle, bathtubs glimmer, windows shine and our homes smell like fresh baked cookies, but, at what cost? They also contribute to in-home and environmental air pollution, are poisonous if ingested and can be harmful if inhaled or touched. Read the rest of this entry »