Halloween Candy Tips?

[jglisson73]

Does anyone who has been dealing w/ celiac kids for a while have any tips for wading through all the halloween candy? Thanks!

[cyclinglady]

I would trade the candy for purchased candy today. Take them to the store and let them pick out their favorite bag of gluten-free candy. It is all on sale anyway!

If you want them to eat from the bag, you can search the forum for our G F candy list. Tootsie Candies (Tootsie Rolls) And Smarties are gluten free and I passed those out last night and have been doing so for years.

[nvsmom]

In our house we let the kids eat the safe (gluten-free and nut free) candy that night and then we let them keep 10 candies and they trade the rest for a toy or cash.

 

Edited to add that American Smarties that Cyclinglady mentioned are the same as Canadian Rockets, which are both gluten-free.  Canadian Nestle Smarties are chocolates which are not gluten-free.

[StephanieL]

Between Celiac and allergies, there are very few commercial candies my kid can have. Since day one the Switch Witch comes and takes away the candy and replaces it with a toy/book/something nonfood.  This year it was several books from a series he's into.

[BlessedMommy]

My kids are not on a restricted diet anymore, but I don't like them to have commercial candy for other reasons. We don't trick or treat, but my kids wound up with a bag of candy from homeschool co-op. I gave my kids money for their bags of candy and then bought them some goodies from the health food store. They didn't feel at all deprived.

[jglisson73]

My kids are not on a restricted diet anymore, but I don't like tinhem to have commercial candy for other reasons. We don't trick or treat, but my kids wound up with a bag of candy from homeschool co-op. I gave my kids money for their bags of candy and then bought them some goodies from the health food store. They didn't feel at all deprived.

Thanks for all the comments everyone! We sorted through all the candy separating the no and maybe no candy. We are going to negotiate what to do with the excess.

What do you do with all that leftover candy?

[BlessedMommy]

I threw out the candy after paying my kids for it. In hindsight, I probably should've saved the non-chocolate candies to send overseas in our church's Christmas boxes that we send to needy children. Maybe next time....

[jglisson73]

I threw out the candy after paying my kids for it. In hindsight, I probably should've saved the non-chocolate candies to send overseas in our church's Christmas boxes that we send to needy children. Maybe next time....

Great idea! We are doing Operation Christmas Child boxes with my sons cub scout den in a couple of weeks. Perfect way to put some of that candy to good use!

[Adalaide]

You can find a local dentist that does candy buyback. They'll get cash for their candy that they can spend on whatever you let them, and the candy gets sent to our troops overseas. It's a perfect win/win. You could also donate it to a local shelter or food bank. Treats like that may be few and far between for kids in situations where a parent has to take advantage of those services and will be greatly appreciated.