Did you have a Happy Halloween? We had an awesome time eating yummy homemade pizza and checking out costumes.
We love homemade pizza. We typically have all items on hand, and it is a great way to clean out the refrigerator. Our favorite crust recipe comes from eatingwell.com. Then we like to make a simple sauce with canned tomato sauce, tomato paste, any leftover veggies (don't tell Josh), and a random blend of seasonings. Typically we use oregano, basil, parsley, and garlic or garlic powder. Lastly, we top the crust and sauce with whatever tickles your fancy. I tend to make Heavy Veggie for me and any other brave souls. Heavy Veggie means I load the pizza with whatever veggies are available. This might be standard things like mushrooms or bell peppers, but I've also been known to add squash, kale, and broccoli. With all these veggies, the pizza can end up quite heavy. Sometimes I roast the veggies with olive oil and herbs while we prep the dough, this gives them a little more flavor. We also make a Man Pizza. This one is topped with whatever meat is available. Most often the guys end up eating it- hence Man Pizza. It isn't as healthy as the veggie, but but by making our own pizza, we at least give ourselves the option to amp up the nutrition.
Now let's talk about the costumes we saw while eating this yummy pizza. I'm not sure why, but it has been a couple years since we've been able to check out Halloween costumes. We've been fortunate to get pictures of our sweet little nephew and niece's costumes, but we have definitely missed out on the trends. The most popular costumes in our neighborhood this year were ninjas, gypsies, and Disney's Frozen characters. What about you? Our vote for best costume went to the bubble wrap boy- he had created a suit of bubble wrap.
Trick or treat. Halloween is all about candy right? Well, we switched things up this year. In addition to candy, we offered temporary tattoos. Thanks to Aldis for offering these super cheap candy-alternatives! Some of my classmates gave me a hard time. Yes I am "that nutritionist", and I'm okay with that. The tattoos could have been a bust, but they weren't. The kids thought they were cool. The tattoos also came in super handy when a little boy walked up and said something like: Trick-or-treat. I have a peanut allergy. Fortunately none of our candy had peanuts in them, but I couldn't be certain about the peanut exposure during processing (at the candy factory) or the severity of the boy's allergy. I could be certain that the tattoos were safe, and the boy's father was incredibly grateful for the alternative. I'm sold on non-candy alternatives for Halloween. What about you?
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| Fun Halloween alternative. |
My aunt then told me about the Teal Pumpkin Project. The campaign is designed to raise awareness of food allergies by providing non-food treats. You can participate by having a teal pumpkin- the color of food allergy awareness- and a printable sign from the Food Allergy Research & Education group. I realize this won't help you this year, but it's something to consider in the future. I'll be sure to have my teal pumpkin next year.
I'm going to keep this post short and sweet. No pun intended :) Emily- thanks for the prompt to get a little something out there. But I will tell you, after Halloween night we got to jet-set home for 36 hours to share in my cousin Derek and Hillary's wedding day and visit with family. In my next post I'll do my best to update you on the fun things we've tried in North Carolina.
