Vegan Halloween Tips and Tricks

Here are my go-to vegan-friendly Halloween candies and snacks and some tips on how to navigate this holiday with kids.

Vegan Halloween Options

Plant Based Products We Love:

• Vegan Sugar Candy - I love YumEarth candy because they are free from dyes and nearly all of their treats are vegan (just skip the gummy bears). They have snack pack sizes, perfect for Halloween, for their Giggles (like Skittles), Gummy Fruit, Chewys (like Starburst), and Choco Yums (like M&Ms). This is our go-to.

• Vegan Chocolate Treats -My favorite chocolate treat is Little Secrets Dark Chocolate Crispy Wafers. The brand is not all vegan but this product is and in general, dark chocolate options are much more likely to be vegan (versus milk chocolate) so always check dark chocolate labels first. I also love the vegan products from Cocomel and Unreal like the Coconut Bars, and am excited to try some new-to-me ones this year like the Peanut Cups. Unfortunately their snickers-dupe has whey (milk). My go-to Peanut Butter Cup has been from Justin’s - again, just go for the dark chocolate options and skip the milk and white chocolate variations.

• Food Treats - Any packaged snack food can be used for Halloween. Some of our favorites are Bearsnacks Fruit Rolls (I saw they introduced a sour option!), Trader Joes Fruit Leathers and Fruit Dots, SkinnyPop mini popcorn, veggie straws (they have fun Halloween shapes too!), apple sauce squeezies, Oreos and Nature’s Bakery fig bars. I am excited to try some new Made Good products too.

Plant Based Tips and Tricks:

Vegan Halloween Options

• Switch Witch - The idea of the switch witch is that the witch switches the non-vegan treats for the vegan ones. You can literally dress up as a witch and have a different bag that you carry with your approved treats and when your kid trick-or-treats, you can swap with whatever they get. Keep a separate spot for those and donate them later. OR, you can have your kid collect candy for the night and leave their bag or basket out for the switch witch to switch overnight.

• Keep approved candy on hand - All month long, I have YumEarth treats in my bag. When my son receives a non-vegan treat at an event or from a friend, I check it out and if it’s not something I’m comfortable with (we also skip dyes) then I simply offer him something else.

• Trunk or Treats - With friends, you can prepare ahead of time and either ask everyone to go plant-based for the event and share with them your favorite brands, or you can pre-make your kid’s bags and give them to your friends ahead of time.

• Look for Teal Pumpkins - The teal pumpkin project is an effort to provide kids with food allergies a safe alternative. Since milk and egg are top 9 food allergens, teal pumpkin treats are more likely to also be vegan. However, you do still have to look for things like gelatin (in many gummy bears and gummy candy) and confectioner’s glaze (in many coatings or shell candy like M&Ms) as those are not vegan.

• Talk to Your Neighbors - If you have a close knit neighborhood, you can talk with your neighbors ahead of time and even give them something ahead of time to hand out when your kiddo comes by.

Avoid Tricky Ingredients:

• Carmine (often listed as cochineal extract or Natural Red 4) is made from insects.

• Gelatin is made from animal bones.

• Whey and casein are milk protein.

• Natural flavors - A catch-all for anything else the company wants to add. Unless the product explicitly states that it's vegan, we have no way of knowing if the natural flavors are vegan.

Name Brand Accidentally Plant-Based Products: I really don’t love most common candy because of their ingredients, but here is a short list of some name brand items that are accidentally plant-based. Remember to always check the label and ingredients can change (and this is why I prefer brands that are 100% vegan). This comes from Peta.

• Swedish Fish, Airheads, Smarties, Sour Patch Kids, Blow Pops, Dots, DumDums, most skittles (not blue), twizzlers (Note that most red, orange, and purple candy have red dye 40 which I avoid 99.9% of the time because of the health risks.)

Thank you to my friends and family who are always so kind to me and my son by offering vegan options at holidays. It never goes unnoticed. We feel so loved.

Enjoy the holiday, plant-based friends!

Tracy

Egg-Free, Dye-Free Easter Ideas

We love to celebrate holidays with crafts and treats but it can definitely be tricky to navigate ways to do so that are good for us and good for the planet. Egg-based and dye-based activities and foods are so prevalent this time of year so I put together a list of ways to celebrate avoiding eggs and dyes.

Wooden Easter Eggs

• Faux Egg Crafts - Simple swap - fake eggs. Use wooden craft eggs like these or cardboard-based eggs like these and decorate with markers or paint for the most eco-friendly option. Add some washi tape to get the striped look or spring themed stickers for added decoration with just minimal waste. (I don’t love to support the plastic variation but it is a cruelty-free option and available in most main stream stores.)

• Paint Rocks Instead - If you want to go even more eco-conscious, gather oval-shaped rocks to decorate instead!

• Use What You Already Have - Nearly anything can be cut egg-shaped and nearly anything can be used to decorate so get out the construction paper, felt, etc. and make your own eggs. There are even printable Easter and spring themed coloring book pages you can download.

• DIY Dye - Try making your own plant-based dye using food items such as red cabbage, coffee grounds, turmeric, beets and onion skins. Boil in water and some vinegar to make your diy dyes.

• Vegan Baking - Most baked goods can easily be made vegan with swaps like plant based milk, vegan butter, flax eggs, apple sauce, vegan chocolate chips from Enjoy Life, vegan marshmallows from Dandies etc. or look to amazing creators like Chocolate Covered Katie.

• Vegan Store-Bought Baked Goods - We love Abe’s mini vegan muffins and are excited to try out their vegan coffee cake and carrot cake. All of their treats would be the perfect addition to a vegan brunch.

• Vegan Candy - We love YumEarth candy because they are free from dyes and nearly all of their candies are vegan (just skip the gummy bears and candy corn in the fall). They even have vegan jelly beans! (You may know that I photograph for this brand and my sister works for the company, but this link is not sponsored in any way. I just really like their candy.)

• Vegan Chocolate - Even if a brand is not all vegan, check out any dark chocolate products because they are much more likely to be naturally vegan. I recently had the Little Secrets Dark Chocolate Crispy Wafers and man, they are so good. (They may contain cross-contaminated milk so please be mindful if you have a severe allergy.) They don’t carry a vegan label but reading the ingredients, I think we are good to go. I’ve also seen a ton of oat-milk based milk chocolate bars lately.

However you celebrate the spring, I hope you have a wonderful one!

From my family to yours,

Tracy

Low-Waste, Low-Cost, Vegan "Fiver" Birthday Party for Kids!

I love hosting and celebrating but I also find the traditional style kids’ birthday party to be overwhelming. Here are a few ideas to keep things low-waste, low-cost, low-key, and of course, vegan.

Birthday Cake Baking

• Throw a Fiver! - I threw a “fiver” party with the theme “$5 for me, $5 in need.” Instead of presents, I asked our guests to gift my son $5 for him and $5 for us to donate to a charity that he choses. I love this theme for so many reasons. It saves us from being inundated by dozens of toys. It allows my son to chose one perfect gift that he really cherishes. It puts the emphasis on time with friends. It’s lower waste. It emphasizes giving as well as receiving. It avoids potentially getting items that are not vegan. It introduces the concept of money.

• Presence as a Present - I always encourage guests that their presence is the best gift. Spending time together is more important than any physical gift. Whether it be at the birthday party or another day, time together is what we cherish the most.

• Reusable Items - Be it the table cloth, plates, utensils, napkins or kitchen towels, consider bringing it all. It’s easier than it seems. Pack a reusable bag with all of your gear and throw it all in the wash when you get home. Easy peasy, no waste. If it feels like a big haul, start with just one or two items at this event and see how it goes.

• Backyard, local park or playground - We are lucky to have a local airport that has a nice park nearby with picnic tables where you can watch the planes. It was free and such a hit. Locally, look for parks, playgrounds, beaches, lakes, gazebos for party locations.

• DIY Piñata - This one was a huge hit. I used a cardboard box I already had, decorated it with streamers from past party leftovers and filled it with YumEarth Candy because it’s vegan and dye-free. This is not no-waste, but it is a much better alternative to purchasing new.

• Already Own - What do you already own that could be fun at a party? A parachute? A scavenger hunt game? Chalk? A roll of craft paper and paint or markers? Kids love these things. With a fun set up or theme, they can just become the “birthday edition”.

• Buy Nothing Groups - If you’re in search of something new, consider looking on a buy nothing group first, or even a yard sale group. If you can’t get it free, you may be able to get it cheaper and if it’s already been purchased by someone else, that’s one less item being mass produced because you bought it second hand.

• Vegan Chocolate Cake - Every year, my son requests the most delicious chocolate cake recipe by Nora Cooks.

• Birthday Balloons - If you do purchase or are gifted balloons, post them up on your local Buy Nothing Group the next day and see if someone local can reuse them! The helium in mylar balloons especially will last a long time!

The perfect site for a low-cost, low-waste birthday party picnic!

How to Navigate Large Group Meals as a Vegan (or Vegetarian)

Listen, holidays are hard for everyone and adding the extra challenge of a restricted diet can be challenging for sure. Below are a few tips for navigating large group meals.

(And, if you’re cooking for a vegan or vegetarian, you can also check out my recent blog post on How to Cook for a Vegan During the Holidays which includes easy substitutions to veganize meals and tips on how to approach the holiday.)

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Ideas to make the Big Meal a Little Less Scary

Spicy roasted chickpeas - great as a side dish or salad topper

1. Offer to Bring a Main Dish - Assuming you are not hosting, reach out to the host and offer to bring a main dish that can be shared with everyone. This is a tip I learned from Ellen Fisher and I love how she emphasizes that this method is super inclusive. Plus, if nothing else is vegan / vegetarian, at least you have a main dish to eat.

2. Offer to Bring a Few Sharable Appetizers or Side Dishes - Again, emphasis on shareable sizes and enough for you to feel satisfied.

3. Or, Bring your Own Meal - Another option is to bring your own meal entirely. I used to do this and on occasion, still do. It works, but it can be a bit awkward and isolating compared to options 1 and 2.

4. Don’t forget about dessert. Save for some apple pies or crumbs, it’s doubtful that any holiday desserts are vegan. But the good news is, these two are easy to make. And, the Costco Apple Pie is vegan and humongous.

5. Pack a Snack - If you aren’t comfortable bringing your own food or a shareable dish and want to try to go incognito, I highly recommend packing a few high calorie snacks that you can eat to fill up. For me, mixed nuts is my go to. I used to carry a few bars in my bag, always. Truthfully, they stayed there usually until they became mushed from living at the bottom of my bag, but when I needed them, they were so helpful to prevent any hangry feelings. These days, there typically are vegan options easily accessible (even if this means on the car ride home) but I know that’s not the case in some areas and in some families.

6. Communicate with the Host - Let the host know ahead of time that you are vegan or vegetarian. I find it helpful to talk ahead of time and ensure that they do not need to make anything differently for you but that you would appreciate knowing which dishes are vegan / vegetarian safe. If the conversation goes there, assure them that you are not judgmental of their food choices and are comfortable with everyone else eating as they choose. If you are not, shared group meals may not be a great environment for you.

7. If asked, share tips on how to veganize meals. - I don’t usually offer these up unless a host asks. It is usually super simple to switch to olive oil instead of butter to sauté vegetables or to use vegetable stock instead of chicken or beef stock. Not everyone is up for making a homemade cashew cream but most will happily add a non-dairy cheese to a charcuterie board (I recommend Tree Line Scallion Soft Nut Cheese) or set aside a small portion of a dish before adding cheese or other dairy on top.

8. Host a Meal Yourself - I used to think that I had to provide non-vegan or vegetarian options as a host and this is something I now completely dismiss. I’ve hosted two vegan kids’ birthday parties now and they’ve gone great. To be honest, I am not sure that anyone even noticed.

9. Share Recipes - Year round, I encourage you to share recipes you love with your friends and family. Vegan and vegetarian dishes don’t have to be just for those who eat this way exclusively.

10. Conversation - Avoidance is not my typical advice. While I do love talking about veganism, I recommend avoiding the topic at the dinner table. It’s awkward and really not the place for the discussion. If it comes up, try an easy response like this one: “I’d prefer to chat later on if you’re interested in following up.”

11. Have Compassion - At the heart of veganism is compassion. Compassion for the animals, for the environment, for your health. Whatever your motivator, it’s usually fueled by passion and love. I encourage you to have that same compassion for every single person at your holiday dinner table. Yes, it’s hard. Try it anyway. Know that everyone is doing their best. They may not see things the same ways you do and that’s okay. Love them anyway.

12. That Includes For Yourself - If you eat something that goes against your plan, forgive yourself. And know, it gets easier. I used to struggle with the transition from vegetarian to vegan at large meals. I was tempted. I found my “why” for going vegan and truly am no longer tempted. I’ve since learned about Intuitive Eating and it really resonates with me. For me, eating a vegan diet is what I intuitively want to eat.

13. But, Don’t Give in to Peer Pressure - Recognize when you have your own desire to eat something - that’s fine! You do you. But don’t let others bully you into eating their way. Know that all those jokes and taunts are coming, most likely, because your action calls into question theirs as well. They may interpret your not eating meat and dairy as offensive to their deep seeded family traditions or their upbringing. Remember, this is not personal to you, but to them. And, I’ve found that many people are actually not comfortable with their choice to eat meat or dairy when they actually sit with the idea and this comes up in a lot of ways, often directed at you. Armor up with love and strength. You got this.

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The Most Important Part

A very cold November hike with my mom and three year old.

Spending time with the people you love is the most important part. Don’t let the meal be bigger than it is. Yes, you need to be nourished but this doesn’t have to be more elaborate than that.

I highly encourage you give compassion a chance. Talk with your family at another time if you’d like to share your veganism.

Know that you are heard by so, so many people. They may or may not be at your dinner table.

I hope that you have a safe, happy, healthy holiday this season.

Please know that you are loved.

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