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!

My Approach To Santa and the Holidays

Disclaimer: This post is intended for adults.

My eclectic holiday scene.

I have a slightly different approach to Santa than the traditional American family. I am sharing it here in case it resonates with other parents. Please know that my thoughts and opinions are by no means the “right” way to do things, just the way that works for me and my family. I do not judge any other approach. You and your spouse are the only ones who know what is best for your family.

The big headlines are that I don’t lie to my child about the existence of Santa Clause and I don’t place emphasis on naughty or nice behavior. Now, this might sound extreme, but if you read on, you’ll see that actually very little is different.

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What We Still Do

• Decorate the house for the holiday

• Make Christmas cookies

• Get into the Christmas spirit by bringing gifts and donations to others

• Celebrate Christmas with family and friends (via zoom because it’s 2020)

• Enjoy time off from work and other obligations to have more time for each other

• Give each other gifts on Christmas morning

• Listen to Christmas music

• Create Christmas crafts

• Create Christmas “magic” in the good energy of the season

• Know of Santa as a character

• Honor and respect the way others celebrate the season

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My Alternative Approach to Santa Goes Like This

1. Talk about Santa as a character. Santa is a wonderful character to celebrate. We have books that feature Santa and we see him in some holiday movies. We have a Santa hat. We’ll cheer Ho Ho Ho! It is fun to enter the world of pretend. Just as we read and talk about Lightening McQueen, we will do the same with Santa. We can act out scenes from books or movies the way we would with other characters. Santa is a positive, jolly character we talk about during the holiday season.

2. Answer questions honestly. (But have fun with it. No Grinch here.) If my son asks me questions like “Does Santa really go to every house on Christmas night?” I might say back “Does that seem possible to you? No. That wouldn’t be possible. Do you want to pretend we are in Santa’s sleigh and drop a present at each room in our house? Let’s see how long it takes us just to do that.” If he asks, “Does Santa really come down the chimney?” I will answer him honestly, perhaps with something like “No, that seems pretty dangerous, but it is fun to pretend that he does. Let’s see how high we can jump to see if we’d be able to reach the top of the house!” Notice I said if my son asks me, I by no means plan to be a Grinch with each story and add in commentary to say it’s not true. That takes the fun away of getting into the story. The key is honesty when a kid is seeking to understand something, to set boundaries of truth and fiction. It’s fun to play fantasy, and live rooted in reality.

3. My son is currently three years old and I feel no need to proactively tell him that Santa is not real. When the questions start to come as he gets old, I will ensure that he understands that other kids may have been told that the story is true, not a fable, and therefore, we have to respect that and not ruin their fun.

4. It probably goes without saying that Elf on the Shelf is also not something I will do with my son. The idea that Santa or Elf on the Shelf are watching you at all times is totally creepy and inappropriate to me. “He sees you when you’re sleeping; he knows if you’re awake…” not in my house.

   My goal is to celebrate the season with joy and giving. The focus, for us, is not on getting on the nice list to receive elaborate or flashy gifts, but appreciating what we have and receive.

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Why This Approach is Important to Me

• Trust. I don’t like the idea of lying to my child.

• Reality. We stay pretty grounded in reality around here. We play pretend, of course, but my son has a healthy understanding of what is real and what is fake and I just don’t think he would buy any of the big ideas anyway.

• My Love is Unconditional. It doesn’t sit well with me that my child has to prove he’s on the nice list to get presents. Gifts are one expression of love and my love for him is unconditional. I don’t want him to live in fear of doing something wrong and therefore not getting to celebrate Christmas morning. I want him to act well because it is the right thing to do. This is something I teach him all year long, not just in December. Being kind is always our goal.

• Income Inequality. The idea that Santa brings some kids a motorized Jeep and some kids a dollar store trinket Jeep is not lost on me. Some parents handle this by saying that the large gifts are from Mom and Dad or other family members and have Santa bring a smaller gift or the stocking so that is another approach to help with the inequity.

• Mall Santas. I am not on team Mall Santa. I don’t like the idea of my child sitting on a stranger’s lap. A toddler waiting in line a while is never a great idea. Most children instinctively don’t want to sit on the stranger’s lap and we ask them to anyway. They are actively being told in that case to not follow their instincts.

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A Phrase Guide for Family and Friends

1. Instead of saying “Are you excited for Santa to come?” Try “Are you excited for Christmas?”

2. Instead of saying “What are you asking Santa for for Christmas?” Try “What presents are you hoping to get for Christmas?”

3. Please don’t say things like “Are you being nice this year so Santa will bring you lots of presents?” or “Make sure to stay off the naughty list!”

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Reach out!

Does this approach resonate with you? I’d love to hear why. Are there other traditions or similar ways you approach the holiday in your family? I’d love to hear them. Comment below or send me a private message.

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Gift Guide: Kitchen Items for Vegan Foodies (or Anyone, Really)

For the foodies in your life that love to cook, here is a list of the items that are most used in my vegan kitchen. Enjoy!

Larger Items

Restaurant Quality Smoothies from my Vitamix

Vitamix Blender - This is my go-to kitchen tool. I use it to make restaurant-quality smoothies, hummus and other dips, pasta sauces, salad dressings, banana nice cream and sorbets, to grind coffee beans, and even to finely shred some veggies like cabbage and carrots. I have used my Vitamix almost daily for the last seven years.

Food Processor - This is a more recent purchase for me. Thank you, Costco sale. I mostly got it to give my Vitamix a break. So far my favorite thing to make in it is date energy balls. It’s also great for finely chopping nuts and vegetables. I can’t say that it’s absolutely needed if you have a Vitamix but I am definitely enjoying it.

High Quality Knives - If you eat a lot of produce, you likely do a lot of chopping. Like, every day. High quality knives make this process less time consuming and more precise. I notice a huge difference when I use low quality or dulled knives.

High Quality Cutting Boards - On that theme, I am constantly using my cutting boards. Mine conveniently pop in the dishwasher but I have heard a large block is really where it’s at.

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Smaller Items

My Nana’s garlic keeper

Garlic Keeper - I am not saying every vegan loves garlic, but I haven’t yet met one that doesn’t. This item is just a little nice to have. I have my grandmother’s old school garlic keeper and it just makes me feel so comforted when I reach for the garlic, which is most days.

Garlic Press - Again, not needed, but very helpful to speed things up when you like a lot of garlic minced.

Mason Jar Lids - I store so many dried goods in mason jars and just love them. I find the metal lids to rust and they even specify on the packaging that they are meant for one time use. While I try to not buy too much plastic, I do really love my reusable mason jar lids. I find that all of mine are always in use.

Apple Crisp in the making with fresh lemon juice

Reusable Metal Straws - This one tends to be pretty polarizing but I love my reusable metal straws.

Handheld Citrus Juicer - This one became a game changer when I got it last year. I find I use more lemons in my cooking just because I have it. And, my son is pretty obsessed with the days when we make some fresh pressed OJ.

Spatulas - A great complimentary gift to a Vitamix. I have a long, thin, silicone one that is especially helpful.

Vegetable Peeler - I would guess most people would have one of these already but they are so used that they can break down or get a little gross (ask my sister) so this might be a welcomed replacement gift.

A High Quality Water Bottle - I have several and use them in rotation daily. I’ve gotten some as gifts and they are some of my favorite items to receive.

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Extra Specialty Items

Tofu Press - Learning that pressing tofu before cooking created the best texture was a game changer for me. Thank you, Lizzie. I press mine between a cloth or paper towels but an actual press would be an awesome gift for someone who cooks tofu often.

Rice Cooker - Simple and seemingly unneeded, but I use mine at least a couple of times a week for rice or quinoa. It’s just nice to free up the stove and let this one cook on its own. Mine is quite small and inexpensive but the basic setting of on and then “keep warm” when it’s done cooking, until you’re ready to eat it, is quite lovely. Highly recommend.

Dehydrator - This was on my wish list for years and I just never could justify the cost for the minimal use. But, I am borrowing a friend’s right now and it feels like the perfect balance to have it for a few weeks a year. Today I made dried apple slices, dried orange slices for holiday ornaments, and this week I am hoping to get to some homemade kale chips and drying the last of my garden’s herbs.

Juicer - I have one. I love it. I rarely use it. I prefer to make smoothies and get all of the fiber. I used to juice and then make pulp muffins. That was a fun kick but I find that the excitement of a juicer and the effort to use the pulp and clean it all up outweighs the usage for me. That said, it could make a great gift for someone who’s eyeing one!

Air Fryer - I recently used an air fryer for the first time and definitely loved the potato wedges and sweet potato fries that it made. They were pretty comparable with my oven baked versions but definitely a lot quicker and I avoided having to heat up a whole oven. It might come down to how much counter space you have available, but it’s definitely a fun addition.

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Services

Misfits and Thrive Market Delivery

Gift Cards - Help support the local economy where your loved one lives by gifting a gift card to their favorite vegan restaurant. If you’re local to MA, I highly recommend Walnut Grille (Needham), Life Alive (Cambridge, Brookline, Boston, Salem) and Green Leaf (Framingham).

Thrive Market - If you have a loved one who lives in a rural area where access to specialty grocery stores like Whole Foods Market is difficult, an annual membership to Thrive Market could be a great gift.

Purple Carrot - This vegan meal prep service delivers weekly ingredients and recipes to your door. They are based in Needham, MA and I am a big fan. I used the service for over a year while I was transitioning to veganism and I loved all of the menu ideas and cooking styles I learned while using the service. I actually only stopped when I was pregnant and had too many food aversions to gamble on the menu. This is really a great gift for any foodie though, not just vegans. Carnivore friends of mine loved the meals as well.

Misfits Market - This weekly grocery subscription service delivers “misfit” produce on a budget. I am a big fan of this service as it helps alleviate food waste, keeps me eating seasonally, and has even introduced me to new produce I’d never used before. Use this code to receive 25% off your first box. Code: COOKWME-PE4QBK

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What gifts have you loved giving or receiving? What kitchen items and services are your most loved? Share them in the comments below.