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!

Ways to Give During a Pandemic

This season, I embarked on a personal challenge I called 30 Days of Giving. Despite pandemic restrictions, I found there are still plenty of ways to do this. Here are my favorites.

Donations overflowing my office

• Check In with your friends and family. The best way to find out who could really use some extra love is simply by asking. I posted a simple question on social media and learned that a mama friend of mine was having an especially hard time. So, I posted on two of my mama Facebook groups and asked for their support. I put out my Venmo and a few suggestions of items like diapers and wipes. Not only were able to raise $1,300, but we also brought 6 boxes of diapers, 5 boxes of wipes, 2 storage bins of clothes and more Christmas presents than I would have ever expected. We dropped this off as a total surprise. It was an amazing experience personally to have new items dropped at my door every day for nearly 2 weeks from mostly strangers. My mama friend said it restored her faith in people and the season and I have to say, it really boosted mine too.

• Send personal notes. A few other friends commented on the post mentioned above and I plan to send them each a personal card just to say hi. Don’t underestimate giving someone a smile.

• Donate to your local Food Pantry. Curbside pickup some extra groceries next time you shop and bring them right over to your local food pantry. Or, give online. Most accept financial donations.

• Drop off groceries directly to someone in need. A single mom reached out on a group I am in and I was able to bring some items from my own pantry to her the same day. Knowing that she was able to have a meal that day meant everything.

• Donate new toys, books and clothes. If your kiddos received toys, books or clothes that are not age or interest appropriate, consider donating them instead of exchanging them. Toys for Tots is a great organization to consider or perhaps just post on social media. I assure you, someone knows someone who could really use it.

• Bring books to your local Little Book Shop. I’m sure you’ve seen them around, the little birdhouse like book shops. I love them.

• Shop small. This year, my main purchase was at a local book shop. Yes, the prices were more expensive than Amazon and it’s hard to say no to next day delivery at your doorstep but I flipped my mindset to think of the extra money as a donation. I emailed a list about a month ahead of time, and the shop was so great to order them in and allow me to pickup curbside. I’d rather help their business stay afloat than contribute more to Amazon.

• Shop less on Amazon. A friend of mine made a really great point the other day. She said, it’s daunting to think about making all purchases from local small business owners given the convenience of big stores and our limited schedules and access these days, but if we can just decrease our spend at the big ones and increase our spend at the little ones, that makes a difference. It’s not all or nothing.

• When you do, use Amazon Smile.

• Don’t forget about yourself. I read a quote recently that asked me to name the five most important people in my life. It then asked if I mentioned myself. Eye opening. You need to view yourself as one of the most important people in your life. Give to yourself. Bonus, when you do, you’ll be able to give more to others.

• Tip well. Whether it’s adding a bit more than suggested on grocery or food delivery or adding a tip where you hadn’t before (for me, it’s been to the curbside pickup attendant and takeout pickup), I often think, an extra dollar or ten won’t be noticed on my end, but if everyone did that, the attendant might see a big difference at the end of the day.

• Consider buying your groceries from a local farm. There are still plenty of farms offering CSAs. Others often have small markets that offer curbside pickup just like grocery stores and have non-seasonal produce to supplement their own grown produce.

• Donate financially. Find your favorite organization and give financially what you can. Don’t feel like you have to make a huge contribution. Every dollar counts.

• Check in on your neighbors. A small gesture, but I offered my phone number to the family of an elderly neighbor. (I’ve tried to offer it to her but she couldn’t hear me masked and distanced.) I saw her family outside one day, and I gave them my number so that they had someone local in case it was ever needed. I am lucky to live in a neighborhood where we get groceries, mail, packages, etc. for each other. I am pretty sure any community can become like this. If yours isn’t yet, just know it can start with just one kind act.

• Post things for free on Nextdoor.com or Facebook. If you have items that may be able to be reused, post them online and offer to leave them on your porch or front walkway. I can’t even tell you the number of random items I’ve gotten rid of that someone else can put to good use. And, I’ve picked up even more!

• Propagate your plants. If you have houseplants, look into propagating them to give as gifts. It’s a really great way to keep the cycle going without purchasing new.

• When you’re able to be in person, put down your phone. Really spend time with the people you’re with. Giving the gift of presence, in person, via zoom, etc. is the best gift there is.

I was inspired to create this challenge because I want my son to grow up in a giving home. I want the language and the actions to be second nature. To do this, my 30 days of giving is moving to year round.

Let me know if any of these ideas resonated with you. Are there ones I’ve missed? I’m sure of it. Let me know in the comments below because I am always looking for more ways to lend a helping hand.

From my heart to yours,

Tracy