It’s that time of year – the unofficial start of the unofficial holiday “Butterfest”, that period from October 31st to January 1st.

Seems like starting with our wickedly wonderful tradition of begging for treats, comes a landslide of temptations and an overload of sugar and fat.  How DO you manage to enjoy but not overdue, especially with candy?

Weight Watchers has some great suggestions:
*Buy late and don’t open the bag until Halloween night, less temptation.

*Choose candy you don’t like.

*Give out more candy as the night goes on so there’s little to none leftover.

*Start the evening with a full stomach, you’ll be less interested in the sweet treats.

*Manage the kids’ haul.  Have a game plan for parsing out candy over the coming weeks.

*Remember you can buy candy ANY time of year.  No need to load up now.

Having a Halloween party?  Try these clever, delicious, and healthier Halloween snacks…(URL: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/ghoulishly-healthy-halloween-snacks).

You can also enjoy one of the “fruits” of the season, pumpkin seeds!  These seeds are a great source of zinc, antioxidants and a wide variety of forms of vitamin E.  Here’s an easy recipe for preparing pumpkin seeds.  URL:
http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/essential-ingredients/cooking-pumpkin-healthy-recipes-00412000068748/page6.html

And finally, what about a “healthier” pumpkin pie?  Fall just begs for amazing scents and tastes of spices that put us right in the mood for cozy family gatherings.  Here’s a great recipe using Stevia as your sweetner.  Let us know if you give it a try! URL: http://www.sugarfreemom.com/recipes/healthier-pumpkin-pie-low-calorie-low-sugar/

Try using any of these ideas for a healthier Halloween and fall celebrations!