Treat Overload

Picture by canberkol

I don't know about you, but I struggle with the influx of candy and treats that comes with many of our major holidays - especially Halloween.  We try to limit processed foods in general, making halloween candy a nightmare.  A couple of years ago I started getting healthier candy alternatives to pass out to trick-or-treaters, but I am still left with extra if the demand didn't deplete my supply.  Add to that the candy haul from three excited kiddos and we could have a mountain of sugary excess that would make King Candy jealous.

So, what do you do with all of that (after you have squirreled away a few choice treats for yourself of course...or is that just me...)?  Typically we have allowed the kids to choose a couple of pieces, then the remainder is put away and usually forgotten, then months later thrown away.  However, I was curious as to what others did so I Googled it!

There is one post on about.com listing several Uses for Leftover Halloween Candy.  Some of my favorite ideas include: bake/reinvent it (with links to recipes), play/learn/craft with it, trade it (with a link for a dentist buy-back program), donate it (to food pantries, shelters, etc.), and...my favorite by far...EXPERIMENT with it!

If you are cool eating/using the sugary stuff, there is a post on about.com that lists 12 Ways to Use Up Halloween Candy.  Some ideas are repeats of the first post, others - like buying the candy from your kids - are different.  The comments/responses to the post have some ideas too.

What do you do with all of that yummy sugar?
- Katrina K.