Easter Candy Switch-Up

Easter is one of  my favorite holidays...  It holds a deep, spiritual meaning for me usually causing me to cry (grateful, happy tears) on at least one occasion each year.  This year I get to spend the holiday with one of my favorite people on the planet: this amazing girl, who writes this amazing blog.   Whether you get to spend the holiday with family, friends, kiddos, or strangers down at the local coffee shop, make it a special day for someone.  Skip the sugar and chemical laden treats this year and class up the event a bit.  We're so over foil wrapped bunnies that taste more like white sugar than chocolate, and sugary, gritty jelly beans with absolutely no flavor.  Candy is fine, but at least make the calories WORTH IT!  Try some of the following ideas for the people you get to celebrate with this year:

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

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Just in case you missed my previous post on this favorite food of mine, you can check it out here.  I love, love, LOVE chocolate covered strawberries, and they are a GOOD sweet-treat!  Fresh strawberries are a delicious, low calorie fruit, and chocolate has antioxidants!  Remember, the darker the better, so go as dark as you can for the most health benefits!  These are super easy to make yourself, so don't waste the cash on buying pre-made ones.  You never know what kind of chemicals have been added, and when this is so simple to whip up, why bother?  Melt chocolate very slowly in a double boiler or in a microwave safe bowl.  Dip strawberries and let harden on wax paper for about 20 minutes. 



Jelly Belly Jelly Beans

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Okay, so yes, Jelly Bellys are jelly beans, but they are DELICIOUS jelly beans, not gross, gritty, no flavor jelly beans.  And, they're lower calorie than chocolate candy bars filled with fat!  The best think about Jelly Belly's is mixing and matching... My personal favorite combo is Strawberry Daiquiri and Blueberry together in the same bite.... YUM!  http://www.jellybelly.com is offering 10% off all Easter orders over $35 right now (use coupon code: bunny) but these are also offered in Winco's bulk section.  Head over to Dollar Tree to find some cute little containers, wrap in cellophane and tie with ribbon, super cute little Easter gifts with a small price tag!  I would just like to interject here that the awesome girl from my intro to his post and I used to be so obsessed with Jelly Bellys, we were members of the Jelly Belly Taste Bud Fan Club when we were children.  Oh yes, you're jealous... I know.


Dark Chocolate Bunny

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Swap out the sugary low quality chocolate bunny for a solid dark chocolate one.  Dark chocolate, as we already know, has health benefits in the antioxidants it contains.  Switching out milk chocolate for dark chocolate saves calories, fat and sugar in addition to getting some of your daily antioxidants.  I am a HUGE chocoholic.  It runs in the family.  Seriously.  And for me, the darker the better....  Check out the dark chocolate bunnies Amazon has on sale for you here.  It's not too late to order!



Chocolate Covered Dried Fruit

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Oh my gosh, I love Harry and David chocolate covered dried fruit.  It's amazing, one of the best foods on the planet in my humble opinion.  I heard Harry and David went bankrupt and is closing..this makes me sad.  Honey, maybe you should get me 10 boxes of these just in case.......


You can also pass the healthy on to your children starting with their Easter egg hunt...  Instead of filling eggs with chemical-laden, fat and calorie filled frankenfod "treats" that just reaffirm our poor food culture in this country, use healthy alternatives instead.  Try nuts, trail mix, large colored marshmallows (or bunny shaped ones!) blueberries, raspberries, chocolate covered sunflower seeds, raisins, dried cranberries, or coins instead of food altogether!

One other idea to skip the bad Easter treats all together: don't gift them!  When we were growing up, my mom used to get us fun bath stuff for Easter instead of unhealthy candy.  Well, there was a little bit of that too, but the big item in our baskets was a fun bath gel or lotion or scrubby.  Why not go for this foot soak, this body wash set, these dessert bowls, these super cute socks (or anything on sock-it-to-me).  Or perhaps you prefer jewelry??  Check out this AMAZINGLY TALENTED local artist at My Bellas Beads. 

See friends?  Going healthy for Easter is fun and easy... Get on it!

Enjoy
KDH.