Sunday, October 28, 2012

Sneaking Veggies in Halloween Treats

I had the opportunity to be featured on Fox News in Houston yesterday, October 27, 2012. Several of the recipes I highlighted were on previous posts below, like the orange carrot juice icing recipe I highlighted from my blog post, What's the Deal with Neon Blue Icing, we featured this naturally dyed icing on top of our super brownies! Here is a link to the video segment:


The other recipe featured on the show, we served inside a pumpkin with black carrots sticking out like scary fingers!

Pumpkin-Seed Hummus


½ lb Dried baby chickpeas (soaked overnight) 

3 cups roasted pumpkin seeds (see recipe)
3 Cloves garlic, crushed 

¼ cup lemon juice 

1 cup tahini 

1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp paprika

Drain the chickpeas, then cover them with water and simmer until soft. Lightly season your mixture, then let it cool. Now drain the chickpeas again, preserving the liquid. In batches, puree the chickpeas, garlic, pumpkin seeds, lemon juice, and enough of that reserved liquid to spin it all, adding tahini once smooth. Adjust seasoning with paprika, salt, and lemon.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds


3 cups raw pumpkin seeds, scooped from a pumpkin or bought at the grocery store
3 Tbsp kosher salt
1½ Tbsp olive oil
¾ tsp paprika
¾ tsp dried ginger powder
¾ tsp cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400F. Fill a large pot with 8 cups of water. Add the pumpkin seeds and salt. Set the pot to boil over high heat. Bring the water to a rolling boil and allow it to boil for a moment. Turn the heat down to medium-low and let the pumpkin seeds simmer for 10 minutes.

Our healthy snacks and treats, like the organic zucchini chocolate chip cookies, gluten free almond butter and strawberry mini muffins, super brownies and many others can all be purchased through Green Plate Kids. In you live in Houston, there are several retail locations that carry Green Plate Kids products, or you can simply order online and select to pick pick-up at one of our free pick up locations or delivery can be arranged. We also ship anywhere in the country!

www.greenplatekitchen.com

Don't forget to check out our healthy treat suggestions for treats to give away on Halloween and if you are in Houston, come by Dr. Natalie Harrison's office to sell them your excess Halloween candy for a good cause!

Healthy Regards,
Lisa Pounds

lisa@greenplatekitchen.com

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Happy Healthy Halloween!

Tick or Treat! Are your kiddos busy picking out their costumes while you are planning the many party festivities?

I love this amazing Halloween Freakynomics Infographic!

Some astonishing statistics about Halloween:
  • $2 billion dollars will be spent on candy
  • 9 billion kernels of candy corn will be made
  • 900 million pounds of pumpkins have been grown for Halloween
  • It’s predicted people will spend $370 million on pet costumes this year

I am a huge fan of Healthy Child Healthy World, they put out a great blog on how to Green your Halloween: Green Halloween Blog

Here is a super cute little recipe we have done for Halloween catering that the kiddos love:


  1. Remove any stringy fibers from the peeled banana, then cut it in half width-wise.
  2. Push a Popsicle stick into each half through the cut end, then cover each pop with plastic wrap and freeze until firm (about 3 hours).
  3. Next, place a 1.5-ounce piece of white chocolate candy in a microwave-safe bowl and cook on high until melted (it generally takes about 1 minute).
  4. With a butter knife, spread the melted white chocolate on the frozen banana halves.
  5. Set the pops on a waxed-paper-covered dish. Press on candies or currants for eyes and mouths and return the pops to the freezer until ready to serve. Makes 2.

Candy or Special Treat ideas for Halloween without all the toxic ingredients


Pass out candy without all the harmful ingredients that taste just as good. Here are some candy alternatives that will make you a poster mom for your neighborhood’s health:

Healthy Child Healthy World's approved list includes: UNREAL™ Candy offers chocolate treats that taste remarkably similar to major commercial products but without artificial colors, dyes, sweeteners, preservatives, hydrogenated oils and GMOs. Plum™ Kids offers individually packed USDA organic Fruit & Veggie Shredz, which taste like Sour Punch Ropes.ClifKids USDA organic twisted fruit ropes are gluten-free and contain no processed sugars.Surf Sweets® offers a wide variety of gluten-free, organic gummies, sour bears and jelly beans.

Or I love the little pretzel bags and clementines are great also! So are fun stickers!!

In Houston, Green Plate Kids is sponsoring a candy buy back program with Dr. Natalie Harrison's office (She is a Pediatric Dentist). The candy they buy back at $1/lb. will go to Operation Gratitude supporting America's Troops and goes to care packages for them. What a neat way to get rid of that extra candy in your house and get your kids involved in doing something good for our troops! (Link to details on this event scheduled on Nov. 1st are on GPK's Facebook page and Dr. Harrison's website.)

Happy & Healthy Halloween!
Lisa