Happy, Healthy Halloween

With Halloween just around the corner, you may be bracing for a big sugar rush - not just for the kids, but for yourself,while you make a dent in the kids' loot once they've gone off to bed. We may tell ourselves that it's just once a year, but the truth is it seems like everytime I turn around there's an "occasion" for our kids to indulge in more than their fair share of sweets. So this Halloween, with a little planning, you can offer the neighborhood kids something that will satisfy them without leaving them in a sugar coma, and leave you all feeling a little healthier.

Here are a few suggestions:

Kids love salty snacks almost as much as they love sweets, so why not give 'em some chips? Frito Lay has recently introduced Pinch of Salt snacks, giving moms, dads and kids a tasty, low-salt alternative to some of their favorite crunchy snacks. With 30 – 50 percent less salt than their original counterparts, Pinch of Salt snacks help keep salt consumption in check while still providing all the flavor of the real thing. The Pinch of Salt line includes Fritos, Tostitos, Ruffles and Lay’s Classic Potato Chips, and can be found at grocery, retail and mass-merchant stores. They’ll never miss the salt!

It's hard to beat a good chocolate chip cookie, and finding an organic one that tastes great is a real treat! Snikiddy makes yummy bite-sized chocolate chip cookies, as well as grilled cheese puffs and other goodies that come in snack sized bags, just perfect for parties or trick-or-treaters. These may be made for kids, but trust me - you'll find yourself enjoying the kids' Snikiddy snacks long after they've gone to bed.

If you're a true chocoholic and can't miss a holiday without it, try these heart healthy snacks from CocoaVia. With delicious combinations as blueberry and almond and crispy chocolate, they are an excellent source of calcium, folic acid, vitamins B6, B12 and antioxidant vitamins C and E. Plus, they're a nutritionally responsible 90–100 calories per serving. Chocolate never looked so good!