Happy November! Hope you had a great Halloween, if you celebrated. If you’re feeling like the candy situation got a little out of hand, this new month is a great time to commit to keeping it real with the sweet stuff.
As if the days leading up to Halloween weren’t sugar-coated enough, lots of us wake up November 1st with a kitchen full of candy. Yikes! Not exactly a great way to kick off the treat-filled holiday season! Sure, you could bring it in to work, but it’s only going to keep torturing you—and your colleagues. To avoid keeping the sugar-fest from stretching through New Years, here are some things you can do with leftover Halloween candy.
*Cook leftover candy your favorite candy into cakes, brownies, or cookies. This is great for Thanksgiving desserts, birthday parties, and bake sales.
*Freeze it. Chocolate in particular freezes well. You can stash it in a ziploc for future use in baking projects or for a party.
*Use it to make trail mix. Toss your favorite candy with nuts and seeds and portion out into single-serving ziplock bags or other resealable containers for a healthy snack with a touch of sweetness.
*Use it as a garnish. A crumbled fun-size candy bar or mini pack of M&M’s adds a sweet touch to plain Greek yogurt for only 25-50 calories. Don’t make it an everyday habit, but it can be an enjoyable, portion-controlled pick-me-up
*Send it overseas. To give the troops a taste of home, groups like Operation Shoebox will take donations.
*Use it in holiday decor. Looking for stale candy to decorate a gingerbread house with come December? That Halloween candy you’ve been stashing in the back of that hard-to-reach cabinet will come in handy.
Do you end up with a lot of leftover Halloween candy? What’s your favorite way to use it up?