Small Town Elements: Trick or Treat

Tonight was Trick or Treat night for all the communities in our area.  All the towns have it at the same time, to try to prevent kids from going out of their neighborhood to get treats.  Not only does this help houses from running out of candy too early into the night, but also, it is much safer for the kids, since staying in your neighborhood means you know the people giving out the goodies.

Much like last year, I was really impressed with the number of parents who went with kids, and the polite behavior of all the children who came to our house.  We had our dog out with us to hand out treats, and many of the kids more more excited to pet him than to get a treat.  One little girl even offered me a treat, giving me a grape tootsie pop, which just so happens to be my favorite.  I thought it was really sweet of her.  Best costumes of the night included Rachel Barry, Lady Gaga, Snooki, and Lil Jon.

In the spirit of promoting good health and wise food choices, I wanted to hand out something a little healthier this year.  So, I decided to hand out Fruit Roll Ups.

When I announced this on facebook and twitter last week, a couple of people razzed me a little, joking that I was taking the fun out of Halloween, and suggesting our house would get egged.  First off, they are Fruit Roll Ups, which are delicious and taste like candy.  They do not taste low fat or gluten free, even though they are.  As a kid, I regularly jonesed for these things, but we rarely got them, so these were a big treat.  I envied the kids that got these in their lunches.  I mean, come on, it is not like I was handing out apples, or raisins, or pennies.  These were clearly intended for trick or treating.

Secondly, having Halloween candy in the house would be sabotage for my weight loss goals.  Even snack size candy bars are pretty bad for you, and I am not certain I would be able to resist them, even if they were the kinds I did not like.  I figured, why tempt myself.  With these, I was not at all tempted, but even if I had been, at 40 calories very low fat, it would not even really be a stumble.

Finally, I thought this was a very cost effective choice.  Last year we bought several bags of candy, and they were not inexpensive.  So when I saw boxes of 40 Fruit Roll Ups for 5 dollars each, I thought this was a great deal.  I got 4 boxes, thinking that would be enough.  Turns out we had way less trick or treaters this year, so looks like Hubby will be eating strawberry fruit roll ups in his lunch until Christmas.

I stand by my healthy alternative treat, and will end this with the following story:

One little guy, upon seeing our bowl of treats said "Oh wow Butterfingers, OH WAIT, even BETTER, FRUIT ROLL UPS!"

Little dude, you are my favorite trick or treater ever.