Right now, I bet you are staring at a big bowl still full of candy. Or your kids have brought home the motherlode of sugary goodness. I actually have both problems going on. It was so rainy here, but we braved the rain for about an hour and my three kids manage to wrack up a lot of chocolate in those tiny buckets. Plus, my overspending husband bought three boxes of candy, one of which (of course he opened) is sitting in the bowl by my front door.
When I went to boot camp, our trainer told us the best thing to do with all this candy - throw it out. But, the penny pincher in me does not want to throw out all that sweetness, even if it means I'll be doing burpees for another year just to wear it off. I decided to research other ways to get rid of all this candy and still feel good about not wasting food.
This might seem counteractive, because I'm going to tell you to add sugar to the sugar you are trying to get rid of, but after you do so, you can gift it elsewhere! You wouldn't just give Halloween candy as a gift to a coworker or someone who needs a gift. But, you would give this yummy Halloween bark as a gift. You could probably also freeze it and eat it later, way later, after all those Reese Peanut Butter cups have left your body for a while. Get the recipe at Key Ingredient.
Teach your kids something other than how to down ten Snickers bars in less than a minute. Candy experiments! Kids won't mind passing over their candy in the name of how cool it is when Jolly Ranchers do this. Plus, the KidsHealth Organization recommends it.
Here is an idea I can really get behind. Turn your leftover chocolate into homemade chocolate flavoured vodka. This is perfect, just in time for Christmas and a great gift idea. Check out LifeHackerto find out how.
Save all that candy and put it in a piñata for your next kid's birthday. This actually works amazingly well for me as my oldest son's birthday is next month and I already have the piñata. I just saved myself some money thanks to this idea from Parenting.com.
If you are a total Craft-O-Maniac, make yourself a trick or treat wreath. I'm sure it will stay good until next year, as long as your kids don't find it.
My youngest son's teacher suggested to me to freeze all the leftover chocolate, at the very back of the freezer, where it won't taunt you every time you reach for an ice cube. When she has an afternoon craving, she'll get one, and because it is frozen it takes her a long time to eat it, so she doesn't get more. You could also chop it up and freeze it for milkshakes and other recipes like Modern Day Donna Reed.
Photo Credit: Dan Tentler
Bargainmoosers, what was your candy haul like today? What was the strangest item your kids got in their bags?
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