Easter Candy!

It is almost impossible as a mom to try and curb sugar intake in kids lately. Every holiday revolves around sugar. Now that I am a lot more aware of the harmful affects of food coloring I don't want my kids having any. And I don't want them having too much sugar either.  Which makes it very hard to be a mom these days. I am sure I won't be the favorite but my family's health is a lot more important to me.

With Easter less than 2 weeks away I have been trying to figure out how to deal with this holiday that has basically turned into a sugar fest. I can control what I put into my kids baskets but I can't control what other Easter activities will give out to the kids. At this point the word about harmful affects of food dye and sugar on our bodies is still just getting around and not very many people are on the same page...yet.

For my kids Easter baskets I will be researching dye free candies. I have heard that Vitamin Cottage and also Trader Joe's carries dye free Jelly Beans.  So I'll be seeing about getting my hands on some of those.

I also had an idea to make my own chocolate for the kids. I've made this recipe before and used it to dip strawberries and it came out awesome. I am planning on picking up some candy molds and making some to put in the kid's Easter baskets. It's super easy and only has 5 ingredients.

Raw Chocolate
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
3 Tbsp maple syrup (room temp to keep oil liquefied)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of Salt

Put all ingredients in blender and process until well combined. Put candy molds onto waxed paper. Place in fridge until hard.

Another thought I had is that when the kids do get candy from other Easter Egg Hunts is that I am going to trade it out with the candy that I already have for them. My kids are pretty well educated about food dyes and are beginning to understand why I'm not to keen on them having them.  I feel like as long as I am prepared with good alternatives that it can go to bed at night knowing that I provided healthy options for them rather then filling their body with so much sugar and food dye.