Luckily people like me love to navigate all the food terminology that gets thrown around these days and share simple, healthy tricks. And this time of year is no exception! Whether you’re a parent or sitter, check out these tips about food labels, cooking and baking for a happy, healthy fall.

Halloween Candy Labels:
With trick-or-treating around the corner, it’s good to watch out for what’s in your child’s candy sack. The number one rule is to avoid high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup. Yup, this excludes most of the traditional brands. If you’d like to give out a healthier option, consider the brand UNREAL candy; it’s gluten-free with no GMO’s, artificial flavors or preservatives http://getunreal.com

Healthy and cute snacks

Cozy Snack Recipes:
Classic munching favorites are potato chips and fries. Two fantastic alternatives are kale and sweet potatoes; they taste great and are more nutrient dense than your plain old spud. Use sea salt rather than table salt to get more trace minerals and less blood pressure stress. Tip: leave the skin on to save time.

Crispy Kale Chips
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/crispy-kale-chips-recipe/index.html

Sweet Potato Fries
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/baked-sweet-potato-fries-recipe/index.html

Seasonal Gluten-Free Squash Sides:
Try these recipes instead of processed mac’n’cheese or spaghetti noodles.  The delicata squash skin can be left on and eaten.  With spaghetti squash: scoop, pour on sauce and serve.

Parmesan-crusted Delicata Squash
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2011/12/21/parmesan-crusted-delicata-squash/

Spaghetti Squash
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/cheese-and-pepper-cacio-e-pepe-spaghetti-squash-recipe/index.html

Baking Substitutes:
I recommend cutting out refined, processed sugars (white or brown) and unhealthy fats (shortening and canola oil). Fruit, like bananas, applesauce and avocado, can be used for all of the above, as well as for egg and dairy allergies.  The finished product will usually be softer and sweeter. Try just one substitute per recipe until you get comfortable!

Brown Sugar: natural applesauce (no sugar added) in 1:1 ratio

Canola Oil: coconut oil in 1:1 ratio

Shortening: ¾ cup coconut oil for 1 cup shortening

Butter: coconut oil or avocado in 1:1 ratio (avo will tint green, but the flavor cooks out)

Egg: ¼ cup mashed avocado or banana for 1 egg 

-Rebecca Kittle recently graduated from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition as a certified health coach. She is interested in educating people about clean eating, recognizing chemicals in processed and packaged foods, special dietary restrictions, and increasing your digestive health.