Have A Happy, Healthy Easter!!

Oh Mr. Bunny, are those eggs dyed with all sorts of chemicals? That's what I thought!!

It’s probably only fair if I am going to do a blog about being healthy for Passover, that I also do one about Easter. Being a Jew, my family never really celebrated Easter, but we did love the candy. I can remember begging my mom to buy those chocolate Cadbury eggs with the gooey white filling and Peeps…ahhh, who can forget Peeps! Those fluffy, marshmallow-y clouds of chemically dyed nothingness that pack a hefty sugar punch in every bite. And let’s not forget Jelly Bellys…or even worse…the huge chocolate Easter bunny in the middle of it all.

Ahhh, the Easter bunny. Filling wicker baskets with candy, our teeth with cavities and our stomachs with congestion and love handles! It's no surprise that you and/or your kids love those sugary goodies and most of you probably won’t make it through the grocery store aisles this week without grabbing at least one bag of pastel colored processed junk (sorry, that’s what it is!). For those of you who are trying to maintain a relatively junk food free household during this Easter season as we slowly head into spring and then summer (bikinis and swim trunks, remember??), I have some suggestions that may help you survive all the Easter candies and keep you from feeling cheated and deprived…all while still being able to pull up the zipper on your favorite skinny jeans.

Homemade Goodness Swapped Out For Chemical-Laden Not-So-Goodness

You can even make rice Krispy Peeps!! Hey at least rice Krispys are sort of food...sort of...:/

How many of those ingredients on the back of the Peeps package can you pronounce? Did you know that Peeps contain more carbohydrates than a slice of white bread? They're made primarily of sugar and pack 28 grams of carbs in four bunnies. (One slice of white Wonder bread has 13 grams of carbohydrates.) I know for some it’s a stretch, but you can actually make your own Peeps via this online recipe! and then you would have a similar treat minus all the artificial flavors, colors and chemicals. If this is too much work for you, maybe making your own brownies, rice Krispy treats, or banana bread would work. Anything where YOU can decide what ingredients to use is a better option.

Dark Chocolate Easter Bunny instead of Milk Chocolate

Even though one is slightly nutritionally superior to the other they still love each other

As embarrassing as this may sound (and being Jewish, but candy is candy!!), my mom loves Easter candy…and she STILL sends it to me and my siblings at the holidays. At least she knows with me being a nutritionist, she won’t get yelled at quite as severely if she sends me a dark chocolate bunny instead of milk chocolate one. Just as a little dark versus milk chocolate comparison, milk chocolate packs more sugar and less of the original cocoa bean. Dark chocolate varieties often have less sugar and added fat and more cocoa solids. More cocoa means more flavonoids and higher nutritional value.

Organic Versions of Regular Candies

Nowadays there are so many stores that sell organic, naturally flavored candies. Maybe you are used to your convenience store jellybeans, or that one brand “xyz” you grew up on, but if you are trying to be a little more health conscious and perhaps ease up on the candies with the partially hydrogenated oils that raise bad cholesterol, you might want to consider some of these. One I can recommend is Trader Joe’s Gourmet Jelly Beans. These are naturally colored with vegetable and fruit sources. I have always had a long standing relationship with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (hydrogenation city!), but when I discovered Justin’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, which use no hydrogenated oils or trans-fat, I had to make the switch. All natural peanut butter and dark chocolate…delicious and nutritious? Sold! Oh one more…Green and Black also sells organic milk and dark chocolate eggs. These might be a little more pricey than your Cadbury’s, but they won’t sell you short on taste or quality.

Do something fun and active on Easter!!

Ok, so you may not make a paper plate bunny, but it's an option!!

Since I have never really celebrated Easter, I can only go off of what I have heard, which is that many an Easter celebration is laden with eating, sitting, and more eating and sitting. Easter brunches, Easter television shows…yea, how about something active? The weather is getting warmer and there would be nothing like an old fashioned Easter Egg Hunt. Or an Easter Day Hike! Or you could make it a silly, scavenger type hunt around your apartment complex. Everyone could paint silly pictures of Easter bunnies. Or if you have a backyard, come up with a cool gardening project everyone can participate in.

Enjoy Your Easter Holiday!!