Halloween… with an Eight Year Old

Halloween has not been a big challenge for us in Colson’s eight years, because we always trade his loot for some relatively healthy organic dark chocolate or some Playmobil figures (or nothing when he was really little). This year is different because (insert: scary Halloween sound) Colson is having a Halloween Party – and he is on the Whole 30! Talk about tragic combination. No corn chips or popcorn (we know he is allergic to those), no traditional wheat-based cookies (definitely allergic to wheat) and no other junk. And six other relatively normal eating kids (at least compared to us). NO PRESSURE!

Ryan and I are pretty resourceful, and we will make it about the experience and not the food, but even so, kids want snacks. Yesterday we tried turning his favorite coconut flour chocolate cookies into pumpkin shaped cookies and it went pretty well once we figured out how to roll out the dough and cut the cookies.

 

I told Colson I would insert this picture too, as he prefers to be seen more this way:

It took us awhile to figure out that the secret to rolling and cutting these cookies is to sprinkle shredded coconut on the work surface and on top of the dough before rolling it. Refrigerating the dough also helps.

Recipe Modifications

The great thing is that because we are on the Whole 30 we used half the honey called for in the recipe. The other modification we made was to use coconut oil instead of butter. Colson hadn’t had butter or honey (or any other sweetener) in almost 60 days. Talk about retraining your tastebuds! I wonder what the other kids will think?

I know this almond flour brownie recipe is a good one, because our mainstream food friends love it, but Colson doesn’t. I think I will whip these out too. And perhaps we will serve some Izzies. There will definitely be apples and nuts too, and I am exploring cooking with tapioca (pudding and flour).

Wish us luck and please share any tapioca recipes that you like, as I am always looking for new inspiration.

Comments

[Donna]

Hi Laura, Can you write a post about how you manage without butter on the Whole 30 diet? Giving up dairy is a challenge, but giving up butter seems daunting!! Vegetables with Coconut Oil does not sound so great.

Thanks and thanks for sharing the journey!