my care2
make a difference
healthy & green living: more than 5,000 ways to enhance your life

customize your free newsletter

Customize your Healthy & Green Living newsletter now


The Best Candy

a Care2 favorite by Melissa Breyer

Of course, the truly best candy is probably the candy you make at home. With that in mind I pulled these out of the Care2 recipe collection. Have fun!

Homemade Taffy
Pumpkin Seed Crackle
Maple Candied Popcorn
Homemade Maple Candy

Another option that I love (love, love) is Glee Gum’s make-your-own chewing gum kits. These educational kits are made to help kids connect to the global community by tracing the origins of the ingredients, specifically the natural chicle, sustainably harvested in Guatemala and Mexico. Chicle remains an important part of the economy in those countries. Additionally, the process of making the gum involves activities kids typically love: Stirring, mixing, pulling, poking, touching and tasting.

While the gum does contain pure cane sugar, its list of ingredients is long on the positives; it’s made with all-natural ingredients including rice syrup and is vegetarian, additive-free, lactose-free, dairy-free, wheat-free, gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free and contains no artificial colors, artificial preservatives, artificial flavors or artificial sweeteners.

More on Children (257 articles available)
More from Melissa Breyer (496 articles available)

43 comments

43 comments

add your comment »
43 comments add your comment
Marion R.

good to know. Kinda funny though because this article was in the same newsletter. What is a parent to do?

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/when-candy-becomes-criminal.html

Joy Lynn S.

great article!

Cara S.
  • Cara S. says
  • Oct 30, 2009 10:05 AM

I've read that you also should be careful with the dried fruits as they are teaming in sugar and the sticky residue can damage teeth. Choose wisely and make sure their diets are mostly organic and no/low sugar.

Catherine O Neill

IMO it comes down to common sense it's the parent's responsibility to overlook candy intake.I raised 4 healthy adult kids just by using my brain.

Past Member

AWESOME Site!! My kids will love this candy! (and so will my husband and I). We went to the Dixie Classic Fair last week and bought some "Maple Syrup Cotton Candy." This is a great healthy treat since it is made from maple syrup and not corn syrup. It can be ordered online from Vermont Maple Products at www.macleodfarms.com

manyfeathers u.

Maureen, That sounds like my Simbas. I add raisins, almonds, dry cranberries. I like to use almond butter, too. Aren't they great? We all love them. Kids think they are junk and dive into them. What do they know? Yummie!

Maureen R.

I have a sweet tooth and for the halloween and christmas celebrations coming up, will be exploring making "candy" like confections. This is a good way to involve kids in creating their own. Here's one I'm working on (I made a variation of this with my aunt when I was a kid).

6 tbsp heaping organic oats
3 heaping tbsp organic peanut butter (crunchy is good)
organic shredded organic coconut as much as you like that is mixable with proportion of other ingredients
unsweetened cocoa powder
honey (I'll be trying rice syrup next)

stir and put on wax paper

depending on proportions of each ingredient, it'll be more or less dense and hard

I am trying to use "real food" rather than processed cereals etc although some cereals might be ok I guess

Next I'm going to try boiling water over some sort of dried fruit, blend it after the fruit softens, then add coconut.

I imagine there's recipes galore, limited only by the imagination

Cindy M.

I agree with Emery on some points, because some of us really can control ourselves, but I don't know why that is. That's because the majority of us can't, and I do know why that is, for the most part at least. That's because anything refined, meaning sugar, flour, etc., and fats too, causes us to crave more. Kraft, McDogfoods--which I wouldn't even give my pups--Frito-Lay, M&M and Mars etc., ALL have specialists on the top level, who've studied long and hard on how to make their foods more addictive. This, of course, is applied. It's very hard to stop at "just one". It's made too easy for us, in so many ways that we'd be shocked if we knew, to grab that food. I greatly appreciate a mom & pops candy store, even if it's laden with nasty corn syrup, but that's still a crappy ingredient. And, even if it's not intended that way, or even made to the extent that your potato chips, hot dog, & soda are to be addictive, it still is so to an extent. We are also hypnotized by marketing gimmicks from our childhood. And though some of us are lucky enough not to fall into that category, for whatever reason it may be, most of us are victims. That's why we're fat and unhealthy, and why studies done in schools & prisons, where only healthy foods were provided, we excel--less violence, more productive, smarter, healthier. But there's no money to be made there.

Emery D.

Choice and moderation is the key. My kids grew up in the candy factory we owned. The three are young adults now and my middle son still has a bit of a sweet tooth and none indulge much in sweets or even desert. Being a Candy Maker over the last 30 years there are wonderful products to experience many rich in heritage and tradition. There is a cultural commonality in food that we all share. Unfortunately because the perception that all sweets are bad for us creates a cultural void and the history being displaced by fear can not ever be replaced.

Michael R.

All other issues aside, you all do know that high fructos corn syrup is natural and in moderation is perfectly safe.

Please enter your comment.
Or, log in with your
Facebook account:
1500 characters remaining

who's talking about this story?

Disclaimer: Care2.com does not warrant and shall have no liability for information provided in this newsletter or on Care2.com. Each individual person, fabric, or material may react differently to a particular suggested use. It is recommended that before you begin to use any formula, you read the directions carefully and test it first. Should you have any health care-related questions or concerns, please call or see your physician or other health care provider.

1010896

Copyright © 2009 Care2.com, inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved