October 17, 2002

Prairie Fare: A Reason for Ghoulish Grins

By Julie Garden-Robinson, Food and Nutrition Specialist
NDSU Extension Service

Any day now, tiny ghouls will haunt neighborhoods and pick up lots of sweet loot. Halloween is the top season for candy sales nationwide according to the National Confectioners Association. Over $1.98 billion dollars worth of candy is sold during Halloween.

As long as "trick or treaters" don’t eat all their loot at once, candy isn’t a major issue nutritionally. All foods can fit in a healthy diet. Candy and other sweets appear at the tip of the Food Guide Pyramid along with fats and oils, as a reminder to consume them in moderation.

An occasional candy splurge, typical on Halloween, may result in a stomachache but no lasting issues for healthy kids. Sticky treats, however, can lead to tooth decay if teeth aren’t brushed properly. So, remind the tricksters to brush their teeth well after enjoying a few treats.

If you’re concerned with the amount of candy your child is eating, consider these alternatives: individual packs of pretzels, raisins, animal crackers, fruit leather, juice packs, pudding packs, applesauce packs and single-serving cereal boxes. Other non-food treats that are popular with young goblins include stickers, colored pencils, plastic rings, note pads or gift certificates for ice cream or local fast food restaurants. Remember to consider the age of the recipient and avoid treats that could pose a choking hazard.

The basis for the Halloween icon, the jack-o-lantern, is the pumpkin which also provides tasty and nutritious dessert ingredients. Pumpkin is an excellent source of beta-carotene, a pigment our bodies use to make vitamin A. Vitamin A helps keep skin and tissues healthy, helps our eyes see normally in the dark and works as an antioxidant nutrient that could lower our risk for certain kinds of cancer. Pumpkin also is a good source of fiber, plus it’s naturally low in fat and sodium.

When harvesting pumpkins, make sure they are well matured on the vine, with hard skin not easily punctured by your thumbnail. Cut them from the vine with part of the stem still attached. Before storing, pumpkins should be "cured." That means leaving them in a well-ventilated area at a temperature of 75 to 85 degrees for two weeks. If it’s warm outside, the curing process can be done right in the pumpkin patch by placing them in small piles. After curing, store pumpkins in a dry area at about 50 degrees.

Even pumpkin seeds are good snacks. After removing the pumpkin pulp, wash off the seeds, blot them with a paper towel, toss them with a little vegetable oil, place them on a baking sheet and bake 10 or 15 minutes at 250 degrees, stirring occasionally. If you like, you can salt them lightly.

In honor of the fifth anniversary of this column, I return to where we started: dessert. Here’s the recipe that has captured the most compliments. To read previous columns, visit our Web site: http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/food.htm and click on "Prairie Fare"

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

1 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin, mashed
2 cups stale bread cubes, cut small
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons brown sugar

In medium size bowl, combine milk, sugar, eggs, salt, vanilla and pumpkin, blend thoroughly. Stir in bread cubes. Pour into a greased 1-1/2 quart baking dish. Bake 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees. While pudding is baking, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle mixture on top of the pudding. Return pudding to the oven and bake for about 10 minutes more. This is delicious served chilled with a dollop of whipped cream.

Makes 6 servings. Each serving contains 300 calories and 4 grams of fat.

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Source: Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu