Arrrgh, maties!! Shiver me timbers...I've had total writer's block the past few weeks. I've been wanting to get on here and share so many things, but I haven't been able to figure out where to start. So, with October almost over, I figured I better at least get some Halloween posts up and will sort out my other thoughts later. Today, I'm going to show you how we navigated SCD to celebrate Halloween last year.
That's me up top in my half-pirate/half-octopus costume that didn't really know what it wanted to be...standing next to the pirate torture cage-thing my husband built for the party. (We know how to have a good time, eh??) Jokes aside, it was our first Halloween on SCD, so it was *really* hard on my daughter not being able to have any candy. I touched on this briefly in my post about SCD Celebrations, but to reiterate, it was awful. Arrrgh.
At this point, you may be wondering why we didn't just boycott the whole holiday. Why create even more hoopla and add salt to the wound? Allow me to explain. In my opinion, Halloween isn't just about candy. Halloween is about costumes, spooky decorations, imagination and a little dark magic. It's about getting together with friends for some laughs and making memories that go waaay beyond candy. Ever since we bought our house, we've had a huge Halloween party on Halloween night. Our whole neighborhood shows up in costume (and some "adopted" neighbors, as well)...and when it gets dark we all trick-or-treat together....40+ of us! It is something we all look forward to and there was no way we were going to let IBD take it away. We wanted to have all the same fun we've always had...just with different food.
But, whew! The food was a kicker. I've mentioned before that we have lots of friends with food allergies/issues, so we are always careful to plan menus that everyone can eat. As a hostess, I never want my guests to feel left out. So, here we are on the eve of our annual Halloween party, which was Pirate themed, and here's what we couldn't eat due to everyone's combined food issues: nuts, dairy, sugar, grains, soy, red meat or anything processed. Sounds like the makings of a foodless Halloween party, doesn't it??
Fortunately, the pirates at our party were from the Carribean, so fresh produce and grilled seafood were a perfect fit for our party cuisine! Game on! And yes, my mission was to make this party every bit as spooktastic as usual, so we wouldn't feel like we were missing anything and no one would leave...hungry...
I did end up bending the rules a smidge and put out some cheese that one friend couldn't eat, served a hummus my daughter couldn't eat (but wouldn't eat anyway) and some hotdogs that the vegetarians wouldn't eat, BUT, there was still something for everyone and no one felt left out.
I also didn't serve any sweets. I know, that sounds insane at a Halloween party, but I just didn't want to go there. I figured all the kids would get plenty of sweets from trick-or-treating and that was that. So, what did we serve?
KIDS TABLE:
Thank you Pinterest, for this banana kiwi palm tree platter inspiration...
...and the insanely clever hot dog octopus idea...served with homemade ketchup.
...and the apple wedge pirate ship brilliance.
This baby, however, is all mine...LOL. I have had this weird head for several years and find a way to work it into my theme every year. This year it was sporting a pirate's eye patch and a head full of pirate sword skewered grapes in a variety of colors. Kids think this is HILARIOUS. And to be honest, so do I. ;)
COFFEE TABLE SPREAD:
This is where I showcased the veggies and four different dips...store-bought SCD-legal artichoke tapenade, store-bought illegal hummus, homemade white bean dip and homemade guacamole. I've got to thank Pinterest again for the bell pepper octopus idea...not that they really look like octopus (octopi?) but just go with it.
I love to place a tall focal point in my veggie platters...I think the height makes it more interesting, so this hook was just right. Plus, it tied the veggies into the theme.
Another shot of the non-octopus looking bell pepper octopus swimming in guacamole.
FRUIT AND CHEESE BUFFET:
This was the focal point to my living room and honestly, doesn't even have that much food on it...but it looks cool, right? I love me some skeletons and candles! (Which by the way are a bad idea that close to a sheer curtain panel...just sayin'.)
Note the cheese speared with pirate swords...I lined some baskets with parchment paper to give it a more rustic look. You can't really see what's in the other basket, but it's full of three cans of TJ's black olives...my favorite.
Decadent cascade of grapes...not sure if these are even remotely pirate-y, but I liked the way they looked.
Brie with craisins...
Somehow I missed getting a photo of the grilled seafood, but basically, all we did was grill up several bags of frozen mixed shrimp, scallops and calamari from TJ's. My sweet hubby actually went out back and grilled them up for me...probably with butter and garlic if I had to guess.
For party favors, we had little pirate themed treats for the kids with bandanas, eye patches, doubloons and strings of beads...I even found some pirate bath scrubbies for the babies in attendance.
And of course, we always have a big bowl of glow-sticks, which we display under a black light in the bathroom during the party and then give to all the kids before we head out trick-or-treating. (It's not as gross as it sounds...lol.)
So, that what how we did it. Everyone had fun, had plenty to eat and there were no problems with the lack of sweets. The kids wiped out every morsel on the kids table and had plenty of energy to zip around the neighborhood. The adults ate all the fruit, cheese and seafood, but the funniest thing happened with the veggies and dips...it's like people had no idea that you should dip the veggies. I've never in my life had leftover dip at a party when it's served with chips or crackers, but with just veggies, it sat. Go figure. Maybe they were just crappy dips?? ;)
So, the takeaway from this post should be, live your life, celebrate the good stuff and don't let IBD take anything else away from you. Where there's a will, there's a way. Be creative. Look for fun ways to present your safe foods and don't lose sight of the fact that Halloween is about more than just candy.
That being said, yes, I know that candy is a big part of Halloween so in my next post, I'll talk about what happened after trick-or-treating when we arrived home with a huge bag of candy that couldn't be eaten. (Let me just say...it wasn't pretty.) I'll spill all the gory details and will tell you about how we turned it around for the better.
Thanks so much for stopping by. I would love to have you come back and visit any time. Please leave your comments or drop me a line via e-mail. I love hearing from you and finding out what info is useful to you. You can also join me around the web at any of the sites listed below. XOXO, Cindi
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This is a great post - you are so creative! We are one month into SCD for my son (age 10) who was just diagnosed with Crohn's. So far the results have been good but he has a long way to go. We have an appointment with his doctor next week and are praying that the results will be good enough to stay off of Remicade, the recommended drug.
I have a question about the hot dogs in your photo - are they SCD legal? Where did you get them? That is one of the things my son is so sad to give up.
Thanks, Elisabeth in Texas
Posted by: Elisabeth in Texas | October 24, 2014 at 01:07 PM
Hi Elisabeth! Thanks for the note. Sorry to hear about your son having Crohn's, but glad you are trying SCD. It's a pretty amazing diet when it works. :) The hot dogs are from Applegate...they are 100% grass-fed beef. http://www.applegate.com/products/the-great-organic-beef-hot-dog-12oz They don't have anything specifically illegal, however, I have not verified whether or not the herbs and spices have any kind of anti-caking agents. We've been eating them occasionally since we started and haven't had any problems, but if you're just starting out, you may want to wait a bit before introducing them. Grassland Beef also sells a lot of sugar-free meat products (hot dogs, sausage, ham, etc.) that you can purchase online: http://www.grasslandbeef.com/Categories.bok?category=Sugar+Free+Options Again, I haven't verified anything with them, but a lot of people on SCD recommend them. Hope that helps! I wish you much success on SCD and will keep my fingers crossed that your son can stay off Remicade. Keep in touch if you have any other questions. I'm always happy to chat via e-mail too. :)
Posted by: Cindi | October 24, 2014 at 02:58 PM