Our Best Recipes for Your Holiday Table
Living with diabetes doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your favorite holiday foods! Browse our collection of recipes for a happy, healthy holiday, including entrees, side dishes, and desserts.
For all of the decorations and costumes and carved pumpkins, Halloween is for most kids (and grown-ups) one big sugar rush. It's all about the candy: who has the best selection, how much you can carry, and which pieces to eat first. But if you or your child has diabetes, how can you participate in the fun without sending blood glucose levels soaring?
Halloween sure places a lot of importance on sweets. Candy may not have played a major role in celebrations until the 1950s, but today it’s a billion-dollar Halloween business—and a source of stress for parents of kids with diabetes. But with proper planning, you can sidestep worry while your kids with type 1 diabetes enjoy the festivities (and, yes, even some sweet treats).
Here are a few tips for helping your child enjoy the holiday without derailing their blood sugars:
If you’re an adult with diabetes who is planning on handing out candy for Halloween, you may worry about the possibility of eating too many sweets yourself. One of the best ways to avoid this is to buy candy that you don’t like. "If someone doesn’t like licorice, or chocolate, or nuts, that might be a good choice to give out,” says Rachel Head, RD, CDE.
Good timing can also help you avoid indulging in the candy you’re planning to give out. Don't buy candy too far in advance—it's best to buy it the same day that you'll be giving it out so that's not in the house for too loong.
Finally, be sure to follow your regular meal schedule on Halloween, so you won’t be as hungry when trick-or-treating starts.
The fun-size treats you pick up on Halloween don't always have nutrition labels—which makes it hard to count calories or carb count. This handy table tells you how many carbs are in some of the most popular Halloween candies.
Candy |
Calories |
Carb |
Fat |
Almond Joy Snack Size (1 pc) |
80 |
8 g |
3 g |
Butterfinger Fun Size (1 pc) |
85 |
13.5 g |
3.5 g |
Candy Corn (1 oz) |
100 |
25.6 g |
0 g |
Dum Dum (1 Lollipop) |
25 |
6.5 g |
0 g |
Hershey's Kisses Dark Chocolate (1 pc) |
21 |
3 g |
1 g |
Hershey's Kisses Milk Chocolate (1 pc) |
21 |
3 g |
1 g |
Hershey's Kisses Milk Chocolate with Almonds (1 pc) |
22 |
2.5 g |
1 g |
Hershey's Assorted Miniatures - Hershey's Chocolate, Hershey's |
40 |
5 g |
2 g |
Jolly Ranchers (1 pc) |
23 |
6 g |
0 g |
Kit Kat Miniatures (1 pc) |
42 |
5.5 g |
2 g |
Kit Kat Snack Size bars (1 2-piece bar) |
70 |
9 g |
3.5 g |
M&Ms Fun Size (1 package) |
60 |
10 g |
2.5 g |
M&Ms Crispy Fun Size (1 package) |
80 |
12 g |
3 g |
M&Ms Peanut Fun Size (1 package) |
90 |
11 g |
5 g |
M&Ms Pretzel Fun Size (1 package) |
60 |
10 g |
2 g |
Milk Duds (13 pc) |
160 |
37 g |
15 g |
Milky Way Caramel Fun Size (1 pc) |
100 |
15 g |
4.5 g |
Milky Way Dark Miniatures (1 pc) |
38 |
6 g |
14 g |
Milky Way Fun Size (1 pc) |
80 |
12 g |
3 g |
Milky Way Miniatures (1 pc) |
38 |
6 g |
1.6 g |
Mounds Snack Size (1 pc) |
80 |
10 g |
4.5 g |
Skittles Share Size (1 package) |
64 |
15 g |
0.6 g |
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Minis (1 pc) |
43 |
5 g |
2 g |
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Snack Size (1 pc) |
105 |
11 g |
6 g |
ROLO (1 pc) |
28 |
4 g |
1 g |
Smarties (1 roll) |
25 |
6 g |
0 g |
Snickers Fun Size (1 pc) |
80 |
10.5 g |
4 g |
Snickers Mini (1 pc) |
42 |
5.5 g |
2 g |
Starbursts (1 pc) |
20 |
4 g |
0.4 g |
Three Musketeers Fun Size (1 pc) |
63 |
11.3 g |
2 g |
Three Musketeers Mini (1 pc) |
24 |
6.4 g |
0.7 g |
Twix Fun Size (1 pc) |
125 |
13.5 g |
7 g |
Twix Miniatures (1 pc) |
50 |
6.6 g |
2.3 g |
York Snack Size (1 pc) |
60 |
13.5 g |
1 g |