A Few Healthy Easter Candy Choices

Time is running out to buy Easter candy. Help yourself and grab a few healthy candy choices. You're going to eat most of it yourself. Because you (read as I), can't control yourself (myself). It’s a slippery slope once the bag is opened. Before you know it 15 fun-sized bags of Starburst jellybeans are gone. No surprise that all those Starburst are not healthy for you, but there are a few healthy Easter candy choices.

Easter falls at a time when we're all beginning to shed our winter clothing and probably want to look our best as summer approaches. So if you’re trying to get yourself in fighting shape, maybe try a few healthier Easter candy choices. These are on the healthier side of the candy spectrum, but it’s still not okay to take down an entire bag of them. If you’re having candy that has multiple elements in it then you’re on the right track. I'm talking candy with chocolate, peanuts, pretzels, and even raisins! Dietician Rose Britt had explained to USA Today what constitutes a healthy candy.

The healthiest of the chocolate candies turns out to be Peanut M&M’s. Kind of makes sense since 85% of each piece is peanut. Thin milk chocolate and candy shell. Not only are they the healthiest, but they’re also the best type of M&M. Snickers and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup are the runners-up. These 3 have multiple components so you’re not just eating sugar and corn syrup.

If chocolate isn’t your thing you can still find a sugary healthy candy. The healthiest sugary one hasn’t changed in 70+ years. Smarties. A candy that 4 generations have grown up with. Did you know that Smarties actually have flavors? I didn’t and even after reading what the flavors are, I’m pretty sure they’re lying. From the Smarties wiki page:

Green strawberries are not edible. A roll of Smarties is only 25 calories and 6.9 grams of sugar. Not too bad. Smarties are my mother-in-law's secret weapon for bribing my children. At least she's doing it with semi-healthy candy. If you have held off and haven’t purchased any Easter candy yet, you might be in luck. The only candy left on the shelves might actually be bags of Smarties!

Are you preparing for an Easter egg hunt? Maybe you just want to plan a fun activity of egg decorating with the family? Many people opt for the traditional dying of eggs. However, some people are taking their egg decorating a step further with painted or marbled creations. There are several decorating ideas to choose from. This is especially true when using pop culture as your inspiration, with movies, TV shows, video games, and your favorite celebrities.

No matter your level of expertise, there are plenty of helpful resources, such as printable templates, videos, and color charts, available.

If you plan on using acrylic paint to decorate your Easter eggs, then you’ll need some supplies. If you’re using hard-boiled eggs, boil the eggs first and leave them to cool. For wooden or plastic eggs, be sure to wash them first and leave them to dry overnight.

Some people choose to hollow out the egg for less of a mess. To hollow it out, use a pin or a nail to pop a hole through the top. Then, add a second hole on the bottom making it bigger than the first hole. Grab a bowl and blow through the egg to remove the yolk. Gently clean the egg under tap water, washing it through the hole. Let it dry.

When it's time to paint, a trick I often use is resting your egg on a fresh toilet paper roll. To make your colors stand out, paint your egg white first, or skip this completely by purchasing white eggs. While you can use watercolor paint or any paint for that matter, I’ve found that acrylic paints work well on eggs or acrylic paint markers for more detailed decorating.

Once the egg is painted, you can leave it to dry or use a blow dryer to speed up the drying process.

With Easter around the corner, check out some fun pop culture Easter egg decorating ideas below.

Whether you're a Marvel or a DC fan, you can decorate your Easter egg in either theme. A woman shared on her blog, Food Fun Family, the dozen eggs she and her daughter painted that were inspired by The Avengers. They used fake eggs, Sharpie pens, chalkboard pens, and acrylic paints. Instead of getting super detailed with exact character faces, they painted the symbols of The Avengers, The Hulk, Spiderman, Thor's hammer, and more. This is perfect for your comic book-loving family members.

Disney has a lot of inspiration for decorating Easter eggs, from Mickey and Minnie Mouse to Cinderella and Frozen. One blogger shared that they purchased a Monsters University Easter Egg Dye Kit at Target to make the process easier. A platform worth using for step-step guides to painting specific Disney eggs is Pinterest. Some suggestions share stickers and templates for some of the more detailed parts of the decorations. Time to paint!

Several things can be used as Easter egg decoration inspo in the world of music. One idea includes Taylor Swift's albums or songs. Recently, Country Living did their take on Taylor Swift: Eras Tour with eggs. They decorated an egg for each of her albums. Can you imagine how much fun you can have decorating a Red or Reputation egg? See some of their creations here. And don't worry this can work with all genres and artists. So, if you want to go hip-hop, rock, or country, go for it!

With shows like Squid Game and movies like Barbie the possibilities are endless for decorating. Not too long ago, Olivia Lux from season 13 of RuPaul's Drag Race actually decorated a drag race-inspired egg. It has extra accessories from eyelashes to hair. Another simple but fun egg to decorate could be inspired by Netflix's Wednesday. If you're feeling ambitious you can decorate an Addams Family of eggs. Movies are also an option. Maybe, Star Wars or Mean Girls?

You can't go wrong with sports-decorated eggs. Just pick your favorite team and get to painting. You can break it down by favorite teams in different sports, favorite players, or jersey numbers. If you want something simpler, you can stick to designs like footballs, basketballs, baseballs, or other sports equipment. This is perfect for the sports lover in your family.