Jelly Beans for Easter?

Yay! Jelly Beans are Gluten Free!!

I really like jelly beans, especially the black ones. (I didn't buy them this year though.)

Have you seen jelly beans with a Gluten Free label? It seems like more manufacturers are identifying which candy is gluten-free, widening the choices for candy-loving kids and adults. This is probably useful for people with celiac who otherwise eat the S.A.D.* full of sugars, oils, and preservatives.

But hold on, just because something is gluten-free doesn't automatically mean it's healthy. Jelly beans are just an extreme example, of course, and you probably realize that a label with "Gluten Free" just means there's no wheat gluten in the product, but doesn't say a thing about bad oils, sugars, HFCS**, preservatives, or other grains that still cause insulin to shoot up.


Gluten is just one of the things to avoid in your Primal life,  so don't get fooled; skip the packaged stuff. If it needs a label to tell you it's healthy, it probably isn't.  Remember there's almost nothing in a package that is fit for the Primal life, so try to keep your focus on eating fresh vegetable and fruits, 100% pasture-raised beef, and pastured eggs.

Primal Easter Basket

But today is Easter, and while our focus is on Christ' sacrifice and resurrection, you might want to have the tradition of an Easter basket in your family. I joked with my daughter in a text message: "Good thing you aren't home or your Easter basket would probably have curly kale and pastured eggs!" 

So is it possible to make a primal basket for your kids? I searched online and found some ideas. Sorry, I know this is too late for today, so file this idea away for next year. (Thanks to Paleo Cupboard for this list.)

For Kids
- Beach balls
- Bubbles
- Bucket and shovel (let the bucket be the basket)
- Bunny ears
- Books
- Coloring books
- Crayons, coloring pencils
- DVDs
- Small flashlight
- Funny cups
- Fruit (oranges, bananas, apples)
- Frisbee
- Kids scissors
- Kites
- Glue sticks/Tape
- Headbands/Hair clips
- Plastic bracelets/Necklaces
- Playdough
- Puzzles
- Seeds to plant flowers or easy vegetables
- Sidewalk chalk
- Silly putty
- Silly straws
- Small toy cars
- Stuffed animals
- Water guns
- Yo-Yo's

For Teens- Headphones
- Cell phone covers
- Chapstick/lipgloss
- DVDs
- Gift Cards
- Jewelry
- Makeup
- Nail polish
- Movie tickets
- Scented lotion
- Wallet/Small purse

In the plastic eggs
- Balloons
- Baby carrots
- Mini bouncy balls
- Fun shaped erasers
- Hair clips/bows
- Legos
- Loose change (quarters, dimes and nickels)
- Small stuffed animals
- Magnets
- Playdough
- Plastic rings, bracelets, necklaces, etc.
- Puzzle pieces (and they can put the puzzle together later!)
- Nuts and dried fruit
- Matchbox cars
- Stickers

 

Other ideas:

 

Try your hand at Homemade "Cadbury Eggs".

 

Check out this recipe for chocolate "candy." 

 



Look in Whole Foods to see if you can find a small sweet treat that isn't full of HFCS.

Don't forget that dark chocolate is Primal Approved: a small dark chocolate bunny would be a great treat.

Try making Empty Tomb cookies with your kids (cut way back on the sugar), what a great reminder each year of the real story of Easter.

Hope you had a Happy Resurrection Day!



*S.A.D. Standard American Diet
** HFCS high-fructose corn syrup