I always tell my patients that holidays and fun events are to be celebrated. Consider which events or holidays mean the most to you, and then plan to have a good time and eat some of your favorite, fun foods. Also, consider those foods and recipes you can tweak slightly to be a little healthier.

Now, for me Halloween is all about the cute little peanuts who show up at my front door in the fun costumes, as well as the magic of carving the pumpkin and putting the candle inside. I love the candle and seeing the carved pumpkins all lit up. Growing up in England, we did things a little differently than here in the United States. For starters, we carved turnips, not pumpkins!

It is said that the origins of Halloween can be traced back to pagan times, and the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts lived in what we now know of as Britain, Ireland, and Southern France. Samhain marked the end of summer and the safe gathering of the harvest in preparation for the long, dark cold winter. The festival symbolized the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead. It was believed that on the night of 31st October, ghosts of their dead would revisit the mortal world. Large bonfires were lit to discourage any evil spirits that may also be at large. With the coming of Christianity came Christian Festivals and “All Hallows’ Day”, also known as “All Saints Day” — a day to remember those who had died for their beliefs. Perhaps, in an attempt to replace or assimilate the Celtic Samhain festival of the dead with a related but church approved celebration, Samhain became known as “All-hallows,” or Hallow Eve, and in time, Halloween. A special time of the year when many believe that the spirit world, can contact the physical world.

In Britain we also celebrated Hop-tu-Naa on October 31^st when the U.S. celebrates Halloween. This tradition came from the Isle of Man – a small island in the Irish sea between Great Britain and Ireland. This island has an interesting connection to the United Kingdom. The residence is self-governed, but has the status of the crown, so that all who live on the island are British citizens. And indeed, Hop-tu-Naa signified the end of summer and celebration of the new harvests, as well as the celebration of the Celtic New Year.

Hop-tu-Naa was very much a family and community affair — getting together with family, friends, and neighbours, gathering around a bonfire, singing songs, dancing, telling stories, cooking good food — and carving turnips. Turnips are much smaller than pumpkins, and we delighted in showing them off, carrying them from house to house hanging on string. I remember carrying my turnip from house to house on many a Hop-tu-Naa. We weren’t looking for candy and sweets, but simply showing off our freshly carved turnip lanterns!

Traditional foods served on this festive evening were root vegetables — potatoes, parsnips, carrots, turnips; and fish. Vegetables and fish were cooked and then mashed together — with a load of butter. I don’t recommend the loads of butter today, and the fish mash may not be so popular, but we can make a healthy mashed potato using olive oil and a plant-based milk. I’ve included recipes taken from my book, The Perfect Gene Diet for APO E Mashed Potatoes and Grilled or Baked Fish with Teriyaki Sauce.

Another tradition on this festive night, was to make Soddag Valoo or dumb cake. The women who were of age to be married helped to make the cake, then to ate it in silence, and went to bed to dream of their future husband. The future husband is expected to show up in their dream and offer their future bride a drink of water. I never did meet my husband in such a dream, but I celebrated this tradition with much laughter. The recipe for a Soddag Valloo cake is not one I think anyone of you would want to make or consider eating. Ingredients include salt, flour, oats, sugar, and soot. Yes, you read that correctly, a little soot! To my way of thinking, soot has no nutritional value or health benefit, and to be honest, I have no idea why it was included, but it was. I suggest replacing Soddag Valloo cake with something like the Blueberry Oat Cake that I’ve included below.

As you can see, this way of celebrating Halloween was a rather different one than here in the U.S. While the preparation and sharing of favorite and traditional foods is central to many holidays and fun events, it’s trick-or-treating and sugar laden candy that usually gets all the glory on Halloween. Are there ways that you can consider making Halloween a happy, healthier celebration this year? Perhaps celebrate with family, friends, and neighbours with a bonfire or a small campfire, telling scary stories. Light lanterns and serve Apple cider and toasted pumpkin seeds (about as healthy as food usually gets on this occasion). But you can be creative and consider making some other healthy, Halloween-themed snacks. Share a fish and root vegetable dinner, and a homemade dessert. Children will love stirring the blueberries through the oat cake and making toffee apples. Play games – bobbing for apples is always a popular one.

Growing up in the U.S., my three daughters always collected a lot of candy at Halloween, but they didn’t tend to eat it after Halloween night. If you’re buying candy, go for the more “natural” ones that are found even in the supermarket today — though just how “natural” they are is to be questioned! My eldest daughter, Victoria, once kept her Halloween candy in her room for a whole year and never touched it. I think sometimes they just loved the candy hunt and collection of goodies to compete over who could get the most candy. You may find it easier than you would think to consider “disappearing” some of the candy in the following days.

Here, I share a few of my favorited recipes for Halloween. As you will see, I carry over the Hop-tu-Naa traditions I knew as a child — but with much healthier versions than we ate then!

Grilled or Baked Salmon with Teriyaki Shiitake Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients (preferably organic):

16 oz. fresh wild salmon (cut into four, 4 oz. portions)

Organic teriyaki sauce (found in many supermarkets)

Juice of 2 limes

1 clove fresh garlic, crushed

1 shallot, finely chopped

8 oz. sliced shiitake mushrooms

Directions:

1. Marinate the fish in the teriyaki sauce for 20–30 minutes.
2. Sprinkle with lime juice, garlic, and shallot.
3. Bake or grill with mushrooms until fish is flaky when pressed with a fork, or done to your liking. (Approx 13-16 minutes in a 325º oven or 7 minutes on 375º - 450º grill)

Nutritional information/serving:

Protein: 4

Pam’s APO E Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients (preferably organic):

10 medium, waxy, red, new potatoes

1 – 1½ cups of soy milk (less milk makes a thicker mash)

⅓ cup of APO E Gene Organic Olive Oil

¼ - ½ cup of broth (vegetable or chicken)

1 small red pepper

Salt for the boiling water

Salt and pepper to taste for potatoes

Directions:

1. Peel red potatoes and cut them into medium size pieces.
2. Place potatoes in a pan of salted boiling water and boil for ~15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork. (Don’t overcook, the potatoes should not fall apart.)
3. Remove from heat and drain well. When throughly drained, place potatoes back into pot for mashing.
4. Add olive oil, soymilk, ¼ cup of broth, salt and pepper to the potatoes and mash well. Adjust soymilk amount to create desired thickness.
5. Garnish – spread a little more of the warm broth on top of the potatoes and add a small amount of cilantro.

Servings: 10

Nutritional information per serving:

Carbohydrate – grain/starch: 1

Protein: ½ 

Fat: ½

APO E Gene Cooked Carrots

16 organic peeled carrots

3 tsp. APO E Gene Organic Olive Oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Thyme to garnish

Directions:

1. Wash and peel 8 – 10 medium sized carrots, or 1-2 carrots per person.
2. Place the carrots in a steamer and steam till slightly tender, or roast in the oven.  Carrots can also be cooked in the microwave.
3. Add salt to taste.
4. Serve with your fish and mashed potatoes.

8 servings.

Nutritional information per serving:

Carbohydrate – vegetable: 1

Fat: ½

Blueberry Oat Cake

Ingredients (preferably organic):

2 cups blueberries

1⁄4 cup hazelnuts or walnuts

2 cups whole grain wheat  or almond flour

2 cups oat bran

1 tsp. baking soda

2 cups soymilk

2 egg whites

1⁄4 cup honey

1⁄8 cup canola oil 

1⁄8 cup peanut oil (can eliminate peanut oil by using 1⁄4 cup of canola oil instead of 1⁄8 cup)

Orange, sliced and nuts to garnish.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Wash blueberries and dry on a towel. Set blueberries and nuts aside.
3. In a medium-size bowl, combine all other dry ingredients.
4. In a large bowl, mix all liquid ingredients.
5. Add dry ingredients to liquid mixture and mix well.
6. Carefully fold in nuts and blueberries.
7. Pour batter into a parchment-lined bread or cake pan.
8. Bake for about 30 minutes. Test with a toothpick. If toothpick comes out clean, bread is fully baked.
9. Remove from pan and allow to cool before slicing.

8 servings (3 oz. serving size)

Nutritional information per serving:

Carbohydrate – fruit: 1⁄2

Carbohydrates – grain/starch: 2

Protein: 1⁄2

Fats: 2

Bobbing for Apples

What you will need:

1. A large tub or bath of cold water
2. 12 – 18 medium apples with the stems
3. Towels

Directions:

Each player needs to retrieve as many apples as they can with their hands behind their back and only using their teeth. I loved playing this as a child! Do this with your kids and grandkids, they will love it.

A happy — and healthier — Halloween and Hop-tu-Naa

Pam McDonald

Integrative Medicine

APOEGeneProgram.com