On a recent trip to Target, I discovered The Switch Witch — A toy and book set designed for kids who can't participate in eating all of the Halloween candy they collect while trick-or-treating. The concept is this: A great story about how The Switch Witch needs candy to be able to fly her broom, and so on Halloween night, kids leave out their candy for her, and she replaces the candy with a toy.

I absolutely love this concept for kids who have bad allergies and can't participate in Halloween. I myself was not a diagnosed Celiac when I was a kid, but I can't imagine the frustration parents must feel knowing their kids can't trick-or-treat and eat their candy like other kids can.

The beauty of this story is that because it is not part of traditional Halloween lore, families can spin the story into whatever your family needs are. It works for parents who are concerned about their kids diet or weight, or who just don't want a lot of sugar around the house. Whatever you use The Switch Witch for, it is a brilliant way to make sure a child still gets to participate in Halloween fun.

You can buy The Switch Witch here through Target.

Now, even better is that The Switch Witch and Target have teamed up to offer two $500 Target gift cards. Entering is easy: Purchase your Switch Witch from Target and take some photos of The Switch Witch in her new home. Next, submit your photos to The Switch Witch Facebook page. You can submit as many photos as you like. The two photos with the most votes, will each receive a $500 Target gift card.

Enjoy your new favorite Halloween tradition!

— The Healthy Celiac

Good news for cereal lovers! General Mills has announced that starting Fall 2015, all Cheerios will be gluten free! What I particularly love about this is that a major food brand is not just making a 'gluten free version' of their product, but altering their original product. Meaning the price point will stay the same, and those with celiac disease won't be forced to pay more money to eat gluten free cereal.

Yellow Box Cheerios™, Honey Nut Cheerios™, MultiGrain Cheerios™, Apple Cinnamon Cheerios™ and Frosted Cheerios™ will all be going gluten-free by early September. Packages that are gluten-free will be labeled with a seal. MultiGrain Cheerios™ is the only Cheerios product that will have a change in ingredients. Instead of wheat and barley, Multi Grain Cheerios™ will now have sorghum and millet along with the corn, rice and oats it has always had. The great taste will remain the same!

Cheerios naturally don't contain gluten, except for the oats. According to General Mills, they have 'created a process that allows us to remove the wheat, rye and barley from the oats we purchase, making Cheerios gluten-free'. While I'm not 100% sure how they go about 'removing wheat, rye and barley' from their oats, I would hope they are doing their due diligence to ensure there are less than 20 ppm of gluten.

You can read more Q&A about General Mills' decision to make Cheerios gluten free here.

Happy eating!

— The Healthy Celiac