Birthday Food Ideas

There’s nothing I love more than a good party!

We just got done celebrating our daughter’s sixth birthday, a Shopkins themed/gymnastics party, and boy was it fun!

For years I stressed out over party planning. I found it daunting and felt I was just no-good at it.

I mean, I was the type of girl that would show up to a baby shower with a gift wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper. No. Seriously. (It was also when I worked in news and was crazy busy and never had time to do anything, so last minute/thrown together sh$? was how I rolled!)

Now, I have a little more time on my hands as a stay-at-home mom, so I can actually put a little thought into things and prepare, which makes it much more manageable and actually enjoyable!

I feel like I’ve finally gotten it down when it comes to check-listing essential party-items, along with some healthy food-staples.

These are all easy ideas that appeal to KIDS (which is why some of the recipes at the end of this blog post are basic and a little plain).

Plus, by making some of your own food and snacks, you can actually save a little money, while upping the overall HEALTH value by choosing, organic, whole foods as your food options.

My first go-to: FRUIT SKEWERS

You just get bamboo sticks (Party City and Ralph’s is where I’ve gotten mine), pick up a variety of organic fruit, then thread it onto a stick starting with the largest piece of fruit, then medium size, then the smallest size. These were made with strawberries, grapes, blackberries and blueberries.

These particular skewers were made for an outdoor park party. It was summertime, so I did strawberries, pineapples and blueberries. A good rule of thumb is to buy fruit that’s “in season” for the freshest, best tasting fruit.

The skewers add color to a table, plus you’re serving a healthy, fiber-filled, vitamin-rich snack!

My second go-to: POPCORN BAGS W/ DARK CHOCOLATE CHIPS

This totally hits on the sweet and salty thing, plus it’s so easy to make healthy by popping NON-GMO, organic popcorn and buying 65% or more cacao chocolate chips, or even dairy-free chocolate chunks (which is what I did in these white popcorn boxes). The higher the cacao content the more antioxidants and overall health benefits!

If you don’t want to make popcorn yourself, Costco actually had “Skinny Pop” for sale. It’s a huge bag and the only ingredients are: organic popcorn, sunflower oil and salt. While added salt isn’t great, it does not overpower the popcorn, so it can’t be all that much?! It’s a great time saver and a great buy.

Along with being wholesome, popcorn bags also make for an attractive table. I got the black popcorn boxes at Party City along with some clear cellophane bags. You can add some colorful ribbon to tie the bags with and snack #2 is all set!

Another great snack idea: CARROT & CELERY CUPS WITH RANCH OR HUMMUS

A friend of mine actually gave me this idea. She bought small, clear plastic cups (seen above) and put some ranch dressing in the bottom of the cup, then added a few celery and carrot sticks. It’s an easy dish for kids to eat, plus they get a nice serving of vegetables.

You can easily make your own healthy dip too out of greek yogurt and herbs, or put some plain hummus at the bottom of the cup for a veggie and hummus snack.

Next up: ALMOND BUTTER AND CHIA-JAM PANINI’S.

This is something I make for my kids at home. If you don’t have a panini maker you can use an indoor grilling pan, or just use a regular pan and toast it like a grilled cheese.

You can pick a healthy, whole grain bread. I used Ezekiel bread which is a live grain bread with no added sugar and almond butter that has no additives or sugar, along with strawberry chia jam using my own recipe (find it here: 3-Step Chia Jam). *You could also do PEANUT BUTTER and an ALL NATURAL JELLY sandwiches.

They’re so simple to make. I actually assembled the sandwiches the night before my daughter’s party and placed them on the panini maker the morning of the party (these were for a 10am party).

I cut the sandwiches on the diagonal and then cut the two diagonal halves, in half. I used almost one loaf of bread, about 1/2 cup of almond butter and 1/2 cup of jam.

Last party tip, skip the juice serve SMALL WATER BOTTLES and: HOMEMADE LEMONADE.

I bought a large decanter (seen in pic above on the left) from Crate & Barrel. I squeezed fresh lemon juice and mixed in raw, melted honey, water and soda water (no real formula, just measuring everything out to taste). It’s definitely not as sweet as packaged lemonade, but hey, it’s healthy and it’s cool which is great on a hot summer day.

A few other items to consider making…

Costco sells these pretzel rolls, add some turkey meat that’s organic, non-hormone, then spread on a little apple cider vinegar mustard for a healthy, tasty PRETZEL ROLL SANDWICH.

You can also make some side salads for a nutritious addition. I made a CHICKPEA & AVOCADO SALAD. You could also make a nice PASTA SALAD with penne quinoa pasta. I love the texture of it and it’s loaded with protein. Just drizzle with olive oil and sea salt, add parmesan cheese for flavor, or keep it plain.

There you have it!

Birthday parties don’t have to be a total health -food bust! A few nutritional swaps here and there with a few HOMEMADE items, can turn your party into a wholesome food-fest that everyone can benefit from… especially your tiniest guests!

Homemade Lemonade:
1 pitcher of distilled water
1/2 c. melted raw honey (*Grade A or B Maple syrup works too)
1/2 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 c. soda water (optional)
=Directions: add everything into your decanter or a large pitcher, adjust sour and sweet according to taste adding in additional flavor 2 tablespoons at a time. You can also add a few cut lemon slices to the pitcher, so you can actually see some lemons floating around for a pretty visual.

Fresh Fruit Skewers:
1 package of wooden skewers
2 containers of each; organic strawberries, organic blueberries, organic grapes (*If buying farmers market fruit or in bulk, roughly 3 cups of strawberries, blueberries and grapes.)
=Directions: Assemble fruit on skewer starting with the largest fruit first, medium sized next, smallest last.

Almond Butter & Chia Jam Panini Sandwiches:
1 loaf Ezekiel bread
1/2 cup raw almond butter or peanut butter
1/2 cup fresh jam
=Directions: Spread one Tbsp. of almond butter on bread slice, then 1 Tbsp. of jam on the other bread slice, place sandwich on panini maker until bread is toasted.
*If you don’t have a panini maker, use a grilled frying pan to create grill marks, or just a regular pan and toast it like a grilled cheese.
*Use an all natural jam or my Chia jam recipe: 1 cup fresh fruit, 2 dates, 1 Tbsp. chia seeds= pulse ingredients in a food processor. 3-Step Chia Jam recipe

Chickpea & Avocado Salad:
4 cups cooked garbanzo beans
3 avocados (pitted and cubed)
3/4 c. red onion (chopped)
1/2 c olives (optional)
1 garlic clove (chopped)
*Dressing: drizzle olive oil on top, the juice of 1 to 2 lemons, season with sea salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with finely chopped parsley or oregano. (*I find kids like things plain, so use caution with herbs).
=Directions: Either use canned or dry garbanzo beans (cooked), place in large bowl, toss beans with onion, olives, chopped garlic and dressing. Lastly add in your avocados and toss slightly. Cover, let it set up in fridge for a few minutes or until ready to serve.

Quinoa Pasta Salad:
1 box penne quinoa pasta (Ancient Harvest is my preferred brand)
1/2 c. grated parmesan
1 Tbsp olive oil
Sea salt to taste
=Directions: Cook pasta according to instructions, once cooled add in olive oil, sea salt and parmesan. *Add ins: chopped cherry tomatoes (deseeded), cucumbers, olives.