Birthday party ideas???
My son is turning 1 on July 4th and I will be inviting all of our family and friends. I want to make healthy choices for the foods, and am wondering if any of you have ideas... consider there will be a lot of children there so a simple fuit or veggie tray won't do the trick, although I do plan on bringing one of each LOL!
I've though of turkey cresent rolls... but that's a lot of preparation when I assume there will be an average of 40-50 people showing. Thanks for your help!!!
That said, there are tons of dessert recipes for July 4th if you want to be thematic in that way. Angelfood cake with cool whip and strawberries and blueberries in parfait cups would be great for kids and adults. Obviously you want to have lots of dips, salsas, veggies, etc, maybe with some pita chips or veggie crisps. You can do several dips that are flavorful, homemade and healthy. For you main, I don't do meat but if you did you could do chicken or shrimp kebobs on a grill. I like veggie burgers on a grill with all fixins. Nothing says July 4 like grilling out.
Make sure also to have birthday favors so it is both July 4 AND a birthday (even though a 1-year-old won't know or care anyways, lol!)
How about a fruit or veggie "pizza"? Fruit: crust out of cake mix or crescent roll dough, fruit dip or ff cream cheese sweetened with juice for "sauce", and various fruits on top. Veggie: whole wheat or crescent dough crust, low fat veggie dip or ff cream cheese, topped with all sorts of veggies.
If you can't swing individual fruit parfaits, an old fashioned berry trifle with pudding, a variety of berries, low fat whipped cream, and angel food cake is typically a winner (and serves about 15 people at one shot).
It is a b day party, so you could make some healthy brownies, but serve in half portion sizes: http://caloriecount.about.com/recipe/69821.ht ml
I agree with the grilling, but fruit salad and pasta salad are good things to offer too. And you can put together a good deli tray with lean cold cuts, whole grain bread, low fat cheese, and fixins. Maybe even a decent low cal chicken salad and provide mini-pitas for stuffing.
Kids seem to like these... ants on a log. Very quick and easy, too.
With that many people, sometimes it's easier to let people build their own sandwiches or kabobs or something like that. You can just put out all of the ingredients, and that way everyone gets what they want. Parents can customize things to their kids preferences, too, which is often appreciated. For dessert, especially if there will be young kids there, you could do something similar, like make your own sundaes with fruit, nuts, and frozen yogurt.
thank you all for your wonderful ideas!
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