After years of party planning, you know what we have found to be really, really difficult? Getting children to eat fruit and vegetables. Particularly on their birthdays! But no more.
We have scoured the web for healthy (and delicious) snacks and meals for your children’s parties. These will go down a storm with both kids and parents, and won’t leave guests on an inevitable sugar high just in time for Mummy and Daddy to drag them home.
First are the obvious crowd pleasers. HUMOUS ladies and gentleman. However you want to spell it, supply the stuff with sticks of carrot, cucumber, pepper and bread and you are off to a winner.
The key to all vegetable sticks disappearing is to pop them out in bowls at the start of the meal. If you lay everything out at once and put them anywhere near anything remotely sugary they will stay firmly put.
Fruit kebabs! Pop strawberries, grapes, and satsuma onto half a wooden skewer and they will get eaten in a jiffy. Plain old fruit does not seem to go down quite as well! You could also supply different flavours of fruit yoghurt for children to dip their kebabs in for a tasty twist.
Whilst on the topic of fruit and yoghurt, we found this delicious recipe on Jamie Oliver’s website. All that you will need to create these tasty treats is a selection of fresh berries, 250g of strawberries, 100ml of natural yoghurt and a teaspoon of honey. Simple!
Once you have all of the ingredients ready, whizz them together in a food processor. Taste, and add more honey if you have a sweeter tooth. Pop your extra fresh fruit in the bottom of each ice lolly mould, pour in the mix, and finish with a sprinkle more berries and a stick in each. These will need to freeze for at least four hours, or, until solid.
Don’t be afraid to get creative with your naming of food! A Princess Elsa blueberry smoothie is always going to go down far easier than straight fruit juice. You could decant different coloured, labelled smoothies in to miniature milk bottles and provide each guest with a candy striped straw.
Whilst on the topic of colour, we would encourage you to play with natural dyes in the kitchen. Juiced beetroot, kiwis, blueberries, mangoes and oranges work wonderfully wether you are colouring icing, smoothies, or cake filling.
As parents, we know that kids love to be independant, no matter what age. A self serving station is going to be very, very popular. Provide kids with wraps, and pop out different fillings, such as humous, fresh guacamole and salsa. Bowl up some chopped vegetables (sweetcorn, tomato, pepper and cucumber are usually a good bet) and pop out lots of plastic plates and spoons. The kids will get creative, and eat well in the process.
If you are feeling creative, you could make your own dips too. We found these great recipes for pea humous, beany dip, cucumber yoghurt dip and fruity salsa.
Remember, a little goes a long way. A party wouldn’t be a party without a few sweet treats. Chocoloate dipped bananas are always very popular. Simply skewer bananas and dip them in chocolate melted in a bain-marie. Whilst still wet, sprinkle over nuts, seeds or freeze dried fruit. If you still want to keep sugar levels at a low, use darker chocolate.
One of our craving satisfiers comes in the form of Raw Peanut Butter Brownie Bliss Balls. These beauties are made from blitzed dates, peanut butter and cacao powder. They might sound like a kiddie’s nightmare, but trust us, these are seriously good and very quick to make. They really do taste like little bites of brownie, but without any of the guilt. Huzzah!
If you are looking for a delicious, all natural birthday cake, don’t forget to check out one of our favourite suppliers Cutter and Squidge. This fantastic bakery create beautiful and delicious deserts using all natural dyes and flavours. The company promises that they “always keep our fat and sugar content to just as much as needed to make something delicious”.
Don’t forget to make sure you are aware of any children with allergies coming to your party so you can make sure everything is suitable and clearly labeled. And don’t be too afraid to pop out a few less healthy treats. They really won’t harm anyone in moderation, and after all, what are birthdays for?
