Top Ten Healthy Party Snacks

Summer-Friendly Healthy Party Snacks

With warm summer weather rapidly approaching, parties are surely right around the corner.  Summer mean barbecues, pool parties, and graduation parties!  However, it also means shorts, bathing suits, sundresses, and warmer summer temperatures.  To keep you and any party guests healthy, in shape, and energized, serve healthy and light summer snacks at your parties!  Summer parties give you the perfect reason to try new recipes that will surely impress your guests.  Here are a few snack ideas for you to try at your parties this summer:

1. Fruit tray:  Fill a tray with sliced-up apples, grapes, watermelon, strawberries, and a few other fruits.  Keep the tray covered, especially if it’s an outdoor party, and re-refrigerate it if it sits out for a long period of time.  A fun way to get kids to eat the fruit is by taking the sliced-up apples, spreading peanut butter on them, and placing raisins or marshmallows in the peanut butter.  You can also use celery in place of the apple slices—many people call these “ants on a log.”
2. Vegetables and dip:  Slice up all sorts of delicious summer veggies (like peppers, celery, cucumbers, and carrots) and arrange them around a small bowl of ranch dip.  Nothing says “summertime snack” like veggies and ranch.  Classics like this are sure to bring a smile to your guests’ faces.
3. Popcorn balls:  While heavily buttered popcorn isn’t the healthiest snack in the world, try lightly-salted popcorn with no butter.   You could even try fun popcorn balls for a sweet snack at your summer parties.  Eatingwell.com has a great recipe for tropical popcorn balls with macadamia nuts and coconut.
4. Veggie pizza:  Lay out crescent rolls on a pan in a solid sheet and bake them.  That’s your pizza crust.  Then, in a bowl, mix sour cream, a packet of ranch, cream cheese, and a few other things—this is your pizza sauce.  Top your veggie pizza with cheddar cheese, broccoli, grated carrots, diced peppers, and a few other vegetables.  A good starter recipe for veggie pizza can be found at allrecipes.com.
5. Tortilla chips and salsa:  There is a wide variety of salsas that will add different flairs to your party—mango salsa and grape salsa are two popular variations.  Surprisingly refreshing and wonderfully healthy, chips and salsa are the perfect addition to many summer parties.  You can even add salsa con queso or guacamole dip to your next party’s menu if your guests like the chips and salsa idea.
6. Tomato, Onion, and Garlic Bruschetta:  Super simple to make, best with Roma tomatoes, tastes wonderful when served on slices of Italian bread.  Roughly two cups chopped Roma tomatoes, ½ a cup chopped onions, and add garlic to taste.  This is a great summer recipe because it’s one you can play with.  You can add more onions, you can add basil, you can omit the onions or the garlic completely, you could add Parmesan—you can make it your own.
7. Shrimp rings or shrimp cocktails:  This is a healthy snack that will add a bit of elegance to your party.  For a daytime party, use a shrimp ring.  For an evening summer get-together, switch to shrimp cocktails.
8. Veggie kabobs with grilled chicken:  There is a wide variety of vegetables you could combine with the chicken to make delicious snacks for your party guests.  Many recipes suggest mushrooms, onions, peppers (red, yellow, or green), and squash.  By adding grilled chicken, you’re giving your guests a more filling snack that will keep them energized and keep the party going longer.
9. Sweet potato fries or carrot fries:  Sweet potato fries are rapidly growing in popularity, and simplyrecipes.com has a great recipe for them.  Up until recently, carrot fries were a bit unheard of.  However, they’re a delicious and healthy way to get your kids to eat veggies as well as a great snack for a party! Moneysavingmom.com has the quickest and easiest recipe.
10. Hot artichoke dip: This is another great recipe that can be found on eatingwell.com.  In addition to the artichoke hearts, it adds low-fat mayonnaise, lemon zest, and Cayenne pepper for a fresh twist that has a kick.

With these ideas as a jumping-off point, you should have no trouble planning fun and healthy snacks for your next summer party.  If you do a little research and attempt the recipes yourself, you’ll win the admiration of your friends and party guests.  A great way to test these new snacks is on kids—if kids will eat the snacks you’re preparing for your summer party, you’ve got delicious food planned!

Top Five Summer Party Ideas

School’s out!  Party on!  The best part of summer is relaxation in the warm weather, so why not create a few fun summer parties for all your friends to enjoy?  Take advantage of the warm weather and plan a few outdoor parties!  The easiest way to do so is by picking a theme and simply altering your party just enough for the theme to work outdoors rather than indoors.  Here are a few ideas:

1.) Luau Summer Pool Party:   Break out the bathing suits, Hawaiian shirts, leis, and grass skirts!  What better way to ring in summer than with a pool party?  Provide all your guests with a coconut cup filled with a tropical punch-flavored slushy drink and at least one lei to throw around their neck.   In addition to those fun luau favors, give your female guests grass skirts and flowers to put in their hair!  Scatter a few palm tree coolers around your yard to give guests a place to find more cold beverages once their slushy drink is gone.  What are your options if you don’t have a pool?  Use a sprinkler and your garden hose!

2.) Backyard Summer Barbecue:  While, yes, it seems to go hand-in-hand with the luau pool party, it’s just different enough to be a second great summer party.  Plan a menu first: pulled pork sandwiches (barbecue or not), corn (on or off the cob), and fruit would make a great, summery combination.  Decorate your tables with a classic barbecue red gingham table cover and provide fun plates, napkins, and utensils.  Then, as your guests sit at their tables to enjoy their food, serve another cool summer treat: a sherbet float in a goblet with a fun squiggle straw!  Just pour lemon-lime soda over two or three scoops of rainbow sherbet ice cream.  It’s a fun, fruity twist on a classic summer favorite, the root beer float.

3.) Fifties Drive-in Summer Picnic:  This is where the classic root beer floats and black cows (a cola poured over vanilla ice cream) from the fifties come into play!  Decorate your tables with a float candle and serve your guests both yummy ice cream beverage in classic soda shop glass that your guests can take home as a fun summer favor.  A few other great favor ideas are plush dice that your guests can hang from their rearview mirrors (especially if they have fun, old-fashioned cars that they’ve worked to restore), classic black sunglasses for the men, and diamond cat sunglasses for the women.

4.) Carnival Summer Party:  Summertime equals festivals, parades, theme parks, and carnivals!  Every teenager looks forward to a summer trip to a theme park to ride roller coasters and eat the amazing junk food that appears at every theme park across America.  Why not bring a fun, carnival-like junk food alley to your backyard?  When your guests arrive at your party, greet them at the entrance and place a sparkly wrist band on them so they can feel like it’s a private carnival rather than simply a summer carnival party.  Also, give each guest a carnival favor box that they can decorate to hold their candy as they play games.  Plan a wide variety of carnival games for every guest to participate in.  When it comes to thinking of prizes for the games, hand out candy at each game booth.  Keep a concession stand open for your guest to come find food and snacks, such as banana splits in dessert servers and popcorn in popcorn bags.

5.)  Pirate Summer Party: This will give your guests a bit of a twist on a classic summer beach party.  When you send out party invitations, include a note that requests your guests to attend in a pirate costume—this is a great way to have a costume party in the summertime!  Invite your guests to participate in a treasure hunt, with rewards along the way.  Then, give them pirate pouches to keep those rewards (or their pirate booty) in.  At the end, when your guests get to the treasure chest, they can arrive to find it filled with yummy ice cream treats and popsicles!  A word to the wise: wait as long as possible to hide this.  Send your guests on a wild goose chase to the front of the house, thinking you hid the treasure there. Then, when they get back to the central party area and see the chest, they’ll be shocked!

There are many other ways to ring in summer and many other fun summer party ideas to plan.  Just remember the keys of summer and your planning will go easier: fun games, warm weather, and cool frozen treats will make your friends and guests love every summer party that you host.

Planning for the Annual Block Party

Welcome Warm Weather with a Block Party

As the weather warms up, many people start getting the urge to shift their free-time activities outdoors.  Cold winter weather often causes people to go slightly stir crazy, especially when the first warm day hits.  What better way to welcome spring and summer than with a block party?  Whether you plan a block party every year or this is your first (hopefully of many), there are many ways to make your planning easier.

Quick and Easy Block Party Planning

Turn your yard (and your neighbors’ yards) into one big picnic site.  Yes, many block parties are cookouts, but people usually plan to bring table and chairs.  Why not simply throw some blankets on the grass and allow your kids to eat while sitting on the ground?  Also, it gives you the chance to enjoy the simplicity that is a picnic—when is the last time you (or your kids) went on a picnic?  Can you think of a better way to ring in spring than with a picnic?  To make your picnic block party fun and slightly whimsical, find red gingham table covers and use those as your picnic blankets!  The fun part here is that your kids might be slightly confused while they watch Mom roll red and white plastic onto the ground.  Then, begin to set out plates and napkins—take this chance to try eco-friendly tableware.  Why not?  They even come in a picnic kit!  Either assign specific people to bring certain foods or just call it a potluck and have everyone bring something.  The men could have a grilling competition and the kids could decorate aprons for their dads.

Block Party Activity Planning

Every party needs a game!  Your block party could use a few games, too.  Definitely pick out a piñata, because there is nothing quite as entertaining as watching kids scramble around for candy once the piñata bursts open.  You can look into card games, too—Uno is always a favorite!  Also, try to plan a few sports-related games just for fun for your party guests that are in the pre-teen age range.  Go for a bean bag toss and plan a pick-up game of basketball or soccer.

Gather your neighbors to help you welcome spring and summer with a huge block party!  Relax with a picnic, enjoy the outdoors that you’ve been kept away from all winter.  Have fun with your neighbors and make some new friends—you could even get a jump start on planning your next block party!

Welcome Back, Welcome Back, Welcome Back!

Welcome Them Home with a Surprise

You’ve already said a tear-filled goodbye to your soldier, so what better way to welcome them home than with a surprise welcome home party?  Your soldier has probably seen enough camouflage to last him or her awhile, so switch to a patriotic theme.  Rather than an all-out stars-and-stripes pattern for every part of your welcome home party, gather red place settings, white place settings, and blue place settings.  Decorate your tables with white table covers and red and blue table runners.  Add a sparkly centerpiece or even some confetti as an eye-catcher that everyone at the welcome home party will love.

All-American Backyard Barbecue

If you sent your soldier off to a foreign country, why not welcome your American hero home with a longstanding American tradition—a cookout?  Sure, serve the standard burgers and hot dogs that everyone loves, but then treat your returning hero to something special, something just for them, like a huge steak.  To the side of the welcome home party space, create a photo corner.  All it takes are a few props—one or two columns for your photographer to position his picture subjects near.  Add some flags, streamers, and a welcome home banner for a little more flare.  Then, as favors for all your guests, why not send them customized coasters commemorating the welcome home party?

A Classier Welcome Home Party

Sometimes welcome home parties are better kept inside.  Also, it’s a good idea to have a backup for your backyard barbecue in case the weather doesn’t cooperate.  So if you choose to have the welcome home party indoors, you have a few more options as far as decorations.  If your party is indoors, you could add a balloon arch or other balloon decorations that could get destroyed outdoors.  You could also add other centerpieces, make each table different.  Vary the table decorations, too.  Alternate main colors versus runners:

• A red table cover with white and blue table runners
• A blue table cover with red and white table runners
• A white table cover with blue and red table runners

One more difference between a backyard barbecue versus an indoor welcome home party is the type of dessert that is served.  While it’s still a good idea to use paper or plastic plates, you could create a dessert station with patriotic-patterned tableware.

Fabulous Father’s Day Festivities

Finding the perfect gift for your father can seem like a daunting task, so don’t spend that precious time on the decorations and supplies for the big party!  We here at Shindigz want to make your Father’s Day festivities a breeze so you can focus your time on what’s important—your family!

Start by making a list of your father’s favorite things and hobbies—some might include golf, sports, reading, swimming, or cooking! If you’re having a party for your entire family which includes several fathers, pick one of your themes that will “cover” the mix of the crowd. Depending on the theme you choose, you have several options:

Golf Themed Father’s Day Party

• Ask guests to wear golf-themed attire.
• Serve drinks out of golf cups.
• Decorate the cake with golf ball candles.
• Hand out favors in golf favor boxes.
• Keep guests entertained with a putting game.

Cooking, Barbeque, or Backyard Fun Party

• Give Dad the gift of relaxing while you and the little ones cook dinner in sweet pink child’s chef aprons.
• Serve up the delicious dessert on backyard grillin’ dessert plates.
• Pass out tropical fern lei party favors and silk flower leis to your attending guests.
• Keep things relaxed with Jelly Belly freezer pops for dessert rather than a large cake.

No matter what them you choose, Shindigz has the party supplies you need to make it happen quickly and affordably!

Amazing Summer Birthday Themes

Summer is a great time to have a birthday—especially if you’re a kid! All of the messes can be left outside & be hosed off easily. Try these fun summer birthday themes for your next birthday bash under the sun.

Pool Party
What says summer better than a pool party? Not much, in my opinion. Guests can bring their swim suits & towels for all kinds of water games and activities:
• Use duck pond floaters with stickers on the bottom for guests to fish out of a small pool. The kind of sticker that they get results in different prizes!
• Hold relays with water balloons, a relay egg game, and field cones.
• End the fun with a beach ball piñata and let everyone take the candy home as their party favors.
Whether you have a large pool, use a kiddie pool, or sprinkler, the pool themed fun will go on and on!

Luau Party
You will have your guests “limboing” their way over to the best party of the summer when you throw a luau party for your birthday!
• Hand out leis to guests as they enter your party.
• Keep everyone cool with water bottles complete with luau bottle labels placed in an inflatable palm tree cooler that keeps your theme going.
• Entertain your guests with a limbo kit while playing a luau island party music CD.

Garden Party
Nature lovers can go elegant with a garden party for birthdays! Your guests will love your outdoor space when you transform it using garden party supplies.
• Pass out cute retro mini flower fans that will keep guests cool.
• Add flowers to your garden for even more lushness using silk roses and tulips.
• Decorate your tables with lighted English ivy twig garland, twig garland, and cuckoo trees.

Backyard/Cookout Party
For a less formal birthday bash, hang out with your friends and family at a good old fashioned backyard party or barbeque.
• Invite guests to your birthday with cookout party invitations.
• Try BBQ party table decorations for no fuss decorating or be unique with fun backyard grillin’ dinner plates for your guests to put those hot wings and ribs upon.
• Buy printed stadium cups as reusable party favors for each of your guests to remember your party by.

Adults and children of all ages will appreciate your summer birthday party when you plan it with Shindigz’ help. From start to finish, invitations to favors, Shindigz has you covered!

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