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!

Princess Ideas for Her Girls Birthday Party

She’ll Always Be Your Princess!

“Yes, my Lady, your company eagerly awaits you and desires your presence!” Age matters not, because girls love to be treated like princesses. Whether they are gallantly riding horses in open meadows and fields, dancing merrily while hoping to meet prince charming or dining elegantly in serene surroundings, a princess party is the ultimate foundation for dozens of girl’s birthday party ideas.

Planning the Perfect Princess Party

Princesses have their own personalities, preferences and desires. Before anything else can be accomplished, the perfect theme, one that will please her grace beyond measure, should be determined, so that all party decoration supplies coordinate together.

Personalized invitations, menus, table decorations, activities, birthday party games and matching party favors will each add a touch of style and flair to the grand and wonderful celebration. Every detail should be considered including lighting decorations, balloons and even gift wrap supplies.

Decorating for a Princess Party

Begin by layering sheer, shimmering gossamer fabric all over the room, designing special photo corners, tying bows around chairs, covering unsightly areas and creating a soft and welcoming ambience for your majesty.

Determine the menu and how to present your offerings. Buffet style banquets are excellent for more casual and social events, while barbecues work well for outside gatherings. Princess parties needn’t always be formal. However, the elegance of hosting a sit-down meal should be happily considered as well. Consider the classic girl’s tea party, for example.

Use garland, balloons and ribbon freely, hanging it from light fixtures, draping it over curtains and swaying it in archways and doorways. Separate party events like eating, dancing and games, allowing guests the courtesy of enjoying whatever they are doing, at any given time.

Hosting the Ultimate Girl’s Birthday Party

It’s the little things that make all the difference, when planning a girl’s birthday party. Choosing the right colors, selecting her favorite foods, presenting the “to die for” cake and playing the perfect music all contribute to the overall success of hosting a girl’s birthday party every princess will love. Girls have a way of lighting up the room when they look and feel like princesses, which is why every girl deserves to be treated like royalty on her birthday.

Need a few more girls princess party ideas?  Check out these tips:

Summer Movie Night and Slumber Party Ideas

Welcome your summer night movie guests to your event with a giant movie popcorn standee!

Escape with your friends to a fabulous summer movie night. You can make it a “girls’ night in” or have a family affair. Pick a movie that speaks to your desire for laughter, tears, or blood-pumping adventure. Make your summer movie night memorable with these ideas:

• For a family summer movie night, create an outdoor theatre by projecting the entertainment onto the side of your house. Set out lawn chairs and invite your neighbors to join you for an evening movie and popcorn served in reusable popcorn plastic containers.
• Before the movie begins, hold a short Trivia Quiz or play Summer Movie Bingo. Reward the top three winners with film-styled movie party favors.
• For a more elegant summer movie night, host your event in Hollywood style—perfect for charity fundraisers and summer corporate events! Send out stylish movie night invitations and specify glitzy attire. Decorate your venue with red rope railing and lighted Hollywood reels. Invite guests to pose for a picture with a beautiful Marilyn Monroe red gown life-size standee!

Turn Your Summer Movie Night Into a Cozy Slumber Party With These Ideas!
Gather your friends for a summer movie night that ends with a sleepy slumber party. Order pizza and sip soda or wine in your jammies. Play a double movie feature and pass around snacks of caramel popcorn. More ideas include the following:

• Choose a slumber party summer movie night theme for her Sweet 16 birthday celebration. Create fond memories for this special birthday with movie party supplies and decorations.
• Little girls also love slumber party sleepovers! Pop in a favorite summer movie while the girls autograph a sleepover pillowcase.
• Cherish the bride with a bachelorette slumber party and summer movie night. Instead of painting the town red, have a cozy night in and take time to relish your memories of friendship!

Not Just Any Picnic—Theme It!

The summer is a perfect time to have a picnic with the kids, grandkids, or friends and soak up some sun! What’s even better is to create a theme for your picnic with theme party supplies to keep everyone entertained and excited about picnicking. You can even have “play dates” with friends & their children each week and rotate the organizer role so everyone can get creative! Here are some great themes for your summer picnics:

Beach Party:
Be a cool surfer dude or dudette at your next picnic. You’ll be riding the cool wave with your kids for a long time with this theme!

• Create a sandbox effect with some play sand that the children can build castles in after eating and put their feet in while eating.
• Set up several fun inflatable palm trees to provide a touch of shade at your picnic.
• Hand out flower leis to your lunch guests as they arrive for lunch.
• Guests will be delighted to drink out of fun coconut cups to quench their thirst.
• Fill Let’s Hula favor bags with fun party favors such as tropical surf lip balm, shark gummy candy, and sea life shape bracelets.

Sports Party Picnic:
The boys and sporty girls will LOVE a sports themed picnic with tons of games and activities!

• Hand out sports mitts to guests as they arrive for your fabulous picnic.
• Plan several games and activities using inflatable soccer balls, inflatable footballs, and a basketball.
• Keep the dessert in a football piñata or a basketball piñata that the kids can pick up and store in fun golf favor boxes.
• As your picnic buddies leave, pass out basketball clappers as party favors that the other parents will LOVE you for!

Whether you choose one of these fun party themes or one of your own, we’re sure your lunch guests will be excited to picnic with you in the future!