[dubhels2003]

Help!! Lady E is 3 in two weeks and she is having four little friends round to play for an hour or two. I would like to make a really nice party lunch. It has to be reasonably healthy and be mainly vegetarian. The party doesn’t have a theme or anything, and I don’t mind hot or cold, or a mix of both. I’ll also be feeding parents/siblings, and due to DIY and space, the adults need to be able to eat on the move, the kids will be seated.

I have been looking on pintrest, and so far I think I will do some rainbow fruit skewers. Obviously there will be a chocolate cake with sweets on top as that’s the only think E wants for her birthday!

Any ideas for food would be very well received!

Thank you in advice, you brilliant lot.

[nzsewist]

Ooh I get so excited about planning party food! 🙂

For healthy options for kids I normally do:
– popcorn
– sandwiches (cut into special shapes with cookie cutters)
– mini muffins
– mini quiches
– vegetables (I use cookie cutters here too, eg. small stars cut from pieces of cucumber)
– bliss balls
– chickpeas, black beans etc. maybe sautéed with a few mild spices like cumin and coriander if the kids would like that kind of taste
– home made sushi

For adult finger food my favourites are:
– crostini (last time I made them from rye bread cut into little rounds with a cookie cutter) with a variety of different toppings like beetroot dip/relish, hummus etc.
– home made tortilla chips with pico de gallo and guacamole
– club sandwiches
– muffins
– quiches
– mini tortilla cups (cut smaller circles from large tortillas, press into mini muffin tins, bake and then fill with a hot filling just before serving, I would normally do something with chicken mince for these, I can’t think of any vegetarian alternatives off the top of my head)
– bliss balls
– mini fresh fruit tartlets

I hope those ideas help a little! It was a good exercise for me to write that all down as I’ve got my eldest’s fourth birthday party coming up in a couple of months! 🙂

• This reply was modified 8 years ago by nzsewist.

[Tamara]

Fried rice springs to mind, although it is strictly a sit down at the table thing to eat, I know my kids loved it when they were very small.

Does vegetarian mean no eggs and milk products too?

If eggs are allowed, I would do little curried egg centres and of course include it with the fried rice.

Zucchini slice! It is seriously delicious. I was planning to include the link to the one I use on Julie Goodwin. Com. Au but something is up with the server.

I made sausage rolls for my children’s parties and included carrot and zucchini. The only catch is the pastry is high in fat so not ticking the healthy category very well.

Celery with either cream cheese or peanut butter in the hollows. You could include sultanas also and little flags to make them into boats.

Carrots and dip is always popular.

Little meatballs and little chicken drummettes are also good too (but not vegetarian of course)

Little pinwheel sandwiches.

Macaroni and cheese (is always good to hide veggies in also).

Little homemade pizzas using english muffins as bases is a good way of making sure you know what is in the food the kids are eating. You could decorate and make them into faces.

It is simple faire but kid worthy and can be made as healthy as you want using the ingredients you choose. From memory, 3 year olds don’t eat a lot so you should be fine.

• This reply was modified 8 years ago by Tamara.

[Sarvi]

Tons of great ideas above. I think the parents will appreciate having some healthy options and the kids will probably not especially notice anything but the cake. How much work do you want to put into it?

I make this semi often and it is a big hit, but it’s a fair amount of work. You can make it go much quicker by using premade puff pastry and sun dried tomatoes. Nice with a little pile of greens though I can’t get my kid to eat my idea of a salad. She prefers grabbable chunks of veggies over “that’s too much leaves”.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/7653348/Yotam-Ottolenghis-surprise-tatin.html

One of our own group has a lot of great mostly-veggie and definitely healthy recipes, alas she’s not too active here any longer!

http://www.tribecayummymummy.com/recipes

[Enbee]

I know this is going to sound ridiculous (I mean, it’s toddlers), but google ‘broccoli tots.’ Never mind that my 14-month-old likes them (which he does, to the point of ignoring anything else on his plate), but *I* like them. Which, if you knew me, is truly miraculous. They are the only form in which I will eat broccoli, and I’ve tried ’em all.

This is the recipe I mostly follow:
http://gimmedelicious.com/2015/05/17/healthy-baked-broccoli-tots/

I omit the cheese (dairy allergy), and find that it usually takes two eggs and a full cup of panko (again, dairy allergy, so I use all panko) to make them hold together. Since I use all panko, I usually mince a garlic clove and add some dried oregano and fresh basil to make up for the lack of flavored breadcrumbs. I also use a cookie scoop and flatten slightly into patties rather than tot form – it’s much faster. Finally, I bake for almost 40 minutes – I think they’re tastier cooked slightly longer.

[Nicole]

Some great ideas here!

A ‘fun’ dessert I make for parties is ‘frogs in mud puddles’

Small cups half filled with chocolate custard with plump greens grape ‘frogs’ hiding in it.

Serve with a wee spoon.

[tantemele]

Such nice ideas. I will be using some of them to make the lunchbox for my 3-yo more attractive. I’ll be trying the broccoli tots for sure (he also has dairy allergy, so I will copy the modifications :-)), the english muffin pizzas and and … I think I will make a list to hang in the kitchen. Thanks for the ideas and links!!

To add something: we always like quinoa patties. I use a recipe from a cookbook but this one looks similar:

Spinach & Quinoa Patties in a bowl

and what is always a hit with the small ones is aebleskiver, but I would not know how to do them if you do not have the special pan. An alternative would be Kaiserschmarrn, and it can also be done with apples. I also use recipes from cookbooks for these but you can find others in internet. If not, just tell and I will try to copy the recipe I use here. Have fun with the party!

[dubhels2003]

Thank you so much, there are loads of ideas here! I’m going to be looking back at this thread for cooking for the next few weeks!

I’m going to do Lady E and her chum broccoli tots for their tea tomorrow, and a selection of picky bits for the party.

I’m going pretty low key on it, there will only be 4 kids and I’ll be back at work full time. Any prep time will eat into my kid enjoyment/sewing/sleep time so, you know, easy food is a plus at the mo!

I love, love love Ottolenghi food, and his cauliflower and cumin fritters are a hit with my kids and relatively simple for one of his recipes! He has a new cookbook coming out later in this year, there were some recipes from it published in the paper last week… http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/sep/12/exclusive-recipes-yotam-ottolenghi-new-book

[Sarvi]

Ooh, yum, I’ll have to take a look at that!

[Enbee]

I’ll have to give those fritters a try. I hope the kids enjoy the party!