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Showing posts with label party planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label party planning. Show all posts

Thursday, March 13, 2014

How to Host Your Own Healthy Brunch Party! (with recipes!)

How to host your own healthy brunch party - DIY Brunch Party

 I loveeeeeeeeee breakfast foods and I love entertaining - so it's only natural that I came up with the idea to host a Healthy Brunch Party! I wanted to create a menu that was healthy and gluten free but still absolutely delicious - and the whole brunch party idea is totally adaptable to suit a wide variety of food needs. 


How to host your own healthy brunch party - DIY Yogurt Parfait Bar


As soon as I decided to host a brunch party, I knew what I had to have. After the success of our DIY Healthy Icecream Sundae Party, I knew I wanted to created a Yogurt Parfait Bar for our Brunch Party. 

These gorgeous Swish Plastic Martini Glasses ($6.95 each at Kitchenware Direct) made our parfait bar a little bit fancy - but totally kid friendly (and klutz friendly) too as they're made from unbreakable polycarbonate (and they're even scratch resistant!).


How to host your own healthy brunch party - DIY yogurt parfait bar
Then we needed our toppings!

I used a bunch of different sized square bowls to hold our yogurts and toppings with spoons and forks for easy topping! You can use whatever yogurts and toppings you like or have available. 

First we had our fresh fruits - juicy blueberries, watermelon chunks and sliced bananas. These are the last things you want to prepare (especially the banana) so your fruit stays nice and fresh. The watermelon and blueberries can be prepared in advance, but don't slice your banana until the very last minute or you'll have a brown soggy mess. 

For a little bit of crunch and a flavour boost we had shredded coconut and gluten free blueberry granola (Freedom Foods Crunchola - NOTE: this is no longer gluten free).

For our yogurt bases we had low fat vanilla yogurt and low fat plain greek yogurt.

And of course, regardless of how organised I am, I always forget something until the very last minute - this time it was some "sprinkles" - we also had chia seeds and cinnamon for adding that final touch to the yogurt parfaits. 


Just so everyone knew what they were putting in their parfaits, we had these gorgeous Limoncello Styling Tags ($4.95/12 pack). Holding them in place took some thought power - for the raised tags, we attached them to bamboo skewers which we stuck into tiny tea light candles placed behind each bowl. The ones at the front we simply stuck on with blu-tack. 


How to host your own healthy brunch party - Healthy gluten free mini muffins recipes


And what's a brunch party without muffins?! We went with two types of muffins for our brunch party - our favourite Buckwheat Banana Muffins (click for recipe)  and Mango Yogurt Muffins. 

Our muffins were piled up onto these gorgeous footed comports ($14.95 for the smaller one and $19.95 for the larger one) which I know a couple of our friends wanted to take home with them :P I'm a big fan of footed things at the moment - bowls, mugs, cake stands - you name it!

The mango yogurt muffins tasted incredible and I'm kind of addicted to them - but they're a little bit ugly so I think they might need some work. That said, if anyone wants the recipe, let me know and I may have to share them - just as long as you don't judge a book by its cover ;) 

How to host your own healthy brunch party - Healthy savoury stand - Mini frittatas and mini hash brown cups

How to host your own healthy brunch party - Healthy savoury stand - Mini frittatas and mini hash brown cups
Even though I like sweet breakfasts, I know that not everyone does - so we had to have a savoury stand too! Which is this 3 Tiered Cake Stand ($39.95)

On our savoury stand, we had; 

We also thought about doing some Mini Bacon and Egg Sandwiches (cutting out bread, bacon and eggs with cookie cutters) but decided we had more than enough food for our little party! 


Other ideas we had for our savoury stand that you might like to use were;
The possibilities are endless - we also thought of doing mini pancake stacks, mini baked donuts, french toast sticks, waffles - the list goes on and on. You can take all of your favourite breakfast/brunch foods and come up with a combination that works for you!

But tell me, what are your favourite brunch foods? 
And have you ever been to/hosted a brunch party?
I think pancakes are probably my favourite brunch food - and waffles, but I'm always too lazy and too hesitant to get out my waffle iron as everything sticks to it.

This post is sponsored by Kitchenware Direct, however, all opinions, recipes and ideas are Kristy's own and she has not been influenced by the company in any way.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

How to Host Your Own Healthy, Allergy Friendly Sundae Party

DIY Healthy Ice cream Sundae Party - Gluten free, vegan, healthy party ideas

These days allergies are so common. Too common. It seems like everyone knows at least a handful of people with allergies. I know how it feels to be left out because of those allergies, that's why I love coming up with creative ways to entertain that include everyone - regardless of allergies!

This summer, Target Australia asked me if I'd show them how we do summer entertaining - and what's better than an ice cream party?! We just do things a little differently here in the SIL house to make sure everyone can be included!

DIY Healthy Icecream Sundae Party - Gluten free, vegan, healthy party ideas

 Our little ice cream party was pretty much an allergy sufferers dream, it was; 
  • All Natural 
  • Gluten Free
  • Sugar Free
  • Nut Free
  • Egg Free
  • Dairy Free
  • Vegan 
And perfect for a wide variety of diets. But how did we do it? 

DIY Yonanas Party - Gluten free, vegan, healthy, allergy friendly party ideas Our secret weapon was the Yonanas Machine (available at Target) but if you can't get your hands on one, you can also use a high powered food processor or blender. 

We went for three simple flavours. You do get the best results for fruit soft serves when you add a banana (as it adds a creamy texture) but we had some banana haters joining us so we wanted to make sure they had options. 

All you have to do is pop your fruit into your yonana machine or food processor and whizz away. Before you know it, you'll have a deeelicious icy treat. 

SIL Tip: Make sure you slightly defrost your fruits before blending/putting through the yonanas machine or they may come out really icy. 

Icecream Sundae Party Toppings - DIY Sundae Bar
Next, we needed some toppings! We went for: 
  • White and Milk Chocolate Chips 
  • Granola (Freedom Foods Crunchola Granola is gluten free if you can tolerate oats - read more here NOTE: this is no longer gluten free
  • Chocolate Rice Puffs 
  • Sprinkles 
  • Shredded Coconut 
And of course the sauces, 
DIY Icecream Sundae Party - Banana with Vegan and Sugar Free Caramel and Chocolate Fudge SauceDIY Icecream Sundae Party - Banana Icecream with Peanut Butter and Vegan and Sugar Free Chocolate Fudge Sauce

Watermelon Sorbet with Coconut and Mint Then, it was time to get creative! Our Sundae Bowls of choice were these super cute footed bowls from Target (currently on sale for $10.50 for a set of four) and we filled them up with our sundaes. 

The combinations differed from person to person - and there's no guessing who added melted PB to the list of toppings (obviously not nut free, but girl needs her PB!). 

We had everything from Banana with Chocolate and Caramel Swirls to Blueberry with The Lot and Watermelon and Coconut.

One of my favourites? Banana with Chocolate Rice Puffs, Coconut, Chocolate Fudge Sauce and Peanut Butter. Monkey Madness ;) 



How to store Yonanas after making - Can you freeze yonanas
Our Tips for Hosting Your Own Healthy Sundae Party: 

  • Keep it simple - don't put out too many things, you'll overwhelm yourself and your guests 
  • Make the "icecreams" in advance - The morning of our sundae party, we whizzed up our "icecreams" and then put them into clean containers. We then sealed the containers in a zip lock bag (this stops them from freezing too hard) and stored them in the fridge until we were ready to devour them! 
  • Find out what your guests can/can't have - Make sure that everyone's safe by finding out exactly what everyone can or can't have - and be careful of cross contamination! 
  • Enjoy! - Have fun with it and do it more often. This was the perfect party addition because who doesn't like a DIY Icecream Sundae bar?! 
But tell me, what would you put on your dream sundae?
I love chocolate, bananas, peanut butter and coconut so any combination involving any of those items (or all) is perfect for me!




Monday, August 19, 2013

How to Plan a Healthy Party! Our Wedding Shower Recap

How to plan a healthy party menu

We love healthy food (you already know this from the blog!) and it's a huge part of our lives, so it's only natural that we went the healthy route when planning our wedding shower/my 21st birthday party. What we came up with was a menu that was fresh, healthy and delicious - so delicious, in fact, that we weren't even left with any leftovers! 


Kristy and Jesse Wedding Shower Invitations - Gray Chevron and Yellow Damask

Here was Saturday's Invitation! As our Wedding and My 21st are quite close together and we wanted to have a wedding shower as we didn't get to have an engagement party, we decided to combine our Wedding Shower and my Birthday Party in one! 

Lots of you have already sent me emails about what was on the menu on Saturday - and I'm always being asked for suggestions for people planning there own healthy parties - so here's a quick how to guide!

Healthy Party Menu - Starters, Snacks, Salad Bar, Grilled Meats, Dessert
Here's the food overview from Saturday. 


As the party started at 3pm, we had starters/snacks to begin with whilst everyone chatted and the food was made. 

We had a few guests who couldn't stay the entire time so this also meant they were able to have something to nibble on. 



Healthy Party Menu - Gluten Free Starters and Vegan Appetisers
Almost all of the food for the party was gluten free (with the exception of some bread rolls served with dinner) so that everyone could enjoy them - and we made sure to cater to different food needs (vegetarian, vegan, dairy free etc). 

Gluten Free Starters: All of the starters were gluten free! 

Vegan/Dairy Free Starters: Vegetables, Rice Crackers, Pistachios, Corn Chips and Hummus.



Healthy Party Menu - Gluten Free Starters and Vegan Appetisers

All of the starters were a hit with many people asking for the Chobani Avocado Dip Recipe (coming soon) and asking where to buy the Wonderful Pistachios and Dari's Table Hummus (Wonderful Pistachios are available at Coles and Woolworths and Dari's Table Hummus are available at Woolworths). I kept the hummus in the containers so people would know exactly which one they were having. Also, be sure to keep a bowl for the pistachio shells! 


Healthy Party Menu - Salad Bar Menu
The Salad Bar was the star of the party. It took a lot of prep with all of the cutting, washing, slicing, dicing etc - but it was so worth it. 

We had 3 different bases, lots of toppings and some dressings for anyone who wanted them. 

As well as the salads, we had Mini Quinoa Bakes (both plain and with ham) and barbequed meats - chicken breast with cajun seasoning, chicken in a barbeque marinade, sausages and steak.  

Healthy Party Menu - Salad Bar Menu

Everyone loved making their own salads and there was literally nothing left at the end of the night. We bought bulk containers of lettuce/spinach from Costco but everything else was bought from either Fruit and Vegetables Shops or the Supermarket.

The Mini Quinoa Bakes were a huge hit with everyone raving about them - even if they weren't quinoa fans or had never tried quinoa before!

Healthy Party Menu - Gluten Free Desserts - Vegan Chocolate Cake and Blueberry Crumble Cake
Dessert was simple with my Gluten Free Healthy Chocolate Cake made into cupcakes (I doubled the batch) and my Blueberry Crumble Cake (which is my Apple Crumble cake made with frozen blueberries instead of apple).

I would have loved to do a fruit platter too, but we couldn't find a good variety of nice fresh fruit - and we also didn't have any room left in our fridge!

The cakes were a huge hit and disappeared in seconds!

Kristy's Wedding Shower OutfitJesse's Wedding Shower Outfit
Backyard Fire Pit Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes


As always, Kristy and Jesse were too busy talking and doing things during the party so they forget to take any photos of themselves, but there are a few snaps from the night! 

This is exactly why we've decided we need to have pictures taken by a photographer at least once a year on our anniversary! 

For those of you wanting to know about my outfit (I've already replied to those who have emailed/messaged me about it!) the dress was one I picked up from the Valleygirl Store at Birkenhead Point, paired with a beige cardigan cinched in at the waist with a thin brown leather belt with gold sparkly flats on my feet! I got a lot of comments on how I wore the cardigan with the belt over the top - but it gives you a much better shape when you do it this way! 

Like this post? 
and save it for your future party planning!

But tell me, what are your favourite party foods?
Anything that's your specialty?

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