I really enjoy throwing a party. The opportunity to gather together with friends and family, celebrate a big event, o
r to introducing new neighbors to the hood. I adore birthday parties and baby showers and bridal parties. I always remember this quote which I’ve heard is attributed to Oprah Winfrey (but who knows…this is the internet, after all), “the more in life you celebrate, the more of life there is to celebrate.” I believe it!
This weekend, I had the wonderful pleasure of celebrating a dear friend’s pregnancy by co-hosting her Safari-themed baby shower. As you can imagine, the food is my favorite part of any party and this celebration was no different. As a registered dietitian nutritionist, I also always think parties are a great place to show people that (1) healthy food can taste great and (2) desserts, sweets, and treats can be enjoyed too!
For my sweet girlfriend’s shower, another bud and I got together to co-host. (As an aside, co-hosting is a great way to share the blessing and split the work/expense for any type of entertaining.) My friend is a talented baker and sweet maker, so she took charge of the cupcakes and made some ADORABLE monkey cupcakes…thanks to some pinsperation, of course!
To help balance these treats (and the Little Debbie Zebra cakes), I 
prepared some healthy appetizers — a big beautiful bowl of fruit, vegetable crudite with dip, peanuts, ants on a log (when was the last time you had these?!), pretzels and hummus, and cucumber bites topped with cream cheese, ground pecans, minced scallion, and dried cranberries. As you can see from the pictures, these fresh options made a striking and colorful presentation. There were sweet, salty, crunchy and creamy offerings. It was delicious! And it was so pretty. It was also good for my guests.
What are your favorite healthy party dishes?
