Healthy Paleo Party, for Kids?!

When my friends have a guest attending their party who has an allergy to dairy or gluten, I’m usually asked for food suggestions. Only upon hearing other people’s suggestions do I realise how much sugar we have cut from our diet.

For BallinaGirl’s party, I tried to keep things to paleo or vegan, as we had guests in attendance who followed these diets. After seeing BallinaGirl’s rise and fall after many sugar loaded party foods, I decided to stay clear of the lollies too.

For her party I served:
– A rainbow fruit platter (previous parties have had them on kebab sticks, but I had other kebab stick related party food too)
– Felafel and hummus
– Bananas dressed up as pirates (texta used to draw face with eyepatch, and napkin as a bandana)
– Vegetable sticks and sweet potato dip
– Beetroot, Taro & Sweet Potato Chips
– “Chocolate Squares”
– Paleo sausages
– Salad
– Rainbow veggie kebabs
– Paleo chocolate cupcakes
– Paleo vegan cupcakes
– Paleo chocolate brownies (brought by a guest)
– Popcorn (brought by a guest)

The party bags had no lollies either, so no added sugar high for the ride home.

If children are only provided healthy options, they will only be able to choose healthy options. And who can say no to a plate of fruit with the colours of the rainbow?

Green (paleo) Bacon

While doing whole30, I realised I would be without bacon… Until Amy from Fighting Fit Super Centre noticed the “paleo” sticker in the butcher in the Main Street of Alstonville. They soon discovered ‘Green Bacon’, and brought new happiness to all of the whole30ers in our group.

Green Bacon has been cured by the butcher, who is also following a paleo diet, without any of the unwanted stuff. No sugar, no preservatives, and no grains (check your labels! It’s amazing what you can find in bacon!!). They even slice it fresh, when you order it.

This bacon is awesome! A bit fattier than my usual bacon, and it still has the rind on it, but it is oh, so delicious! It crisps up quickly, and brings a party to my taste buds.

It is a little expensive, at $24/kg but, it is well worth it as a little treat for my weekend breakfasts with the family. I’m not sure I would even go back to normal bacon once my whole30 has finished.

If you are interested in getting some Green Bacon, or even checking out some of the other paleo marinated meats they have at Alstonville’s Quality Meats, head to 83 Main St, Alstonville or call them on 0266280825.

Paleo Sausages

I am loving paleo sausages right now. Cherry Street butcher makes two varieties, a thick one with fennel and a thin one with paprika. I could have them mixed up, but whatever flavour the thin one is, it is delicious!

What makes them a “paleo sausage” is that they are made with no grain fillings (meatier!), no sugar and no preservatives. So you need to freeze these bad boys as soon as you get home or cook them quick! Neither are a problem for me, although working out how I should break it up can be. Sometimes the kids eat all of what I have made for me, other times I end up eating the whole lot and have too much!

BallinaGirl and I have been having a few sausages over the past couple of days, especially after I discovered how delicious it was dipped in to a whole30 approved baba ganoush that Amy from Fighting Fit Super Centre had made. Yum!

You can call Cherry Street Butcher to order some, on 02 6686 2610.

P.S. I am doing whole30 at the moment. I’ll have to write up a blog post about it when I’m finished. More info on whole30 can be found here.

Raw Paleo Carrot Cake Bliss Balls

We tried this recipe out at a Mamabake we had the other day. It was a huge success, so much so, there were none left for us to take home.

BallinaGirl, while hesitant to try it (she seems to be going through a everything is “yuck!”, with tongue out or spitting included in the disgust, phase), LOVES them and requested I make some more “balls like we had at that house”. So I decided to make some lunchbox approved ones (i.e. with no nuts). I unfortunately didn’t measure, and just added what I needed as I went. But looks a bit like this:

2 handfuls of sunflower seeds
1 handful dried dates
1 handful fine coconut
1 large carrot, grated
1 clove
Sprinkle of cinnamon (to taste)
Coconut oil (can be left out)
Fine coconut and chia seeds to coat

Whizz the sunflower seeds in a food processor with clove until very fine.
Remove from processor.
Whizz the dates and coconut until fine and sticking together.
Pour sunflower seed mixture back, and cinnamon in and mix.
Add grated carrot and whizz until mixed.
Add coconut oil if required, to help reach desired consistency.
Roll in to balls and then roll through coconut and chia seeds to coat. Throw them in the fridge to firm them up.

I found the mixture to be quite moist, both times I made it, so maybe some more playing with it can help it firm up a little.

They don’t last long though, BallinaGirl keeps sneaking them out of the fridge!