Whoa, talk about MIA. Apparently I forgot how to blog the past few weeks. Eek!
Well, I’m back and I actually do have a lot to share 🙂 My husband and I just wrapped up our 20 days eating whole30. I know, I know, if it was only 20 days, it wasn’t a whole 30, but it’s better than nothing, right? And at least now we know we won’t die doing it next time. If we can make it 20 days we can definitely make it 30. Eventually we will do it again. The right way 😉
For those of you who don’t know, whole30 is very similar to paleo, but slightly stricter. No alcohol. No sweeteners of any kind. No grains. No dairy. Basically no processed foods. Just whole wholesome foods. Veggies, meat, fruit, nuts, seeds, and healthy oils. www.whole30.com has all the info you need and delicious recipes too. If you are interested 🙂 I definitely was able to add some brand new favorite recipes to my recipe box, which is awesome!
Okay, so the main reason we didn’t make it to 30 days was because this past weekend was my birthday weekend and we wanted to have a celebration that included red wine and chocolate chip cookies, so whole20 seemed reasonable.
So, last night was the big night, and we had a great time. We were able to celebrate and eat great paleo friendly food at the same time! If you’ve ever thought about eating paleo but wondered what you would eat/serve at a party, here are some helpful hints. We had quite the spread, and 90% of it was 100% paleo. (And super easy!)
I think many people don’t change their diets because they are scared of how difficult it might be, or how boring, or restricted they will feel. I promise, once you get the hang of it, paleo is NOT boring. (Search my hashtag #paleodoesnotequalboring and you’ll see for yourself)
Okay so back to the food. We served fresh and roasted veggies, and I made a yummy veggie dip to go with them. (I’ll share the recipe below) we had fresh fruit with 3 different fruit dips. Vanilla, chocolate, and pumpkin spice. (I’ll share that recipe too) there was chicken apple sausages (aidells has some paleo friendly flavors) for dessert we had paleo chocolate chip cookies (recipe from www.primalpalate.com) fresh guacamole and jacksons honest potato chips were on the menu too, and sheep’s milk cheese and uncured salami also. I think it’s safe to say we did not go hungry.
There are tons of healthy options when it comes to party foods and appetizers. Sometimes you just have to get a little creative, and sometimes you just have to go back to basics. Fruits and veggies always work.
So here’s the part you’ve been waiting for…..fruit and veggie dips recipes!
Tahini dip (recipe from www.paleoplan.com)
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 cup water
Juice of 1/2 lemon squeezed
3 finely chopped garlic cloves
Pinch of salt
Combine in a bowl until smooth. Sprinkle paprika on top. Dip any veggie you want 🙂 I love it with roasted cauliflower!
Vanilla and chocolate fruit dips (www.everydaypaleo.com)
2 ripe bananas
1 cup coconut milk (I use canned)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp coconut flour
1 1/2 tablespoons cacao powder
Combine all ingredients (except cacao) in food processor. Blend until smooth. Pour half into a storage container or serving dish. Add cacao into remaining portion and blend again until combined. Now you have a vanilla dip and a chocolate dip.
I did a second batch and instead of cacao for the second half I put about 2 tablespoons of Nikki’s pumpkin spice coconut butter in and blended. All three dips were quite runny, but after refrigerating they thickened up a bit. We dipped apples, bananas, strawberries and grapes in them and they were all delicious! 😍
Hopefully you will find these ideas helpful. Even if you don’t choose to eat paleo all the time, you still can create some healthy AND delicious party foods. Hope you get to enjoy these at your next celebration!
