• SELF LOVE & BODY IMAGE
  • MOTHERHOOD
    • Pregnancy
    • Babies
    • Kids
  • ADVENTURE
  • STYLE
    • Interiors
    • Fashion
    • Beauty
  • FOOD

Mother's Always Right

Mum life, body image, style

  • ABOUT
  • PRESS
  • Podcast
  • Public Speaking
  • YOUTUBE
  • WORK WITH ME
  • #FreeFromDiets campaign
You are here: Home / FOOD / Healthy party food and a toddler tea party

Healthy party food and a toddler tea party

April 24, 2017 by Molly 15 Comments

The words “healthy” and “party food” might not automatically go hand-in-hand, but in my experience of kids’ birthday parties, the healthier the food often the happier the kids and parents. I mean, a room full of hyped up kids on E numbers and sugar isn’t always that fun, is it?

I’ve hosted four big birthday parties now, and a few little ones for the girls. With Frog’s seventh birthday coming up at the end of June (cue: “HOW IS MY BABY GOING TO BE SEVEN?!!” meltdowns) I’m currently on the hunt for more healthy party food ideas to keep her interested. One recipe that always goes down well is homemade pizza, and considering she’s planning a spa and pizza party, I think the homemade pizza idea might work.

A recipe:

For the base:

  • 300g of strong flour (I use strong wholemeal flour)
  • 200 ml luke warm water
  • 1 tea spoon dried yeast
  • A pinch of salt (I use Himalayan sea salt)

For the topping: 

  • 300g passata / chopped tomatoes blended
  • 2 tablespoons tomato puree
  • Grated cheddar cheese
  • Sliced mozzarella
  • Any other toppings of your choice

It couldn’t be easier to make. If you have a bread mixer or cake mixer simply add all your base ingredients and mix until you get a slightly sticky dough. If not, then do it by hand – it takes about five minutes. Cover the bowl with the dough in and leave to prove for 20 minutes or so in a dark, dry cupboard. While the dough is proving, mix your passata with the puree over a low heat on the hob, until you get a lovely rich, silky consistency. Once proved, knead the dough and roll it out before spooning over the sauce and adding your toppings. Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake in the oven on gas mark 6 for around 15 minutes, or until cooked. Easy!

The joy of pizza:

For Frog’s fourth birthday party we did a rainbow theme, and I made two huge rainbow pizzas and served pizza slices instead of sandwiches, which went down really well. The great thing about homemade pizza is that it’s just as good cold and it doesn’t go stale and dry like sandwiches can, so you can prepare it all with loads of time beforehand.

Another idea, which can be just as fun (if a little messy) is getting the kids involved in making their own pizzas, which is what we did at a recent toddler tea party. Watch the video here to see how we got on…

Extra snacks:

Over the years I’ve learned not to go too heavy with the snacks, but that a little goes a long way. When kids are hungry they need food NOW and having a few snacks out on the table is a good way to avoid any hangry episodes if the main party food isn’t quite ready. Chopped up cucumber with hummus is always a good one, along with cubes of cheese, chopped up carrots, grapes cut in half and some no junk crisps like the Organix cheese and herb puffs or carrot sticks.

Organix have some more great tips for catering for a children’s party without dishing up a load of E numbers and sugar, and I love the idea of the sausage party food – I’d do extra of this one for the parents too!

Finally, I think homemade baked cakes are often a winner. But if you don’t have time, hate baking or simply can’t be bothered, then buying a few Organix biscuits and decorating them is a quick cheat. The Goodies mini oaty bites also make great party bag fodder – Baby Girl can sniff these out from a hundred paces…

Have you got any tried and tested healthy party food ideas? I’d love to hear them! 

**

Thanks to Organix for working with me on this post and others as part of their No Junk campaign. For more details of how I work with brands check out my Work With Me page. 

Filed Under: FOOD Tagged With: cooking for kids, cooking with kids, healthy eating, healthy party food, party food, recipes

« Going bare faced for summer
How to do bedtime with a toddler »

Comments

  1. Keiko Jacome says

    May 18, 2017 at 12:28 pm

    I’ll try this pizza recipe for sure, and getting the kids involved will sure be lots of fun. Also: your kids are just so cute!!

    Reply
    • Molly says

      May 18, 2017 at 7:14 pm

      Ah thank you!

      Reply
  2. Gill Crawshaw says

    May 12, 2017 at 4:55 pm

    Spa and pizza party – so jealous! This is a great idea for party food x

    Reply
  3. Emma - Life According to MrsShilts says

    April 28, 2017 at 8:52 pm

    Healthy pizzas sound like a complete winner, everyone loves pizza. We love the carrot crisps too, perfect for little finger foods x

    Reply
    • Molly says

      May 2, 2017 at 10:36 am

      They’re so good aren’t they?!

      Reply
  4. Madeline (This Glorious Life) says

    April 28, 2017 at 6:41 pm

    Some really fab ideas here! I make my own pizza pretty much every week, and love the idea of getting the children to make their own as a party activity! x

    Reply
    • Molly says

      May 2, 2017 at 10:37 am

      Homemade pizza is so tasty isn’t it? And doesn’t feel as indulgent as takeaway!

      Reply
  5. Donna says

    April 26, 2017 at 5:53 pm

    I love making pizzas with the children, such an easy and healthy tea – and the tea party looks lovely x

    Reply
    • Molly says

      April 26, 2017 at 8:19 pm

      Isn’t it? Hard not to steal the leftovers when it’s that tasty though!

      Reply
  6. Leanne Cornelius says

    April 25, 2017 at 3:31 pm

    Loving the healthy pizza recipe, that’s always going to be a winner!
    My daughter loves the Organix carrot crisps.

    Reply
    • Molly says

      April 26, 2017 at 8:20 pm

      They always go down well don’t they?!

      Reply
  7. Jennifer says

    April 24, 2017 at 7:52 pm

    Some great ideas, thank you for sharing! I’ve always found having lots of little snacky bits is best for birthday parties, then there’s bound to be something for even the fussiest eaters! I always find that grapes go down well and veggie sticks.

    Reply
    • Molly says

      April 26, 2017 at 8:21 pm

      Brilliant tip – grapes and veggie sticks are always a winner!

      Reply
  8. Hannah Budding Smiles says

    April 24, 2017 at 6:44 pm

    My two adore the Organix range, so with Martha’s first birthday party on Saturday *sob*, they’re definitely on the list for the little ones xx

    Reply
  9. Michelle Twin Mum says

    April 24, 2017 at 2:54 pm

    When my kids were smaller they loves the Organix Goodies range, so many yummy things. They used to do tiny gingerbread men, that were to die for and I see in your video they still do them! Mich x

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hello and welcome! I'm Molly Forbes - podcaster, presenter and blogger with a passion for positivity, confidence and body image chat. Regularly writing and vlogging about empowering female issues from a motherhood angle, I also cover lifestyle and fashion topics for like-minded mums who want to rediscover themselves after having children. Thanks for stopping by! Read More…

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

YOUTUBE

INSTAGRAM

Dear PE teachers (and everyone), don’t do this 💔
.
If you’re a PE teacher and you’re interested in engaging more kids in class then lose the diet culture and body shaming messaging - even if it’s meant in jest. Research shows kids who feel comfortable in their body are more likely to take part in sports, and movement is for ALL bodies, not just the kids with super athletic toned ones. 
.
Want more insight and help with this stuff? Sign up to a Body Happy Kids workshop - we’ve got you. Oh, and read Train Happy by @tallyrye in the meantime.
.
And parents - if your kids experience this type of messaging in their school setting absolutely challenge it. We’ve got a template letter on the #FreeFromDiets website you can tweak and a downloadable info pack about the workshops you can send to your school if you’d like them to sign up. Just hit the Workshops link in my bio and scroll down towards the bottom of the page.
.
Creating a body happy setting can: 
⚡️increase engagement in class 
⚡️increase engagement in movement 
⚡️increase academic attainment 
⚡️increase happiness, confidence and overall wellbeing
⚡️help kids be more likely to engage in health promoting behaviours 
(And that’s just for starters).
.
PS. I’m not coming for teachers - my husband is one. BUT research shows weight bias is often more common in PE teachers than other subject areas so this is a conversation worth having. 
#BodyHappyKids
I turn 37 in three weeks. When I was younger I use I turn 37 in three weeks. When I was younger I used to think 37 was old. It was “grown-up”, boring, over-the-hill. 
.
By the time you were 37 you had your life figured out, wore sensible clothes and had waved goodbye to the fun stuff. 
.
It’s no surprise I thought that really. Women aged 37 and over - particularly mums - were invisible. The only representations of older women on screen were the matriarchs. Ad campaigns and magazines featured young women in their “prime” (side note: 🤮 hate that phrase - what does “prime” even mean? We’re not cuts of meat. “Prime” baby making age? Is making babies all we’re good for?!)
.
There was no space for any other version of women over 35. Women over 35 weren’t playful, fun, adventurous, sexual, curious. Women over 35 were Responsible, Sensible, Dutiful.
.
Well that’s not what 37 is going to look like for me. Sure I do school runs and meet deadlines and wash smelly socks. But I also play and dance and adventure and enjoy my body. I feel like I’m just getting going to be honest. 
.
37 is going to be a big year. I’m excited. I’m ready. And I’m certainly not invisible. Bring it on.
.
#BirthdayCountdown #MumsGoneWild
Every year @GirlGuiding publishes something called Every year @GirlGuiding publishes something called the Girls’ Attitudes Survey. It’s a big piece of research into the thoughts and feelings of the girls in their community and gives an insight into some of the things that are important to girls and young women in the UK today. 
.
The early findings of the 2020 survey have been released and the headline is (surprise, surprise) girls feel under intense pressure to look a certain way and it’s damaging their confidence and wellbeing. 
. 
Here are some of the stats:
.
⚡️80% of girls and young women have considered changing how they look. 
.
⚡️51% of girls aged 7-10 believe women are judged more on what they look like than what they can do (this figure is up from 35% in 2016).
.
There’s also the finding that two thirds of girls support legislation to stop them seeing ads for diet products and weight loss clubs. 
.
It makes for pretty devastating reading but is worth looking at, particularly if you have a daughter - I’ll link to the early findings in my Stories and the full report will be out next month.
.
These girls are telling us not only do they feel this intense pressure to look a certain way, but that it’s causing them pain. They are telling us they don’t want the pressure, the ads, the constant barrage of negativity making them feel insecure about their appearance and their body. It’s costing them their wellbeing, confidence and health. 
.
It’s time to listen.
.
Sign the #FreeFromDiets petition. Tell your kids’ school about the Body Happy Kids Workshop for teachers. Call out diet culture when you see it (particularly when it comes for your kids). There are more resources in my bio as well as a post on media literacy further down my grid too. It doesn’t have to be this way. 💕✨ #BodyHappyKids
My babies started Year 1 & Year 6 today and as I w My babies started Year 1 & Year 6 today and as I waved them off to school after months of being home, it got me thinking about how my relationship with their first home has changed: my body. ❤️
.
I have thin privilege but I’ve still often felt like my body was “wrong”. Why? Because like many of us I live in a society that taught me to fear fatness and idolise thinness from an early age. 
.
Internalised fatphobia ran so deep that even after my body performed its most miraculous feat of my life - growing and birthing a human - I feared the softness of my belly.
.
I justified the internalised fat phobia by telling myself it was about health, believing that health was a simplified concept I could control and monitor by a number on the scales. 
.
And even when I started to suspect diets weren’t healthy I still failed to recognise the total system of oppression that diet culture is, how it harms so very many people including children, how it creates a culture where discriminating against people over their weight is seen as acceptable under the guise of health concern.
.
I believe we will never end body-based oppression until we do the internal work too, rejecting diet culture & internalised fat phobia. Then we can challenge the health “facts” we’re sold by a multi billion £ industry, and investigate why we’re so ready to accept government diet culture infused health policy when we’re quick to question other policies.
.
It starts with us showing body acceptance to our children, teaching them ALL bodies are good bodies, giving them the tools to question anyone who says otherwise. 
.
This is not just about raising children at peace in their body. It’s about raising children who grow to challenge a system that harms us all, but particularly those in marginalised bodies. 
.
For me, it started with exploring my feelings about my babies’ first home. ❤️
A little story about 🩸periods🩸 and intuitive A little story about 🩸periods🩸 and intuitive movement and diet culture - here’s the headline: DIET CULTURE MESSES UP OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR BODY AND THIS HARM RUNS DEEP.
.
Let me explain. 
.
This was me last week. We hiked up a hill and when we got to the top the sky turned a murky shade of grey. Within seconds we were being pelted by hail and rain. It was GLORIOUS. I felt ALIVE.
.
Not so this week. Because this week I got my period. And instead of relaxing into it, being gentle with myself, I battled it. I got frustrated with myself when exhaustion hit and my brain felt soupy. I tried to dig deep to find my spark, my energy, I felt guilt at missing swim sessions I’d booked. 
.
Why? Because diet culture runs deep. I examined it and realised I was feeling guilt at what I’d told myself I “should” be doing, rather than what my body *actually* needed. “No one regrets a workout! It’ll pep you up! Energise you!” Said the voice. But my body was bleeding and I was tired to my bones. I didn’t feel like it. And I felt like I was letting some invisible person down. 
.
Last night I gave myself permission to be gentle. Cancelled all my swim sessions for a couple of days. Had a bath and put on my comfiest PJs. Turned off my laptop and phone, watched a film and had an early night. It’s what my body needed, and once I actually listened to it I felt so much better. 
.
Embracing the seasons of my cycle and going with my natural energy levels is how I’m reclaiming my relationship with my body, I’ve decided. For me, this is the last internal bastion of rebellion against diet culture. And it’s (literally) bloody liberating 🩸⚡️💥
.
.
.
#BodyHappyMum #JoyfulMovement #DevonIsHeaven #PeriodPower #WeBleed
No child comes fresh out the womb doubting their b No child comes fresh out the womb doubting their body. But, little by little, the messages come.
.
Some of the messages may be from what they see online on TV and in magazines. Some of them may even come from the people who love and care for them - their friends, parents, grandparents, teachers and even doctors. Some of the messages are blatant and some are more insidious.
.
It’s not hopeless though. Here are some things you can do, right now:
✨ Speak to yourself with kindness or use neutral language about your own body in front of your kids.
.
✨Call out the messages when you see them - point them out and talk about what they’re promoting, and show your kids the other perspective. This is called media literacy and I’ve got a post further down my grid with lots more info on this.
.
✨ Teach your kids that beauty and health don’t just look one way, and that regardless of the outside shell of our body all humans deserve respect, empathy and love - and that includes self-love. (Some mantras that I use with my kids to help drive this message home - ALL bodies are GOOD bodies 💕 It’s not your job to be pretty 💕 Your body is YOUR OWN.)
.
✨ Seek out wider representation, whether that’s through books, social media accounts, positive TV shows and films, it all matters.
.
✨ Set clear boundaries - if you have a family member or friend who constantly discusses diets, body shames themselves or makes comments about other people’s bodies (and maybe even your child’s) have a conversation with them about why this isn’t OK. Explain that little ears are always listening and you’re working hard to raise your kids to have a happy, healthy relationship with their body. 
.
For more resources on this check out the links in my bio ❤️
#BodyHappyKids
.
.
[📸 My one day old daughter’s foot in my hand, taken in 2010, by @carolinepalmerphoto]
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2020 · Mothers Always Right. Design by Stacey Corrin

This site uses cookies: Find out more.