Most of the time I am like the natural food Nazi in the family. My people know when they show up unexpectedly for dinner that they will be served something at least a little bit healthy. I actually get a good bit of flack about it. My sister’s hubby swears that I’ve been “suckered” into the whole natural foods movement. But as much as I prefer serving healthy natural foods to my family there are occasions when I just kind of throw in the towel and prepare some food that is processed, easy and let’s face it, downright tasty!
For Matthias’s first birthday I decided to make a bunch of mini foods: pizza, burgers and hot dogs. I did use organic juice, fruit, peanut butter, cheese and veggies and nitrate free lil smokies and pepperoni (hey a girl has got to have some standards) but the rest is pretty much junk food. And let me tell you… it was good! The best part is that everything that was left over I quickly packed in freezer safe containers and put away for snacks later in the week. It worked out great. I wish I had taken better photos of the food but you can get the idea from looking at these.
Party Punch
- 1/4 cup of cherry juice
- 1 lg. can lemonade concentrate, frozen
- 1 lg. can frozen apple juice concentrate
- 1 lg. can frozen orange juice concentrate
- 2 liter bottles of Ginger Ale
Mix all ingredients together in a punch bowl or pitcher. Serve immediately.
Mini Pizzas
- English Muffins
- 1 jar of pizza sauce
- 1 package of sliced pepperoni
- 1 package of shredded mozzarella cheese
Cut the English muffins in half. Add one tablespoon of pizza sauce to each half. Sprinkle 1 1/2 tablespoons of cheese over sauce. Add pepperoni. Put them in the oven or toaster oven and bake until the cheese is bubbly and the edges of the muffins are brown.
Mini Hamburgers
- 12 dinner rolls
- 1.5 lbs of ground turkey
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- Garlic, salt, pepper, or other seasoning to taste
- Cheese
- Lettuce
- Pickles
- Tomato
- Ketchup
Mix ground turkey, Worcestershire sauce, and seasoning in medium sized bowl. Mix well. Form into meatballs and then flatten into patties. In a large frying pan heat a small bit of coconut oil or other high temperature oil. Add hamburgers and fry for about 3-4 minutes each side or just until cooked. When they are done put them on a brown paper bag so that it soaks up most of the oil that is left.
Cut each of the dinner rolls in half and then in half again to to make a 2 hamburger buns out of each one. Slice the tomato in thin slices and cut up lettuce.
Add a hamburger to each bun. Add cheese, lettuce, pickles, tomato and ketchup. Serve! This recipe makes at least 24 mini burgers.
Mini Hot Dogs
- 12 bake at home dinner rolls
- 12 (nitrate free) cocktail smokies
- condiments
The dinner rolls should be cut in half to make two small “hot dog buns”. Add one smoky sausage to each roll. Bake for approximately 8 minutes or until rolls are done and smokies are warm. Allow kids to add condiments of their choosing.
Peanut Butter Balls
- 2 – cups peanut butter
- 1 – cup sifted powdered sugar
- 36 – chocolate chip cookies, finely crushed
Mix the peanut butter and crushed cookies in a medium bowl. Stir until well blended. Shape peanut butter mixture into balls using about 1 heaping teaspoonful for each ball. Roll in the powdered sugar until balls are evenly coated. Cover. For best results refrigerate at least 1 hour prior to serving.
This recipe will make about 30-40 cookie balls.
Happy 1st Birthday to your little one and these looks so good and fun to make!