Are you planning for your child’s next additive free birthday party?

Your little one’s birthday is soon approaching and you are starting to think about hosting a party.

It can fill you with dread sometimes, all the organisation required, choosing who to invite (just a few close friends or the whole class), choosing suitable entertainment to keep all the kids occupied, and then the food!?

What to serve?

Often so much time has been spent organising everything else that the food is a last minute throw together of quick options.

Sometimes it can be overwhelming too, trying to take into account everyone’s dietary requirements, including gluten free, nut free and sugar free!

Unfortunately, sugar often takes the rap as being the bad guy causing all the bad behaviour in our kiddies after a birthday party.

The truth is, that the sugar is almost always paired with harmful food additives. How many times after a birthday party has your child lost the plot? Tantrums, meltdowns, aggressive behaviour or hyperactivity sound familiar?

I can tell you, that kids consuming plain sugar without all the harmful food additives don’t react anywhere near as much as they do when it is paired with the colours, preservatives and flavour enhancers!

At at typical birthday party you might find the following:

Just these few options above include at least 36 additives that i would recommend avoiding.

This number only includes only the ones that I am able to count on the labels, not all the others that could be lurking conveniently within the food labelling loophole such as Flavour. 

Who knows how many you would actually be consuming in total! In all reality, at a typical kids party you would probably also find chicken nuggets, frankfurters, biscuits, mixed lollies, fruit juice and the birthday cake of course.

These extra items would push the additives that I would recommend avoiding up to over 65!!

Contained within these party foods we have a smorgasboard of additives including many colours, antioxidants and a multitude of flavour enhancers.

These additives can cause the following symptoms in sensitive individuals:

• behavioural problems
• difficulty concentrating
• headaches / migraines
• insomnia
• learning difficulties
• asthma
• aggressive behaviour
• nausea / vomiting
• tantrums
• rashes / hives
• heart palpitations
• irritability

The scary thing is, that these additives are not tested in combination with each other.

We actually have no idea what reaction all these additives together do to our bodies.

How many times have you or your children consumed these types of foods at a party? how have you felt after the party?

I can show you some quick swaps to reduce your additive load, and still have a fun party (just without all the meltdowns and tantrums after)!

• Organic corn chips served with a dip:
  • Beetroot dip
  • Guacamole
  • Black bean dip
  • Hummus
• Sweet potato chips
• Organic vegetable chips

Ensure your bread is preservative free and use something different like dried strawberry sprinkles, tasty and full of goodness.  Kids will love it! 

Other options include:

• Shaped sandwiches
• Shortbread biscuits
• Mini cupcakes (with naturally coloured icing)
• Brownies
• Custard and strawberry tarts
• Double chocolate biscuits

What about the birthday cake?

I can hear you asking what about the Birthday cake?

In my experience kids love talking about their birthday cake and what type they will have for the big day, what flavour, what colour icing etc.  The sky is the limit when deciding what birthday cake you would like to make.  Visit Pinterest for some inspiration (we have many additive free party ideas / themes).

When considering your cake mix consider if you are wanting a:

• basic cake mix
• gluten free cake mix
• simple sponge cake mix or
• basic egg free cake mix

You can carve, shape and mould the cake to your requirements and then top it with some colourful additive free icing.  So many colours to choose from:

• Yellow – using turmeric
• Orange – using raspberries and turmeric
• Light pink – using strawberies
• Red violet – using blueberries
• Purple – using blueberries and baking powder
• Green – using spinach
• Brown – using cacao

You can have a calmer party just with a few simple switches and know that you are reducing your child (and their friends) risk of developing symptoms such as headaches, tummy aches, aggression and behavioural issues after your party.

All the options mentioned above are simple, quick and easy to make and are included in our Additive Free Kids Parties recipe book.

Our children deserve the best and healthiest food we can give them.  With over 150 party recipes (including nut free, vegetarian, wheat free, dairy free, egg free, gluten free) there is no need to sacrifice fun or colour at parties, there are options for everybody!