A Special Birthday Menu

We celebrated Jack’s first birthday this past weekend, and I wanted to share some pictures and a couple healthy recipes from the birthday menu.

The birthday boy!

Wagon rides with his buddies!

Jack’s birthday cupcakes – healthy of course! (see recipe below)

Singing Happy Birthday & cupcake time! He really liked it even though you can’t tell from his face 😉

I kept the birthday menu fairly simple because who wants to spend the entire time in the kitchen when you’re hosting your kid’s birthday party. Appetizers were organic baby carrots, snaps peas and Fontaine Sante hummus (that’s my favorite brand – no soy oil or preservatives). We also served my friend Colleen’s famous Black Bean & Corn Salsa with Late July tortilla chips (now available at Costco!).

Colleen’s Black Bean & Corn Salsa

Ingredients
2 cans Eden Organics black beans
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups thawed organic frozen corn
1 avocado, peeled and cut into chunks
1 red bell pepper, diced small
2 medium tomatoes, diced small
6 green onions, diced small
1 fresh jalapeno pepper – minced (optional)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Method

Rinse and drain beans really well. Chop avocado, pepper, tomatoes, onions and cilantro.

In a small bowl, whisk lime juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and cayenne until combined.

In a large bowl, combine beans, corn, avocado, bell pepper, tomatoes, onions, chili pepper and cilantro.

Drizzle dressing onto bean & corn mixture, toss and serve with Late July tortilla chips (or another healthy tortilla chip!) – Enjoy!

For the main dish we served PC Free-From Angus Burgers with a few gourmet topping options: grilled onions, PC Free-From Bacon, sauerkraut, and dijon mustard.

And finally for the birthday boy’s dessert: Healthy Banana Cupcakes with” as-healthy-as-I-could-manage” Cream Cheese Coconut Icing. Both the cupcake and the icing can be made the day before, and refrigerated over night so all you have to do is ice them the next morning!

Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Coconut Icing
(makes 12, but I doubled it for the party)

Ingredients

Cupcakes:
1 cup rolled oats
¾-cup of whole wheat flour
1 tsp. of baking soda
½ tsp. of salt
1 tbsp. of ground flax seed
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/3-cup of grapeseed oil or coconut oil
1/3-cup of real maple syrup or honey
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas, mashed
¼-cup water
Icing
2, 250g packages of Philadelphia cream cheese
1/2 cup real maple syrup
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

If your bananas are in the freezer, de-thaw them in the fridge for a few hours before you start baking or overnight. Mash bananas in a bowl.

In a large bowl, beat the oil & maple syrup together. Add the eggs and beat well. Add the mashed bananas and beat to combine.

Stir together dry ingredients in a small bowl.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet; alternating with water, and stirring after each addition.

Spoon the batter into greased muffin cups (I use a spray coconut oil, and spray each cup to make sure they don’t stick to the paper) and put them in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes or until they are golden brown.

Take them out of the muffin trays, and let them cool on a rack.

For the icing:

Bring cream cheese up to room temperature for a few hours.

Using a stand or hand mixer, whip cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add maple syrup and coconut sugar, whipping after each addition until combined. Store icing in the fridge until ready to ice your cupcakes.

People always say the first year goes so fast, and I really didn’t believe that in the beginning when I was breastfeeding every 2-3 hours around the clock, but it does! I’m trying to enjoy every moment with him, even the hard ones, because I have a feeling I’m going to blink and he’ll be all grown up. Jack is an awesome little guy, and we thank God for him everyday.