Parties are a great way to connect with new and old friends. They are filled with fun, joy, and food. There should always be a good variety of snacks available at any party. However, snacks at a party can often be very unhealthy and can lead to too much consumption. It doesn't have to be that way--having healthy snacks at your party can leave most party guests satisfied.
Fruit and Veggie Tray
Most parties have a wide variety of potato chips with many varieties of dips. Although there is a time and place for potato chips, they are considerably unhealthy. If you want to have healthy snacks to dip, make a fruit and vegetable tray instead of a potato chip tray. Grapes, peeled oranges, peeled apples, cut kiwi and avocados make an excellent and diverse assortment of fruit. Your selection of vegetables should be similarly diverse. Raw carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, mini-corn, water chestnuts, and green beans make excellent dipping veggies. Avoid high fat store bought dips. Make your own low fat dip.
Low Fat Dips
Making a tasty low fat dip is simple and fun. When you are making a normal dip you should substitute low fat yogurt for the cream cheese. The problem with most store-bought and homemade dips is that they utilize a high amount of cream cheese. Cream cheese helps give the dip its flavor and texture, but it is also high in fat. Cutting the cream cheese out of your dip will lower the fat and also give your dip a different flavor and texture.
If you don't have time to make your own dip, you can also use salsa. Salsa is a healthy dip as it is mostly composed of vegetables. For the healthiest kind, make your own.
Hummus also makes an excellent low fat dip for veggies.
Hazelnuts
Nuts are a popular party and personal snack. They are also known to be high in fat. It may seem strange to include nuts as a healthy party snack, but nuts are actually healthy because of their fat. The fat in nuts is unsaturated fat, which is the good kind of fat. CheapHealthySnacks.com (see References) reports that unsaturated fats "help promote healthy hair, skin and nails, nourishing them from the inside out." They suggest hazelnuts in particular, reporting that they are "94 percent good fat!" Put small bowls of hazelnuts on each table at your party. This small bowl of nuts will help whet their appetites before the main courses are served.
Red Wine
If you are older than 21 and feel like having alcohol at , you should use red wine instead of beer of any other kind of alcoholic beverage. Red wine is full of antioxidants, which help fight off infections, diseases, and bacteria. It is also much lower in fat and calories than most alcoholic beverages. Make a variety of red wines available for your party-goers. Try to avoid making too much available, however. Having a group of drunken and rowdy party guests leaving your house could lead to driving accidents, fights, or worse. Too much alcohol of any kind is unhealthy, and red wine is no different. A glass or two should be enough for most party guests.
Veggie Pizza
A common misconception about pizza is that it is a very unhealthy food. However, this is only true of pizzas that use only meat. Meat is full of fat and cholesterol and the grease from the meat will get all over the rest of the pizza. However, a veggie pizza can be quite healthy, if only a slice or two is eaten. The crusts can be made out of whole wheat, which will increase its nutritional value. The sauce is made of tomatoes. Using vegetables like mushrooms, olives, onions, and peppers will only increase the nutritional value of the pizza. People often have a tendency to eat too much pizza, so make only the "right" amount available.
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