Recipe Ideas for My Son's First Birthday

BettyCrocker.com has birthday party themes and recipes.

I personally love this appetizer.

Drizzle some real maple syrup over brie and top with walnuts or pecans. Serve with a knife and water crackers. It's always a hit especially when people arrive hungry.

You can do fresh mozzerella balls and grape tomatoes on toothpicks. Just drizzle them with a little olive oil and vinegar and their good to go. Antipasta skewers are good too. you can take the hard breadsticks and wrap them with ham and/or cheeses. cut up fruit is an easy go to dish. You could also make sandwhiches and then cut them out with cookie cutters to make them fancy. Hope the ideas help.

You are one busy lady!!! When I'm having a party with mixed company, I like to throw something in the crockpot like Sloppy Joes or BBQ ham for sandwiches...pretty inexpensive & feeds a lot.

Maybe a cheese & fruit tray -- would appeal to all ages.

Throw some punch in punchbowl with rainbow sherbet...yum!

And if you have a Publix nearby, they will give you a free "baby's 1st birthday" cake for the birthday boy (as long as you order a regular cake there)!

ADD ON: FORGOT ONE! MY MOM DID THIS AT MY SON'S 2ND BIRTHDAY AND IT WAS SIMPLER THAN YOU THINK AND A BIG HIT: MINI ICE CREAM CONES.
BUY VANILLA ICE CREAM, YOU CAN GET THESE TINY KIDS CONES AT PUBLIX (60 TO A BOX - PERFECT SIZE FOR A ONE YEAR OLD, THEY'RE LIKE BITE SIZE), DRY ICE IN A COOLER (ALSO FROM PUBLIX) AND MAKE MINI ICE CREAM CONES EITHER ON DEMAND OR YOU CAN MAKE AHEAD AND FREEZE FOR THE DAY. THE KIDS LOVED THEM...SO DID THE ADULTS. YOU COULD ALSO DIP IN SPRINKLES FOR COLOR OR USE DIFFERENT ICE CREAM FLAVORS.

Woohoo! Love the birthday parties! You want to have things 1-year olds will eat...and so will their parents. Keep it simple, yummy and somewhat healthy:
1) fruit platter - apples, grapes, strawberries, whatever is on sale and looks good. Cut into slices. Put on a platter. Publix has this delicious fruit dip in the veggie/fruit section (it's either yogurt or cream cheese based - kids and adults love it).
2) veggie platter - cut carrot sticks, celery sticks. Serve with favorite premade veggie dip or ranch dressing.
3) sandwich platter - pb& j, cream cheese & lox, turkey & cheese. Pick 2 or 3 of you and your son's favorites. Cut into small triangles OR cut into cookie cutter shapes (you can also do both and put the cookie cutter ones on top).
4) Cheese platter - precut cubed cheese (kids usually love cheese) with crackers.
NOTE: ALL OF THE ABOVE CAN BE PURCHASED PREMADE AT PUBLIX, IT'S EASIER, BUT IT CAN GET EXPENSIVE
5) cupcakes are a big hit and easier to serve
6) bowls of chips, popcorn, mini cookies or other favorite snack

First birthdays are always fun . I saw a program on t.v. on different styles of cupcakes. How about hamburger cupcakes. From what I observed, you would have to make yellow and chocolate cupcakes; you will need cut the tops of the cupcake (2 yellow tops to represent the bread, one chocolate top to represent the burger); the rest of the cupcakes can be sliced and used to represent round tomatoe(s). You will need to dye white frosting to red and green. The red will be used to frost the sides of the sliced cupcakes (tomatoes)and the green is to frost the bottom of the yellow top. You can serve it with chips. Hope your son enjoys his first birthday.

M.,

Here's what I do for every birthday because there are too many people, you can't make everyone happy, and the stress isn't worth the party.

Drinks:

1 2liter of each: pepsi, coke, diet pepsi, mountain dew, dr. pepper.

Make a picture of sweet tea and one of unsweet.

1 bag of each: Doritos, lays, cheetos, and tostitos

make one lipton onion dip and get cheese salsa and regular salsa.

Buy 1 large watermelon, 1 cantelope, and one honeydew.
Using an ice cream scoop, measuring spoons (1/8 cup and 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup) make balls with fruit and when finished put balls back in rind. Easy clean up what ever is left put in the trash, no dishes.

1 large block each: Colby jack, monterey pepper, and swiss cheeses.
1 box each: ritz and saltine crackers
pepperoni or summer sausage.

All of this can be taken care of before hand and all is easy to prepare and clean up.

Remember no one cares what is there or isn't all they will remember is that they were there to celebrate the first of many birthdays with your child. That's special.

OH don't forget the cake!

Have fun and Best of Luck!
J.

If you still need ideas I have one for you. My husband is from Brazil and he turned me on to some of the foods from there. They have these appetisers called Coxinhas - they are totally yummy. Luckily there is a store in Pinellas Park called Sugarloaf that makes them. (located on Park Ave before 49th if you were going east on Park) They sell them daily but they are larger size then what you would need for a party. They also sell other appetisers called Pasels (almost like a hot pocket) and Quibe (deep fried meetball). If you want to make them you can get the recipe at www.cookbrazil.com. Sugar loaf sells a party size of each of the foods I mentioned and they sell them for $55 per 100. If you go there ask for Michelle - she speaks very good English.

Make pb&j's ahead of time. Cut into shapes w/cookie cutters and freeze. Thaw to serve.

Grape finger jell-o
1 (12oz) can frozen grape juice concentrate, thawed
4 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cups (1 can) water

Soften gelatin in grape juice. Boil water, andd juice/gelatin mixture and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat, pour into lightly greased pan and chill. Cut into squares when firm. Refrigerate. To make apple (no stain), use apple juice concentrate instead of grape. I've made it with orange, too. The grownups will pick at the squares, too.

At the NICU reunion (600 people), we have found that pb&j's, small oatmeal and peanut butter cookies, bowls of apples and bananas, and individually packaged drinks covers it for everyone. The expense of individual drinks is worth it - saves on messes, cups, spills, etc.

A fun idea for the kids is "fishing" You need pretzel rods, peanut butter and goldfish crackers. Give each child a small plate with some peanut butter on it, a pretzel rod and goldfish. They did the end of the pretzel rod in the PB and try to pick up the goldfish. Its a fun and healthy snack.

I would get deli meats, cheeses lettuce taomatoes and some sub rolls and have a make your own sandwiches. I have had that a lot at birthday parties and with some chips and pasta salad is easy and inexpensive.

This one sounds crazy but is very good. Take a slice of ham (lunch meat), spread cream cheese on it and then take a dill pickle and roll it up. After rolling slice so they are little round circles. Sounds crazy but everyone always eats them up.
I have an easy artichoke dip recipe, it is hot, but you can make it the day before and just put it in the oven for 25 minutes before the party. I get requests for this all the time. One canister of the shredded Parmessean cheese, one small can of the chopped green chiles (mexican food section) and two 15oz cans of artichokes chopped up, and finally two cups of mayonnaise. Mix everything together and put in a 13 x 9 pan and bake at 350degrees for 25 minutes. I mix the night before so that I just bake for the party, and I serve with scoops chips and triscuits. For the kiddies, if most are around 1, I would simply do veggies and/or fruit and dip along with some goldfish crackers. Also another good one for the kids which does require cooking, but can be completely done the day before and then just put in the oven with the above dip. Take full size hotdogs and wrap in crecent rolls and slice so they are little hotdog discs wrapped in roll. You can wrap and slice the day before and they just bake up the day of the party and since they are hotdogs for little ones, room temp is typically fine.
Sam's club also has these premade pinwheel sandwhiches which come frozen all you do is defrost and they are good.
For drinks you could use Sprite and some kind of sherbert, makes it foamy, flavorful and colorful.
E-mail me directly if you were thinking something more specific, I love watching the food channel and have tons of cookbooks! And always trying new stuff. Good Luck
S. Gallo
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M.,

I have a whole book you can borrow :) or i can scan some pages to email you - email me and I can get it to you. You'll love it and its easy and cheap to make - we use it for my daycare kids all the time!

Patty
http://members.cox.net/myhomedaycare/index.html

TRY THIS, EASY AND AT LOW COST. INVITE EVERYONE FOR BREAKFAST AT 10AM ON A SATURDAY OR SUNDAY AND SERVE...

ORANGE JUICE
MILK
YOGURTS
CEREALS
BAGELS
CREAM CHEESE
TUNA SALAD
EGG SALAD
FRUIT
BIRTHDAY CAKE

GOOD LUCK, M.

Hello,
One favorite I always love is those ham and cream cheese pickles...yum those are the best...another is a taco dip. You need 1 package of cream cheese (room temp) and 1 16 0z container of sour cream, 1 package of taco seasoning, 1 tomatoe, lettuce (olives, onions optional w/ kids in mind) mix the taco seasoning sour cream and cream cheese together spread it on a baking sheet put tomatoe lettuce and cheese on it in layers. Serve cold with tortilla chips.

Are you having a theme for the party? When my son turned 1, we had an Elmo/ Sesame Street party and served goldfish crackers in a large plastic fishbowl, and fruit & cheese and veggie & dip platters (very simple and can be prepared the day before). We also chose to do decorated cupcakes rather than a cake to make serving everyone easier. I displayed the cupcakes on a 3 tiered cake platter- but you could also wrap different sized boxes with bright paper to display. I have also heard of different colors of jello served in small clear plastic cups with bamboo umbrellas or gummy worms or other themed items. Parents and Women's Day always have great simple and cost effective ideas too. Hope that helps- good luck!

How about a 7 layer mexican dip

you can make as big or as little as you want

Layer in order

Starting with:
Refried beans
Guacamole
Sour cream (with a little taco seasoning mixed in)
Shredded cheese
cut up tomato
sliced olives

Serve with tortilla chips

You could try little smokies...I have taken them and heated them in a crockpot with barbeque sauce. They are great finger foods. I know you wanted cold, but these are easy because you just throw them in the crockpot and forget about them. I would also suggest fruit, not much fun about it, but you can't see to go wrong with kids and some grapes, watermelon and cantelope. Good luck with your party!

Wow, I was in your exact same position when my oldest turned one, but we were also getting ready to move out of state! I even made the cake and frosting (a stand-up Pooh cake, turned out gorgeous!) You'll want stuff that's not very messy. Fruit is always a good choice and it's healthy. Try just doing a meat and cheese tray with rolls on the side. Everyone can make their own little sandwiches. I wouldn't go overboard with food. Here's a good punch: Hawaiian Punch, can of pineapple juice, ginger ale all mixed together. You can add as much or as little of each ingredient to suit your own taste.

And if anyone reading this wants a really cool standup Pooh cake, and you live fairly close to Lakeland, I can make it. I still have all the stuff to do it.

I love easy platters, fruit and veggie and finger sandwhiches are always a hit. Maybe a bowl of chips and salsa too. A really yummy summer salad I make is from Kraft, its a box of curly noodles, italian dressing and cut up veggies such as cucumbers, green/red peppers, tomatoes, onions - mix and chill for several hours/overnight. I've not ever had anyone not like it. A fun punch to serve is KID'S HOLIDAY FUN PUNCH

1 pkg. Kool Aid
2 lg. cans fruit punch h 2 liter red pop
2 liter orange soda
2 liter favorite non-cola, except ginger ale
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream or sherbet (your desire)

Mix first 5 ingredients in large punch bowl. (DO NOT ADD WATER OR SUGAR TO KOOL AID.) Scoop ice cream or sherbet into punch just 5-10 minutes before serving. Let it froth. Adults love it as well as the kids. You'll keep coming back for more.

NOT SURE IF ANY ONE ELSE HAS MENTIONED THIS BUT HAVE YOU TRIED KRAFT FOODS.COM THEY AHVE A LOT OF EASY STUFF. I MADE MY OWN CAKE FOR MY DAUGHTERS 1ST B-DAY BECAUSE I DIDNT WANT ALOT OF SUGAR ECT BUT I MADE CUPCAKES FOR BIGGER KIDS IN ICE CREAM CONES JUST MAKE THE MIX POUR IN MUFFIN TIN PUT CONE ON TOP BACK AND THERE U HAVE IT I USED CONFETTI MIX AND ICED LATER THE KIDS THOUGHT IT WAS SO COOL.. I ALSO BOUGHT READY MADE BISCUITS AND VUT IN QUARTERS AND FLATTENED IN MUFFIN TIN AND PUT TACO MEAT OR WHATEVER WITH SOME CHEESE BAKE AND EASY FINGER FOOD..

HOPE THIS HELPED SOME

H.

I was looking at recipes...and saw a few for you.

I saw deviled eggs....that doesn't take long to make.
You can make a fruit and veggie platter. or even lunch meat and cheese with crackers.
How bout chips and salsa.
Or mini sandwiches.

or make a lil buffet and make ur own sandwiches.

oh and about drinks.....if you have a punch bowl....use like sherbert and sprite or 7up with some kind of fruit punch or pineapple juice or both.

those are ones i can think of...hope they help

Go on line to Kraftfoods.com. The site is really easy to use & they have a ton of fun recipies.

Only have 1 idea and that is birthday cupcakes, makes box cakes go much farther and kids can add toppings they like or you can ice them your way or your son's favorite toppings. Good luck with all those moms and KIDS ;-) B.

Here are some things that I served at my daughter's 1st birthday:

Apples, bananas, crackers, peanut butter (just in a bowl like a dip to put on fruit & crackers) Hummus, chips, a mexican layered dip (refried beans, cheese, salsa, guacamole, sourcream, granished w/ cheese, tomatoes, green onions & black olives,)rice cakes, carrot sticks & ranch dip, I had some teething biscuts on hand for the little ones, apple juice and water. I got lots of thank you's from the mom's for having such healthy snacks. I hope that helps, you've got the right idea to keep it simple. I just had another idea, why don't you have a peanut butter & jelly making station? The kids could have fun picking their own jelly, you'd be suprised how many adults love pb&j too!

A favorite of ours to serve is chicken fingers and potato wedges from Walmart and a crockpot of cocktail smokie weeniers.

I recently had my twin's first birthday and I ordered trays from our local Chik-Fil-A. They did a great job, gave me all the napkins, silverware, etc to go along with it, I even ordered jugs of lemonade and iced tea from them (the drinks were ridiculously expensive though, I'd get that kind of thing from a grocery store!)Anyways, no cooking, minimal cleanup, it was great! Publix also does a lot of different party trays that are supposed to be good.

Simple, Yummy and Inexpensive... Peanut Butter & jelly sandwiches, some kids are allergic to Peanuts though so if they're really close to you you could find out ahead of time. Also, goldfish for snacks and chocolate pudding and gummy worms make the child-hood "mud-pie" downright edible! Have fun!

I am about to have baby #3 and I LOVE to throw parties!

I would keep it simple. Serve things in large quanties...think picnic. Serve hot dogs and hamburgers and pasta salad, veggie tray, cheese and crackers, & fruit. This will satisfy everyone. You can cook the meat right before the party and keep warm in the oven on LOW. All the rest can be done a day or two before OR you can buy from a deli or Sam's club.

I also have done chicken nuggets, fruit and goldfish for kids and Cobb salad for adults at my youngest 2nd bday party. It was a Nemo theme and I used TONS of fish serving ware/dishes. It was a success. Cobb salad....layer your items in a row on LARGE platter....ham, turkey, tomatoes, olives, chesses, etc. It was so pretty. Another idea would be to do Pork BBQ and lots of sides but I would offer a more kid friendly food too. Remember to keep it simple and elaborate on the presentation!!!!

Good luck!
C.

I did my dtr's first with cupcakes - easy - arranged them in the shape of a butterfly and a flower (two trays)...Also the only other advice is DELIGATE...have different tables for your foods and ask an adult to be in charge of that area give as many people a "job" to do as possible so you can enjoy your childs birthday - as someone also to be in charge of taking pictures so you can in them as well.