As a dietitian planning a birthday party, I gotta tell you there is a little bit of pressure when it comes to serving food. From my guests, who know I am a little more health conscious than your average American, I know they will be “scrutinizing” what I serve. From my family, who thinks I am the healthiest person on the planet, (nothing could be further from the truth by the way) they are looking for sweets and treats making sure my child is not being deprived from his “right of childhood.” So here was my compromise.

We had train sandwiches with most of the veggies on the side that people could add themselves.

We also had a train of sides:  blackberries, pretzels, potato strings, animal crackers, strawberries, and raspberries.

Even though my husband and mother thought I was crazy for not wanting to make a box cake, I determinedly baked a homemade strawberry cake with swiss buttercream icing. (keeping me up until midnight the night before.) I do have to admit that it was well worth the extra time it took. It was delicious if I do say so myself, plus I knew everything that went in it – no preservatives or trans fat! If you are interested in the recipe check out Smitten Kitchen‘s pink lady cake.

As for drinks, we just had apple juice for tots (less sugar than regular juice) and water.  I did notice that my husband put a soda out at some point. He definitely snuck that one by me.

So all in all I think it was a crowd pleaser. Plenty of fruits and veggies for the healthy eaters and yet there was still cake and potato chips for those who insist on a little bit of sugar and fat in their diet 🙂 Just how a birthday party should be!

Oh, and I can’t leave out the physical activity. We had a jump house, a friendly game of chug-a, chug-a, choo-choo (better known as duck, duck, goose), a music train, and a train wagon (which only provided exercise for Paw-Paw!)

All in all we had a wonderful time celebrating. Thanks so much to everyone who helped make it so successful!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday to my little train engineer!!!