Guide to Great Paleo Appetizers for Your Super Bowl Party
The key to making your Super Bowl party the bash of the year begins in the planning. Begin with who you are going to invite. Once you have your guest list, take some time to look it over and make any special dietary notes. This year is a great year to throw a Paleo party. While this may sound like a challenge because you can’t use processed foods, it really is pretty easy to create amazing Paleo appetizers, easy Paleo meals, and more for your Super Bowl party.
Next, decide if you will be serving Paleo appetizers only, or are you going to choose one of many easy Paleo meals, or both? Once you have these decisions made, you are ready to plan your menu. To help you prepare your Paleo shopping list, consider using our Paleo Guide. Plan your perfect Paleo party using it for reference and it will make the job much easier.
As you create your menu, go through your recipes and add all the ingredients needed to your Paleo shopping list. Figuring out exactly how much to serve is truly an art. Take some of the pressure off and use an estimator like about.com’s Estimating Food Amounts for a Party. Rule number one for your Paleo shopping list is to always round estimates up, never down. If you know you have some hearty eaters, plan accordingly. It is better to have some left overs to send home with your guests than to run out. We all have our favorites and some items may be more popular than others, so take this into consideration as well.
Choosing Your Paleo Appetizers
Now you are ready to begin planning your menu. The trick to pulling off a Paleo party is to start with amazing Paleo appetizers. You can set up your party with at least one cold finger food station. Nuts and seeds are perfect for this, but remember, the Paleo diet is no salt.
You can purchase nuts from the produce section of your local grocery store. Provide guests with cracking utensils and waste containers near the nuts, or buy them already shelled. If buying them already shelled, keep your eye open for additives that aren’t allowed on the diet.
Another great cold Paleo appetizer is fresh fruit. Slice up some square chunks, cut some triangles, make some melon balls for fruit kabobs. This is very kid friendly, fun to eat, adds a splash of color and are appropriate for all ages. Fresh honey dew, cantaloupe, pineapple, and grapes help cure the cravings for sweets and can also be served as dessert.
Create a Paleo Party mix by mixing almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews and walnuts with shredded coconut and cherries, craisens and or other Paleo approved fruit. This Paleo appetizer goes quick, so make sure you figure on each person eating about one fourth cup. Pouring the mix into four ounce paper cups makes it convenient for your guests. The hot/cold cups have handles which guests appreciate as they navigate through your party.
So what do you do about the chips and dip, a Super Bowl staple? Try a cauliflower pureé with fresh vegetables or sweet potato, sliced thinly and quick fried in olive oil. It isn’t the traditional dish, but a nice garlic, chili powder pureé makes a wonderful cold dip. It has a nice kick, and most non-paleo guests will enjoy it as well. Class it up by serving it with chilled peeled shrimp. Or, Tex Mex it a bit and serve it with grass fed beef jerky. You are only limited by your imagination.
Now that you have a good selection of cold Paleo appetizer ideas, let’s turn to the hot. People say that the best part of the Paleo diet is bacon! Whip up some traditional Angels on Horseback (shrimp wrapped in bacon). These are easy breezy! So far this menu has very simple dishes, so making the Paleo shopping list will be a snap.
Another Super Bowl favorite are buffalo wings. The only problem here will be deciding which flavor to serve. You can choose from many different Paleo appetizer chicken wing recipes at paleogrubs.com. You can also find other easy Paleo meals and Paleo appetizers here.
Paleo meatballs are a terrific hot Paleo appetizer. There are a myriad of recipes available for these spicy bites. There are 35 variations of this Super Bowl favorite to choose from compiled at agirlworthsaving.com.
For the seafood lover, the ultimate hot Paleo appetizer, crab stuffed shrimp and mushrooms will really wow them. These are only a few ideas to wet your appetite. Remember to keep in mind your budget and how formal you want your event to be when choosing your Paleo appetizers.
Easy Paleo Meals
If you are also serving a meal, these Paleo appetizers should be enough to get your Super Bowl party started and rolling strong. If you are planning dinner, there are several options for easy Paleo meals. For example, stuffed peppers made with ground turkey or grass fed beef, mixed with chopped hazelnut and fresh chopped tomato make great easy Paleo meals, or for the heartier appetite, another hot Paleo appetizer. You can add crumbled bacon on top to really make it sizzle.
Although your Paleo shopping list is getting longer, serving an easy Paleo meal will make your Super Bowl party the talk of the town. With Paleo appetizers set, there are many different easy Paleo meals you can consider. You might consider firing up the grill for some delicious grass fed fillets and grilled salmon served with grilled asparagus and yams.
You can also offer several easy Paleo meals and offer selections of poultry, beef and fish or shellfish and have several sides like mashed yams with pecans, steamed or grilled asparagus, steamed artichoke hearts with horseradish mustard sauce or baked beets.
How fancy or how casual you want your party to be will help you to decide if you are going to only apps, or a combination of apps and entreés. Whatever you choose, plan accordingly. If you go for the works, plan your day out and include time for preparation of your house as well as time to prep your food. Envisioning how to layout your party will also help you decide what to serve. If it just isn’t practical to serve a meal, stick to appetizers.
Paleo Shopping List
To ensure your Super Bowl Paleo Party is a success, double check your Paleo shopping list against your menu. Double and triple check to make sure you have all the ingredients for your Paleo appetizers and entreés. Calculate how much you need per person and round quantities up. Make sure you include decorations, paper products like napkins, dinnerware and utensils, party favors and guest gift bags–these can contain party favors like noise makers for the game.
To make things easier, organize your Paleo shopping list and keep food items separate from party supplies. You should also include beverages. Make sure to have plenty of bottled water. Tea flavored with fresh fruit is acceptable. Although beer isn’t allowed (and alcohol is limited), there are many tasty Paleo beverages you can offer.
As with all the Paleo offerings, deciding what to serve will be the hard part. From Spiced Almond Milk to Red Raspberry Rhubarb Limeade, there are beverages for every pallet. Choosing a couple of smoothie flavors, at least one hot beverage and some iced recipes for guests covers all your bases. The ingredients for your beverage should also be on your Paleo shopping list.
via Paleohacks Paleo Cookbook Review http://ift.tt/1AQvDyb
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