Plant a tree centerpieces/favors make a great green option image via Nursery Men

Since Earth day is today and warm weather is right around the corner, (t was in the 70s last week, but rain/snowing here yesterday). I thought I'd share a few simple ideals on how to throw a party, wedding, or picnic that is more Eco-friendly.

Bacon wrapped Pickles with spicy cajun mayo recipe at Abbey's Kitchen

I won't be hosting a super bowl party, but I do love a good snack recipe.  At this time of year I always hear a ton of great ideals for snacks that gets me wanting to make some.  When I have hosted a party in the past I've found way to many interesting appetizers to make that sounded easy at first....until it came down to making all of them at the same time!  Now that I'm older and wiser I know that with appetizers it's best to keep it simple.  Which is why I'm sure you will love my favorite appetizers too.

For over 6 months I've been trying to avoid grains as much as possible, and when I do have them I try to go GF (gluten free) and whole grain as much as possible.  This means bread and bread like products such as crackers have not been a big part of my diet for awhile.  I have started to miss it after awhile, so I am so excited to have finally learn how to make my own grain free crackers that are seriously good.  I almost bought some to go with my Sun Dried Tomato Bacon Bean Dip I made for a pot luck, but even the whole grain fiber crackers I saw at the store had bad fats in them, unbleached four and likely GMO (genetically modified Organisms) ingredients in it, not to mention preservatives. I decided after my trip to the store to finally cross of learn to make crackers from my list. 

For the holidays my family did a pot luck.  I wanted to bring something healthy that required no cooking or refrigeration and would be something everyone would eat.  I also wanted it to be more filling and savory than sweet since most people bring desserts for pot lucks.  I decided to bring a veggie tray, make some really good healthy dip and to make grain free crackers (I 'll post that recipe soon).  It went over well and I made a huge batch of everything (I doubled this recipe and put it in freezable half pint containers and froze the extras) so now I'll have dip ready to go for snacking for awhile!

zucchini chips and hummus

Welcome to my latest obsession.  I can't get enough of these.  Who knew that zucchini could be so good?  I got the ideal for this because I had hummus but I was tired of eating it with bread and would rather eat veggies.  Since I had a lot of zucchini in the fridge (they are so cheap at the farmer's market) I figured maybe I could turn them into chips.  I usually research many recipes before creating my own recipe, but not this time.  I totally winged it which was pretty daring since I've never made chips before, but I lucked out they turned out so fantastic I might just be addicted.  At least they're healthier than potato chips!  You can flavor them really however you want.  So feel free and try other spices you have on hand that you think you might like!