Hawaiian Inspired Birthday Party and Gluten-Free Menu

Every quarter, the women of my stepdad's family gather to celebrate our birthdays.  It is always a fun time of visiting, chowing down on some great food, laughing a lot, and opening presents.  A week or so ago, we gathered to honor the summer birthday ladies. 

DivineMrsDiva.com - Hawaiian Inspired Birthday Party and Gluten-Free Menu

This year was my first time ever hosting the party, something I was excited to do since we haven't had many gatherings at our house as of yet.  In planning the menu and decor, I chose a Hawaiian theme and went crazy with hibiscus flowers, plastic leis, and Hawaiian inspired cuisine.  Upon arrival, every lovely lady received a lei and a hug and was invited to choose a flower to wear in her hair.

DivineMrsDiva.com - Hawaiian Inspired Birthday Party and Gluten-Free Menu

In planning the menu, I wanted to make sure everything was gluten-free and as sugar-free as I could make it.  I didn't want to worry about what I could and couldn't eat during the festivities and knew my cousin was trying to maintain a gluten-free diet as well.  While I didn't get a chance to take photos of all the food (of course I was running around like crazy), I wanted to make sure to provide links to everything and some words about what I made.  Everyone really enjoyed the food, so that made me happy!

Avocado Feta Salsa with tortilla chips was the appetizer.  It is a great spin on traditional salsa with the addition of the capers, feta, and artichokes.
For beverages, I made iced tea, raspberry lime water, and a pineapple/strawberry/mint water based on this recipe.
For the main course, we had a Slow Cooker Pineapple chicken.  I just threw everything in the CrockPot (chicken, pineapple chunks, zucchini, green peppers, salsa) and let it simmer all day.  It made a deliciously moist chicken that we put over coconut jasmine rice.  (I tripled the chicken recipe to feed eight people at the party, and Sean and I made four more meals from the leftovers.)  Other sides for the main course included an Asian Slaw with peanut dressing and Sesame Soy Roasted Broccoli.  (I left out the soy sauce and used coconut aminos.)

Hawaiian Inspired Birthday Party and Gluten-Free Menu - Lemon Tart

The Gluten-Free and Dairy-free Lemon Tart was seriously delicious!  It tasted like a lemon bar.  I served it with whipped coconut cream.  For an additional sweet treat, I made these Paleo truffles (gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free if you don't count honey.)  Instead of making a minty version, I replaced the peppermint extract with coconut extract and replaced the vanilla stevia with a little bit of vanilla extract.  While I bought the coconut butter, I made my own macadamia nut butter for the recipe.  These were so yummy and disappeared so quick!

Hawaiian Inspired Birthday Party and Gluten-Free Menu - Macadamia Coconut Truffles

Between the main meal and dessert, we moved to the living room to open presents. Kiki was feeling a bit under the weather, so he sat with his grandma on the couch.  My cousins Annie and Mindy, my mother-in-law Sharon, and the lovely Miss Linda were all celebrating their birthdays this quarter.

DivineMrsDiva.com - Hawaiian Inspired Birthday Party and Gluten-Free Menu
DivineMrsDiva.com - Hawaiian Inspired Birthday Party and Gluten-Free Menu
DivineMrsDiva.com - Hawaiian Inspired Birthday Party and Gluten-Free Menu

I am so happy everyone could come and join the festivities.  It was a lot of fun!  And thank goodness I have central air because it was HOT that day!  lol

DivineMrsDiva.com - Hawaiian Inspired Birthday Party and Gluten-Free Menu




2 comments

  1. Cute idea. Where is your dress from?

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    1. Hi, Heather! The dress is from Kiyonna. I will have a post up early next week about the dress with more detailed photos. :-)

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