I Love a Little Love Party

Ideas for Valentine's Day with Littles (or pals)

The retired teacher in me loves to throw themed parties for my kids! However, a big problem I run into is that public events typically supply my kids with too much of the wrong kind of sugar. I am not opposed to a little sweet treat! But I think a big reason why most people are so sick in the winter is because they are eating a lot more sugar and processed foods than they do in the summertime. Today I want to share with you some tasty recipes to make the day special without making your kids sick. I’ll also share a few low-key activities for the whole family!

Drinks:

Raspberry Mocktail

I saw this in an Instagram reel (if you know who it is please let me know so I can link it to this article) and this is the “recipe” I’m most excited to try! It’s so simple, and if you can put it in a fancy glass, that’s even better!

• 1 part raspberry sorbet (like talenti, or make your own - it’s very easy)

• 1 part raspberry seltzer (like Poppi Rasberry Rose)

Pink Smoothie

This smoothie is packed with vitamin C (strawberries are actually the fruit with the highest vitamin C density) and as a result, it is soooo tart which a lot of kids love. It’s like eating a sour candy!

• frozen strawberries

• frozen raspberries

• elderberry syrup (follow your intuition. If your family has been sick or may become sick soon then be generous with it)

• squeeze of lemon to taste

• dash of coconut water for a drinkable texture

Photo by Brigitte Tohm on Unsplash

Pink Mocktail

Because I struggle with blood sugar issues, I rarely get to have juice. If I do have it, this is the way I prepare it and I actually enjoy it so much more than just having a full cup of juice!

• about a quarter cup of your choice of red or pink juice (pink lemonade, tart cherry juice, pomegranate juice, or the “pink juice” in the tall bottle from Trader Joe’s (I love that stuff!))

• Fill the cup the rest of the way with chilled plain sparkling water. You could also get creative and pick flavored sparkling waters to spice up the flavor - I find the citrus flavors are typically more experiment-friendly.

• If this is a little too plain for you, add a squeeze of lemon juice.

• Add fresh fruit and herbs like thyme or rosemary for garnish.

  

And my favorite zero-sugar option is just a simple rose and hibiscus tea! These are very easy to find looseleaf at any health food store. These flowers when taken as a tea are great for supporting relaxation and blood pressure regulation. I let my girls have this every day for tea time (when we have it) and they love it.

Lunch:

Smoked Salmon/Lox Bagels or Bagel Bites

• Put however much cream cheese (plain or chive and onion) on a plain or everything-bagel.

• Follow this with as much smoked salmon or lox as your heart desires

• Additional toppings may include pickled red onion, avocado, or dill as your kids will tolerate. Mine will eat pickled onion straight up.

• You can also serve mini versions on bagel bites or crackers.

You can also just pretend not to notice when your toddler opens the fridge on your own so she can eat as much “fish meat” as her little heart desires (I’ve definitely never done that!!!!… at least not today.)

Photo by marine Dumay on Unsplash

Greek Yoghurt Parfait

Keep it simple by kidding your kid’s favorite Greek yogurt, some freeze-dried strawberries and raspberries, and a granola mix you know they will love.

Charcuterie Board

Load up a cutting board with whatever fixings you want. I love the goat cheese log from Trader Joe’s that’s rolled in fruit - if you can get the cranberry one it will be more on theme, but obviously the blueberry one will suffice (and is delicious). Honey goat cheese is also usually a favorite among kids. Supply some pink jam and prosciutto and maybe your kids will just lick the jam off the crackers but, hey, it’s fruit. It’s not a big deal. Mine usually at least come back for the cheese.

Dinner:

Root Vegetable Medley

My husband requested this for his birthday and I was genuinely surprised that my kids loved it. In general, you want to have equal amounts of each veggie, and how much will depend on how many people you’re feeding. I probably did a half pound of each to feed two adults and two toddlers. I also served this with some roasted chicken. You can use any root vegetables but I did:

• Preheat oven to 400 F

• Get some beets (this is the Valentine’s-y part - the color will bleed onto the other veggies. Just don’t be alarmed when everyone’s pee is pink that night and the next morning)!

• a few different colored carrots

• parsnips (I was suspicious but they were quite good)

• Sweet potatoes, peeled

• One or two red onions

• Lots of thinly sliced garlic

• Chop all veggies into about 1.5-inch squares/rectangles

• toss everything in olive oil - try to be conservative with it to prevent sogginess

• Spread out on a pan - the more spread out they are the less soggy they will be

• Follow your heart with salt, pepper, thyme, and rosemary. Roast for about 40 minutes.

• Drizzle with balsamic glaze and sprinkle crumbled goat cheese while still warm. Yum!

  

  Photo by Nick Collins on Unsplash

Dessert:

Raspberry, Strawberry, or Berry Medley Sorbet

If you have an ice cream maker you can take any frozen fruit of your choice and blend it up, add lemon juice and/or coconut water, pop the mixture in your ice cream maker, and let it do its magic! You could add sugar, but I think it’s plenty good without. If I were to add sugar I would use honey.

Chocolate Bark

Fortunately, I have trained my kids to be dark chocolate fans by not giving them other kinds of chocolate. Don’t judge — it makes my life way easier! But you can take whatever chocolate chips you want and spread them out on a cookie sheet. Pop it in the oven at around 170F (less if you are using milk chocolate) and let melt for 5 to 7 minutes. Be careful not to overdo it. Take it out and while it’s still melty drop your toppings on. I’ll be using the artificial dye-free Valentine sprinkles from Trader Joe’s. You could also do dried cranberries, pretzels, other candy, or anything you want, really. I am considering doing a marbled bark with a mix of dark chocolate and white chocolate if I can find the white chocolate in time!

A lot of people make chocolate bark using the double boiler method, but I don’t have time for that. However, it does allow you to add a little bit of coconut oil which can prevent the bark from becoming too dry or brittle. I will just put the crumbs in oatmeal or yogurt so I’m not worried about it.

I am also considering just popping my chocolate chips into silicone molds before putting them in the oven to make fun-shaped chocolate candies. I typically use these molds to make gelatin gummies!

Photo by Kristiana Pinne on Unsplash

One last note on food: you’ll notice none of these recipes recommend fresh fruit. Why? Because none of it is in season! It’s more expensive and it doesn’t taste good. I love freeze-dried and frozen fruit because it’s preserved at peak ripeness. We will be saving the chocolate-covered strawberries for May when they are in season.

Activities:

Keep it simple

Cover your dining room table or craft table with craft paper. Use painter’s tape (or something stronger if you dare) to secure it to your table — which I will certainly be doing. Now break out the crayons or washable paints and let the kids have at it. You can even put out some heart-shaped (or other shaped) cookie cutters for them to experiment with. Cut up tissue paper and let them experiment with that and glue. Just let them get messy. This is great for the under 2s.

Level It Up

Now for the over 2s, you can introduce a more organized activity that is more likely to result in a recognizable object the older the child is. This year I want to try to do these tissue paper hearts. I think these are great valentines for the neighbor or grandma and grandpa.

This is the easiest version. Literally just cut your tissue paper into little squares and rectangles, bunch it up, and let the kids go crazy gluing the globs on to to some cardstock or construction paper.

Level it up for kids with a little bit better fine motor skills by placing single layers of tissue paper on to contact paper to make suncatchers. Then you can cut out whatever shapes you want, but the hearts are fun. I love this for brightening up the sometimes dreary February days.

Incorporating Faith:

Saint Valentine was a third century Roman priest (and possibly bishop) known for ministering to persecuted Christians and for being a martyr. I have not done any formal historical deep dive on him (despite my background in Church History) but I suspect that his martyrdom is how Valentine’s Day came to be associated with red and pink — in the Church liturgical calendar, the feasts of martyrs are noted with red and priests will often wear their red vestments on those days. His sainthood is recognized by Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, and Eastern Orthodox a like (though the Easterns observe his feast on July 6th). February 14th, however, is apparently the day that Saint Valentine was martyred in 269 AD. His feast day was established by Pope Gelasius 1 in 496 AD.

It is believed that Saint Valentine would officiate weddings for young couples at a time when young men who were drafted into the military were forbidden to marry, so this is where the saints association with love seems to come from. Unfortunately, we don’t have any historical information to verify that information, but I still think it’s sweet.

One unique way I think your family could let the memory of Saint Valentine inspire you is to invite a young unmarried or newly married couple to family dinner or brunch in the week following his feast day. Many young couples deeply desire to get a more intimate picture of marriage and family life (especially if they did not grow up in big families with a lot of exposure to kids) but have little opportunity to get that exposure because us married folks assume the young people are too busy for us. When I was newly married I would have canceled basically all my other plans if any of the older couples from my parish invited my husband to dinner, with or without their children present. I think Christians, and especially Catholics, can way undervalue our call to mentorship and our ability to pour into the younger generations in our midst. See 1 Peter 5:1-5¹ and Titus 2:3-5².

1. 5 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is to be revealed. ² Tend the flock of God that is your charge, not by constraint but willingly,not for shameful gain but eagerly, ³ not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the chief Shepherd is manifested you will obtain the unfading crown of glory. ⁵ Likewise you that are younger be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

2. ³ Bid the older women likewise to be reverent in behavior, not to be slanderers or slaves to drink; they are to teach what is good, ⁴ and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be sensible, chaste, domestic, kind, and submissive to their husbands, that the word of God may not be discredited.