It\’s Party Time!!

This shop/post has been compensated by Collective Bias, INC. and The Coca-Cola Company, all opinions are mine alone. #SummerRefreshment #CollectiveBias

My Tropical Lemonade Stand Party!

 This was one of my favorite party themes thus far because it was so easy and fun, not to mention delicious. I was looking for a clever way to decorate my new patio, and show it off to my friends and family, when I came up with the coolest idea of a Tropical Lemonade Stand. All I did was pop up the folding table that I use for cookouts, cover it with a nude table cloth, and wrap a grass table skirt around the edges. I did this with all of the tables to carry the tropical theme throughout the whole set up. I then got a cute little tropical style chalkboard as shown above, and tacked it to the front of the table to give off the fun Lemonade stand theme, because summer is so much more refreshing with lemonade, especially when its Minute Maid® Lemonade!! I also added in some FUZE® Tea for those that love the traditional half and half. It came out so cute paired with an awesome lemonade recipe. It\’s one that I\’ve been using as long as I can remember, and it\’s so super easy.

Tropical Lemonade Recipe!!

Ingredients

1 Jug of Minute Maid lemonade (I like the lemonade with mint)

2 cups of fresh sliced strawberries 

4 large sliced lemons 

1 handful or fresh mint 

4-6 cups of ice (depending on your taste)

Preparation

Pour the jug of (already chilled) Minute Maid lemonade into the dispensing container along with the ice. (use as much ice as you feel necessary, according to the temperature. If it\’s a hot summer day you may want to add a tad more). Then add some sliced lemons, strawberries, and mint to each glass. In this case I used cute mason jars to match the dispenser. Then add the straws and the lemonade, it doesn\’t get any easier than that. I also added some of the sliced lemons, and strawberries into the dispensing container to add an extra hint of cuteness. I guess it just depends on what type of container you\’re using weather or not you can add some extra items. Everyone loved the taste of the lemonade, it\’s a good thing I made an extra batch because the first one went so quickly. (I added the pink swirled straws to match the napkins and plates for the table settings, plus fun colored straws look great in the drinks)

I also added a bowl of fruit salad, oh boy are you guys gonna like this next one. Since I was going with the tropical theme, I decided to do more than the usual basic fruit salad. I went with a much more interesting and fun tropical fruit salad, it had an amazing taste and texture. This was also easy to make, I usually pick things that aren\’t to complicated, that way they still remain fun to prepare. I love being creative and making things with my hands that in turn everyone enjoys. I also have to admit I loved it too!! 

(All of the fresh fruit and veggies shown here were purchased via Peapod).

For more info on the service see their website

 http://www.peapod.com

Tropical Fruit Salad 

Ingredients:

(makes about 12 cups)

12 mandarin oranges

2 cups of sliced strawberries

1 fresh cubed pineapple

5 sliced kiwis

3 cubed mangos

Citrus Poppy Seed Dressing

1 medium lemon

1 lime

1/4 cup of honey

1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger

1/2 teaspoon of poppy seeds

Preparation:

Dressing: Combine the honey, grated ginger and poppy seeds, along with the juices and zest from the citrus fruits (the lemon and lime) into a bowl and whisk. Then place it in the fridge to chill for serving when you\’re ready. 

Salad: For the salad itself just combine the mandarin oranges, strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, and mango into a bowl. Then when you are ready to serve it pour on the dressing, and gently mix to coat the fruit and serve. 

It is so fresh and tasty, not to mention full of color and pleasing to the eye. This is one salad that no party can do without. Paired with fresh watermelon and berries you\’re going to have one happy group of people. Last but not least I made some yummy jerk chicken and veggie skewers on the grill. Another quick and easy recipe!

All I did was marinade some cubed, boneless, skinless chicken thights in a yummy jerk chicken sauce. Then I chopped up some red, green and yellow peppers, purple onions, fresh pineapple, and mushrooms, placed them on skewers, then cooked them on the grill. I added a little salt and pepper, and with each plate put some of the heated jerk chicken sauce in small condiment cups, so everyone  could be dip their chicken or pour it on top. I made sure to cook the skewers well so that the sauce could caramelize along with the sugars in the pineapple, and they came out amazing. I made a huge bed of mixed greens and pineapple fried rice for the skewers to rest on. All in all I was very happy with how everything turned out. I also set up the cutest place settings for everyone. I made sure to continue with the tropical theme, and add a hint of pink. You guys know how crazy I am about pink..lol!

I kept it all pretty simple as not to go overboard with the cost. I found these great paper plates that look gorgeous and are full of color. They also match my decor perfectly, along with the cute pink napkins. Then I figured I should use my knives, forks, and spoons instead of the plastic ones. I also made sure that whatever party items I did purchase, I would be able to use afterwards so nothing went to waste. The good thing is there wasn\’t any leftovers after the party, which let me know everyone was happy with the food and drinks. Thank goodness for Peapod, they delivered all of the groceries that I needed to put the party together. I have a very busy and on the go lifestyle, so it\’s hard for me to plan parties, but with the help of Peapod I was able to pull it off. They have fresh quality products, and great prices, with friendly and reliable service. Just go to their website, type in your zip code, then select your city, and start shopping. 

 They made it so easy, all you have to do is adjust the amount and click add to cart. There\’s a great little colored image of the products so you know it\’s exactly what you want. It\’s all laid out for you in your cart, and added up along the way so you know what you\’re total is as you add the items, that way you don\’t overspend. This is something that I commonly do, except when I shop with Peapod. All of the clever tools make it so much easier for me to shop and plan my meals. You get $20 off your first Peapod order and 60 days of free delivery. They have 1000\’s of weekly specials with savings in every category like the regular grocery store…just look for the red tag! They even double manufacturer coupons up to 99 cents. There\’s to many pluses not to use Peapod. Definitely check out their website, http://www.Peapod.com grab their app and give it a try, it\’s just to convenient not to. You definitely won\’t regret it, they have my full recommendation that\’s for sure. 

For the party I dressed in a pair of leggings and a tank top to look cute and remain comfortable. I had to run around and make sure everyone was good so comfort is always my number one goal. Fortunately it only hit 76 degrees so the weather was perfect. Thanks goodness because the smallest amount of warm weather makes me very uncomfortable, then add to that running around and doing a million different things and you have one sweaty and uncomfortable day, especially when it\’s an outdoor event. Everything went so well that next time I\’m going to double the party in size, we\’re hoping to have a great halloween party in October, since my birthday is on the 5th. That way I can theme it for both Halloween and my birthday, what fun that should be to put together. Well, I hope you all enjoyed my little party as much and my friends and family did, I look forward to many more in the future. Please feel free to comment below with any fun party ideas you would like to see in upcoming posts, I\’m always on the look out for new and fun ideas.

Have a wonderful week Everyone!!

For more info on Peapod see their website 

 http://www.peapod.com

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