While on this 30 day challenge, I knew ahead of time of a few events/celebrations that I would encounter. I will go ahead and admit this much: I knew I would not be strict on these days. Some might say 'But Kari, how do you expect others to hold strong when you didn't'. I'm being honest and I am human. I already know what foods set me off from a past 30 day challenge last summer, so maybe I had that in the back of my mind. But also, my goal for this Whole30 go round was to get away from a daily 'cheat meal' that had become part of my life over the holiday season as I knew it was messing me up internally and training wise. So, I've hit some PRs and am noticing new muscle being built that wasn't there back on January 1. Anyway, I digress. This post is about something very special: My Stella's 2nd birthday!

Anytime we go to a kid birthday party I like to eat ahead because odds are the food is geared at small ones: hamburgers, hotdogs, nuggets, crackers/cookies, juice boxes, etc. Or the adult food is a lot like this: creamy dips, fancy crackers, finger sandwiches, maybe fruit/veggie tray and hummus with pita. I tried to go in the opposite direction without driving myself crazy making everything from scratch. Still drove myself crazy, yo!

I opted for the following menu:

Hawaiian Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
Sweet Potato Apple Hash
Veggies with Creamy Italian Dressing Dip
Deviled Eggs
Applegate Farms Cocktail Sausages in Homemade Paleo BBQ Sauce (for the kids)
Guacamole and Salsa
(and for the non-Paleo folks/kids:)
Chips for the salsa and guacamole
Annie's Cheddar Bunnies and Gluten Free Snickerdoodle Bunnies

Of course we had birthday cake, but also some fruit cups with my whipped coconut cream I have posted about before.

Everything was a hit and totally delicious. When planning a party, your biggest lifesaver is prepping the day ahead. The night before I got my pork going,  boiled and peeled eggs, made Paleo mayonnaise which I then morphed into deviled egg filling and the veggie dip. I also had veggies ready to go on their platter covered with plastic wrap and my hash ingredients diced. My mom made the salsa for me and did the guacamole that morning because no one likes brown avocados!

Deviled egg bandits got to the table before I could snap a picture!

The day of all I had to do was fill the eggs, add dip to veg tray, shred pork, heat sausages and cook hash. Not that bad at all. Except I did have to make whipped cream because I put that off. Shame on me, cause I looked like a busy mess when my guests arrived! Sorry friends; hope y'all enjoyed the spread!

Miss Stella had a wonderful party and a great birthday brunch the following day at our favorite local breakfast place, The French Press. I had poached eggs with hollandaise, sliced avocado and bacon. Hubby had the breakfast sandwich in a wrap instead of croissant and Stella had bacon and scrambled eggs. Happy Birthday to my sweet little angel who has been a blessing in our lives. We love you!

Waiting patiently for some birthday bacon.