Replace Those Boring Veggie Platters with a Nourish Board
Don't get me wrong, I love me a veggie platter. For many of my clients, they would love it if more of the parties they went to included more fruits and vegetables at the snack station. But even though the celery, tomato, carrot combo is healthier I say we replace those boring veggie platters with a Nourish Board.
Why a 'Nourish Board'
Why do I call it a nourish board? It's a tray of food...
When I wanted to build my first nourish board, I knew I need a large tray I could cascade a variety of snack on. It needed to be big, have handles, and deep enough so the chips didn't go flying when I walked from kitchen to car with it.
I bought Food Network Acacia Wood Serving Tray at Kohl's and when I picked it up my boyfriend was like "you needed a tray?".
This isn't just a tray. This is a nourish board because I nourish people with it. That's why I call it a nourish board.
Building Your Nourish Board
Everyone loves a good theme! So when deciding what to put on your nourish board it's going to get overwhelming with ALL the awesome ideas you'll come up with. My advice? Just pick a theme and go with it. You'll be so satisfied with how your first one comes out that you'll always make a nourish board.
In other words, you'll have plenty more chances to build more boards so just pick 1 theme for now and stick with it.
Theme ideas: seasonal, harvest, holiday, color, culture, a person's favorite etc.
Search & Shop For Ingredients Online
For the above it was a luau theme! To make the food shopping process easier I ordered online from Sprout's Farmers Market. This made the search and seizure so much easier! I could also budget. The above board totaled $38.00 - not including the homemade Everything Bagel White Bean Dip ingredients (that's what is in the bowl).
Here is what I bought to build a Luau theme nourish board:
Chocolate Covered Almonds
Green Grapes
Black Grapes
White Chocolate Covered Pretzels
Strawberries
Chocolate Covered Rice Cakes
Carrots
Round Crackers
Pretzels
Pepper Jack Cheese
Salt Water Taffy This was a luau theme item
Hawaiian Trail Mix This was also a luau theme item
I added homemade pita chips and the hummus dip as well.
Notice I only chose 2 ingredients to fit the party theme. I didn't want to overwhelm myself or put boundaries on what to get. I could see an old perfectionist-type Monica being so adamant about everything fitting the theme. Those constraints would take the fun out of it though and that's no bueno.
For the halloween party I went to last weekend, I created a harvest-theme nourish board and I found this idea on Pinterest!
Foods to Build a Harvest Theme Nourish Board
Pretzels
Green Apples
Red Apples
Apricots
Gouda cheese
Spicy Jalapeno Cheddar Jack Cheese
Swiss Cheese
Round Crackers
Whole Grain Mustard
Chewy Carmel Candies
I made Chocolate Covered Katie's Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Dip
Thanks for reading this post! Disclosure: some of the links are affiliate links so this girl can pay 'diem bills. I wouldn't share anything I didn't actually like and think you would benefit from. When you click on a link and buy you're helping me keep this blog afloat, and I am super grateful for that!