Recipes - Chagrin Falls,OH

For my son's birthday last year we did a big pan of baked ziti, a pan of eggplant parm, crusty garlic bread, and a big salad. We are vegetarian, but all of the guests were not, so my MIL also brought a crockpot with meatballs to serve with it. It was nice because everything was prepared ahead of time and just put in the oven the day of the party to heat up.

I also went to a party recently where they had pizza already made up for the adults and the kids got dough and topped their own pizzas.

We had a taco bar for our most recent party (18 people), and i think it was a hit. We had 3 kinds of meat in crock pots, crunchy and soft shells, and lots of toppings. But, pasta is another great choice- easy, cheap, and most people love it!

Taco bar!! I've done it, and it was a HUGE hit!! Everyone commented on how much they enjoyed not having burgers & dogs at a get-together for a change!!

Have a great party!!

For our daughters (3 &5) birthday party we always get a couple of trays of mac and cheese from GFS-- they are surprisingly good. This year, we also got a big bag of meatballs, threw them in the crockpot with some marinara sauce (we used classico- yum) and had those with hoagie buns and shredded mozzarella cheese. The meatballs were from GFS, too. We had very little leftovers and had 25 people-- about 1/2 kids, 1/2 adults. Hope that helps!

Do a version of Olive Garden's Never Ending Pasta Bowl. Make a tone of Pasta and Several different kinds of sauces. I would do a pasta shape that's easy to pick up, like rigatoni or bow tie. Then do marinara, meat sauce, alfredo, and a couple of others. Make a side of garlic bread and maybe a big salad.

How about a pasta feed? Cheap, easy and filling.
Maybe have a pesto one, and a traditional red sauce one, along with a big green salad and a basket of garlic bread :)

Sometimes we do a huge tray and put three mounds, one egg salad, one tuna salad and one chicken salad on it. You can cut fresh tomato, onion, lettuce, mild pepper rings to serve with it. We serve with fresh rolls and salads like pasta and green salads.

ps. you could shape the mounds into hearts :)

Rigatoni with Meat Sauce, Garlic Bread and Salad always is a favorite for our son's Valentine's party, but he will be 16 this year! Happy Birthday to your daughter!

You can do a Taco Salad bar where everyone makes their own. This way everyone, even the kids, like what they are eating. We include:
tortilla chips
meat
beans
cheese
tomatoes
lettuce
corn
cucumbers
sour cream
salsa
guacamole
Most of this can be prepared ahead of time, so it is a snap on the day.
Of course, the spaghetti idea is good, too, only if you have a lot of young ones, it can be messy with spills. I also thought about the enchilladas with spanish rice, etc. You can do the whole mexican theme and have a pinata, too! Another idea is chili served over rice (stretches it and can help cool down the heat for little mouths). Add cornbread, sour cream/cheese, and you're set.
Have fun!

I agree w/Mamalucky spaghetti or Lasagna w/salad & bread I would even make a baked spaghetti but either one are great for this amount of people you could also make either one the day before & they would still be yummy reheated. You could also do enchiladas w/mexican rice have chips & salsa serve guacamole, sour cream maybe even a rotel cheese dip. Any of those would be great for self serving too. HTH! Happy 5th Birthday to your little one! :-)

You could do make-it-yourself tacos and something nicer for the adults.....lasagne and a salad? Have a good time.

Carne Asada
Spaghetti
Lasagna
Tacos
Nachos
Hamburgers/Hot Dogs

lasagne? I make the one where you take a cooked lasagne noodle-spread it with the ricotta cheese , chopped spinach , etc mixture roll it up and place it in a large baking pan with white sauce, deep enough to come up the sides a little-line the lasagne rolls in the pan and pour red sace over them-sprinkle with shredded cheese and bake-yum and easy to serve-no meat needed unless you really want it in the sauce-they are so light-you can't believe you're eating pasta. Serve with bread and salad-done! found the link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/la...

How about several huge lasagnas?
Served w/garlic bread and salad?

You could do a Mexican theme:
Burritos or tacos (Taco Bar)
Spanish rice
Refried beans
chips & salsa

You could do a seafood theme (more expensive though):
shrimp cocktail
hush puppies (kids love these)
deep fried fish
fish sticks (again for the kids)
a few crab legs
grilled shrimp
green salad
sourdough bread

Bbq ribs
Potatoe Salad
Green salad
chicken nuggets
Rustic, crusty bread

spaghetti w/meat sauce
crusty bread
caesar salad
veggies

cheap steaks (grilled) for the adults
baked beans
bread
bbq'd veggies: zucchini, onions, tomato

A do-it-yourself ice cream sundae bar.
or
Red velvet cupcakes
or
red heart shaped cookies, red, pink & white shaped candies like a candy
bar
Happy birthday to yoru little one.