Seeking Party Meal Ideas

Hi A.,

2 of my favorite meals also are great to feed a crowd on the cheap...chicken paprikash and chili. Both involve a crock pot, which makes things so much easier! Chicken paprikash is basically shredded chicken in a creamy type sauce with onion and garlic and it's great for fall. You can serve it with noodles or spaetzle. My one-year-old loves it! And chili is always a crowd pleaser and is easy to make.

If either of these sounds good, send me a message and I'd be happy to share the recipes!

C.

Hi A.,
I hear you! I went to a combined b/day party early summer and they boys party was Shrek. So my friend did different finger foods (veggie tray, lil' smokes/cresent rolls, fruit...) and then for "dinner" she had lasgna, salad and garlic bread. It was awesome because it served a lot and since the appetizers were mostly gone she didn't need to fix a lot of dinner food, plus it is easy!

We have done shredded chicken sandwiches with lots of finger foods as well when we want something easy and can be fixed ahead of time.

Hope that gives you some ideas! Best of luck

I did my daughter's favorites including her sometimes food-- hotdogs and mac and cheese and then fruit and broccoli- also her favorites. GFS has some relatively inexpensive pre-made mac and cheese that went over really well. I realize it wasn't really unique but I explained it was all of my daughter's favorites which people, for some reason, got a kick out of.

Have fun!

The last birthday party I had for my daughter we had hot ham & cheese sandwiches. I used hamburger buns, deli sliced ham and a slice of cheese. Wrap in foil and warm in the oven. Everyone loved them and it's so easy to do. My daughter also love cheesy potatoes so we had those. I made a veggie tray also. Simple, easy, quick party food.

I don't know if your kids will eat this, but it's a yummy, inexpensive idea: smoked sausage, potatoes, and green beans cooking in a crock pot all day. Another idea: tacos -- fairly cheap and not much prep work except shredding the lettuce & maybe chopping tomoatoes.

Good luck! I'm sure it'll be fun!

Since so many will be coming why not ask each family to bring a covered dish with the family's favorite. you provide the meat( ham, sloppy joes,or something equally easy to fix ) cake and icecream. Also the drinks (koolaid, lemonade) . This was how we did our kids and grownups parties for years. Exchange recipies too.
Good luck & have fun.

I have done an all pasta party. I made mac and cheese, lasagna, spaghetti and meatballs. You could do a variety of pastas and sauces inexpensively, for example, a white sauce, a meat sauce, olive oil and garlic. The mac and cheese and lasagna will keep and serve well. You could also do a variety of lasagnas: mexican or vegetable or greek. I would make a simple green salad and have really good bread and or rolls. Good luck

Cook sloppy joe's in a slow cooker. Very inexpensive to make. Mac & Chz for a side (I usually buy the big frozen Stoffer's Mac & Chz from Sam's Club). Tossed Salad and fruit. Have fun!! :)

I'm not sure if you would be interested, but I did a birthday party for my step-daughter and my niece last month. We did a carnival/arcade theme. We had hot dogs, sides and popcorn. Each person got a "ticket" for popcorn and hot dogs. We also had cotton candy. We did little games that they won tickets at, and then at the end they were able to trade their tickets for prizes, like at the arcade. (Nothing major, little things like tattoos, stickers, candy, magnets, mini photo albums, stuffed animals - some of which you may have laying around) It sounds a bit expensive, and a little time consuming - but really we only spent about $30, including food. You just have to get creative :D We got the food at a wholesale store, just dogs & buns and such. And we went to the dollar store for the prizes. You can buy a roll of tickets at WalMart for $5 or so. Most of the games we played were with things we already had at the house. We filled up the baby's pool and put some of her floaty toys in it, with each one having a number on the bottom - that's how many tickets they got. We did a balloon pop (balloons taped to a poster board, with tickets in them) each kid walked up and popped a balloon with a little tack. Also did the relay balloon pop, do a relay balloon pass and at the end they have to sit on the balloon (with tickets in it). Coin toss (I painted quarters and used vases and glasses that I already had). So altogether, I spent money on tickets, cheapy prizes, balloons and food. That's it. $30 on a birthday party for two, not bad at all. The kids LOVED it! They all said it was "the coolest birthday party". lol. If you have any specific questions or would like any details on the other games we played, just let me know :D Good luck!

What is with serving a meal at a birthday party? My kids have never been to a birthday party with food other than cake & ice cream and maybe pizza (at a party place like laser tag). All of my kids' parties have been in the backyard with cake and ice cream and they are talked about all year long by their friends and looked forward to. My food budget for each party is about $20 and I rarely go over that! (and yes, that's with alot of people)

One of my favorite party menus is pulled pork or beef brisket -- BBQ or plain or offer both and guests may put own sauce on. Some wings is always a hit in large groups, especially with men and kids!
Veggie, Fruit Trays, pasta salad, cheesy potatoes with a a birthday treat and your done!! Pulled pork, brisket, wings can be ordered from a local favortie BBQ spot OR their are lots of recipes for making your own ---- The last time I executed this menu I slow cooked my pork and beef the day before (it is a long cooking process, but no big deal in a crock pot!) then pulled and sauced and returned to crock pot for heating and serving on party day. Cheesy potatoes can be made ahead and frozen. Veggie and/or Fruit Trays with dips can be purchased, assigned to Grandma to bring (!), or prepared the night before! Appreciating your work status you should just have to "pull it all together" before party time!! HAVE FUN AND ENJOY!!

We went to sam's club and got State Fair Corn Dogs for the kids for our 3 year-old's party. It was $10 for a box of 30. We did a buffalo chicken dip (that went over very well), made some trail mix, had some veggies. Chips/Salsa and Salads from Chili's are cheap and go over well if you're looking for something for the side.

When I have a LOT of people over for parties (on a very very tight budget) we go with the Pizza MIAs from pizza hut. If you get more than 3 they are only $5 each. You can really get a lot for your money and dont have to worry about sides or anything, plus it cuts down on needing utensils and everything. Just an idea. Best of luck to you

I as well am planning a tight budget party. My daughter is turning 1 next month and my sister is making stromboli. I am going to have meatballs in tomato sauce. I will have hoagie buns and mozzarella cheese so people can make meatball subs. Good luck with the party!!!

Chicken nuggets, fingers, pop corn chicken. Relish trays, and lots of salad mixings. Children love this type of finger food and you can make some great salads for adults using the chicken in them like a chef type thing. You could also do barbequed chicken. Legs and thighs are not to horribly expensive.
Potatoe salad and deviled eggs.
Macaroni and cheese is fairly easy to make and children and most adults like it.
A big pot of sloppy joes is easy but back towards the burger idea.
Another thought is tacos, taco salads. Meat, grated cheeses, chopped lettuce, tomatoes, diced onion, green pepper, chopped olives, and sour cream. Taco shells or chips (or corn chips) and they can have tacos or taco salads. A side of salsa, you can also have the melted cheeses for dips for the chips. If you want to go all out you can fix the refried beans with cheese and sour cream on them and thing of spanish rice.
Maybe some of these ideas will help.
Activities: Balloon races, the ball drop, pass the egg (hard boiled and we used spoons), frizbee contest, three legged race, blind man's bluff.

I go to Walmart and get there party packs of fried chicken. My neighbors used to do it all the time for their get togethers and I will admit I snubbed my nose at it b/c I was iffy about Walmart and Fried Chicken ?? But, then I finally tried it and it was AWESOME. I think just as good as KFC if not better. You can get a 50 piece for $25.00 and they are HUGE pieces. I did the 50 piece for my daughters 2nd birthday and it was a total success. I had about 30 people there and plenty of food.