Party Meal

[2chatter]

I’m hosting DD’s soccer team’s Christmas party. We are going to do a meal and then a white elephant - what can I feed 13 girls and their parents? I was thinking a ton of meatballs in the crock pot and just make pasta. But that’s kind of messy.

Any easy, not crazy expensive and not messy ideas?

[supertrooper1]

Breakfast for dinner. French toast casseroles, fruit.

Taco bar.

Cold cut platters, fruit and veggies.

A bunch of appetizers, like meatballs, veggies, fruit and dips.

Make it a potluck.

[sweetptater]

I usually do chili, tacos, or hot dogs for large parties. What about chili dogs? That way you have both chili for the adults and hot dogs for the kids who won't eat it?

[kimberlybb]

Crock pot baked potato soup and crock pot macaroni. Offer a variety of toppings like cubed ham, green onion, cheese, etc. Serve with bread and salad or fruit.

I also love the breakfast for dinner idea. This French toast casserole is seriously amazing: www.chewoutloud.com/2012/12/19/texas-french-toast-bake/      You could make two of these- serve with fun toppings like chocolate chips, pecans, fruit and then maybe make an egg casserole.

[mommyatty]

1. Pizza. Boring but a crowd pleaser
2. Chili in crock pot. Hot dogs and then little individual bags of Fritos with cheese, onions, sour cream to make individual frito chili pies in the bags. You can just put a little chili in the bag for them and let them put on their own toppings. Or they can top hot dogs with chili etc.

[erinshelley21]

We just did a taco/nacho bar for DS's birthday yesterday and it was super easy.
I love kimberlybb soup and macaroni idea though! Might steal that for DD's 1st birthday!

[twinmomma]

Do you know of any food issues you have to contend with for the guests?

Tacos are relatively "safe" for a lot of people - you can get corn tortillas and wheat tortillas, guests can choose to add cheese or not, etc...

Breakfast casseroles can be tricky depending on any allergies. My sister can't do dairy and I can't do gluten, so we've basically had to eliminate those from our Christmas menu. If you don't have to worry about food issues, then I love the breakfast for dinner idea!

[twinmomma]

oh! I've done crockpot pulled pork for big parties too. Super easy and feeds a crowd.

[k3am]

We did a Mac & Cheese bar for DD's 2nd birthday. It went over really well. We just did blue box, since.. too many people, and had bacon, ham, peas, broccoli, cheese, crushed up cheetos, spinach, and I can't remember what else... But based on the age group of your attendees, it's probably a better fit for erinshelley21's DD.

I would honestly just do pizza. Or lasagna. Basically something I can buy that people universally seem to like.

[2chatter]

So I have found with kid parties they don’t actually EAT pizza. I’m
hoping actual food will persuade them. I’m thinking a hybrid of these genius ideas - a macaroni and baked potato bar with pulled pork as either a topping or on Hawaiian rolls. Two crock pots and the oven et voila!

Those are also good for adults who don’t want to eat but want to pick a little bit.

I’ll ask the team to bring veggies, fruit and dessert.

And these other ideas will come in handy - I think we are going to try for a team dinner each season.

[akafred]

I think a taco bar sounds great! Or maybe Little Caesars.