If you are planning a holiday party, you already know that food can be one of your biggest expenses. However, you can plan the perfect party and still cut food costs. You don't even need to consider serving expensive appetizers and beverages to throw a great party this holiday season. A little imagination, creativity, and effort can make your festivities a truly memorable occasion.
Here's just a few fun and simple ideas for stretching your holiday entertainment budget by saving big on the food cost at this year's holiday party:
Thrifty Thirst Quenchers - Starting with the party beverages, skip the canned or individual bottles of soda or water. Big, two-liter soft drinks and large jugs of water are much less expensive yet still easy to serve. If it's a casual holiday party, you can simply provide a bucket of ice next to the cups and allow your guests to serve themselves. Or, rather than serving soda, mix up batches of lemonade either fresh or from concentrate. You may also want to use frozen concentrates with a splash of soda to mix up an inexpensive punch of lemonade, orange, apple, or whatever concoction you can put together. Iced tea, hot tea and coffee are also inexpensive beverages to keep handy at all times.
Classic Snacking - Buy fresh fruit in season for your best prices. Slice and arrange the fruit on platters alongside sweet and tangy fruit-dips for an inexpensive yet fancy treat. Fruit and cheese are excellent companions for casual holiday buffet foods that do not require fancy place settings or dishes. Fill another table will a variety of cheese and sausage and an assortment of crackers. Don't forget the fresh veggies and dip, alongside some green and ripe olives. Little dishes of assorted nuts scattered around the room just beg for people to mingle and munch. If you want to depart a little from the classic snack, do it with fancier dips. Look for unusual dips and spreads to serve alongside your fruit, veggies, cheese, and crackers and your snacks will not look or taste ordinary.
Finger Foods For Mingling - If your holiday party guests will be moving about, finger foods are a great way to go. You can create very inexpensive but filling finger foods with very little effort. Start with the classic vegetable tray and dip. Get a good variety of vegetables and make your own dip in order to save money and show you care about your special guests. Wash and cut your own vegetables to ensure quality and to save money. Some simple, small sandwiches are always welcome. Keep in mind that people will be walking around, so no sandwiches that involve two hands and a bib! You can buy big bags of frozen boneless chicken wings that are already seasoned and are relatively inexpensive. Those look great on a bed of kale or romaine lettuce with wedges of lemon alongside. Just stock up on festive napkins and paper plates and your mingling party is set to go!
International Night - If your holiday party will be a dinner party where fingers foods are not appropriate, you may want to serve inexpensive dishes chosen from a particular nationality. Every country has some sort of dish that's frugal as well as delicious. If Italian food is your favorite, try spaghetti with garlic bread and an antipasto tray. If you find a good price on plain cheese pizza, you can add different toppings to have a nice variety while still keeping the price down. A Mexican meal is also easy to plan. Anything from simple Tacos, to Enchiladas, to Mexican Rice will certainly please your special holiday guests. Warm Tortilla Chips and fresh Salsa will stretch out the meal. Some surprisingly inexpensive meals to make are Greek dishes. Consider classic Greek Salads with big chunks of bread. You may also want to try Cabbage Rolls, or Lahanodolmathes, which are easy to make and quite inexpensive.
An Old Fashioned Potluck - This is one holiday party method that is catching on more and more. Don't we love to share the expense when we're trying to just get together to enjoy each others company? The host of the holiday dinner party will provide the main meal, but the guests will bring a dish to pass of their choosing. Some folks may want to know if they can bring anything special and you may, at that time, request a particular dish to complete the meal you've provided. But, I personally like the challenge and the surprises of a potluck. Many a time a potluck meal has turned into a Jello salad extravaganza. Memorable, indeed!
Desserts Only - A late evening holiday party is the perfect time to treat for dessert. This does not need to be expensive. Far from it! A store bought angel food cake with some creative toppings works great! Make a powdered sugar frosting, making sure it's on the thin side, and flavor with some lemon extract, or any flavoring you like. Drizzle over the top of thinly sliced cake on pretty plates. Garnish with fresh carnation petals, or even some fresh lavender, or lilac petals. They're all pretty, edible, and so festive your guests will think you splurged big time! You can also take some inexpensive chocolate, melt it down with a little cream and butter, and use that to drizzle over the slices of cake. Stick a sprig of fresh mint in and you've got a gourmet dessert by anyone's standards!
Party That Travels - If you celebrate a holiday that many of your neighbors and friends are celebrating, consider sharing the day. One household hosts the snack and beverage part of the party, the next family feeds the guests their main course, and the final family has dessert and coffee all ready. Just block off a chunk of time for each "course", being a bit flexible as people will need to get from one house to the next. So, serve hors d'oeuvres for so many hours, then the main course for so many hours, then the dessert for the last so many hours. Keep the menu rather casual as folks will be moving around and not seated at any one place too long. This type of holiday dinner should definitely be a buffet.
If you can't afford expensive catering for your holiday party, you need to get creative with your menu and your plan. It's really not that hard to come up with frugal and fun ways to save big money on your holiday party budget. Give it a try!
Here's just a few fun and simple ideas for stretching your holiday entertainment budget by saving big on the food cost at this year's holiday party:
Thrifty Thirst Quenchers - Starting with the party beverages, skip the canned or individual bottles of soda or water. Big, two-liter soft drinks and large jugs of water are much less expensive yet still easy to serve. If it's a casual holiday party, you can simply provide a bucket of ice next to the cups and allow your guests to serve themselves. Or, rather than serving soda, mix up batches of lemonade either fresh or from concentrate. You may also want to use frozen concentrates with a splash of soda to mix up an inexpensive punch of lemonade, orange, apple, or whatever concoction you can put together. Iced tea, hot tea and coffee are also inexpensive beverages to keep handy at all times.
Classic Snacking - Buy fresh fruit in season for your best prices. Slice and arrange the fruit on platters alongside sweet and tangy fruit-dips for an inexpensive yet fancy treat. Fruit and cheese are excellent companions for casual holiday buffet foods that do not require fancy place settings or dishes. Fill another table will a variety of cheese and sausage and an assortment of crackers. Don't forget the fresh veggies and dip, alongside some green and ripe olives. Little dishes of assorted nuts scattered around the room just beg for people to mingle and munch. If you want to depart a little from the classic snack, do it with fancier dips. Look for unusual dips and spreads to serve alongside your fruit, veggies, cheese, and crackers and your snacks will not look or taste ordinary.
Finger Foods For Mingling - If your holiday party guests will be moving about, finger foods are a great way to go. You can create very inexpensive but filling finger foods with very little effort. Start with the classic vegetable tray and dip. Get a good variety of vegetables and make your own dip in order to save money and show you care about your special guests. Wash and cut your own vegetables to ensure quality and to save money. Some simple, small sandwiches are always welcome. Keep in mind that people will be walking around, so no sandwiches that involve two hands and a bib! You can buy big bags of frozen boneless chicken wings that are already seasoned and are relatively inexpensive. Those look great on a bed of kale or romaine lettuce with wedges of lemon alongside. Just stock up on festive napkins and paper plates and your mingling party is set to go!
International Night - If your holiday party will be a dinner party where fingers foods are not appropriate, you may want to serve inexpensive dishes chosen from a particular nationality. Every country has some sort of dish that's frugal as well as delicious. If Italian food is your favorite, try spaghetti with garlic bread and an antipasto tray. If you find a good price on plain cheese pizza, you can add different toppings to have a nice variety while still keeping the price down. A Mexican meal is also easy to plan. Anything from simple Tacos, to Enchiladas, to Mexican Rice will certainly please your special holiday guests. Warm Tortilla Chips and fresh Salsa will stretch out the meal. Some surprisingly inexpensive meals to make are Greek dishes. Consider classic Greek Salads with big chunks of bread. You may also want to try Cabbage Rolls, or Lahanodolmathes, which are easy to make and quite inexpensive.
An Old Fashioned Potluck - This is one holiday party method that is catching on more and more. Don't we love to share the expense when we're trying to just get together to enjoy each others company? The host of the holiday dinner party will provide the main meal, but the guests will bring a dish to pass of their choosing. Some folks may want to know if they can bring anything special and you may, at that time, request a particular dish to complete the meal you've provided. But, I personally like the challenge and the surprises of a potluck. Many a time a potluck meal has turned into a Jello salad extravaganza. Memorable, indeed!
Desserts Only - A late evening holiday party is the perfect time to treat for dessert. This does not need to be expensive. Far from it! A store bought angel food cake with some creative toppings works great! Make a powdered sugar frosting, making sure it's on the thin side, and flavor with some lemon extract, or any flavoring you like. Drizzle over the top of thinly sliced cake on pretty plates. Garnish with fresh carnation petals, or even some fresh lavender, or lilac petals. They're all pretty, edible, and so festive your guests will think you splurged big time! You can also take some inexpensive chocolate, melt it down with a little cream and butter, and use that to drizzle over the slices of cake. Stick a sprig of fresh mint in and you've got a gourmet dessert by anyone's standards!
Party That Travels - If you celebrate a holiday that many of your neighbors and friends are celebrating, consider sharing the day. One household hosts the snack and beverage part of the party, the next family feeds the guests their main course, and the final family has dessert and coffee all ready. Just block off a chunk of time for each "course", being a bit flexible as people will need to get from one house to the next. So, serve hors d'oeuvres for so many hours, then the main course for so many hours, then the dessert for the last so many hours. Keep the menu rather casual as folks will be moving around and not seated at any one place too long. This type of holiday dinner should definitely be a buffet.
If you can't afford expensive catering for your holiday party, you need to get creative with your menu and your plan. It's really not that hard to come up with frugal and fun ways to save big money on your holiday party budget. Give it a try!
About the Author:
Planning simple and easy Christmas meals may be just what your busy holiday plans require. Get started planning with a visit to FreeQuickRecipes.com today.
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