Tomorrow I have to bring the "snack" for our parent meeting. There's about 20 people and I was looking to make something simple like meatballs. Last time I did and entire meal: BBQ, four kinds of chips, pickles and cookies. I'm not up for all of that this time around. MUCH too busy but want to bring something yummy and fast to prepare.
I mention this to my mom and she gave me two huge bags of candy so the sweet part is covered.
I made a crock pot of turkey meatballs, bought cheese and crackers, chips and dip and some carrots. It was a lot of stuff but made almost everybody happy. (The leftovers were left behind for the teacher's lunch.)
Sandwich and/or taco bar. Just cut everything up and put it in tupperware containers. If you do tacos, try tacos in a bag and just have the meat in a slow cooker. People can make their own sandwiches or tacos and you won't have massive prep work to do.
Roll up sandwiches - turkey boursin cheese and spinach, tuna and cheddar, fresh mozzerella and store made bruchetta. If you want to keep it really simple, just do one kind. Layer on flatbread like lavash, roll up, cut into pinwheels. If you make six roll ups you should have more than enough.
Enjoy!
I get packages, envelops, of muffin mix, just add water, at the grocery store for under a dollar. Use a small muffin pan, more muffins, with papers. You should only need 2-3 packages of mix. A fruit pizza is good and refreshing. Pick up some fresh fruit and/or veggies and make your own fruit or veggie trays, to me the pre-made fruit and vegggie tray are expensive.
The no bean chili cheese dip is a good idea but I, like many, can't have MSG and I haven't been able to find a canned chili without MSG. Whenever I go to an event I have to ask if there is MSG in the food. However I know fresh fruit and veggies are always okay, not the dip. And muffins are okay.
Hummus, salsa, bean dip with pitas/pita chips and an assortment of veggies to dip.
Have fun. D.
Sticking balls of meat with a toothpick is always fun :) that sounds good to me.
Maybe a veggie tray with some dip from the market to go along with.
$5 footlongs from Subway! Quick, easy, fairly cheap......
This may not be what you want for this event, but wanted to share one of my favorites for bringing to events to feed lots of people easily and inexpensively:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Pulled-Pork/Deta...
Be sure to use the more inexpensive pork (pork butt) that is mentioned in the comments.
I think you should do something easy. Don't cook, don't spend time on this, don't worry about it. And definitely don't let yourself feel pressured by other parents.
Get chips and dip, and be done with it. There is no need to escalate "snacks" into a lot of work and cooking.
People love when I make this and its easy:
No Bean Chili Cheese dip
1 Can of no bean chili
1 bar of cream cheese
You can double, triple or quadruple this recipe if need be. I put it in a crockpot to keep warm and serve with tortilla chips.
Pigs in a blanket. Brown Lil Smokies sausages. Use tubes of crescent rolls and cut the dough triangles in halves. Roll a sausage in each triangle and bake. Keeping them warm in a crockpot works fine. Serve with ketchup and mustard. Add chips and a veggie tray? What about a box of the frozen quiches that are at Sam's or Wal-mart?
