I've looked on this site for ideas and still seem stuck.
Our littlest is getting baptized Sunday, January 15. The baptism will be at 1 pm. We're planning on eating before hand at the school hall. There will be close to 45-50 people. There will be a total of 20 kids there, with a majority of them under the age of 6! I'm looking for a menu that doesn't include too messy of a food. We aren't able to really have catering done. We live in a small town and the expense thing!
I've thought of doing bbq's or a cheesey chicken sandwhich, but am afraid of the messy factor with so many little kids! (15 are under the age of 6!)
We have a ton of ground beef/pork in the freezer and would like to use those items rather than having to go buy meat.
Thanks!
I would make (cold cuts) sandwiches or order sandwich trays, chips, cookies and lemonade.
With 20 kids, it is going to be a mess, will not matter.
I was thinking quartered crustless finger sandwiches, but am not sure how you would factor in the port or beef.
With the beef the simple thing I can think of is taquitos, but that is really time consuming.
Can you do a small platter of finger sandwiches for the children and make a casserole with the meet for the adults.
You can use a spray bottle for clean up - like the lunch ladies.
Whatever you bring, be sure to bring a bucket and a mop to clean the floor. No matter what you serve, there will be spillage. Also bring paper towels and some kind of cleaner.
Can you make mini sandwiches using cold cuts. I like the fruit idea. And little ones eat chicken nuggets with ease.
Cocktail meatballs would use up some of your meat, with a bbq type dipping sauce. That's not too messy.
Add some fruit kabobs and cut up veggies with dip, and a nice pasta salad. Easy and inexpensive.
If you want another meat item you could do pigs in blankets or a tray of meat/cheese/crackers.
Serve clear or very light drinks, like a pink party punch :)
I would do like cut up fresh fruit, pigs in a blanket, little rolls with lunch meat and cheese. Sorry, can't think of anything for your ground beef and pork unless you want to use the ground beef and do like a spaghetti dish, but that also might be a bit messy for the little ones.
Deli tray with rolls/bread so people can make their own sandwiches or just eat the meat and/or cheese like my kids did when they were little. Veggies and dip, fruit and cookies or bars and you should be all set. Congrats! Guess this doesn't use up the ground meat in the freezer though. Hmm. I can't really think of anything for that other than sloppy joes and those are pretty messy. Meatballs in crockpots? BBQ meatballs or Swedish meatballs, always popular in our part of the country.
I make mini meat ball sandwiches with either kings hawaiian rolls (great for the little kids) or dinner rolls. you could use half pork half beef and combine with crushed corn flakes, romano grated cheese and or grated parmesan cheese, a little ketchup eggs and a little parsley roll the balls to be about the size to fit in a hawaiian roll and bake at 350 for about 20-25 min
Kebabs?
We went with lunchmeat and veggie platters and non-red or dark juice.
I say serve what you want and let their parents handle the messy factor.
For the kids I would do fruit kabobs and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but into shapes with cookie cutters, like crosses or anything else that seems fitting for the theme that you have, if there are allergies you can try just jelly or grilled cheese. For the adults you can do a pulled pork sanwich (pork in the crock pot fat side down - no other liquids) then add bbq sauce or sweet n sour sauce with appropriate breads, we like hawaiian for the sweet n sour). For ground beef we do a casserole that is well appreciated (looks gross but tastes great!) Ground beef seasoned with Lawry's Garlic Salt and Seasoned Pepper, drain and melt Kraft American Cheese (go with what looks like "too much") Add 1cans per lb of beef Green Beans (regular cut NOT French), drained ... 1cans of stewed tomatoes (with liquid) ... 1lb of macaroni noodles cooked, drained then combine all ingredients Noodles, Beef(w/cheese), Green Beans, Tomatoes, make sure it is all heated thru and serve!
Why not use the beef that you have, and make up a bunch of taco meat, and keep it in a crock pot? You can do a couple of crock pots, since there are so many people. Just don't season it up so much that it is messy. I have made taco meat before, and just didn't add much water or salsa to the meat for seasoning and it was good, but kind of dry. That way if the kids spill some it won't be a huge mess on their shirts. You can get some shredded lettuce, cheese, onions, whatever toppings you like and put those into plastic containers and just open them up when it is time to eat. You can have soft shells for the little ones too they usually like those. It can be a nice meal that isn't too expensive.
You could get party subs from subway. Bring Sprite or other clear liquids.
If it were me, I'd offer cold fried chicken, potato salad, beans, and chocolate cake. All store bought but the cake. Chicken from Popeyes.
