IM COOKING CHRISTMAS DINNER IN THE CHURCH, CAN ANY ONE GIVE ME ANY IDEAS OF KEEPING COSTS LOW? A LIST WOULD BE NICE OF BOTH FOOD AND ACCESSORIES i.e. PLATES, CUTLERY CROCKER TABLE CLOTHS ETC.
2006-12-19 22:09:22 · 10 answers · asked by Katey 3 in Food & Drink ➔ Entertaining
Wow. I wish you good luck!
Food:
Are you planning a starter? Soup works well for lots of people. You can make soup really cheaply and it will help fill people up so that the portions on the main course can be slightly smaller. Here is a lovely recipe. Buy the cheap casserole packs you can buy in the supermarket (frozen, usually contains carrots, turnip and onion) cook it in chicken stock with a couple of bay leaves. When cooked, whizz with a hand blender and grate nutmeg into it. Serve with bread rolls. You can buy frozen part cooked rolls from Lidl, about 10 in a pack for £1. Butter can be just as cheap, you can cut it into small sticks and get 25 pieces from 2 packs easily.
For the main course, I suggest that you buy a rolled boneless turkey. It may seem more expensive but its much easier to carve and you can judge how much you need easier as everything will get eaten.
Buy cheap potatoes, and roast them in lard - makes them nice and crispy, but doesn't cost a fortune.
Vegetable wise, just buy whatever is cheapest. Try to buy fresh if you can, carrots are quite often cheap and can be bought in bulk.
You can buy stuffing in large quantities and add sausage meat to it if you want to make it more special and go further.
Instant gravy is cheap and goes a long way.
Pudding wise, try Lidl or a supermarket own brand. They are usually very good these days and Aldi and Lidl keep coming top in the taste tests despite being much cheaper. Custard can be bought quite cheaply as well.
Decorations for the table dont need to cost a fortune. Use sheets as table cloths, and borrow candle stick from people. They dont have to match, it will look nice regardless.
Buy cheap candles and place holly (there must be holly bushes somewhere nearby - ask people about their gardens) around the base of the candle holders. Put the candles in the middle of the table, along the length of the table. Salt and pepper pots can be borrowed from people, again they don't have to match.
Christmas crackers can be expensive. Buy them from as cheap a shop as you can find and if they are still too expensive place them only on the ladies place settings only. Decorate the other place settings with a sprig of holly.
Put a bread roll on each side plate, with a paper napkin underneath - white ones are usually very cheap, but coloured ones on every other setting would make it more festive.
With low lighting and candles lit it would look lovely!
Enjoy!
2006-12-19 22:58:36 · answer #1 · answered by Bellasmum 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Assuming all meat eaters, keep it simple with just mains and desserts. Do you have the facilities for a hot meal? You'll need to budget 12 to 16oz turkey per person (I don't mean all meat I mean whole bird) So for, say, 20 adults and 5 kids you'd need a 23lb bird. Now that's big and may not fit in the oven so you might have to do 2 smaller birds. Veg is cheap so get lots to fill up on. I wonder if it would be a good idea to ask each family to bring a dessert enough for 4 people that'll ease costs and pressure on yourself? Crisp, clean white sheets can be tablecloths and you can put a line of (free) holly down the centre. There should be some candles lying around in the church, light them if you're not worried about fire risk. Borrow a CD player so you can have some carols in the background, make sure everyone will be warm enough. Use proper crockery if you can face washing up, if not then (UK) Woolworths or any of the big supermarkets have cheap paper plates/cups and plastic cutlery. You could tie cutlery into bundles with red raffia or ribbon for each person and, again, a sprig of holly tucked in. Best of luck.
2006-12-20 00:07:25 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Are you doing traditional? Cos if your not tied to that I would completely suggest costco or sams, and do pasta bar!
Make lots of different noodles(toss them with olive oil to keep them from sticking and getting hard, just not TOO much!>, different sauces,Garlic breads and you can even do some traditionals like green beans, sweet potatos and cranberry sauces, you can get all that in bulk there. Including say chicken instead of ham or turkey which will be pricier. Also You can get cultlery as well. Dont forget salad!and cookies, pies, muffins for dessert.
2006-12-20 01:06:11 · answer #3 · answered by danu 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
why not take the hassle out and get 6 or so KFC buckets... saw an ad the other day and each bucket feeds a family of 4 and also get drinks and a veinetta ice cream... I think there about £12 each... that would be £3 per person... Chicken, Chips ,side order, Dessert and drinks... and... no washing up!
2006-12-20 03:45:02 · answer #4 · answered by marko72 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Pasta is a good choice - it's cheap to make, everyone will eat it, and it fills you up. Almost everyone will eat penne vodka. It's very popular. You could also make up your own crudite platter, using celery, carrots, etc. and a jar of blue cheese dip or something like that.
2006-12-20 03:12:00 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is and excellent site, it has recipes in large quantities and a bunch of great articles about party planning. Happy Holidays!
http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/quantity/
2006-12-20 05:29:50 · answer #6 · answered by scrappykins 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Fish finger sarnies. pucka!! And saves on the cutlery too.
2006-12-19 22:23:10 · answer #7 · answered by katie 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
go to costco and buy everything bulk and save all that $$$
2006-12-19 22:17:16 · answer #8 · answered by tweinthehouse 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Poundland and Iceland are your best buys.
2006-12-19 22:36:13 · answer #9 · answered by Aussie Girl 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
ham dressing
2006-12-20 01:52:16 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋