I am required to bring food to a potluck but have no money. what would you do?

Question

It's the last day of my college school class, and my teacher has called for a potluck, she wants everyone to bring a main course type dish. She is requiring us to attend or our final grade will be affected. I am on a $200 a month grocery budget and am struggling to get by for myself... I really can't afford food for a group of 20. I don't want to show up empty handed b/c that will look so bad! And I can't just not go. What would you do?

thanks all- I loved everybody's tips. I ended up doing a salad ($1.69 + .75 cent coupon and my grocery store doubles coupons) and I had the dressing at home. Then I ate the leftovers!

Answer 1

If its a potluck dear you won't have to feed all. You could bring spaghetti. Thats cheep and feeds alot of people. Most people like spaghetti also.

Answer 2

I had to do something very similar for a work event back in college when I was making about $500 a month, total. I made a Ramen casserole for 15 that cost me about $6.

I bought 4 packages of Ramen noodles for $1, cooked them, drained 1/2 the water, mixed in the flavor powder (makes the taste stronger), let it sit a bit, then drained almost all the rest of the water. Then I bought a big bag of frozen mixed veggies (corn, carrots, peas) for $1.79 and a package of pre-cut cooked chicken (like they have for fajitas... check the lunchmeat area in the grocery) for $2.99. I heated the veggies and chicken, cut the chicken pieces into thirds, then mixed it all together in a big bowl. It ends up making a lot of servings, looks decent, can be reheated easily, and tastes pretty darn good... all for $6 or less.

Good luck!

Answer 3

make a portion that is good enough for 2 people-- if everyone is supposed to bring that there's no reason to feed 20 people.

casseroles are a good cheap way to go--- the most expensive thing you'd have to buy is cheese. or better yet, use 2 boxes of kraft's mac & cheese, cook it, pop it in a dish and bake it for a few minutes

that or you can talk to your prof on the side about your situation, if they're being a jerk, check the syllabus. unless it's a requirement on there, your prof has no hold over you.

Answer 4

Mac & cheese,hot rolls, a jello creation.You don't need to make enough to feed 20 people because others will be bringing food too.Just make a dish for 4-6.With all the other food that should do it.

Answer 5

Make spaghetti and add some hamburger meat.
a pound of hamburger will cost you about $3.00 and spaghetti is usually 50 cents.
Or take a salad, cut us a lettuce and add some carrot sticks to it, take a bottle of salad dressing, won't cost no more than $4.00 for salad and dressing.
Make tuna salad (a couple of cans) and put crackers around your dish.
good luck, all good foods don't have to be expensive.

Answer 6

Go to a discount grocery and pick up ingredients for vegetarian chili: bag of mixed beans (less than a dollar), one big can of whole tomatoes (less than a dollar), one onion (so cheap!), and two packets of chili seasoning mix (fifty cents or so). It's easy to make. Plus, there'll be leftovers for you, and any vegetarians present will stinking love you.

Answer 7

you can make a pasta dish for about $10. this time of year, everything is on sale. boxed pasta will cost about $2 and jarred sauce about $3. add some cheese for about $3-$4 and you're done.

Answer 8

Maybe nachos and cheese with a little salsa would not be too expensive. Maybe a box of cookies.

Answer 9

Get a large thing of stouffer's family size lasagana, it's about 7 dollars, with all the other food there, you won't need much more than that... ;)

Answer 10

Macoroni and cheese, spahgetti, nachos (just one bag of chips, melted cheese and olives), quessidillas (melted cheese on tortillas), or mini bean and cheese burritos are all very expensive.