Hosting a party for under $40

Potato Nests with Bacon Scallion Sour Cream

One of the "Tasks" that Scott and I assigned ourselves as we cut our food budget in half was to host a gathering at our house and to serve refreshments, including wine.  Faced with a limited food budget, it would be easy to cloister ourselves from our friends and our normal habits.  Scott and I are social people.  We enjoy a large circle of very supportive friends and it didn't seem fair to not include them in our efforts tochange our spending habits.  If our families lived closer, I'm sure one of our rules could have been to host a family dinner, but we decided upon hosting an event, having a night on the town and we've recently added, having a family outing, the costs of all of these events must come out of our $400 budget. 

Apples with Caramel-Nut Dip

Tonight I hosted a book club for a social group of which we're members.  Book clubs can be tricky, because this group has a lot of members, making it difficult to estimate how many people would attend.  I've been to book clubs with 4 people and I've been to book clubs with 15 people.  It depends on the weather, the location, and ultimately, the book.  I'm also a notorious over-planner, if I'm expecting 10 guests, I make food for 20.  A great fear of mine is running out of food.  Tonight, I was one of 8 lovely ladies who enjoyed a lively discussion and delightful food.  2 of the attendees sweetly brought food to share and I felt bad explaining why I couldn't accept their generosity.  I hope they understand, but I'm really proud of what I was able to accomplish.

PB&J Cookies

I will be honest, hosting tonight's event was one of the things that I was most fearing and most looking forward to this entire month.  I regularly host things at our house, board meeting, book clubs, playgroups.  I always make too much, serve too much, spend to much.  Armed with only a $40 budget, I knew I had to get creative.  I set aside $20 for wine.  Half of my budget gone.  $20 for wine doesn't seem like a lot, and it isn't, $20 can easily be blown on one bottle.  I bought 6 bottles for that amount.  My grocery store sells a house brand of red wine that is pretty good.  I also bought 2 bottles of pinot grigio and used a coupon to make each bottle $4.  Not bad in price and not bad in taste.  This crowd is a lot lighter drinkers that I'm used to, I have lots of wine leftover.

Cheese Puffs with Lemon Chicken Salad

With only a $20 food budget, I knew I had to work smart.  I knew I wanted to serve a menu that included 2 hot, savory appetizers, one fruit with dip and one dessert.  I did some savvy shopping and created my 4 dishes for $13.70, including leftovers that will feed my family for lunch tomorrow and dessert for almost a week.  Food: Apples with a Caramel Peanut Dip, BP&J Cookies, Cheese Puffs with Lemon Chicken Salad, and Potato Nests with Bacon and Scallion Sour Cream.  I've put the recipes under the recipe posting, but I'll insert pictures here.

It was a challenge to make everything by hand.  Without a large budget, I was unable to rely on foods that were already prepared.  I've often lamented that my grocery store didn't have any high-end savory appetizers and I think I've found recipes that solve that problem.  It is hard to find recipes that are both "company worthy" and cost effective and I think that's one thing that keeps people from entertaining in their homes.  I know that having several appetiser recipes that taste a lot more expensive than they cost will make my a much more confident party host. 

Here's what we ate today.

Breakfast

- SKC&G Oatmeal with Brown Sugar

- S Taost with Peanut Butter

- C&G Banana and Milk

Total $0.70

Snack

- S Orange

- G Crackers and Milk

Total $0.43

Lunch

- S Egg Sandwich (2 slices bread, 1 egg, 1/4 cup cheese, 1Tbsp mayo) 

- S&K Leftover Potatoes

- K&C PB&J

- G Chicken Nuggets and Yogurt

- C&G Milk

Total $2.14

Dinner

- SKC&G Pasta with Sauce, Mixed Vegetables

- C&G Milk

- S Tea

Total $1.55

Dessert

- C Cookies

Total $0.04

Total Spend $4.86 + $40 for book club refreshments

Tomorrow, Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes