Suggestions? Food for LARGE Graduation party?

[cats7494]

My daughter graduated from high school early (December) and her grad party is on New Year's Eve. I am excited; however, it has been crazy planning this with Christmas! lol

I am looking for more food ideas for a large crowd...on budget... I am a single mom.

ANY suggestions??? Pretty Please

 

[Uncle Remus]

My daughter graduated from high school early (December) and her grad party is on New Year's Eve. I am excited; however, it has been crazy planning this with Christmas! lol

I am looking for more food ideas for a large crowd...on budget... I am a single mom.

ANY suggestions??? Pretty Please

Chili.

 

[TaraPA]

Is the party in your home or another place? How many crock pots do you have or can you borrow? Pulled pork, beef or turkey BBQ, chili, hot dogs - any of those items can be made in bulk in crock pots. Also pasta is a good thing that's ecomonical to make in bulk - get disposable trays & make ziti! If you really want to save money, just have it be a cake & ice cream party - but you may have already sent the invites out.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

ziti, salad, bread
baked potato bar
taco bar or nacho bar
candy buffet - you can get all the christmas clearance stuff now

Congrats to your dd

 

[TaraPA]

Oh good idea - those "bar" type set-ups are popular - I think a taco bar would go over very well!

 

[Sandy321]

ziti, salad, bread
baked potato bar
taco bar or nacho bar
candy buffet - you can get all the christmas clearance stuff now

Congrats to your dd

baked ziti is easy to do for a large crowd!

I will tell you that I used to love watching Robert Irvine making things for LARGE groups the Dinner Impossible! I'd watch some of the episodes on youtube for inspiration!!

Congratulations - and Good Luck!

 

[Uptown Girl]

It's probably too late but I would check into having it catered. You might be surprised at how much buying all the food, etc. takes for a large crowd. I am sure we spent well over $500 on the food for DS's grad party and we only had about 100 people.

 

[mamacatnv]

I agree with taco/nacho bar.
Add black or kidney beans to ground meat (turkey/beef) to help stretch it. Shredded cheese, nacho cheese, sour cream, chopped tomatoes, sliced lettuce, sliced olives and some salsa and the the kids can make them how they like them.

Costco or Smart & Final are great places to get the cheese, the chips and the sour cream in big tubs. Our local Smart & Final also carries chopped tomatoes and lettuce shredds

 

[elgerber]

Oh good idea - those "bar" type set-ups are popular - I think a taco bar would go over very well!

We did a taco bar for my sons grad party in July, it was HUGE hit, people loved it!!! We did soft and hard shells, and tortilla chips. We had a lot of lettuce and a lot of people made taco salads.

 

[powellrj]

How big is huge. When my DS graduated 2 years ago we had over 200. We did hot roast beef, sliced ham and turkey breast. Right now all of those things were marked down last night at my grocery store. If you get them now, you can freeze them for a few days and then get them out and plate them when you need them. Add sides like chips and baked beans for sides and it would be pretty cheap and easy.

 

[Julia M]

I did this for youngest ds's graduation. We had about 40 or 50 people.

Baked Ziti
Caesar Salad
garlic bread
dessert

Baked Ziti
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
9 lbs. ziti pasta
1 #10 can Contadina Spaghetti Sauce
1 1/2 lbs. ricotta cheese
12 oz. eggs, beaten
4 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated
2 lbs. Mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp. fresh basil leaves
Combine Contadina Spaghetti Sauce and heavy cream; blend well. Pour creamy sauce over cooked ziti pasta; mix well and set aside. Combine ricotta cheese, beaten eggs, grated Parmesan cheese and basil leaves; mix well. In each of two well-sprayed full steam table pans, layer 4 pounds ziti mixture and 8 ounces ricotta mixture. Repeat. Top each pan with 1 pound mozzarella cheese. Bake in 350-degree F. conventional oven 30-35 minutes, or 300-degree Convection oven 20-25 minutes.
Makes 40 8-ounce servings

julia

 

[cats7494]

Thank you all so much for your ideas and your best wishes! I am excited for her.
I think we are going to go with a Taco Bar...expecting 150 or so people so the set up will actually be pretty simple.

Thanks again!!