Entertaining on a budget

Found another post today on the NazNet forums that sparked a thought or two. Jim Franklin posed the question:

“How often do you have friends and relatives into your home?”

My response:

“Not often enough. With my tight budget, I seem to think I can’t “afford” to have friends and family over. I’m silly.”

The post got me thinking… is there a way to entertain on a very tight budget? After all, I’d really like to have friends and family over to my place more often. So, I set out to scour the best ideas for entertaining on a budget… I have no excuse to not entertain in my home, because here’s what I found.

My all-time favorite lady, Rachael Ray, has a great menu for an inexpensive New Year’s Eve bash (I’d totally use this one for any bash, though!):

Low-Budget New Year’s Bash

She also has plenty of other easy party ideas – check them out here on her website, or subscribe to her magazine !

Being Virtuous Women shares:

Entertaining doesn’t have to be extravagant, expensive or a huge ordeal.

Good Ol’-Fashioned Cook Out

Have guests bring their lawn chairs, their choice of meat (enough for their family) to cook over an open fire or a grill, and a dish to pass for a lovely time of fellowshipping in the great outdoors. Things you may provide for your guests: condiments, drinks (such as: water, iced tea, and lemonade) and a dessert.

Ice Cream Hymn-Sing

What is more heavenly than to hear the Lord’s people gathering together to sing of the goodness of their King? Invite friends over for an evening of singing and afterwards a time of fellowship over a bowl of ice cream (buckets of ice cream can be gotten for very little cost or you can make homemade ice cream!). You can also provide lemonade and iced tea to drink, if you so desire.

Game Night

I don’t know about your family, but we love to play games! On several occasions we have enjoyed inviting families over for a night of games and popcorn. Again, you can also provide lemonade and iced tea, if you so desire.

Potluck Dinner

You may desire to have someone over for dinner after church. Why not have them bring their Sunday dinner over to your home and you can enjoy your Sunday meals together? Things you may provide: rolls, dessert, drinks.

Chef Michele has some more ideas:

Keep It Casual – Plan simple fare. Opt for a simpler meal rather than a fancy multi course affair.

Check your stock – Take a look in your pantry and see what you have on hand before you plan your menu. Plan your meal around such staples as pastas, rice or beans.

Check the sale flyers – See what your local grocers have on sale, this is a great way to make the most of seasonal items. It is also the best way to cut down the cost of more expensive items such as meats and cheeses.

Go vegetarian – Serve your guests a meatless meal. Not only can vegetarian meals be less expensive, they are healthier and lighter too. The highest priced items for many recipes such as meats, cheese, sour cream and cream or butter are often the most unhealthy.

Ease up on the appetizers – Have your meal almost ready to serve when guests arrive and prepare only one simple appetizer.

Serve a simple dessert – Seasonal fresh fruit with a simple topping of homemade whipped cream is not only elegant, it is good for you and a welcome refreshment to a full stomach.

Be creative – If you need to decorate for your dinner party, visit a local dollar store. You can find everything from candles, beautiful decorative vases, and dishes. Keep things simple yet elegant.

Bella Online’s guest author, Rhonda Cliett, offered these tips:

Plan your menu at least a week ahead of time, if possible.

Watch the store sales flyers and make adjustments to your menu according to what is on sale that week.

When planning your menu, take advantage of items that you already have on hand. If you previously stocked up on lasagna noodles, now would be the time to use them.

If your guests ask what they can bring don’t give them the standard “just yourself.” Instead, let them bring an item from your menu. Easy items for guests to bring are: wine, loaf of bread or rolls, gourmet sodas or teas, fruit juice, vegetable tray, fruit and cheese tray, relish tray, dips, or ice.

Make sure some of your items can be prepared a day or two ahead of time. If all of your items have to be prepared on the day of the party you might be tempted to use too many expensive convenient items rather than preparing items inexpensively from scratch.

If one of your guests has special dietary needs, take this into consideration when planning your menu for the entire party. It is less expensive to prepare a sugar free dessert for the entire party rather than to prepare two desserts, one sugar free and one not.

Your main dish does not have to be made from the most expensive ingredients. Many people feel they have not adequately prepared a meal if the main dish is anything less than lobster and caviar, for instance. If you really must serve an ingredient such as lobster, include it in the salad or in a vegetable dish. This will allow you to buy less of the expensive ingredient.

Take advantage of seasonal fruits and vegetables. They not only will add more freshness to your meal, but they will be less expensive since they are in-season.

Most importantly, keep a list of inexpensive recipes and menu ideas handy. Obviously, the best way to cut costs on your entertaining is to prepare foods that are relatively inexpensive. Having the recipes already on hand will not only save you time but it will prevent you from being tempted to prepare more expensive dishes because you cannot find anything else.