Hosting a party is a lot of fun, and it is something we really enjoy doing. But let’s not kid ourselves, either. Throwing a party is a big responsibility for the host, and it can involve a lot of work, and if you don’t plan carefully, a lot of money. Right now, times are tough for many of us, and we all are working hard to make our money stretch as far as we can manage. So let’s talk about how we can still have some fun this summer, without breaking the bank!
I decided to put together a casual, backyard 4th of July gathering for close friends and family over the long holiday weekend. I wanted to see if I could put together a menu that would serve approximately eight adults, and about the same number of kids, and keep the food budget fairly streamlined. I will be serving pulled pork sandwiches, a cold pea salad, and strawberry dream cake for dessert.
Now, I will be supplementing the above with some other standard cookout fare: deviled eggs, a veggie tray, some chips and salsa, along with iced tea, lemonade, etc. (and I will probably have some backup hot dogs, and boca burgers handy in case there are kids who are leery of the pulled pork.) For the purposes of this post though, I will only be talking about the main dishes, and dessert!
So after planning the menu, I went to my local grocery store and picked up all of the ingredients. I have been reading a lot of articles about using store brands lately, and how many store brands are considered just as good, or better than national brands in blind taste tests. I thought it might be interesting to test this theory, for my budget party menu, so I decided to do an experiment; I purchased the generic brand for everything that I would be using, from condiments to cream cheese. I was very pleased with the results. While I was making everything last weekend (for my trial run) I noticed no difference in quality at all, from the national brands that I usually use. My family loved everything, and didn’t comment on anything tasting different! So if you want to save a few pennies, or in some cases a few dollars, I recommend giving your local grocery’s store’s house brand a try!
So, let’s give these a whirl, shall we?
Pulled Pork Sandwich
Ingredients:
1 large sweet onion, chopped (Vidalia if you can find it)
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
2 teaspoons of chile powder
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon paprika
1/3 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 bay leaf
Salt
5 lbs of pork butt shoulder roast, trimmed of excess fat
Hamburger buns
Directions:
1 Purée all of the sauce ingredients (everything except the bay leaf, the pork and the buns) in a blender until smooth.
2 Put sauce, bay leaf, and pork into a slow cooker and add 1 quart of water. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer, covered, turning occasionally for 6-8 hours or until the meat pulls apart easily with a fork.
3 Remove from heat and cool pork in the sauce. When cool, remove the pork from the sauce and shred into small pieces. Set aside.
4 Reduce the sauce by two thirds. Add the pork back to the sauce. Salt to taste. Remove bay leaf before serving. Serve hot over open-face hamburger buns.
Cold Pea Salad
Ingredients:
16-ounces frozen petite peas (do not thaw)
6 ounces smokehouse almonds, rinsed to take off the excess salt, chopped (preferably by hand)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
8 ounces chopped water chestnuts
2/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp yellow curry powder
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Directions:
1 Combine the frozen peas, green onions, almonds, and water chestnuts. Mix together the mayonnaise and curry powder in a separate bowl.
2 Gently fold the mayonnaise mixture into peas. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Strawberry Dream Cake
Ingredients:
1 Angel Food Cake
2 quarts fresh strawberries – hulled and sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1 8 oz. bar cream cheese – softened
1 12 oz, package whipped topping
Directions:
This one could not be easier. Clean and slice the strawberries and put in a bowl. Mix with 1/4 c. sugar and let them macerate for about 30 minutes. Trim the crust from the angel food cake and cube into roughly bite-sized pieces. Set aside. Whip softened cream cheese with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. With a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, gently fold in the whipped topping until blended. In a 9″x13″ pan, or a glass trifle bowl (if you have one, I don’t) create a layer of cake pieces, followed by a layer of cream filling, top with the sweetened berry slices. (If using a trifle bowl, you can create multiple layers.)
Okay, now for the costs:
I have included two figures for each dish – the first is if you live in a home with an empty refrigerator, and bare cupboards. It includes everything that you would need to make these recipes. Except salt and pepper. If you live in a home without salt and pepper, then you probably don’t have pots and pans, or cook anything at all. Actually, now that I think about it, if you have no salt and pepper, then you probably don’t even eat, so let’s not waste each other’s time, shall we? For the rest of us actual eating/drinking/cooking types, the second figure includes the costs of the main ingredients, minus things like basic spices and seasonings (catsup, mayonnaise, brown sugar, chili powder, bay leaves, etc.) I will highlight the prices of the items that are not counted in the second total, so you can know what was left out. Okay?
Pulled Pork
.99 - 1 large onion, chopped
.50 – 6 garlic cloves, peeled
.37 – 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
1.99 - 2 teaspoons of chile powder
.99 - 1 Tbsp tomato paste
2.19 - 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
.99 - 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
2.69 - 1 teaspoon paprika
1.39 - 1/3 cup ketchup
1.45 - 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1.89 - 1/2 cup light brown sugar
3.99 - 1 bay leaf
12.45 – 5 lbs of pork butt shoulder roast, trimmed of excess fat
2.00 – Hamburger buns (1 pkgs of eight)
$34.88 ($20.94 less basics)
Cold Pea Salad
2.49 - 16-ounces frozen petite peas (do not thaw)
2.99 - 6 ounces smokehouse almonds, rinsed to take off the excess s$27.32)alt, chopped (preferably by hand)
.50 - 1/2 cup chopped green onions
1.01 - 8 ounces chopped water chestnuts
3.00 – 2/3 cup mayonnaise
3.99 - 2 tsp yellow curry powder
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
13.98 (6.99 less basics)
Strawberry Dream Cake
3.99 - 1 Angel Food Cake
4.00 – 2 quarts fresh strawberries – hulled and sliced
3.00 - 2 8 oz. bars cream cheese – softened
1.29 - 1 12 oz, package whipped topping
12.28
Which gives us a grand total of:
63.14 (42.21 – if you have the basics)
Not half bad for a menu budget that serves eight people! One of the best things about this menu, is that everything you need is accessible at a small grocery or supermarket, so you don’t have to make trips to several stores for exotic ingredients. They are all delicious, and relatively simple to make, so that even those of you who aren’t all that comfortable in the kitchen, should have no trouble at all. Best of all, all the dishes are able to be made the day before your party. That gives you ample time to make things ahead of time, and not have to worry about cooking, the day of your party. So start planning, and have some fun with your party, and save some money while you are doing it!
What are your favorite budget-saving party tips? We want to hear about them in the comments!
Tracy Maher is a party planning guru and director of marketing for DiscountPartySupplies.com. She has a husband, three children, and a cat that should be registered as a lethal weapon. She throws many parties, mainly as an excuse to cook (and eat) a lot of food!
