Help me plan a menu for a party PLEASE!!!

leavinglasvegas

HELP!

My daughter is turning 10 this weekend and I have invited my family and friends over for dinner. Let me just tell you real quick what an awesome Bday this kid is going to have....

***4 of her closest friends will arrive in the afternoon and we will all head to the salon. My daughter and her friends will get special hairdos with glitter, makeup, and manicures. Then we will come home and get ready for 20 guests to arrive, plus more kids. We will have dinner, cake and ice cream and finally she will have a slumber party in her newly designed bedroom. (For Christmas I sent her to my parents house the day before Christmas eve and I gave her an Extreme Bedroom Makeover.) In the morning I will make her favorite bday breakfast of Chocolate chip pancakes and a big fruit salad.***

I am stumped planning the dinner menu. We don't eat meat, but the family and friends do. I'm not ordering pizza or any takeout for obvious health and financial reasons. My daughter chose Penne pasta with my homemade marinara sauce for her bday meal. Now the trick is to add to that meal things that carnivores will enjoy and that will satisfy them. But I will not serve meat.

Here is my menu so far:

Appetizers:
-Fruit and veggie tray
-??? Is that enough? It is for me, but I'm not sure about the others.

Dinner
-Salad bar... (my daughters request)
-WW Penne Pasta with Marinara (My daughters fave)
-Fresh baked Italian bread and real butter (Another fave that we only have occasionally)
-???? Need some protien that would satisfy a vegetarian and a carnivore equally. I would normally have beans and my daughter would normally have some milk)

Dessert
-Cake
-Ice cream bar....(one guess whose idea that was.)

Drinks:
-Water
-??? What can I use in place of soda? Maybe Sparkling water and fruit juice in fancy cups with swirly staws for the kids???

Can you guys help me out? What would you suggest I add, delete, etc.?

Additional info:
-My family rarely comes over and if they do, they do not eat my "healthy, organic" food. They think I'm weird. (I am a little spacey and hippee-ish ) So I need to make it look "normal" not fancy or intimidating.
-My mother is counting on me failing as usual, so I need to amp it up. (I wouldn't have invited her, but my daughter seems to like her:laugh: )
-My aunt and uncle will be here. They came to her first bday when I attemted to fry chicken to cater to everyone else. Lets just say, the chicken looked good and crispy on the outside, but it was raw on the inside. :blushing: So I'm pretty sure they will eat before they come.
-The bedroom makeover wiped me out. I need to be as cost effective as possible.

Thanks in advance for all your thoughts, comments, and ideas!!! You guys rock at this stuff!:flowerforyou:

Holly

1Sweets

Happy New Year....now breath :flowerforyou:

Sounds like you just need a sounding board? Looks to me like you've covered all your details really well. I'm in the party business so I can see that you have ...except you forgot the balloons (I have a balloon business:blushing: )

Protein that would go well with your menu would be:
low cal chicken catchatori there are plenty of recipes on the web. It "goes" with pasta & lookes like you've spent a lot of time but haven't & it's pretty on the table. I often makes dishes for other guests even though I might not eat it so keep that in mind. I think you've done really well.

As for snackies...I think if you put to much out they will be to full for the main course.
Plate with cheese & crackers goes great out with the veggie tray.
We usually put out punch made of a block of sherbert ice cream with diet 7up & thats fun for the kids to see. Everyone gets a cup where they can write there own name on the cup with a black felt pen so your not wasting & it's fun to decorate your own (great to keep germs at bay too).

Instead of Soda's
We usually have a choice between:
Ice Tea
Lemonade
Sparkling Cinder
Of course water you already mentioned.

Desert:
I would add little cups of vanilla ice cream...there cute for the girls & not messy. Even if you don't have/need any it always goes well with cake. Some people need it to "cut" the sweetness or they feel it's dry. They go hand in hand like peas & carrots

That's my 2 cents. I think you have it all figured out....

Now...my only question is: Can I be YOUR daughter? :laugh:

Go forth and Conquer:drinker:

linzismith

put chopped eggplant and portobello mushrooms into the pasta. it will give it extra heartiness. plus, top it with feta for extra taste.

for appetizer, do deviled eggs alongside the fruits of veggies. they're hearty and full of protein. also, have dip for the veggies (like ranch) and also hummus. lots of protein and tasty too. if you offer both, it shouldn't scare away too many people. (i think carrots, broccoli and cauliflower are particularly tasty in hummus).

linzismith

oh yeah, and good luck!

learning2fly4

Hi!
Happy Bday to your daughter!

For Appetizers some favs in our house are:
thin sliced baguette bread topped with homemade brucetta - dice tomatos, calamata olives, onions, fresh herbs and some crumbed feta. Toast bread first so the juice doesnt make the bread fall apart.
You can do a fruit and cheese platter with bree and grapes with some crackers or more toasted bread.

Homemade Salsa is another fav - Diced tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, red pepper and garlic(add hot peppers as u like) - squeeze lemon and limes in and let sit for a few hours to mix the flavors.


For dinner I would suggest a vegtarian Chili- Use lots of veggies like eggplant, zuccini, squash, tomatoes, various beans, can probly throw in tofu. You can serve it in a crock pot that you cook it in.
I usually sautee onions, garlic and peppers first, then add the rest of the veggies, corn and beans, and let simmer with some cayenne spice and crushed red pepper - if you want to add some heat chop some long green italian hot peppers or a jalepeno.

You can also make Eggplant parm or eggplant lasagna - send me a message for a recipe

lessertess

I think your menu sounds great, even for a non-vegetarian. Who doesn't like pasta?

If you add some mushrooms and veggies to the marinara sauce and top it with cheese....that will make it heartier for those who are feeling protien deprived.

On your salad bar, offer some nuts and cheese. If you aren't opposed to serving meat, you can let people add pepperoni or bacon to their salad. You can buy those already cooked so that you don't have to deal with it.

But, I wouldn't worry about it overly much. Especially with the new year most of us carnivores have resolved to eat less red meat and many resolve to have at least one meatless day a week. :laugh:

leavinglasvegas

Great ideas! Thanks, I knew I could count on MFP!

I could broil some eggplant and add some cheese. That would be easy and cheap and I'm pretty sure that would satisfy the meat eaters. Especially if......

I make deviled eggs and have cheese and crackers. Great idea! Then everybody would get thier protien and I'm oof the hook as far as starving people!:laugh:

Punch is a PERFECT idea! The kids will love it!! Lemonade is a great idea too!

Hummous and feta cheese are great! The greek side of the fam will feel good about that!

BTW...I love hummous and carrots. The greatest snack ever!

Thanks for your help! And I won't forget the balloons.

More ideas are welcome! I'm kind of neurotic, so this is all that will be on my mind till the shin-dig is over.

THANKS
Holly