Christmas Celebration, Menu Advice

Hi L.,
If you really don't want to spring for more meat, I'd say to make macaroni and cheese on the side. It's hearty, fills you up and the kids may be more likely to eat this than the meat. Rather than get another pound or so of meat, it might be more cost effective to buy a bag of frozen meatballs or a package or two of those Little Smokies, toss them in a crockpot with a small jar of grape jelly and a bottle of chili sauce as an extra.

More meat please!!! I am hosting the very same amount of people as you...13 adults...5 children...probably the children won't eat the meat with my experience....but you surly don't have enough for the adults.

pork is fine get alittle chicken finger or nuggets for kids and maybe start with salald or dips first they wont be as hungry and dinner rolls

You could add some beans (pinto or black beans) that are crockpotted with some rice (yellow rice goes good with black beans and pork) cooked in broth with chopped up celery, onions, carrots. Keep them seperate and let people choose if they want to mix them. That's a meal in itself.

If you do pasta, you could do a cold pasta salad.

Your meat is a little short. I would buy another 5 pounds and then add a couple of sides. A pasta salad would be good and maybe another vegetable. And I would also do a couple of appetizers. You can do spinach dip, crackers & cheese, fruit tray, artichoke dip, etc. I wouldn't do something different for the kids. In my experience, the kids just want what the adults are having to eat.

Maybe add a soup you can make up the day before to lessen your work (a recipe for tomato orange bisque below) . I second a pasta entree alternative dish for kids. If you plan on 6-8 oz of meat per adult and 3 oz per child, you are just a little shy. But with extra side dishes, nobody will be able to eat a full portion of meat, in which case you will be fine. Here is a soup that won't break the bank but so easy to make, and super elegant. Its the signature soup from a well know deli in Portland Oregon. Its rich, so I only make it once a year or so. Everyone who eats this soup raves about it and asks for the recipe.
http://www.elephantsdeli.com/media/ELEDELI_TomatoOrange.pdf

I think you definitely should add to the selection with pasta. Economical and everyone will eat it, in case they don't like the other things. Maybe a basic salad too? If u do those things, I think you're ok to skip an additional protein.

I'm vegetarian, so I don't know if it's helpful for me to comment on whether you have enough meat. If you think you are lacking protein you could make a quiche as a side, we make a delicious caramelized onion one. Spaghetti would work for the kids, but I was also going to suggest mac and cheese. If you are worried about there not being enough food you could also make a couple of easy appetizers and then people won't be as hungry when you serve dinner. I'm a fan of stuffed mushrooms, brie in puff pastry with crackers, a veggie tray, cheese and crackers, hummus and pita, etc.

That's about 1/4-1/3 pound per person... aka like burger, or one slice per person.

It could work... if you did them sammie style... but otherwise you'll need something flesh it out.

Like just about everyone else, I think you are a little lean on meat. Rule of thumb is about a 1/2 pound of meat per adult. Depending on the age of the children, 2 children count as 1 adult.

I also think appetizers will help. Fill them up before dinner and they won't eat as much.

You could also make a simple dish of baked Rigatoni to help supplement the dinner. Just take a pound of hamburg (browned) and mix it with some sauce (If using jarred/canned sauce, I suggest about 2 jars/cans). Cook 1.5 pounds of Rigatoni (do not over cook), mix it all together in a large casserole dish and bake it (covered with foil) for about 45 minutes at 325. When it's done, heavily sprinkle some Parmigiano cheese over the top and let the heat from the Rigatoni melt the cheese. You could mix this all up the day before then just bake it on the day of the dinner party to heat it up. Depending on the age of the kids they will probably like it much more then the pork loin and the adults will like it too. The whole Rigatoni dish shouldn't cost much more then about $10 depending on prices where you live.

Good luck on your party and have a very Merry Christmas.

I would make up some spaghetti for the kids. Chances are, they won't want pork tenderloin anyway.

I might add a side dish that is more protein-based if you think you are a little short on meat. Something with beans, maybe?

If this were my family, I wouldn't buy more meat. But we've been told we aren't "big eaters".

You are really going to want at least 15lbs of meat, 5 lbs does not go very far at all. we go through that having our neighbors over for dinner with their kids. 4 adults 6 kids and the kids do really eat it...so that goes with the typical 1-2 lbs a person. And yes...I would say hotdogs, pasta or something else that the kids would eat. maybe pigs-in-a-blanket for them?

If you don't want to buy more meat, I would definitely make a pasta dish-- spaghetti or Mac and cheese -- and serve that as the entree for the kids and yourself. That takes you down to 12 adults for the tenderloin, which could work, particularly if the pasta is also available for adults.

A nice salad would be nix with dinner roles. Have fun! Merry Christmas!