Daughter's 1St Birthday

Pulled pork sandwiches. If you can get a couple large crockpots or roasters, all you have to do is cook with BBQ sauce and then shred. Very easy and good. I recommend Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce.

You could make chili without beef. or in my family we have one with beef allergies so I brown the beef separatly, pull out some chili for my aunt, then add the beef for the rest of the family.

I've also made chili with soy crumbles (morning star) and no one even noticed ;)

Make a few pots of soup - maybe something like chicken soup and bean soup - or vegetable. Then put out a few loaves of bread with all of the fixings for deli sandwiches. Macaroni salad or potato salad, chips, pretzels. Simple and easy!

Hi Kristen - I am a caterer and I could assist you. I do a wonderful Turkey/Pasta casserole and it is simply delicious. Please check out my website and give me a call if you want to chat. I am available on October 10th and 11th. www.darlasgourmetkitchen.vpweb.com.
D. :o)

you could do hot chicken or trukey sands. good and easy just cook tur. or chick shred but in cream of chick soup or cream of cel. or mushroom what ever you like, am doing it for my sons 1st. on sun. good luck T.

Cream of Chicken sandwiches. They are quick, cheap and filling. and are great for the crock pot!

You can even go super hassle free, buy a precooked ckn from kroger or walmart, shred it, then add, crm of celery and crm of ckn, done!

-Subs/chips,
-cold cut/veggie tray,
-baked chicken w/either stuffing/roast potatoes/rice + salad,
-assorted salads (ie. tuna/chicken/tossed/antipasto/ etc.),
-assorted wing dings, fries or roasted potatoes, salad and corn on the cob or other veg

The chili and spaghetti ideas are too messy in my opinion. If u do choose chili, you can make regular chili and chili with turkey meat or white chicken chili (which is delicious).

The hot dog idea is really great, fast and easy. YOu can also get a variety of hotdogs (beef, turkey, chicken, veggie)

You can make large sub sandwiches with several loaves of french bread. Just leave off the condiments and people can doctor them up how they like them, then have your basic chips and sides.

Or you could still do the chilli and maybe make a different soup that doesn't have ground beef in it as well as a second option...

Good luck, picky eaters are frustrating! ;)

Why not use turkey for sloppy joe's? Any dish you ground beef substitute ground turkey, most people can't really tell the difference.

Spaggetti can be made with turkey meat, or no meat at all. Taco's, beef, & chicken, or veggie. black beans, rice. Yum. Happy B-Day to your little girl.

I would recommend a taco bar. You can keep a crock or 2 of beef and a crock or 2 of chicken, keep your shells warmed in buffet warmers, with rice and beans or whatever, and bowls of lettuce and tomatoes, etc. It's something that you can make up ahead and then keep warm in the warmers and everyone loves tacos. You can even go directly to the mexican stores and buy soemthing interesting to go along with it.

Have you thought about Sub's or a pitas?

Or what about if you made chili/tacos, etc but something sep for your mother in law? :O)

Wow, thats alot of people for a b-day! I hope your daughter can open presents fast! :o) Be sure to take lots of pictures so when she's older he remembers how much everyone loves him! I would make 2 lg pots of mosticolli, one with meat sauce and one with marinara sauce, salad, rolls and mixed veggies for the little ones who don't like salad. Nice and easy and rather inexpensive. Good Luck and have lots of fun!!!

K., have you thought about using ground turkey?? I use it all of the time. If that's not possible, what about soup and salad and bread? I have a great ravioli soup recipe. L.

You have to feed 70+ people! Your mil's dislike of ground beef should not be a factor. She is just one person. It's very nice of you to try to appease her in this way, but does she really want to make more work for you just because she doesn't eat ground beef? I would never expect someone to go out of their way like that for me! Ground beef is less expensive than ground turkey. If beef is the easiest thing for you to do, then I think you should do it. I can make a meal out of side dishes. Baked beans, salad, a roll... Can't your mil do that? That being said, the pasta idea is excellent. It's inexpensive and you can very easily make some with meat and some without! Good luck!

i would do cold cut tray with cheease and veggie fruit and salads

K.,

Subs with chips and salads or spag. with ground turkey, salad and bread. Make stew either chicken stew or beef,with bread bowl. This is my favorite! Make your own tacos. Ground beef or ground turkey or even chicken tacos. or tostoes lett, cheese tom. sour cream salsa lable everything. The kids will have a ball making it and if you want you could even get a quasadias maker(about $20) and have the adults make chicken quasadias. appitizers could be chips & salsa &/or cheese con caso and chips. Its easy and does not take alot of time.

Good luck & have fun!
Tammy

we did chicken shack for my daughther's 1st bday party. Everything comes in those foil pans you can stick right in the oven to keep warm, and no prep or cleanup for mom!!!
-J.

make the sloppy joes and chili for everyone, have a salad as well. all menu does not focus on the finicky tastebuds of one person, she's an adult and this is the party of a 1 year old, not her. At sam's club, they have some very nice sandwiche swirls for 10$ which can be served as an alternate for non meat eaters, etc. also, u can make a non meat chili with just the tomatoes and beans, i do it all the time....

You can still do sloppy joes and chili...change the meat to ground turkey! It doesn't change the taste and it's healthier!

Hi K.,

You can still make sloppy joes or chili, just use ground turkey. I haven't eaten ground beef in years but I still make dishes that require ground beef...I just substitute.

~M. B.

Taco's are aways good set up a topping station(lettuce, tomatoes,cheese, sour cream & guac- cilantro is my fave too!) put the ground beef in a crock pot and have an alternative stuffing like refried or black beans or ground turkey, buy a bunch of flour tortillas and you're ready to go. You can make spanish rice, chips and salsa to complement the mexican theme. Another good one lasagna, make one vegetarian for your mother in law. I have 2 children who don't eat meat so I am always thinking of ways to feed many withoout leaving them out!

Meier's has half pork loins on sale right now for $1.29 a lb. I've done these for a group of over 100. Rub some spices on, wrap and let sit awhile in the frig or a cooler. Thaw first if you've frozen them. You can cook slowly in the oven or grill. I had several ladies take one home to cook the day of the party and bring them in an hour or so ahead for slicing. Delicious and no trouble other than slicing it up, which we did and put on platters, covered and kept warm. I'm having company Thursday so I'm picking some up and freezing some more. They usually aren't that cheap but are a good deal no matter what. Applesauce is great with pork and you can get it in large amounts at places that sell things like that.

I do not eat ground beef (or any beef for that matter) and I use ground turkey for all my recipes. I just made chili last night..... if you go this route, have a salad or some pasta on the side for everyone. There is no reason why everyone wouldn't enjoy something made with ground turkey.

How about having it catered so you wouldnt have to do the work.
chicken n some salads.
finger sandwiches. or like party sub type thing?
I like the chili idea cause its getting cool out.

let us know what you decide to do.

I have 2 suggestions for food since our family hosts ALL holiday events because our house is the largest and can hold everyone. Do you have a Gordons Food Service close by you? If so - the pulled BBQ pork is amazing - you can even cook it still frozen for about 90 minutes then plop it into a crock pot and walk away. My 2nd suggestion that we use for when tired of sloppy joes and pizza is Krysiak Chicken. It's a restaurant up here in Bay City that makes amazing chicken for super cheap. If you are not close to Bay City to order - call a local restaurant or KFC caters - so call for pricing on getting a party spread.

Thanks and I hope this helps.

You could do a large variety of dips with crackers/veggies/chips

My mom did this for my bothers farewell party for the Army... crab, spinach, cheese, nacho cheese, ranch, etc... It was pretty nice and didn't take a lot of work during the party.
You could also use ground beef in one of the nacho cheese dips since there are others your mother in law can eat she won't be excluded from the meal.

Check out allrecipes.com for tons of different dips

You could do a taco bar. We had build your own tacos with beef or chicken at my sons first birthday. It seemed to work out quite well for 60 people. Just kept the meat warm in crock pots. Hope this helps,
Jenn

Is it just ground beef that your MIL won't eat? I always use ground turkey for any recipe that calls for ground meat. With all the other ingredients it tastes just the same as beef (I used to cook with ground beef all the time but changed to turkey for health reasons). I get Jennie O ground turkey from Sam's club in a 5Ib quantity for less than $10.
You could do that or just do some chilli or sloppy Joes with ground beef and then another dish like soup and rolls or chicken chilli that uses shredded chicken instead of ground.
Good luck, I can see why you feel so overwhelmed with so many people attending but understand it's hard to keep numbers down with big families. Hope all goes well and happy 1st birtday to your little one.

You could make both a red chili with ground beef and a white chili with chicken. If you are interested here is a great crockpot recipe for a White Chicken Chili!

White Chicken Chili
2 to 3 cooked chicken breasts cubed
16oz mild salsa
48oz jar of northern beans drained
8oz monetary jack cheese
2 cups chicken broth
Combine in crock pot and cook on low 8 hrs or high 6 hrs.

Big trays of baked pasta, i.e., ziti or penne. You can one vegetarian, one not. You can prep them ahead and pop them in the oven. Add a salad and some bread.

My first thought - don't plan a menu for over 70 people around just one person. What ever you'll have, you'll want a couple of options so make the chili or sloppy joes. If nothing else just get her a salad or a subway sub. I used to plan my menus around my uncle who is SUCH a picky eater and I finally got tired of it. I give him a call ahead of time now and let him know if he should eat before he comes. I can't have every family meal be either hot dogs or hamburgers (the only things he will eat). I know it's hard because she's you're mother in law, but you make something that she will eat and then you have someone else who won't eat what you do make. You can't please that many people, so don't even try. Make what you want and let her know the menu.

BBQ pulled pork by the way is very easy, very delicious and can feed an army.

I had a party for my Dad this summer and fed about 100.
My menu was homemade mostaciolli, bbq pulled pork, two kinds of meatballs, a veggie tray, tuna pasta salad, spaghetti salad and a couple different kinds of chips. You can make the sauce for the mostaciolli and the bbq pork the day before which cuts down on cooking the day of. And I did actually get a large package of hot dogs just because there were going to be kids at the party and I'm never sure if other kids eat that kind of party food. If any of these interest you and you want the recipes let me know.

Hi K. Try Ground Turkey for sloppy joes, just as good or Spaghetti (again ground turkey)and Chicken Wing Dings. Easy and inexpensive!

Another thought, do your beef sloppy joes and prepare a single serving separate meal just for her, it wouldn't take much more time and it would save you money.

~D.
www.connercoaching.com

If your husband doesn't want to do the grill, then you do it. But I would say hot dogs only. They are quick and easy and you can do alot in a short time. Have watermelon cut up ahead of time. Maybe do a big tuna macaroni salad. And a few bags of chips. Make up iced tea for the adults and kool-aid for the kids. That is plenty. Plus I'm sure you'll be having cake and maybe ice cream. I do hot dogs alot for parties because they are so quick and easy. Good luck.

How about making chili or other meat sauce with ground turkey or chicken instead of beef? It's healthier and still tastes good. I can't eat ground turkey, but ground chicken is very tasty especially in chili. (It doesn't have to be spicy). I often use a beef chili receipe and just substitute.

Good luck!

M. M

Use turkey and do sloppy joes or chili...

Another easy/inexpensive dish is mostacholi... you can do it meatless or do 1/2 with meat and 1/2 w/o... we usually do meatballs on the side. A large salad and bread.