I am trying to plan the menu for my daughter's 3rd birthday and I am trying to think of something other than the piza and chicken that we seem to do alot of! So if anyone has any great (and easy) ideas I would LOVE to hear them! Thanks in advance!
Sort of corny, but I made little hot dog and cheese cube kabobs on tooth picks and a dip of ketcup. Also a bunch of finger foods. And instead of cake a "Sundae Bar" with everything, m&ms kit kats, cherries, whp cream, caramel, chocolate sauce whatever the kids LOVED it and they all picked their own toppings
We just recently did a taco bar for my daughter's 2nd birthday. I fixed the taco meat the night before, and then put it in a crockpot the day of the party. You can buy shredded lettuce and cheese in bulk (GFS is great for that), and just add all the details. Everyone raved about what a great idea it was.
Finger sandwiches are great . . . peanut butter or PB&J (As long as there are no allergies. You could even buy the Smuckers Uncrustables), cheese, turkey and cheese, balogna, etc. A veggie tray with dip, celery and carrot sticks with dip, celery sticks with cream cheese or peanut butter. Hope this helps!
Our favorite is pigs in a blanket, we get the lil' smokies by the hot dogs and then crescent rolls from the frige section. I cut the pieces of dough into smaller triangles and my daughter rolls them with the smokies and puts them on the tray. She has been helping since she was two and therefor is very proud when it comes to serving and tends to eat more because she made them. We serve with a variety of dipping sauces- ketchup for kids but some specialties sauces for adults too.
Good luck!
We had a mixture of adults and kids, so I made sloppy joes and hot dogs. I thought of the hot dogs mainly for the kids, but the ate more and made coneys out of them. It seemed to be a big hit. Pretty easy to prepare, too! Have fun!
I like foods that are fun and not too messy for that age group. I have done kabobs - premade, or put out bowls of cut up fruits, veggies, and meats like ham cubes, little smokies, etc. and some skewers and let them make their own.
My kids have never been to a birthday party that has food other than cake and ice cream, and we've never thrown one. We always just have cake and ice cream in the backyard (summer/fall birthdays). You can buy ice cream at Meijer in little plastic cups so handing it out is easy - just pull off the top for the young kids and hand it to them with a spoon. No messy and time-consuming scooping. The kids are busy playing and messing around (we usually have sprinkler, slip 'n slide, water balloons, etc) they don't want to stop for more than a few minutes to eat anyways and the 2 hours fly by.
Just a thought if you are having trouble with food ideas... you could just leave them out -- which seems to be the more common thing to do around here.
for my son's first birthday we did hot dogs, mac n cheese and fruit...kid friendly...he's turning 3 in a couple of weeks and all he is looking forward to is cake!! so i just decided the other day to do appetizers...dips, cheese balls, vegetables and fruit trays...Keep It Simple!! I figured he's going to be to wound up to want to eat that day so I'm going with it!!!
Are we talking about a lot of children? Your children are fairly young so I would think finger foods are the most fun for them. Why not go with all meat hot dogs? For sides you can have a relish tray of pickles, carrots, celery stuffed with peanut butter or pinapple cream cheese, etc. and a tray of fresh fruit melon and berries. Most children like mac and cheese (which while if you make it like I do by boiling, slicing, and baking can be time consumming) can be done from the good old box method and a little velvetta or the equivalent added to make it a little cheesier. You could add baked beans if you wanted and are having a lot of adults as well. Jello salad or squares are simple and fun and can be made a day or two in advance.
Hamburgers if you have a grill can be added as well.
Not a lot of fuss involved, balanced meal, and everyone can find something to eat that will meet all dietary needs.
M., I always have either Roots shredded chicken sandwiches which you can buy a 10 pound container and heat it up in the crock pot.....or sloppy joes in the crock pot also, just seems to be REALLY easy! If your in Ohio you should be able to find Roots shredded ckn in the grocery store!
If its going to be at your house, one dinner that my sister always makes that is a little different is coneys and 3/4ways. All you really have to do is heat the hot dogs and spaghetti in a large pot, then you can buy the frozen Skyline chili and heat those up while you are setting out the rest of the items, such as onions, cheese, (beans?), buns, etc. It seems like a lot of work, but ends up really pretty simple, and gives everyone a few options.
What about grill out?? I know that isn't very original, but different from pizza and chicken, and you really cant go wrong there, who doesn't love a good grill out!
Our son just had his 3rd birthday. We got State Fair corn dogs from Sams Club (fed all the kids for less than $10), hotdogs for the adults. I had a big veggie tray and a buffalo chicken dip (both of which were with kids and adults). We had cake and icecream for the dessert (both from Sams Club). It went over great for about 30 people.
Check out the Family Fun website. They have great recipes. I have made the full moon macaroni and cheese for several parties and it is quite popular and satays warm in my big corningware because there is so much of it. http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=50010
Another idea would be pasta salad....
What about Sloppy Joes or little sandwiches.
A lot of people have suggested sandwiches (peanut butter, turkey, ham etc) which I think is a good idea. It's easy, less messy than something like sloppy joes and kids like them. To expand on that idea you could buy one of those sandwich cutters from the store. It's like a sandwich shaped cookie cutter that cuts the sandwich into a fun shape and at the same time removes the crust. I bought one from Kroger that cuts the sandwich into two long neck dinosaurs. It was less than $2. My son loves it and is always asking for "turkey long necks". I've seen them in other shapes too. It would be a good way to make lunch seem speacial!
Someone suggested quesadilla's - I thought that was pretty brilliant! Cheese and some diced up chicken- YUM!
My sister with her daughters 3rd birthday made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cut them into 4th's - and did that with cheese and turkey sandwiches too.
Of course she had the chicken nuggets and some "mini corn dogs" too.
For what it's worth....and good luck!
Well you can do little cold cut finger foods, pasta is easy (reg, stuffed shells, Lasagne) Quesadilla sandwiches. I had a few more ideas in mind but my daughter kept interrupting me so now I forgot. Will think again later and get back with you.
