Food Ideas for Baby Shower

I just threw a shower for my best friend and we had a mini pasta bar. We borrowed a roaster with the serving trays inside and were able to keep 3 kinds of sauces warm. Then we made two different kinds of pasta and kept them warm in tupperware pasta bowls. It was very easy and very inexpensive. We also had a veggie and a fruit tray with the meal and then had a cake later. I don't remember the exact cost, but it was less than $50 for everything. Good luck!

I hosted a sprinkle shower for my sister in law and the menu was as follows:
mini chicken salad croissant
fruit kabobs
tortellini pasta salad
cucumber sandwiches
mini tuna pitas
cookies
strawberry pretzel dessert
cake
punch

you need something for everyone---don't forget the vegetarians

I went to one shower that had a taco bar set up. The taco meat was in a big crock pot and there were bowls with every taco fixing you could think of. People could make actual tacos with shells or just make themselves a salad. It seemed to go over very well. It is also pretty inexpensive and the only thing you have to cook is the meat!

My sisters and I are doing the same thing for our other sister. She's in the same situation. Her's is a surprise though. Anyway, we're doing chicken salad sandwiches. Costco sells large can of the chicken and the crossiants. We'll add celery, grapes and mayo. We'll probably do punch and some fruit salad and maybe some of those veggie chips. Of course a cake as well. I don't know how many people your having we're doing 20 and at my house.
Good luck and have a fun shower!

I attended my stepsisters shower last weekend, she had a tray of fruits, a tray of veggies, and a bowl of nuts to munch on. For the "entree" there was a big pot of chili simmering on the stove (we live in Michigan) and also a pot of cream of broccoli soup. Both were delicious and filling!
Simple drinks like iced tea, lemonade and coffee made for a great shower!

I "catered" my entire class reunion of 50 people for cheap! Does anyone in the family have those table top ovens (like crock pots, only you decide the temp) Get a bunch of those...
in one...quartered redskin potatoes, with butter, dill, fresh garlic and salt. stir it as it's cooking, should be ready in about an hour to hour and 1/2 cooked on 350 or 400.
in another...combine cooked pasta, spaghetti sauce and ground beef cooked with garlic onions and the spices you like, keep that on cooler...like 200 or just in a crock pot.
a third...frozen meatballs, mixed with equal parts cream of mushroom soup and sour cream, seasoned with parsley onion powder, pepper and garlic salt. (have some buttered egg noodles or rice to go with it...)
a salad, rolls, and a quick veggie (even something as simple as canned corn or peas)
based on how many people you have, you can save a ton on the ingredients at places like Gordon Food Service. the giant can of cream of mushroom soup there costs about the same as 2 little cans at the grocery store.
it's easy!!!

I have given 3 baby showers this past year - here's what worked for me - filling finger foods, easy clean up:

champagne punch/iced tea/lemonade
shrimp (cold) w/cocktail sauce
chicken wings (hot or cold)
artichoke dip (hot) served w/crackers
crab dip (cold) served w/chips
spinach dip in pumpernickel bread
stuffed mushrooms (hot)
veggie/relish tray w/dill dip
fresh fruit
cookie/brownie/pastries tray

Let me know if you would like recipes for any of the above.

I always think that having several people bring a salad is nice, then you can have rolls and a cake. This should include green salads as well as tuna & taco salads, fruit, pasta salad etc. I've been to many showers, and this is my favorite menu - and cheap.

Enjoy!

Why don't you do something that doesn't need to be kept hot? Maybe some sliced chicken breast with cheeses and good bread, a pasta salad, fruit salad, a veggie tray, and a relish tray with olives, pickes, etc. Then, you could have cake for dessert. Easy and inexpensive. :)

Enjoy@!!

I've been to a few showers of the last few years, and I honestly don't remember a shower where they served the kind of meal that you are thinking. The only one that would have come close was my cousin's wedding shower and that was around lunch time. They served sandwiches, chips, a couple pasta salads and a fruit salad. I wasn't involved in the planning of that one because I had a 2 week old baby at the time. Usually they serve an assortment of finger foods that are very filling - things like small sandwiches, vegetable pizza that is made on crescent rolls, chips, fruit salad, vegetables and dip - things like that. I was even at one where the shower was at 2:00 p.m., and they served more snack type foods. We ate lunch before I went, was done in time for supper and didn't feel over full. I think you would find that finger foods are simplier to prepare and serve than the full meal you're thinking.

it depends what time the shower is at. if it is between "meal times" finger food is fine, if it is at noon than do pasta thats good. i have been to two showers within a month and one served pasta the other lasgana(sp?).

I think it's going to be way too much food and too much going into it. I used to do this with birthday partys for my son, i'd make sloppy joes or some other main dish then have chips, finger foods, pop, juice, cake and ice cream and i would have the party around 2, the only problem with this is that most people eat lunch around noonish to 1pm and they dont want to have to wait until 2 or 3 to eat and then your feeding people too early for dinner. I'm having his party at 3 this year so people can eat lunch at home and also get done and back home in time for dinner. I'm only doing a little snack like veggies and dip and chips with the cake and ice cream. So i would suggest doing something like that having the shower in the middle of the day. Now if you were planning on having it at noon then yeah i would suggest doing something for lunch that way people aren't there for a couple of hours with just finger foods and then have to get something later.

M. ~
You can get the chicken for Soltz's...they're on northline in Wyandotte ###-###-####. They are around $1/piece, but I think it depends on how much you order. And VERY good!
You can always have close family bring a dish to pass, salads, mostoccolli, chips and stuff. That way the burden isn't on just one or two people providing all of it.
D.

M.-

I just attended a baby shower this past weekend and they had some really great food. They had ham, turkey and salami roll-ups, deviled eggs, vegetable tray, fruit made into flower arrangements (use sewer sticks and put the fruit on the sewer then into the floral foam in the pot). They also had two different kinds of cupcakes. There was bottled water, rootbeer float punch and regualr punch to drink. Hope this helps with some ideas for you.

I went to a baby shower that was all salads, breads/crackers and sweets, and I loved it. (I think it was the best food I had ever had at a shower!) Some had meat, some were all veggies, some had fruit...truly something for everyone and no one walked away hungry. Everything can be made ahead of time and you don't need to worry about cooking, timing, etc.

Good luck and congratulations.

I am hosting a shower for my niece this weekend. We are having soup and salad bar with muffins and breads. Salad bars are really inexpensive especially if you have a Sams' or Costco. Small dishes with all the ingredients, most of which you probably already have, along with some chicken strips, beef strips, or any other kind of protein. I have also done a mashed potato bar, same concept, big chaffing dish or crock pot of mashed potatoes, then dishes of sour cream, chives, cheese, bacon bits, olives, taco meat etc. I served it in martini glasses, was a huge hit....

I've went to a shower before that had finger foods and was quite full at the end of it. They could do mini chicken salad croissants with different chips and dips and fresh fruit. Or those mini hotdogs wrapped in crescent rolls is a yummy finger food. There are lots of different options. I don't think that people expect to eat a meal at a shower, especially if it's mentioned that "munchies" will be provided. It's all in the wording of the invitation. Also you have to be careful of stating what you want when others are offering to throw you a shower.

Depending on the finger foods it can be pretty filling. You could get chicken from Walmart (we think its good and very reasonable) or one of the other grocery stores and then make side dishes like pasta salad, potato salad, and tuna macaroni salad. You can make suggestions but should be up to those throwing the shower.