Suggestions for inexpensive and quick dinner for entertaining guests?!
depending on your guests, buy a large bag or 2 of frozen meatballs ,1-2 jars Spagetti sauce, 2packages of spagetti, a loaf or two of french bread, premade garlic butter, powered cheese, chinet plates and plastic silverwear
put sauce and meatballs in a crock pot
cook spagetti as normal and drain
toast bread pieces, serve with garlic butter
and serve buffet and enjoy the company
Answers: Go to Costo or Sam's Club,
depending on your guests, buy a large bag or 2 of frozen meatballs ,1-2 jars Spagetti sauce, 2packages of spagetti, a loaf or two of french bread, premade garlic butter, powered cheese, chinet plates and plastic silverwear
put sauce and meatballs in a crock pot
cook spagetti as normal and drain
toast bread pieces, serve with garlic butter
and serve buffet and enjoy the company
Chicken and Bacon Parcels with New Potatoes
This is a delicious recipe which involves very little hands on preparation. It is therefore ideally suited to one of those days where one's tasks are many and time short!
Per person, for this recipe, you will require:
1 chicken breast fillet
2 large rashers of unsmoked bacon
1 small tomato (sliced)
2tsp coriander, cilantro in US (roughly chopped)
1 clove of garlic (finely chopped)
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
4 or 5 small new potatoes (unpeeled)
Small knob of butter
Pinch of dried dillweed
Place a couple of slices of tomato on the underside of the chicken breast, cover with coriander and garlic and wrap the bacon around it. Place the parcel in the dish and cover with any remaining coriander. Add some pepper and olive oil. Put the lid on the dish and cook in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 20/25 minutes. Check that the chicken is cooked all the way through by inserting a metal skewer or fork and ensuring the juices run clear.
NB: no additional salt is required in this dish as the bacon provides all that is necessary.
Boil the new potatoes in salted water for about 25 minutes, drain well then add the knob of butter and the dill and swirl them gently around the pot to ensure thay are fully coated.
See the link below for further ideas:
I like the spaghetti idea, but if you don't want to spend a lot of time cooking you could buy the Bertoli bags of pasta (from Sam's or your local grocery store). They are a step up from spaghetti and they will never know you didn't cook the meal from scratch.
Grill some thick pork chops, when almost cooked, top with good spoonful of apple sauce then top that with blue cheese. Back under grill for few mins to melt cheese. Serve with baked spuds and tossed salad, Sweetness of the apple sauce and the strong flavour of the blue cheese work really well together.
try any of Rachel Ray's 30 min. meals!
I just had a dinner party and was stuck for an idea. I got a suggestion for lasagna and it was perfect. It's super cheap and you have plenty of food. I made a pretty salad and garlic bread with it. Turned out great.
I always make a "Greek" pasta that's easy and cheap when I have people over.
I use:
penne pasta
1 1/2 lbs chicken
tomatoes
black olives
green onions
feta
olive oil, balsamic, and red pepper flakes to taste
Serve with a green salad and good bread - great meal! Bake a cake or pie and you've got a nice dinner.
Lasagna is a another easy one since they have the noodles you don't have to boil. I use the recipe on the back of the no-boil lasagna noodles.
YOU CAN HAVE FINGER SANDWICHS AND FRUIT TRAY AS WELL AS MEAST TRAY, YOU COULDN'T IMAGINE THE TIME YOU SAVE AND MONEY.
soup bowels and a yummy creamy soup. with a good dessert and coffee...easy and cheap
I dont know if it is a formal dinner or not, but we had friends over and we did a Mexican theme, with all the fixings, cheese, tomatoes, peppers, onions, corn, beans, sour cream, rice, avocado, hot peppers, tacos, fajitas. I put it out buffet style so, everyone made their own, and they loved it. If you add a sangria with fresh fruit in the carafe, it looks really festive.
yes
get a couple loave of french bread, make subs with whatever you want on them, at least two different types of subs. cut them both up in to like 2-1/2 inch pcs. and make a big crock pot of chili, I would do one with beans and one without..
I posted a recipe for Sausage & Peppers a few minutes ago, to Recipes section here. It can be made the day before & reheated ... or can simmer for hours until you're ready to eat. It's inexpensive, filling and my husband's favorite dinner! Serve with a green salad and maybe a fresh fruit salad ... Orange sherbet for dessert, with a little freeze-dried coffee sprinkled on top (yes!), and stick a biscotti in it......
There is nothing quicker or cheaper than pasta. It can lurk in a cupboard until needed in an emergency!
In the UK supermarkets you can get a 500g pack of dried spaghetti for 29pence -- enough for a dinner party! Boil up a pot of salted water and the spaghetti will be al dente in just a few minutes.
The sugo or sauce is up to you. Almost anything works.
At one extreme I have tossed on some butter and left it at that (adding shavings of parmesan and some sprinkled black pepper at the table), sometimes I will simply mix in a jar of red or green pesto from the supermarket.
Or what about this -- heat some olive oil in a fry pan, add in chopped garlic (couple of cloves, but don't brown), add in the cooked/ ready spaghetti and stir for about a minute then sprinkle on some parsley -- totally tastetastic!
At the other extreme you could make a ragu, or bolognese sauce, or even the legendary vodka pasta.
For a meal in under 10 minutes and for under a pound, feeding four, how can spaghetti be beaten?