I am having a surprise birthday party for my husband this weekend. Its a late party so I am just going to serve snack type food as I figure most will have already ate dinner. I need help with some snack food ideas. I need snack items that I can prepare ahead of time and don't necessarily have to be served warm or can be put in a crockpot. The party is going to be at a friends house, and I plan on going to her house during the day to get some of the food made up, so it is ready when the party starts and I won't have to be there right before the party to cook anything nor make my friend do it all.
Right now I know I will have a cake, a no bean chili cheese dip with tortilla chips, and I am going to make some ham roll ups.
Anyone else have some tasty simple dishes I can make ahead of time?
Raw veggies and fruit pieces with lite dips. cheese cubes and crackers, mini muffins and or cupcakes.
I have a great Buffalo chicken dip, which goes great on crackers. I have a small crock pot for dip, that I put it in. It always goes over really great. I usually boil my own chicken, and shredd it myself, but for a faster option I would use the cans of chicken as stated in the recipe. I use ranch dressing and mozzarella cheese, since I am not a hugh fan of blue cheese. I usually make a double batch, and most times don't have much left. Here is the recipe for a single batch.
INGREDIENTS:
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup blue cheese or ranch salad dressing
1/2 cup any flavor FRANK'S® REDHOT® Sauce
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cans (12.5 oz. each) SWANSON® White Premium Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained
DIRECTIONS:
HEAT oven to 350°F. Place cream cheese into deep baking dish. Stir until smooth.
MIX in salad dressing, Frank's RedHot Sauce and cheese. Stir in chicken.
BAKE 20 min. or until mixture is heated through; stir. Garnish as desired. Serve with crackers or vegetables.
Nancy's mini quiches - get them from Sam's Club or GFS. There are about 60 in a box for about $10-$15. Cook about 15 mins eat hot or cold.
I would do a fruit and vegetable tray and cheese and crackers. We recently attended a wedding and those were the snacks. They are low fat and not too filling.
I sell Pampered Chef and they have a ton of recipes/ideas - try going to www.pamperedchef.com then searching recipes.
You can also go to www.pillsbury.com and type in appetizers.
Mini weenies with a bbq sauce is always a staple in a crock pot!
Good Luck!
mini meatballs (bought frozen, already formed) in a chili sauce/grape jelly combination. I know it sounds strange but it's VERY tastey! Just buy two jars of chili sauce and one jar of grape jelly - dump the chili sauce into a bowl and mix about half of the grape jelly jar into the sauce. It gives you a sweet and spicy sauce. Then dump the bag of frozen meatballs into a crockpot, add the sauce, and you're done! It takes about 5 min prep time and then you can put the crock pot on low until the party. You can also use mini hot dogs instead of meatballs if you prefer. And buy a box of tooth picks to serve if you don't want to get additional plasticware.
Veggies and dip is always a good standby....ready made at the store. Little hot dogs/sausages in BBQ sauce (crock pot or nuke them) Order pizza ahead and have it delivered to your friends house? Have fun!
Meatballs are simple, tasty and always a hit. You can buy a frozen bag at Meijer and cover with BBQ sauce in a Crock Pot. SUPER SIMPLE and they wil get eaten!
The other item that is always seems to be a hit are mini sausages wrapped in Pilsbury cresent dough. I rol;l them ahead of time and put them on a throw away tin cookie sheet. You can pop them in the oven for 10-12 mins and dump in acrock pot too. Serve with Honey Dijon mustard. The receipe is out on the Pilsbury website I believe.
Tortilla Roll Ups are yummy too. Lots of receipes out there. You can prep 5hrs ahead or the night before. Basically you need tortillas, beans, cream cheeses, green onions and cheese. Jelly roll and slice & serve cold. Low fat and tasty.
One last thing....Betty crocker has an excellant and SIMPLE Guac dip. Again, make ahead and put out with chips. No real work once party starts.
Have a GREAT time!!
When we have appetizers we always server "buffalo chips" it is a big hit.
1lb ground beef
1lb sausage (you determine how hot/mild) I usually use tennessee pride or bob evans brand
1lb velveeta cheese (the block)
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon worcestershire
1 or 2 loaves of cocktail bread (pumpernickle, rye, or soughdough)
Cook sausage and beef. Once meat is cooked add the cheese until melted (cube the cheese and add a little at a time). ONce all is melted add the oregano and worcestershire. You can then put this in the fridge and pull out to use when ready to serve
To serve, but the bread on a baking sheet, top each piece with the meat and broil for 5 minutes. serve :)
sloppy joes are always nice to have in a crock pot...just incase there are some that get hungry and need more than a snack.
or you could buy a loaf of french bread and make your own giant party sub.
I make a baked sandwich that is so easy to make...but people RAVE
buy 2 of that crescent recipe sheet (or crescent rolls, but then you have to pinch the seams together)
get a jar of pesto
some provolone cheese
some lunch meat ( i usually use ham and turkey)
and a jar of roasted red peppers.
put one pkg of crescent dough on a cookie sheet,
layer 3 or 4 slices of cheese down the center
layer lunch meet on top of that
then some pesto and diced red pepper
then another lay of cheese
put the other crescent sheet on top of that
roll the edges and pinch to close
brush egg wash over the top and bake
let it cool...and slice it into bite size pieces.
hummus and pita chips. No cooking or heating necessary and very yummy. Good for vegetarians, too.
veggie pizza---
the appetizer kind that you serve cold or room temp.
layered crescent rolls, cream cheese/ranch spread, and chopped up veggies on top.....
cheese ball with crackers---
hummus and veggies---
