I have a few friends that have older children (ages 8 and 11) and I'd like to invite them over. Having a four year old it's not exactly a playdate but I guess it is sort of. My husband and I haven't invited many people over our house due to finances but once in awhile I feel you have to do it. Anyway, I am wondering what to serve for lunch. One friend has a son who is eleven and I know he likes to eat. I thought pizza would be the easiest to serve but with adults factored in, I think I would need at least three pies. A good pizza pie runs me around $15-$20 depending on if I add toppings.
When we first moved in, I invited the same kids over (my daughter was probably two then) we made tacos for everyone including adults thinking the meal had to be kid-friendly. Of course, at least one of the kids didn't like it.
Buying cold cuts and bagels might be another option that is easy but then I think would adults rather eat chicken or egg salad? That can add up quickly. Do you think grilling burgers and hot dogs is the best idea? Thanks. I am new at this and tend to want to please without spending $100 on one play
P.S. The reason I want to invite the 8 & 11 year olds ( two sets of; two different friends & their kids) is simply I feel their kids are home for the summer, no camp, and if I just said said adults only, I'd need a sitter too. My daughter attends daycare but not until September. I used to be invited occasionally over my friends' homes for a barbecue or block party. I brought Alyssa with us.
Thanks everyone for the ideas. The friends I want to invite that have older kids are actually my high school friends who had kids in their twenties. We still live close to each other. I have a pool to offer the older kids and a nice size yard. I know my daughter's swing set is too babyish. No, it isn't a playdate, more of a get-together. And I meant lunch as I have a lot of free time being home over the summer. It's the best time to invite these friends over because I have a very small house so a winter get-together might be boring so
crowded. I never thought about buying frozen pizza at Costco. It could be an idea. But I meant the pizzeria, Umbertos. Anyway, just
looking to reconnect and extend an invitation to old friends who have kids a bit older than my daughter. A weekday get together would most likely not require alcohol. I really want to have a big barbecue/pool party and invite all my friends, coworkers and neighbors but we just came back from a cruise. Thanks again!
You can buy decent frozen pizza on sale 3 for $11. Make a basic salad and cut up a watermelon and make some cookies. You can do all that for around $25. Or instead of pizza, a batch of basic spaghetti, most people and kids like it. It doesn't have to be a big deal. If finances are an issue and you are having several families over, ask them to bring a dish. Good luck.
I would order out sub sandwiches. You can get those pretty inexpensively and they make a great lunch. Get a few bags of chips and some soda.
Or, schedule it for 1:00 after lunch. Then you just need snacks.
We do Little Cesars Pizza at $5.00 a pop....so cheap. Then cut up some frut and veggies and your good to go.
I agree with Cali. If you have one in your town, Little Cesars for a crowd is the way to go.
So...you're doing a dinner party, not a play date. Cater to the parents, tell them the menu, and let them work out what to feed their kid. Recently friends of ours (with teens) had us over for dinner. DD did not eat the scallops but found other things she did like to eat. And I brought snacks in case she was picky.
You can also offer things like pasta - let people choose to add sauce or not. My DD is perfectly happy with butter on her noodles. Quick. Easy. Throw some garlic bread in the oven and you have a meal. Adding meatballs is optional.
It's really up to you. Don't be a short order cook when it's not necessary. Remember, they can always go home to eat more. My niece is kind of a picky eater and learned to bring her own favorites if what we were having didn't appeal to her.
That said, if your 4 yr old doesn't have friends of his own, maybe take a picnic to a park instead or a playground where he can find kids his age.
I started buying some Digiorno pizzas - cheaper and they're good. I might do those and burgers and hot dogs. There will be something someone likes. Grilling burgers and hot dogs for a lunch date is perfectly acceptable no matter how much money you have btw. I don't think I'd do the frozen pizzas for the adults though as their only option. They're good but unless you have stuff with it, they're not exactly impressive.
ETA: I see you just got back from a cruise so not broke... In that case I'd make the lunch pretty decent. Not one kind of cold cuts as someone suggested or just hot dogs or just frozen pizzas... These are old friends and you used to go to their houses. It costs to entertain but typically it evens out in the end. If you're able to take the family on a cruise, you can afford a reasonable lunch for friends. And if they didn't ask you to bring things to their bbq's, I wouldn't ask them to bring food to this. You kinda have to do it nicely or don't do it at all. It wasn't clear from your first post how tight finances are and what your friends typically do.
This is a very generous offer, for you to host everyone "just because". You should not spend much money to host this.
I think you can be honest about what you'd like to do - invite them over for *a barbecue* and play time. If you make the food part known, I would think that they would offer (and you could ask them) to chip in - they can bring side dishes, soda, etc, and you provide the burgers and hot dogs. I'm sure they will know that their kids will eat more than your little one, and I bet they will want to contribute accordingly!
Good ideas here. If you did the croissants, they are really good for sandwiches, I get mine at SAMs. You could also offer some cubed cheese and cold cuts on a skewer. You need chips and dip and that's that.
Or little Ceasers $5 pizzas.
Or get Betty Crocker pizza dough mix, $1 each,and bake about 3 or 4, to be ready for toppings and let people build their own. Its an activity and a meal! Have a variety of toppings. Include pesto for people who don't like pizza sauce.
So you are having a friend and kids come by for lunch. Should not be complicated. Throw some hot dogs on grill, beans or potatoes salad, chips and wala done. That will be at the most $25. Bake something for dessert. Anyone does not like what you have, there is always PB n J!
I'm with Chacha! Call it a barbeque (or grill out, or cook out or whatever the colloquialism is in your neck of the woods for "we're cooking outside during this event and eating the food when it's ready), so they'll be clear about what to expect... AND when they ask if they can "bring anything" say YES and assign them a salad or side dish or the like.
Go basic on the meat (just burgers and dogs), fancy on the condiments and drinks (pitcher of lemonade, sangria etc), and have potato chips to fill in any gaps between that and what your guests bring.
It won't run you big bucks, but it will be lots of fun for everyone.
That food is mainly to feed the adults and the older kids.
Here, if we go to Costco, their pizzas are cheap. Under $9.
For one pizza.
You don't need 3 pizzas.
Or, don't have a play-date at lunch time.
Then you only need to serve snacks.
Not a "meal." Hence, cutting your costs down.
Then, aside from the older kid/adult food, you'd need to have something for your 4 year old.
As you said, that is a wide age difference and the 8 and 11 year old is not coming to play with the 4 year old. Specifically. They'd have nothing in common. Nor per development.
Here in my city, there is a lot of pot-luck type mentalities. So the invited also brings food stuff. Just out of common courtesy. And of course the Host has things to eat. But it is not an over the top menu.
It is per budget.
Kids of all ages, eat chicken nuggets.
Again, Costco, has a big bag of it that is good and more cost effective.
Does your child go to Preschool or have "friends" that are his/her age??
Invite your child's, friends. That way it is more age appropriate and a "play date" for your child.
I have a friend that has a son that is like 14. I don't invite her or him over for a "play date" for my son, who is 6 years old.
Her son and mine would have nothing in common.
And her son wouldn't want to play with a 6 year old.
Just get some croissants from Costco, it is cheap.
Then, slice it in half, and make sandwiches with it.
With deli meat/lettuce. Simple and good.
That is what I do.
Or I make chicken nuggets.
Or whatever else is cheap and good and the kids will eat.
Or get a Roast Chicken from Costco, and slice it up and you can make lots of things with that.
Then, you said you want to invite your friends over. And they have older kids. So, if it is mainly for a social for you, with your friends...then it is not really a "play date" for the kids. Because the kids are a lot older, than your 4 year old child.
It is nearly impossible, to make food that EACH person will like. Kids are picky. So, just make what you make. And if the other women has a kid that is picky, then they can bring some food over too.
Tell them that. That is what all my friends do. They don't expect me to please the palate of EACH of their kids.
And the other bottom line is: you don't have to, have the play-date as a Lunch time thing, nor at lunch time. And I would think you'd need to time it per the timing of your 4 year old and when he/she naps.
When my kids were 4, I had play dates in the morning. Just a couple of hours at most. Then it was nap time. For my kids.
Or, play dates were in the later afternoon, after, my kids' naps.
Not at lunch time.
Since those other kids are older than your child, what will they do at your home? Per it being a sort-of-play-date? Do you have things, that older kids can do???? Since you have a 4 year old.
My daughter is 10. If I took her to a home with a 4 year old, well... she'd get bored. Sure she's good with younger kids, and she'd "play"/entertain the young child.... but she'd be bored. Its not a play-date. It would be more as a social for me... with that other Mom. And my daughter keeping the younger child, busy.
I think you're over thinking this AND spending too much on pizza. When we want to feed pizza to a crowd we do take and bake like Papa Murphy's. It's cheap and you can cook them up when you want to eat them so it's always hot and fresh.
You can't get any cheaper than hot dogs (we do veggie dogs), potato or green salad, chips and or corn on the cob. That meal just feels more like a summer pool get together than pizza but I'm sure the kids would enjoy either. Have fun!
I think you're over-thinking this. I'm not sure why the 8 and 11 year old want to come play with a 4 year old. You're right, it's not a play date - it's an adult lunch and people bring their kids.
I think you either go cheap cheap processed food (frozen pizzas as suggested below) which is cheaper that pizzeria pizza delivered. You could get some pizza dough (regular or whole wheat) at the grocery store and have everyone make their own pizzas - that way it's kind of an activity for the older kids, and they can choose their own toppings. Cut up your own peppers and onions and broccoli florets - just buy a little of each. Grate your own mozzarella. Buy some sauce on sale or in the dented can bin, adding your own herbs if you have some on hand.
Meantime, cut up some carrots, celery, and any other raw veggie on sale, and serve with a dip or ranch dressing. Kids like that and they can choose what they want.
If you want to do cold cuts, just get one thing on sale - maybe sliced turkey and one kind of cheese, and make your own tuna or egg salad, and put out a jar of peanut butter, and let everyone make their own sandwiches. Get 2 kinds of bread that you would eat anyway, and you can freeze what isn't used by the group, so it won't be a waste of money. Put out a plate with some lettuce leaves and a slide tomato, and you're done. Any leftover lettuce and tomato become a salad, which you top with any leftover egg or tuna salad or even the turkey and cheese. Any bread that got left out gets toasted and turned into croutons.
The simpler you keep it, the better it is for 8 and 11 year olds, and the less invested you are in terms of cost and effort.
OR, have a bigger party and call it a pot luck BBQ from the outset - everyone brings what their family wants, and everyone learns to share. If it's a true "pot luck" no one knows what's being served and no one signs up ahead of time. People bring what's on sale or what's leftover, and it's very economical and fun.
Good luck!
My son is only 5...but sometimes we have several people over at a time. What I do is a buffet picnic: Pasta -- with sauce and butter on the side. Sliced cucumbers and tomatoes or peppers. And then either cheese, or some cold chicken or even hard boiled eggs as well. and some sort of fruit -- grapes, apples.... The kids love choosing what they want and putting it on. It is simple for me...
Hope this helps.
Why don't you invite them over around 2:00 and just have snacks instead of lunch. A tray of fresh fruit, some crackers and cheese and you're set!
Hotdogs, hamburgers, fruit (maybe watermelon) and pasta salad. Easy to prep most of it ahead of time and it's fairly inexpensive.
Buy the frozen pizzas from Walmart or Giant. They are pretty good and run about $6 a piece, or Digorno. Bagel pizzas are also a hit. My daughter is really picky, so you are right, cold cuts and tacos are not going to be hits. I'd stick with the frozen pizzas, and the adults can eat that too.
Just a thought - I have an 11 year old son and he can eat an entire pizza by himself, so if you do pizza 3 might not be enough.
Serve what you want and if the kiddo chooses to not eat they can go without. They are old enough to know what they like and don't like. Ask the mom what kind of pizza they want then order it.
I personally order Little Caesars $5 pizza's for company. They are good enough for me then they are good enough for company.
I think it sounds fun ~ we too have younger kids compared to most of our friends. But it doesn't keep all of us from getting together. The older kids play with and keep an eye on the younger ones and they usually all have a nice time.
Food ~ keep it simple. Bbq some hotdogs and/or burgers, cut up a watermelon and get a couple bags of chips. I know in our circle of friends everyone would be asking what they could bring.
When did it become necessary for parent to schedule and orchestrate their kids' playing with other kids? What happened to all the kids on the block meeting up in someone's yard and playing until it was time to go home for lunch?
