Preparing & Freezing Food for Kids Party

[Eulalia]

I have invited 50 odd people to a birthday part for ds who is 4 on the 19th. We are hiring the village hall and I am doing all the catering myself (eek!). I am guessing that due to holidays that around 35 people will turn up although there could be a few late-comers. As it is ds birthday on the actual day I want to enjoy the day and not be preparing food it the morning. So I?d like to do all the preparation beforehand.

I?d like some advice on freezing food. I want things to be fairly healthy as I am always horrified at some of the rubbish that is produced at kids parties. Ages at the party will range from 14 months to around age 10 but mostly round the 3-5 age range. Some comments on the following:

For the kids:

Little sausages
Cheese cubes
Small slices pizza
Grapes
Rice & peas (will kids eat this?)
Pasta with tuna & sweetcorn (and this?)
Hula hoops

For adults/older kids:

Chilli/veg chilli with rice
Pizza & coleslaw or salsa
Tortilla chips

There will be a cake also (homemade) and a big pudding chocolate gateau as well.

I know I can freeze the chilli OK, sausages & cheese and the rice too. What about the pasta mix ? can you freeze something with mayonnaise? Do you think that is enough food?

If the weather is good I thought we may have a BBQ outside but don?t want to plan for that. Do you think it would be cheeky to ask people to bring their own food for that on the day? Any other suggestions are welcome.

We are going to borrow some toys from the local mums and toddlers group ? ie small bikes, slides etc. I don?t think we?ll bother with games but am open to suggestions.

Thanks .... panicking as I?ve only got 2 weeks left....!

If you want to provide healthy food then bowls of satsumas? Little packets of raisins? And marmite/peanut butter sandwiches, (except check for nut allergies) although you can't make those before hand really and there usually seem to be too many at parties. I don't know many 4yos who would be impressed with pasta and rice salad though so I'd worry about having a ton of it left over I think. Maybe other people will say different. With fruit and raisins at least they'll keep for a while if they don't get used. I think pizza is a good idea as is cheese. Cherry tomatoes? Cherries? Strawberries? Personally, I like the crap fest that is a traditional child's party though, I think it's half the attraction of parties for my ds,who eats an incredibly healthy veggie diet the rest of the time! But I do understand your wanting to provide something healthier. I'd worry about the extra work involved with a BBQ I think - you've got enough to do with 50 guests but you could always do mini baked potatoes I suppose, at least they don't need looking after. Have you thought about a bouncy castle? You really won't need party games to occupy the children if you get one, just a couple of adults to supervise. Just check the height of the hall and the castle when booking if you do go for it. Hope it goes well, I'll post more if I think of anything.

I am doing party boxes for ds3a scbaptism than they can all go off anf eat them on the grass and have a carton of drink with their names on...If you are bbq ing why not just to hot dogs and burgers for everyone?

My experience is that kids hardly eat anthing at parties and want to graze - all the healty stuff will be left!

Thanks - I know what you mean about them only eating the rubbish, although my ds generally doesn't know what half of it is so doesn't touch it but would sit and eat crisps all day given the chance.

I think I'll just make up small bowls of different things and bung it in the freezer and that way everyone is happy. I agree about fruit.
What about dips? These are easy? Do children eat these?

I really don't think that many 4 year olds would eat dips! I went to a three year old's party a couple of weeks ago, and there were cupcakes, crisps, penguins (chocolate, not South Pole!), sausage rolls (these were left!), pieces of french stick (also ignored, except by my bread mad child). I go on the basis that a party is the one day when kids can eat crap, and it doesn't matter.

I agree about the grapes and satsumas. Cherries might be a problem with the stones. Cheese is a good idea. What about mini-rolls?

My one piece of advice is make it easy on yourself. I have 16 coming to my ds's 2nd birthday in just over a week, and I am buying most of it. I made his cake last year, and none of it got eaten, except by me. I am buying him a
cake this year, and making sure that most of it goes out in the party bags! (Diet going well, so no need to break it with cake IYKWIM).

What about an ice cream cake? Solves the problem of a pudding, and also ensures it gets eaten !!
Did one for my sons birthday last month and every bit went. Also a bit different and a surprise for him. Not everyone likes cake, nearly everyone likes ice cream!

Thought I'd let you know how the party went. Well it was a success There was 40 people (18 children). I froze nearly everything. About 10 days before I started preparation and cooked little sausages, potato smiley faces and even cut up the cheese and put it in the freezer. Also did a small dish of pasta and tomato sauce and a dish of plain pasta mixed with a little oil and tuna and then when I defrosted it on the day mixed in mayonnaise. The chilli and rice were prepared and frozen too. Then about 3 days before I made the cake, iced it and froze it. The writing icing ran very, very slightly but hardly noticable.

I dished everything out onto plates and added the grapes and that was it. I also gave each child a pot of fromage frais and my mum did some jellies so there was heaps of food. Much more than a party I was at yesterday where the kids just got sandwiches and crips and an ice cream. I also served the cake rather than cutting it into a tiny pieces and putting it into the party bag which always gets squashed on the way home. Making my own cake meant that it was bigger too. I made some homemade biscuits and put bought sweets into sandwich bags to take home (all a lot of work ... but was able to do it in plenty of time)

Oh yes and we had a HUGE jug of punch for the adults which was just cheap wine and cider mixed up with fruit but very tasty and went down really well...

As I said we just borrwed some sit on bikes and we had a tape recorder for party games and balloons so it was all dead cheap but the kids loved it.

Thanks for the comments and I hope my experience may be of use to others.