Last month, I completely DIY-ed my son's 5th birthday party food. I really wanted to win that Super Mommy of the Year Award! Kidding...
Planning to host a party this holiday? Read the rest of my entry to gain useful tips!
Okay, if I haven't said so before - I'm am cheapskate. I originally shopped around for a cheap caterer. I checked olx, fb and looked around for Groupon type deals. But I soon remembered how low-budget catering food taste like. Also, they can't stick around for the booze afterparty (for the titos and titas).
 |
| On-the-day prep: couldn't have survived without that food chopper! |
Planning to host a party this holiday? Read the rest of my entry to gain useful tips!
Okay, if I haven't said so before - I'm am cheapskate. I originally shopped around for a cheap caterer. I checked olx, fb and looked around for Groupon type deals. But I soon remembered how low-budget catering food taste like. Also, they can't stick around for the booze afterparty (for the titos and titas).
 |
| wrapped and frozen 2 days before the event |
After ruling out catering services, I decided I would order half of the buffet spread from bulk food takeouts like Amber's. I was thinking lumpiang shanghai, chicken lollipops and pansit malabon. Then, I crunched the numbers - well, you can guess what happened after that. That's when I just dropped the idea and committed to cooking all the food.
 |
| Embutido steamed and on stand-by for frying 3 days ahead |
My mom taught me well when it comes to DIY partying. The best way to pull it off on-the-day is to have most of the food pre-cooked or pre-prepared, so the day itself wouldn't be too stressful.
 |
| Chicken pastel - easy one-pot party food |
As a hands-on mom with no help/yaya, I took that to heart when I planned the meals. I staggered the preparation days ahead of the actual event.
Here was my menu:
Buffet
1. Embutido - pre-cooked (steamed) 3 days before the event
2. Lumpiang shanghai - wrapped and frozen 2 days in advance
3. Chicken-macaroni salad - prepared the day before the party
4. Fried chicken - pre-marinated the day before
5. Baked butter-garlic marble potato wedges
6. Sweet-style spaghetti
7. Chicken pastel
8. Rice
Kiddie packed meal
1. Chicken nuggets - store bought
2. Sweet-style spaghetti (from same batch as above)
3. Hotdogs
Dessert/drinks
1. Iced Tea (powdered)
2. Zest-O juice for the kids
3. Waffle Bar (details on another post)
Additional food:
1. Birthday cake - (store-bought)
2. Lechon-Cebu - (from Cebu! yum...)
 |
| birthday boy inspecting the kiddie packed meals |
I prepared for approximately 80 guests. There was plenty of food for everyone! Total cost for all the party food (including drinks) was approximately P12,000. Not bad, eh?
No comments:
Post a Comment