Easy & Cheap Hostess gift

Thank You so much for stopping by! You're probably expecting to see no-sew apron I did! 

You can find it, by clicking here. It will take you to my blog that is now on Wordpress. 

Sorry about that but you'll find a lot more cool ideas on the new & improved Parties for Pennies page!

It's Amore...and it's moving!!! (My Valentines Dinner)

I hope you had a wonderful Valentines Day. Even when I was single, I always loved the holiday! How many times do we forget to tell the people around us that we really do love them? Ok...I'm going in a mushy direction & we've got a party to talk about. Yeah, I know...it was just a party with me & my fiance but it's not the quantity but the quality of the party! ;p

This year...I wanted to be daring...I wanted to be risky...I wanted to impress...so I decided to work with a LIVE animal! For real.

Meet...Larry...

...the Lobster

That is what my roommate Emily named him, which didn't make it easy to throw the poor guy into the pot. The thought really did cross my mind to stick him in the bath tub & take him back to Publix the next day. My sister would probably be pretty mad if she happened upon Larry when she was going to take her daily shower. 

This will probably be the last time I cook lobster. I didn't even properly get Larry in the pot. I had to resort to picking up either side of the paper towels & flinging him (literally) into the pot. Once in the pot, Larry looked like he could tour with Cirque du Soleil. I quickly put the lid on the pot & asked Larry for forgiveness. Within 10 minutes, Larry was this beautiful red color (which means he's done). About that time, Mike came to the door. He was SOOO excited that I had made him lobster! As we both stood over the pot looking down at Larry, I asked Mike if he wanted to say something about Larry. It went something like this: "Larry, you did not die in vain. You gave your life so that Heidi could make Mike feel very special on this Valentines Day. In a way, you kept the spark of love alive. Thanks Larry." 

(Side note: If you're pretty ticked off at this point that the name of my blog is - parties for PENNIES & it's sounding more like parties for FIFTIES, I apologize! One, let this be a lesson to us all...b/c I didn't know how much lobster cost... lobster...not a good money saving entree. I will have a penny saving tip if you keep reading!) 

Ok...so that is the tale of Larry. I took a picture of him when he was done, but for some reason the picture did not turn out at all. :-( 

But this picture did....

This was our set-up...

1) Red & white salad plates - Home Goods $2.99

2) Crate & Barrel White Plates - Goodwill - a whole set several months ago for $8 :-)

3) White tablecloth - Home Goods $9.99

4) Table runner - Free....aluminum foil

5) Flower arrangement - 2 Dozen roses - Whole Foods $19.99 (Farmers Market $14.99...bonus tip), Black spray painted twigs, Black construction paper wrapped around a vase & tied with some raffia

6) Black stuff around the tea lights - Black Licorice! Mike LOVES Black licorice (He's the only one I've ever known to like that stuff). I scattered some licorice around the tea lights & put the rest in a cut little mason jar

7) Epic Fail - His gift...They are those big glass manly looking mugs (Home Goods $9.99) but I was going to etch them myself with the letter "S" (his last name is Stoudt). Apparently, when you're working with concave-like glasses it doesn't work out too well. So...Mr. Stoudt just got the boring old glasses. :-( 

MENU:

Lobster (I made myself a Salmon fillet)

Steamed Broccoli

Mashed Red Potatoes

Mixed Leaf Salad w/ cucumber, red onion & tomatoes (cut into heart-shapes with a cookie cutter...I know...Oh the cheese) 

Homemade Salad Dressing (I'll share the recipe in another post)

Five Grain Baguette

And...for dessert.... (my favorite)

This was soo easy, so cheap & soo delish! 

Individual Chocolate Eclairs

1 pkg instant vanilla pudding

1 pkg instant chocolate pudding

3 1/2 cups of milk

12 oz of cool whip

Graham Crackers

Mix the vanilla pudding with 2 cups of milk. Once the pudding becomes thick, mix in the cool whip (not frozen). Layer a couple of graham crackers on the bottom of a glass or small dish. Spoon in about 1/3 cup of the pudding/whipped topping mix over the graham crackers. Put another graham cracker layer on top of the pudding mixture. Repeat previous instructions. I added one more layer after this...but you can do whatever you'd like. Once you're done there place the last layer of graham crackers on top. Mix the chocolate pudding with 1 1/2 cups of milk. Once it thickens up, spread a thin layer on the top graham cracker. Refrigerate for at least several hours. I made mine the night before. It is awesome & takes more time to wash the dishes than it does to make this! 

For the final "phase" of the night...I planned some cheapo entertainment...

No, Will Smith did not make an appearance. (Cus I knew you'd think that :p) See, we had been listening to 90s music the weekend before & "Getting Jiggy With It" came on. Mike says, "I've been wanting to take hip hop lessons & learn this dance." I'm not exactly sure where that came from...but my little antennae went "ding, ding, ding". You can learn the Soldier Boy...the electric slide...all on You Tube. Surely I can find how to "get jiggy with it" on You Tube....

Nada...nothing...not even attempts! But I got it in my mind that this would be a free & fun thing for us to do. After dinner & dessert, I set up my laptop & told Mike his dream would come true tonight. (I don't exactly think he was thinking of learning the dance moves to gettin jiggy with it, when I said that) So...since there was no instructional video...we just tried to learn it from the music video (a little more difficult *sarcasm*). It was fun trying & we got a great laugh from it. 

How was your Valentines Day? Did you cook a fabulous meal? Or dine out? Hope it was wonderful & was full of laughter like ours! :-)

P.S. If you would like any tips for cooking lobster...don't ask me! :p jk...seriously, let me know & I'll share the little I picked up from this experience. 

Easy & Inexpensive Valentine Day Petits Fours

Who loves to bake?? Me! Who has time to bake for every holiday, birthday, bar mitzvah, boss day? Not me! So...here is a simple, inexpensive & under 20 minute way to make adorable Valentines Day petits fours! Don't you just love the sound of that? Petits Fours? I feel so prim & proper! Ok...so you ready for this?

Here is what you need from the store:

Plus....

I feel the need to not only point out that I only used two ingredients (plus food coloring) but also did these during the commercial breaks of the Bachelor! :p It's my guilty pleasure, ok... ;p

1) Take the Twinksters out of their packaging (they are about to become more refined) & cut them in half. Once you have two cakes from the original one...trim the ends so they are more of a square/rectangular shape. 

(I apologize for my poor picture...I used my IPhone & I was trying to get back to the TV before the crazy girl Michelle from the Bachelor came back on)

2) Once you divided & conquered the Twinksters, stick them in the freezer for a little bit. I think I left mine in their for about 10-20 minutes. I would actually suggest up to an hour. This will help for the next step.

3) Once you toughen the twinksters, they are ready to become beautiful French petits fours. (It's like the ugly duckling :p) Take your white chocolate chips...or better yet (what I would recommend) is the white chocolate candy bark. Microwave until melted. Reserve about 1/2 cup to 1 cup chocolate. Take your little twinksters, dip either end in the chocolate, then the sides & the top. I left the bottom naked. :p This took a little practice to get it looking smooth. I tried to use the tongs but that didn't work out to well, so I went all prairie & used my hands. 

4) Line your dipped transforming twinksters on wax paper & let dry. 

5) Take your reserve white chocolate & add a tiny bit of red food coloring & mix. If you have a pastry bag & tips...that would work great. I couldn't find mine (and like I said...I was working during commercial breaks :p) so I just used a sandwich bag. If you're using a sandwich bag, cut a small section of the end off & use that to decorate your petits fours! 

And here were a few of the ones I did...

I also think these would work well with some homemade icing or store bought icing. If you want it to go on smooth, heat the icing up in the microwave for just a few seconds. 

I brought these to work today & they were gone within minutes. I asked everyone that tried one how they were & their responses were more like Paula's than Simons...so I'll take that! :-) Happy Valentines Day! I wish I could share what special dinner I'm planning for my sweetie but it's a surprise...so stay tuned. 

Superbowl Party Ideas

I'm not exactly an uber football fan...but I AM a fan of parties...so bring on Superbowl XLV! :-) 

DECOR

Here are some really inexpensive ideas and you probably have most of these things already at your casa! 

#1: For a table runner/table cloth....use black paper & draw plays on them with chalk. You could also go to your local school supply store & get a piece of green paper cut to your table dimensions. (My mom's a teacher & she said it's around $0.75/yard or so...SCORE!) On the green paper, draw a football field in chalk. 

#2: Serving Dishes - Use plain white dishes, but use ribbon in the different team colors to spice the dishes up. (see pic below) You could also get some little numbers (felt or iron on) that correspond with the popular players & decorate the bowls/plates. (BONUS: By finding out which players are the most popular & what they're numbers are...you will impress the socks off your man! :p) 

#3: Want some fun, cheap-o koozies? Take some of those striped knee-high socks & cut the bottom portion off...voila...koozie & you've saved someone the embarrassment of wearing those in public. (No offense if you have a pair...or two...I just have traumatic childhood memories of my dad wearing those, along with short shorts when I was in elementary school....in the 80s. My dad is the best, but not the best fashion sense)

#4: Have a little more time on your hands & want some budget-friendly coasters? Go to Home Depot or Lowes & buy a little bit of that fake grass...cut some circles out of it...and you have authentic turf coasters!

FOOD 

This is, in my opinion, one of the BEST Superbowl recipes ever! It transforms the football favorite fare of wings (say that three times fast...and no, I'm not really sure that makes sense) & makes it into a dip. Trust me...you will have no leftovers. 

It's got a really complicated name, too...

Wing Dip :-) 

3 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Cream Cheese (8 oz)

Blue Cheese/Ranch Dressing (8oz) I personally like the Ranch

1 to 1/2 tbs. of Franks Buffalo Sauce (depending on your preference)

8oz. Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil/cook chicken & shred. Place chicken aside. Mix softened cream cheese & dressing (ranch or blue cheese) together until well blended. Add Franks Buffalo Sauce to the chicken & coat. Spread chicken into a 9x11 glass baking dish. Cover the chicken layer with the cream cheese & dressing mixture. Spread the cheese over the top. Cook for 30-35 minutes, or until cheese starts to bubble. 

Serve with Tostitos chips or whatever you prefer! :-) 

A desert item you can make that is easy, cheap & everyone loves...

Brownie Footballs

Just make the brownies from the box mix, bake them, then once they're cool, cut them into football shapes (tip: get the more cake-like brownies so you can cut them easier). Use some white icing on the football shapes to represent the seams. 

ACTIVITIES

Superbowl Commercial Rating -

Who does not love the superbowl commercials? All-time favorite one from last year...two words....Betty. White. :-) 

Give your guests some paper & pen & have them rate each commercial throughout the game. At the end, tally the ratings up to determine the favorite commercial. It will be fun to see how it stacks up the next day with the rest of the worlds. 

Players Number Lottery -

Place the numbers of the players that will have an opportunity to score during the game in a hat/bowl. As the guests arrive, have them draw a number or two. If their player scores during the game, give them a little prize. 

Trimmings & Tapas Part 2

So...I guess I took quite a long time to get that snack from the earlier post! My bad. :p

Let's talk about the tapas, shall we?

I wanted to go cheap (I had a $50 budget to work with) & delish & small (hence the name tapa) & southern.
Here is the first menu item:

                                                               Chicken Bon Bons 
                           Ok, so take away the cheesy name & they're basically chicken nuggets

Chicken Bon Bons


1 Pkg. Frozen Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts (I got the Publix brand for $6.49 & there were 8 breasts in it)
Eggs (2-4)
Bread Crumbs
Salt/Other Seasonings

These were super easy to make & I kinda eye-balled most everything...the DAY of the party! I know, it is a horrible habit & I've got to stop doing stuff like that. Thankfully, for this party, it worked out great! Thaw the breasts, cut them into bite-size pieces, then dip them in an egg bath, then dip them in bread crumbs mixed with seasoning. For seasoning I mixed a little bit of dried parsley & seasoning salt. It was so simple but turned out tasting delicious! Once you've dipped all the chicken pieces in the two mixtures,  place the chicken bites bon bons in a glass baking dish (sprayed with non-stick spray). I cooked these on 350 for about 25-30 minutes. Since they're smaller, I'd set the timer for 18-20 minutes & check on them. My oven is a little old. ;p

                                            
                                              Breaded Green Beans & Macaroni Cups
Breaded Green Beans


1-1.5lbs green beans (ended up costing just under $3)
Olive oil or Canola Oil (I know you're not supposed to fry things in olive oil...but I'm a rebel, what can I say?)
Milk
Flour
Salt/Seasonings

I boiled the green beans until a little tender and I did this the day before. Once you're ready to fry em up, dip the green beans in a milk bath, then in a flour mix. (Mix the flour with salt & any seasoning you want) Then, I just fried em up & put them on a plate.

Macaroni Cups

3 boxes of Shells & Cheese ($1.50 ea)
2 eggs
Parsley
Parmesan Cheese (optional...or if you have any other cheese you can add to it)

Make the shells & cheese according to the directions on the box. Add two eggs, maybe three to the mixture. This is where it gets fun. I had some parmesan cheese from a recipe I had made a week before that, so I added the parmesan cheese with a tiny bit of italian seasoning. You can be creative with whatever you think would taste ah-ma-zing! In a non-stick muffin pan, scoop out a couple of spoonfuls of the mac n cheese into the muffin cups. Put the mac cups in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Once they come out of the oven, sprinkle a little dried parsley or fresh parsley on the top to add some flair (ala Office Space).  They look great, simple & inexpensive.

                                                             Martini Mashed Potatoes


A Southern staple, given a little sophistication!

Martini Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes (whichever are on sale...I got a 5 lb bag for $1.99 *score)
Milk (or whatever you prefer to make your pots creamy)
Scallions/Fresh or Dried
Bacon Bits
Green Beans not fried, let over from the fried green beans

Make the mashed potatoes to your liking. Scoop into martini glasses (we used several real martini glasses & a few plastic ones) Garnish with scallions & bacon bits. Add two green beans to the martini glass for the finishing touch.

                                                              Parmesan Mini Biscuits


Parmesan Mini Biscuits

2 Pillsbury Grands Biscuit Cans (Or whatever is cheapest...I got it for $1.59 each)
Parmesan Cheese

Take each biscuit & divide it into two. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese & bake as directed.

                                                                Red-Neck Hummus


I honestly wasn't sure how this was going to turn out. I had no recipe, had never heard of anyone that has ever made it and was...ofcourse....planning on trying this the day of the party. It was actually a hit!

Red-Neck Hummus

1 large can of baked beans (I bought the original recipe for under $2)
BBQ sauce

Drain most of the liquid from the baked beans & put into a food processor. Add a little BBQ sauce. Mix with the food processor until it becomes a hummus consistency. Serve with potato chips & celery. I garnished it with a little BBQ sauce, bacon bits & parsley.

                                                           Banana Pudding Cupcakes


Banana Pudding Cupcakes

These were actually made my sister, so I don't have all the directions for you. I'll have to have her to do a post about these later. Basically, she made a banana cake, topped it with banana pudding, a dollop of whipped cream & a vanilla wafer. They were better than any banana pudding I've ever had! :-)


And now, here's a pic of the whole set-up....

...Oh, I almost forgot....

Drinks! We mixed up a great cocktail for minimum pennies. It was southern & sweet...just like us! :p

Sweetea-ini

1 Gallon Sweet Tea
2 quarts Lemonade (I bought the frozen lemonade & it was the cheapest)
Vodka (I bought a small bottle for about $7 & it lasted the whole night...what can I say? We're light-weights)

I eyeballed a lot of this. I mixed about 2/3 Sweet tea with 1/3 Lemonade & then about 1/2c to 1c vodka. You can garnish with lemon slices if you'd like.


And...for the plates, napkins, plasticware, decor & food...it all added up to be just barely under $50! Goal! :-) It was a stretch, but we tried to stick with simple foods with a twist & use things we already had.

Party On people!







                                                    

Trimmings and Tapas Party Part 1

So...Christmas was like soo last month...but since I'm a newbie to the blogging world, I'm hoping you'll cut me a little slack. Especially when I tell you about this party I threw during Christmas. First I wanted a party theme that was a little out of the box...then I gave myself a few challenges...

Challenge #1: Coming up with a favor to give the guests that wouldn't cost me a penny!

Challenge #2: Coming up with a fun theme where the guests could bring something or contribute something without it costing them a penny

Challenge #3: The WHOLE party...decor, food & all...costing under $50!

The theme? Trimmings (get it? You trim the Christmas tree with ribbons & bows? :-)) and Tapas (just because I sooo heart alliteration)

To go along with the Trimmings part of the theme, I asked each girl (oh...I forgot to mention...this was a girls invite only party...just because) to wear a bow somewhere on them. I got a silver ribbon & tied it around my waist (see pic below)...other girls wore it in their hair. It was fun to see the different bow fashions (Rachel Zoe, feel free to take note).

                                                        Meg, Myself and friend Ashley

And here comes challenge #1...I asked each girl to bring a piece of jewelry that they owned but never wore. (You probably have a one too...you know, that piece of jewelry that never ends up quite going with anything, but is still really cute and you can't seem to part with it?!) Each girl wrapped up the piece of jewelry and we did a jewelry exchange at the party. It was soo much fun! Everyone loved their "new" jewelry and the best part....not a penny for our pockets! (BTW....connection....Jewelry = Trimmings :-))

Okay...guess I just covered Challenge #2 too!

How in the world was I going to pay for paper goods, decor and food for under $50? (Plus, we wanted to serve a little cocktail)

For the food, we wanted to serve tapas. I feel like tapas were invented for me, excuse me, for women every where. They are the perfect size...and the best part...you can try a lot of different dishes without stuffing yourself! Instead of spanish tapas, I decided to do my own Southern Tapas. (a nod to being a Georgia Peach)

I'll talk about the food & the recipes in the next section. Here are a few pictures from the party...

                                                            Ready for the tasty tapas

      Oh man, this is making me hungry...I'm gonna grab a snack & I'll be back for Part 2 of Trimmings & Tapas

Sushi for a sweet tooth...

You can call me unrefined but I'm not a sushi gal. I've tried it. I didn't like it. I tried to like it...still...no-likey. And before you even get it out of your mouth, "Yes. I have had California rolls too & I just can't hack it." Sushi looks so pretty & I feel a culinary properness just ordering it...but it just ain't happenin.

My ears perked up, though, when I heard Rachel Ray mention candy sushi on her show many moons ago. A treat that looks like sushi but tastes like sweets?! Got my attention!

Now I tried to take a mental note of all Rachel said to do...but that was...maybe 3 years ago. When my sister said she wanted to have a luau-themed birthday party, I knew the perfect sweet...but how did Rachel do it? I couldn't remember...so I did what I always do...I waited until the night before & crossed my fingers, hoping to suddenly remember. I made a few adjustments, but somehow it turned out looking like the picture to the left! They were a big hit at the party.

Here's what I did (I'm sorry I didn't take pictures of the steps, I didn't realize I'd be doing a blog about this in the 3 months following):


What you Need:
Ingredients for Rice Crispy Treats
Additional bag of jumbo marshmallows
Green Fruit Roll-ups (I had to use Shrek roll-ups) :-)
Twizzlers (I used the different colored/flavored twizzlers)
Pink/Orange Sprinkles
* I also used a few different colored fruit roll-ups on mine

1) Make a batch of regular rice crispy treats (I added a bit more marshmallows & butter than the recipe called for so the treats would be pliable)

2) With wax paper & a rolling pan, I flattened the rice cripsy treats to maybe 3/4 of an inch thick. (3-4 inches wide, 8-10 inches long...or you can use the length of the twizzlers... & 3/4 of an inch thick) You probably will have enough rice crispy treat to make a couple of these.

3) Take the wax paper off. Place two twizzlers about 1/2" away from each other in the middle of the rice crispy. Length-side facing you roll up the rice crispy treat from back to front.

4) Take a green fruit roll up off the wrapper & wrap it around the log of rice crispy treat/twizzler goodness.  If you can't wrap it all the way around, use another one to fill-up the open space.

5) Once you've got the length of the log covered, cut round slices about an inch or so thick. Voila...rice crispy/fruit roll-up/twizzler sushi...my favorite kind!

Additional Sushi:

I took the jumbo marshmallows, used leftover fruit roll-ups & wrapped them around each marshmallow. On some of the marshmallows, I cut off the top & dipped them in pink sprinkles.

That's the whole spread...I lined up my bamboo placemats as a table runner and a tablecloth I found on clearance underneath it.