Our son likes to host a game night for his friends every 4-6 weeks. Our first game night was not well planned. We payed the "Stupid Tax" to the tune of $37.00 - pizza order ($32.00) and snacks ($5.00). WOW! I was amazed at how much we spent on such a small event.
Well, you can't go back so I decided that I would try to decrease our out of pocket expense for hosting this night by at least half which put my budget at 18.50. Our first idea was to change the time and just provide a few snacks, but unfortunately most of the group couldn't attend at an earlier time. So, here we are again, hosting game night over dinner time.
What's a girl to do?
Tip 1-Take inventory of what you have and plan around it.
I checked my pantry/refrigerator and found --taco shells and black olives (both free from previous grocery deals), tortilla chips, taco seasonings, sour cream, cheddar cheese, onions, cilantro, cucumber, head of lettuce, tomatoes and canned salsa from our garden last summer, so dinner was a Taco Bar.
Tip 2- Check grocery fliers and mark down sections
I found in date ground beef marked down to $2.63 per pound so I picked up 3 pounds ($7.89) for the taco filling. At a different store, peppers ($.50), avocados ($.50) and tomatoes ($.99 lb) were on sale this week. This added $2.50 to our bill. In addition, I sent out a text sharing with everyone what we were having and to get a final head count. Our friends were responsible for bringing the desserts, drinks and additional snacks for the evening. Our out of pocket cost for the additional groceries was $10.39. This shaped up to be a fun night without breaking the bank.
Pulling it together: 
Step 1- Taco Filling-------I decided to use my crock pot to make and keep the taco filling warm. I defrosted the meat the day before, placed in crock pot in the early afternoon with all of the taco spices and turned it on low for 6 hours. Prior to my guest arriving, I checked the taco meat and drained the grease that accumulated. I have a warming feature on my crock pot, so it kept the meat at a safe temperature for the whole evening.
Step 2- Slice and Dice-------- I cleaned and cut up all of the vegetables. Since I was not sure how much we would use, I stored the vegetables in different containers and will fill a vegetable serving platter with the sour cream in the middle. It was easy to re-fill the platter when we ran out of each vegetable.
Step 3- Heat the shells and place on a festive plate.
Step 4- Setting up the station.--------- I have an island in the middle of my kitchen with an electrical outlet. This is a perfect presentation station. I have a bin of discounted paper products that I keep on hand to make clean up easy, so out they came. By placing the crock pot, a few platters and bowls on the island, the set up was complete.
BONUS- We had left over taco meat and all the trimmings for lunch the next day and a dinner size taco meat portion for the freezer.
I hope you found this helpful and will enjoy many social gatherings without the stress or expense of take out.
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