Feeding 27 People with $34.86 - Tuesday's Treat No. 1

Weekly Recipe Share!  Happy Tuesday! 

Ok.  Ya’ll, I had to share what I did this last weekend.  My mother in law, one of my favorite people on the planet, just retired after working at the same Junior High for 25 years.  At the last minute, my sister in law decided to throw her a surprise party. 

My sister in law is good at many things and one of them is decorating and making things look pretty.  When asked what I could contribute to the party my mind went straight to the food.  I do ok at making things pretty, but filling bellies is really more my thing.  Things came out so nicely that I just had to share! 

My grocery trip cost me $34.86 and we fed twenty-seven people!  Now, my sister in law made beautiful fruit skewers and provided the buns for the pulled pork.   Also, one of my mother in law’s dear friends brought a cake and made some adorable cookies but other than that and drinks my little purchase and simple effort covered the party food and plenty of leftovers. 

The party was a Luau theme so please don’t judge my pulled pork on real Texas BBQ criteria, that’s not what I was going for! We had pulled pork on Hawaiian rolls, sweet slaw, chips and salsa, fruit and fruit dip, crackers and cheese dip and of course dessert for 22 adults and 5 kids.  It tasted and looked like way more effort and money went into it!

Here’s my purchases but I had a few items on hand that I figure are pretty common items for most of us; fridge and pantry staples:

Pork Butt Roast (4) $15.81

3 Bags of coleslaw  $4.47

Marshmallow fluff 

Grenadine $3.46

Cream cheese $1.58

Ritz crackers $1.28

2 Cups Cheddar Cheese $2.56

Ranch Dip mix $1.74

Two bags of Tortilla Chips $3.96

Butter, mayo (Duke’s), apple cider vinegar, spices and homemade salsa I already had on hand

Let’s start with the main dish!

Pulled Pork:

First I bought four pork roasts from Costco for $15.81.  I thawed these after taking them out of my freezer.  I made a rub of my favorite trifecta, garlic powder, onion powder and smoked paprika and added in a bit of brown sugar and some mild Cajun seasoning.  I braised all four of them in butter in my cast iron skillet, wrapped them in foil and put them in my electric smoker for about 5 hours at 250 degrees.  The meat just shredded with a fork and filled two aluminum foil casserole pans.

For the sweet slaw I mixed three bags of tricolor pre-cut coleslaw mix and added my own dressing which consisted of the following:

½ Cup Duke’s Mayo

1 tbsp Apple Cider vinegar

½ Cup Brown Sugar

1 tsp Cajun seasoning

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp sea salt

*Because of the sugar content in the dressing only put it on what you intend to eat that day.  The sugar will make it soggy after that and not very good for leftovers.  Mix up the above ingredients then let them sit for 20 minutes or so before you pour on top of you coleslaw and stir. 

Cheese Dip (This is a recipe someone gave me a long time ago and I cannot take credit for it)

1 softened block of cream cheese

1 stick of softened butter

2 ½ cups shredded cheddar

1 package ranch dip mix

*Mix all ingredients together and enjoy with crackers or pita chips

Fruit Dip for the Fruit Skewers (Again, an old recipe I can’t remember who shared it with me but it’s always a hit!):

1 Can marshmallow fluff

1 block softened cream cheese

1 tbsp grenadine or maraschino cherry juice

*mix together thoroughly and chill before serving with cute fruit skewers your sister in law made 

We put the salsa and chips on a pretty plate and there you go! 

Check back next Tuesday for another recipe!