Party Food

When planning a party that will have food it's important to plan ahead. When I was planning Lauren's party, I already knew she wanted a BBQ. So hot dogs, burgers, veggie burgers, etc. had to be there. I spent the weeks before her party carefully planning and making lists. Thanks to my new interest in coupons (blame Extreme Couponing) it helped with the cost. Of course you can't just have burgers at a party. You need other foods to snack on. I know Lauren loves chips and salsa so we made sure that was there. You can't have chips and salsa without guacamole so I found a market that sold guac by the pound. I also decided to make my pasta salad. It's easy to make and it's the perfect addition to a BBQ. I wanted some "fun" additions. I knew Lauren wanted jello shots at her party. However, she's a vegetarian so you can't go into a regular grocery store and purchase gelatin free "jello" (aka vegan gelatin). Thankfully Whole Foods came to the rescue. Btw - Jell-o shots are so easy to make. I also found a recipe for Corona Popsicles. You can read more about that here. Below is the recipe for Jell-o shots.

Basic Jell-o Shot

3 oz. Jell-o (or vegan gelatin)

8 oz. boiling water

3 oz. cold water

5 oz. alcohol you'd like to use (I used vodka)

You want to bring 8 oz. of water to a boil. Add in the 3 oz. mixture. Make sure the mixture is completely dissolved before adding the 3oz. of cold water. Once you have done that add 5 oz of whatever alcohol you'd like to use. Stir. Pour into whatever you want to use and refrigerate. Voila!