Tailgate fundraiser suggestions please

SarahBeth

SarahBeth

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Ok I need some ideas. We are doing a tailgate party fundraiser. Each of us is in charge of making a dish and selling it. So I need to choose a dish and set the price. I'm not grilling. I'm not sure that we will have adequate electricity for hot foods. So I'm thinking something either cold since it will be mid September and still pretty hot in Texas unless someone has any ideas on keeping a crock pot hot that I don't know of. I want to spend a maximum of 25 dollars on food expense. Less is better. My dish I'd like to set the price about 3 dollars or less. Child friendly would be fantastic but not neccesary. I'm almost considering doing peanut butter and jelly or something to that effect. Or doing something else and selling two items. Whatever I do I want it to be cost effective. I'm just stumped on how to do the hot foods. I'm almost thinking potato salad or macaroni salad.

There is a snack bar and they have hot dogs, pizza, frito pies, pickles, popcorn, and candy already. If I could figure out the hot situation I could try and get a food donation locally. So if you have any ideas on that or food suggestions please let me know.

 
You could always do BLT's or something like that. They can be served cold or room temp and ingredients wouldn't be too expensive, depending on how many sandwiches you are plan on selling. Just gotta keep the mayo cold:)

Could you do a dessert? Fruit pies or cookies could feed alot without breaking the bank.
 
One thing easy to make, but should be kept cool, is a fresh fruit salad. chunks of watermelon, cantelope, grapes, cherries, strawberries, honey dew melon, raspberries, blueberries, etc. Just cut them up, stir them all together. buy those pkgs. of small Hefty bowls (they are soak proof). You don't have to add sugar, or dressing, or anything, it is cool, refreshing, and you can definitely stay under your budget.
Do you have to make whatever it is right there? Or can you bring from home?
 
Something my kids love is 'Dirt Cake' I can get you my recipe if you like. It can get to room temperature and be fine, but tastes better cold. You could keep it cool in an ice chest or place the bowl/bucket in a bigger bowl of ice. I place gummy worms throughout mine and the kids love trying to find them in their bowls.
 
You might could do veggie bags (instead of a veggie tray)... carrot sticks, cucumbers, etc... since most of that stuff is in season now, you might be able to find it at good prices.

I've made a "fruit mess"... angel food cake, french vanilla pudding, and strawberries, blueberries and kiwi. You can make them in those clear plastic punch cups - a chunk of cake, put a few spoonsful of pudding, and add some blueberries and sliced strawberries and kiwis on top. Cover with saran wrap. It's pretty, it's cool, and not terribly expensive, though it is a bit time-consuming to make it this way. You could also make it in one large bowl (layer it: cake, pudding, fruit, cake, pudding, fruit) and dip it out... but it doesn't stay as pretty this way. You could probably sells cups for $1.50, give or take.

PB&J... BLT... all good choices, too! I don't know how much juice they use - especially in a parked car, but perhaps you could borrow an inverter to plug into your car cigarette lighter, and then you could plug a crock pot into that. I don't think crock pots use that much electricity, but i have no idea how quickly that might drain your car battery. If you have a small grill, you could use it to keep some hot things hot (might have to set some things in a pan of water to keep the bottom from burning)... or you could sell baggies of the makings of smores and just have a hot grill ready to roast the marshmallows! Someone did that at a Relay for Life event and it turned out pretty well!

Good luck, and let us know what you end up doing!
 
I like the idea of blt's. Maybe I could do them as sliders using a dinner roll for the bread. I'm also thinking of doing the grunt work of getting donations. If I get lucky enough to get a food donation that will help me decide what to make. At the least I can get paper products and utensils from the local places.

Or a blt slider and a scoop of potato salad.
 
hides14 said:
You could always do BLT's or something like that. [snip] Just gotta keep the mayo cold:)
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Actually, commercially made mayo is not the food poisoning danger one might think. It can actually inhibit bacteria growth because it's fairly acidic. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A02E5DB1139F932A35754C0A96E9C8B63 http://www.snopes.com/food/tainted/cutonions.asp (This was a myth going around that said that onions were a greater food poisoning risk than mayo. The article discusses the low risk of food poisoning from mayo too.) Homemade mayo is usually less acidic and is much more likely to allow bacteria growth.

guilty pleasure said:
but perhaps you could borrow an inverter to plug into your car cigarette lighter, and then you could plug a crock pot into that. I don't think crock pots use that much electricity, but i have no idea how quickly that might drain your car battery.
Click to expand...

For both of my vehicles, the engine has to be running for the inverter to work.. The cigarette lighter will not heat up with the engine off either. (I don't smoke, but since the inverter doesn't work with the engine off, I wondered about the cigarette lighter.)
 
Thanks, b2curious. I've rarely used an inverter with the car running, and never with the engine off. I thought that some phone chargers seem to charge in newer cars with the engine off... but I may have just assumed incorrectly!
 
No, you could be right. I think once, when one of my co-workers needed to charger her phone and just had her car charger, she was able to charge it in another co-worker's car. I'm not really sure. My "new" car is a 2007 (and is paid off).
 
SarahBeth you should really just do a dessert. They are so easy, and extremely cheap to make, and everyone loves them. You could make some chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, and decorate them really pretty, maybe with some candy or something, and then sell them for like $2.00 each. The problem with PB&J is peanut allergies. Another thing that you could do is candy pizza. You'll have to find a recipe but that is for sure another crowd pleaser.

If you do want something more 'course' like another delicious thing is tuna or salmon salad. My mom makes it all the time when we have family get togethers and everyone honestly loves it. Its really easy, and if you are interested I could give you the recipes. You can also find them on google but sometimes they can be different. I know my Nan makes it completely different.
 
I think she has to make whatever it is right there, not ahead of time??? Maybe I am wrong. ??
 
Sounds like a tailgater at a football game but instead of feeding your family/friends, you sell the food as a fundraiser for a school group. The band parents do that at the first home game of the season at the school where I live.

Yep, fresh fruit cups sound good for adults, and are easy. The fruit can be cut ahead of time, and kept in large ziploc bags or containers in a cooler. (sprinkle with lemon juice if needed. ) Fill foam or plastic bowls to sell.

Wraps also are easy to make, and can be kept in a cooler. You would need donations of the tortillas, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and some type of meat (sliced ham, turkey, chicken, etc).

Cookies and / or cupcakes decorated in the school colors??
 
Yep squirrelly has it right about how we are doing it. As far as pb and j goes I'm not worried about a peanut allergy. Our school still serves those Uncrustables pb and j's on the breakfast menu. However if I do the blt's I may just stick with that. I'd love to do a desert and still am considering it as well. The function is Sept 11. My plan is to decide on a dish after I try and get donations. If I could get lucky and have a local food place donate a dish so it would be 100% profit that would be great.
 
We have done something kind of like this. An easy thing is homade Trail Mix, or chex party mix pkg it in small bags Always a big hit with either one .
Good luck and have fun
 
So due to serious band booster burn out and my hubby finally letting me in on how tight our budget is my good quilty friend and I are going to make brownies. Easy to make, cheap to buy, easy to sell. My friend bought the mix, I have 7 chickens so I have the eggs and other ingredients, and we will have a good time together. Oh and this friend of mine's oldest son is in the University band with my daughter and youngest son is in high school band with my son so we have alot in common.
 
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