I have $30 to feed about 20 people... what should I serve?

How about Bruschetta ? Get a couple baguettes...slice them on the diagonal and toast under a broiler...then rub with garlic clove and drizzle with olive oil.. Let people put their own topping on.

Bruschetta is easy...finely chop tomatoes ...add basil and garlic and olive oil..salt and pepper and top with some grated parm cheese. Don't need the cheese though....

You can do cheese and crackers too....with some grapes and or orange slices....

You can get that cocktail rye bread....saute some ground beef add some velvetta to it and let it melt... and top the bread with it...it is REALLY good.....

or similar.....

Cheese Sausage Balls

1 (10 ounce) package cheddar or colby jack cheese

1 (20 ounce) package Bisquick

1 pound hot sausage

Melt cheese in top of double boiler; blend sausage and Bisquick. Pour cheese over sausage and Bisquick. Form into balls and bake at 375 degrees F.

This is good too...

Pepperoni bread (you can use sausage too but drain it well)

INGREDIENTS

* 1 (1 pound) loaf frozen bread dough, thawed

* 1 egg, beaten

* 4 ounces sliced pepperoni sausage

* 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

* 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

* 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.

2. Roll frozen bread dough out into a rectangle. Brush dough with beaten egg. Arrange pepperoni, mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese over the dough. Sprinkle on the Italian seasoning. Roll up dough like a jelly roll and pinch seam to seal; place, seam side down, on prepared baking sheet.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until golden.

Bacon & Water Chestnut Appetizers

1 lb. bacon - regular thickness

2 (8 oz.) cans whole water chestnuts, drained

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup ketchup

Cut bacon slices into thirds. Wrap each water chestnut with bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place them on a jelly roll pan (on a rack) and bake at 350 degrees until the bacon is cooked, 30 minutes or so.

Mix the brown sugar and ketchup. When the bacon is cooked, put them in a smaller baking pan. Pour the sauce over the top and bake again until the sauce is carmelized and bubbly, about 15 minutes or so. This is easy to increase or decrease. The sauce is just equal parts of brown sugar and ketchup, so you can easily increase the amounts.

An alternate method of making these is to partially cook the bacon and then wrap the chestnuts; you then skip the first baking.

Bacon Wrapped Bread Sticks

1 pound high-quality bacon strips

1 large package grissini-style bread sticks

1 box dark brown sugar

Cut bacon strips in half and lay them out on a cutting board. Break the bread sticks into 4-inch lengths. Sprinkle the bacon with brown sugar so that the bacon is completely coated. Press the sugar onto the bacon with your fingers. Continue to sprinkle sugar and press it on until no more sugar will adhere.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Set a rack over a foil-lined baking sheet. Roll the bacon strips, sugar side in, around the bread sticks in a spiral fashion. Be sure to begin as close to the bread stick edge as possible and roll very tightly. Place seam side down on the rack. Bake about 20 minutes, but watch carefully so that the sugar doesn't burn in the last minutes of cooking. Remove them from the oven and let rest for an hour on the rack to become firm. (they will be soggy at first...but they do become firm...don't panic)

(To prepare ahead and freeze, bake the sticks half way, freeze on a baking sheet, and store in the freezer in a plastic bag. To serve, bake the sticks for the remaining 10 minutes.)

If you make these you can put them in tall glasses as a presentation.

BLT Bites

16 - 20 cherry tomatoes

1 pound bacon

, cooked and crumbled

1/2 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing

1/3 cup chopped green onions

3 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

2 Tablespoons snipped fresh parsley

Cut a thin slice off of each tomato top. Scoop out and discard pulp or reserve for another use. Invert the tomatoes on a paper tower to drain well. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Spoon into tomatoes. Refrigerate for several hours.

Antipasto Kabobs

On a toothpick..put one cherry tomato..one piece of cheese and one olive....marinate them in Italian dressing....very good and very easy to do. You can get a LOT out of this.

Or on a toothpick...pieces of fruit and cheese and drizzle with honey and crushed walnuts.

Since you already have the flour, eggs, oil, milk, and sugar, you can make cookies. Make sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies. Just buy the generic grocery brand of semi-sweet chocolate chips for about $3-$4. For about 20 people, you can make a fancier chip and dip. Instead of regular potato chips, get bagel or pita chips. The dip can be a spinach-artichoke dip. All you need to mayonnaise $5, grated parmesan cheese $5, a box of frozen spinach $1.50, and aluminum foil tray $2 (you may not need this if you have a glass baking dish), 3 or 4 cans of artichoke hearts about $3 each. That's just about $30. Or even a guacamole dip. Just don't get plain potato chips. Pita chips seems fancier.

The key to making that kidn of amount of money work I believe is to create lots of small pieces. Small chopped bits of vegetables at any market should be cheap. Add a dip or two and you have a vegetable dip platter. Crackers can also be spread with some spreadable cheese which has had some mixed herbs and spices put in it. Fruits can be cut up for a fruit platter. You can sprinkle some cinnamon on top and leave a honey dipping container out. Emphasize the liquids, they fill your stomach and keep you from being hungry. Jello is cheap and can be cut into plenty of small pieces if you make them shallow enough.

This is a delicious dish and can be prepared ahead of time so you would have almost nothing to do at the last minute. SANTA FE STUFFED CHICKEN 8 skinless, boneless chicken breasts 1 (8 ounce or larger) package Monterey jack cheese, 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs 1 1/2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 small red bell pepper 1 small green bell pepper Cut some of the cheese into 8 slices, and reserve part of it for the cheese sauce. Place 1 chicken breast between two sheets of wax paper. Working from the center to the edges pound with a meat mallet until flat and rectangular shaped. Repeat with remaining breasts. Wrap the flattened chicken breasts around cheese. Secure with wooden picks or uncooked spaghetti noodles. Combine the bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, cumin and pepper. Roll the secured chicken pieces in the melted butter and then in the bread crumb mixture. Place chicken breasts in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish, but don't crowd them. Drizzle the remaining butter over all eight of the breasts. Refrigerate for 1 hour or freeze to bake later (baking time will be increased by about 5 to 10 minutes). Bake in a preheated 400 degree F (205 degree C) oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until chicken is done. Make a roux with butter and flour. Add about 1 cup milk. Bring to a simmer. Add cheese and lower the heat, stirring constantly so cheese does not burn. Add milk as needed to thin out the cheese sauce. Dice bell peppers. When chicken is done, pour some cheese sauce over top and sprinkle with diced peppers. Yields 4 servings. Serve with: ANGEL HAIR PASTA WITH ASPARAGUS Ingredients 8 ounces angel hair pasta 1 tablespoon olive oil 1-1/2 pounds fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces 1/4 cup chicken broth 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese Cooking Instructions 1. Cook pasta according to package instructions. 2. Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Saute asparagus in the pan over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and mushroom slices; cook 3 minutes more. 3. Drain pasta, and transfer to a serving dish. Gently toss pasta with asparagus mixture; sprinkle with Parmesan and crushed red pepper. and some nice French dinner rolls.

Didn't something like this happen in the Bible with fish and bread? Lol.

You can't do much. Popcorn is possible, but it'll make people thirsty, and you won't have much money for drinks.

If you really want to bake, try angelfood cake. It's light and always popular. Have fun!

EDIT: And, gamer, she spelled savory correctly in Singaporean English. They generally follow UK English spelling and grammar ... just so you know, since you had to point it out in the first place.

I think Mr Ronald McDonald can help you out here...

4 Chicken Mcnuggets are $1,

Buy 30 dollars worth, and thats 120 Mcnuggets

Thats a hell of alot of food.

EDIT: OR, you could get 30 Double Cheeseburgurs, Cut them in half, and that would be good finger food

Muffins! Marzipan! Tea-Cakes! Doughnuts! Or maybe some delicious spiced flatbread, perhaps with an olive-oil rosemary brush?

You have most of the ingredients to make tarts (maybe mini tarts?). You could fill them with sweet (chocolate ganache [2:1 chocolate:cream] or fruit) or savory (pastry cream) fillings.

Cake

some sandwich meat and dinner rolls; crackers and cheese; cheese dip and torilla chips; pinwheels...(ham, cream cheese rolled in torilla), cheeseball...(cream cheese mixed with pineapple and green chives or bellpepper); little smokies...(mini sausages or hotdogs things...cook in barbeque sauce); Doritos; chips and dip....cheese cubes and veggies.

or biscuits and hamburger meat...

brown hamburger and add onions to it. let onions get soft. spread out biscuits so they are really flat...put a spoonful of meat and onion on it and add some cheese on top. Put another biscuit on top and press edges to close tightly. cook according to the biscuit directions.

I would get carrots and celery and veggies and some chips. get some salsa and a ranch dip.

then make some cookies with the ingredients you have.