Spaghetti Feed

Friday, September 25th was our opportunity to host the cross country team spaghetti feed. I love the unity the kids have while they load up on carbs. It is the icing on the cake when you can have these parties to build a strong supportive team. I loved how being part of this team helps transition the freshmen into high school in such a positive way.
When I signed up at the beginning of the season, there were only a few slots available. The available slots were later in the season, which worried me that the weather would turn colder and we would have to move the party inside the house. Lucky for us, the weather was beautiful and we could still hold it in the back yard - Yeah!

The sun was shining, the food was great and it turned out to be a lovely evening!

Compared to last year, the kids filled their assignments and brought their assigned food items. Last year we didn't have enough french bread, drinks, salads and desserts. This year I over prepared and there was a ton of food. We even had loaves of french bread left over to send home with some of the kids.

The team has lots of vegetarians and I had to come up with vegetarian spaghetti sauce. I searched the web but ended up experimenting with my basic spaghetti sauce. Onions, bell pepper, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini and the tomatoes and spices from my original sauce. It really turned out yummy. I was excited that I could pull off a vegetarian sauce that was as good as one with meat in it - plus nutritious.

We had 3 crock pots for the sauces, and the noodles I put in an aluminum foil roasting pan on a heated grill. Everything stayed warm. Oh, and I put olive oil over the noodles to keep them from sticking to each other and also some water from cooking them in the bottom of the pan to keep it moist and steamy (not drying out).

There is my handsome man, Brady! He enjoyed having his teammates over for the party!

I rented tables and put blue and gold table clothes on the - our school colors. It looked very festive.

I quickly took a few pictures - they were such good sports!! It makes a mama happy!!
Here are a couple of pictures of Brady and Cherie's Taylor is sitting next to Brady. The sun was shining and eyes are squinty.
After the party a group of kids came into the house while one of the girls played the piano and sang songs. They hung out a while and chatted and had a great time. The party was a success. We had enough yummy food and they loved that I have table and chairs for them.

I'm also VERY thankful for the blessing of sunny weather - since winter is blowing in this week. Thank you Heavenly Father for your many blessings!

I love cross country! Go Warriors!!