Input requested: Graduation party food

I'm helping plan a family member's graduation party next month, have been considering the menu, and would love some help. We want to keep things as inexpensive as possible, yet still have a variety of pretty, tasty foods. Here are the parameters:

*We're planning for an open house with about 75 people.

*We're not serving a meal, but it's early enough in the evening that the food should have some substance (not cake and punch).

*In an effort to make things simpler, we're planning to stick with finger foods.

We have time on our side, as there's still a month to plan and watch the sales. We're hoping to make mini-cheesecakes for dessert, provided that we can find a decent deal on cream cheese. And we've talked about veggies with dip and cheeseball with crackers, but nothing is really set in stone.

So, what ideas do you have? What has been a success for you? Any amazing, inexpensive recipes to share?

Leftover Oatmeal Cake

Several months ago, a friend and I were trying to come up with a use for leftover oatmeal--from a breakfast for 30 people. We located the following recipe, which turned out lovely--you'd never have known it had oatmeal in it! :-)

Leftover Oatmeal Cake

2 C. cooked oatmeal
1 C. brown sugar
1 C. white sugar
1/2 C. shortening
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 C. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt

Briefly beat oatmeal. Gradually add sugars, continuing to beat. Cream with shortening. Add eggs and vanilla and beat again. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well. Pour into greased 9 x13 baking pan and bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until cake tests done.

Black Bean Casserole

It's been requested (Hi, Suzanne!) that I post more recipes here. I'm hope to include more, and if you have a favorite frugal recipe, I'd love if you'd email it to me to share here.

A friend gave me this recipe several months ago, after I thoroughly enjoyed the casserole. Hope you enjoy it, too!

Black Bean Casserole
2 C. cooked black beans (or a 15 oz. can)
2 C. cooked rice
1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes & green chilies
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 C. salsa
1 C. (8 oz) sour cream
2 C. grated cheese (cheddar is good)
Extra cheese for topping

Mix all ingredients except topping cheese. Pour into casserole dish, topping with reserved cheese. Bake uncovered at 350° for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Free cooking inspiration

I love cooking and being inspired by seeing pictures of new recipes--but I don't like the price tag usually attached to magazine subscriptions. Several years ago, I subscribed to Kraft Food & Family (free), and enjoy finding it in the mail every few months. Just recently I subscribed to the Wal-Mart Homemade magazine, and look forward to perusing it, too.

Recipe websites are another great resource. I haven't frequented it recently, but I used to love browsing Top Secret Recipes (creative imitations of famous restaurant dishes). They offer cookbooks for sale, but also provide numerous recipes online.

RecipeZaar.com and AllRecipes.com offer tens of thousands of recipes, and have some very helpful search tools. Recipes may be searched by name or by ingredients (a helpful tool in being frugal--search for a way to use up the bits and pieces sitting in your fridge). I also appreciate the capability to make my own online "recipe file," where I save my own favorite recipes. RecipeSource.com also has huge number of recipes, but the design of the website makes it a bit more difficult to navigate.

Of course, there's always friends and family resource, which is one of the best! :-)

What are your favorite places to find recipes, particularly ones with a frugal bent?

Chocolate Apple Cake

This is not the most frugal recipe I've ever used, but since I mentioned it in my other apple post, I thought I'd share. :-) The chocolate-apple-cinnamon combination may sound weird--it did to me--, but the results are amazing!

Chocolate Apple Cake

2 C. grated apple
2 C. sugar
1 C. butter, softened
3 eggs
1/2 cup water
1 T. vanilla
3/4 C. semisweet chocolate chips
1 3/4 C. white flour
1 C. whole-wheat flour
3 T. baking cocoa
1 t. baking soda
2 t. ground cinnamon

Combine apples and one cup of the sugar and allow to rest one hour. In a separate bowl, cream butter with the remaining cup of sugar. Beat in eggs, water, apple mixture, and vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Fold into wet mixture. Pour into greased 9" x 13"cake pan. Bake in oven preheated to 325 until cake tests done (about 55-70 minutes).