Comments on: What Are Your Favorite Make-Ahead Recipes for Small Crowds?

By: linda

linda — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:57:30 +0000

Dear Mrs P, I think Lori should have her own website, those recipes were cheap and easy-yum!From Linda

By: deputyheadmistress

deputyheadmistress — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:30:40 +0000

The African Peanut Soup sounds delicious. I have a peanut soup I like, too, but the curry and coconut milk sound like mouthwatering additions!

Here’s another post where I share some of the makeahead meals we make for company:
http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/2008/03/frugal-feasting-and-fun.html

By: Rachel Wetmore

Rachel Wetmore — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:08:41 +0000

oh yes,
African Peanut Soup….. soooooo wonderful!

for one recipe you need

1 pound ground turkey
1 onion
3 tb butter
1 tb curry powder
1tsp ceyenne pepper
1 large can of sweet potatoes in syurp
1 large 28 ounce can of whole stewed tomatoes (I also use crushed)
1/2 can of coconut milk
1/2 cup peanut butter (crunchy if you can.)
3 or 4 cups chicken broth.

chop onion, sautee in butter with three cloves chopped garlic (did I forget to mention the garlic?) and curry powder.

add chicken broth, tomatoes,and sweet potatoes (undrained.) and cooked turkey.

let boil then simmer for 20 minutes.

add rest of ingredients and simmer for another 20 or so minutes.

sounds strange but it my absolute favorite soup ever!

By: Rachel Wetmore

Rachel Wetmore — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:01:31 +0000

you sound like me.
I am always doing crazy things like cooking for 30 people every week.

lately I have been trying to do as much ahead as possible. When I have a time that I am preparing something else I might go ahead and make extra…. like bread dough for example.

If I make soup for dinner I might take that apportunity to quadruple the recipe and save the rest for the meal that we will share later.

my favorite is african peanut soup!!!!!

By: deputyheadmistress

deputyheadmistress — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:35:51 +0000

Mrs. Parunak,

We also regularly feed far more people than our immediate family. I have posted a lot of these recipes to our family blog, including:
Easy chicken pot pie:
http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/2006/01/easy-chicken-pot-pie.html

Southwestern Chicken Pot Pie:
http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/2006/12/southwestern-chicken-pot-pie.html

Italian chicken and potatoes (for the crockpot):
http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/2009/02/chicken-and-potatoes-crockpot-meal.html

Here’s a whole lot of freezer meals for a crowd:
http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/2006/06/frugal-chicken-dinners-and-freezer.html

Stews are also good. I especially like one called Chinese Savory Beef. We used to live overseas and in my 20s I had the single and unaccompanied military folks from church over every Friday and I fed them this stew over rice with home-made bread on the side. This helped it go a loooong way.
http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/2007/10/meals-for-crowd.html

HTH!
Chop Suey:
http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/2006/12/quick-chop-suey.html

By: James

James — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:53:27 +0000

Lori, I like this idea. Especially cuz I likes me some cone-bread!!!

By: Lori

Lori — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:24:51 +0000

Also wanted to share a few web sites with you where I can find good things to make:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Everyday-Cooking/On-The-Go/Potluck/Main.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/Info/Living/Entertaining/Main.aspx

These are recipe sections but if you follow through the tabs you will find lots of recipes. I like this web site because you can scale the recipes according to how many people you intend to feed.

Here’s an online church potluck cookbook:

http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook.php?bookid=54064

You can also scale the number of servings on this site.

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:38:02 +0000

As a Christ follower who visits several home fellowships with her husband, we often run into confusion as to “what to bring.” I’ve always noticed how quickly a well-prepared salad disappears. Folks don’t usually eat enough fresh food, and so they appreciate it when we bring it along. I spend an hour on Friday thinly slicing red and green cabbage, washing and tearing romaine and red leaf and curly endive, and then mix it all up in a 13-quart metal bowl which doubles as my bread bowl. I line the bowl with a clean dry cloth to soak up the moisture, and then after about 20 minutes or so (I can move on to other tasks), I put the salad mix in a gallon ziploc or large plastic covered dish along with a couple of plain white paper towels (to keep it fresh). A few small ziplocs of grape tomatoes, fresh pea pods, grated beet or carrot, and avocado slices, with some sliced chicken breast, make it easy to assemble a lovely salad. Homemade dressing is always appreciated, but there are many good bottled dressings out there too. I very rarely have any leftover salad after fellowship meetings! Fruit and cheese plates with various wholegrain crackers are also easy and make it possible to offer fresh, nutrition foods. Finally, a crock pot of homemade pinto beans to pour over warm cornmeal muffins is always a hit; I set out grated onion and grated cheese and homemade salsa for the more adventurous. Hope that helps.

By: Mrs. Parunak

Mrs. Parunak — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:09:57 +0000

I think I need to clarify so no one gets the wrong idea. The other women DO help. It’s just that our church is really small. The only problem I’m having is that I’m bored with my old recipes.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:38:16 +0000

Seriously – potluck. You are looking to have new ideas (which will walk right in your door out of the imaginative-minds of your guests), have more time for your guests (which you will have if you only have to worry about a single dish and some beverages), and if you’re having 8-30 people in your home one of the best ways to cut the stress is to have everyone play their part. Unless you are opening your home to those who literally would go without otherwise, I’m sure that everyone can afford to contribute a basket of rolls or a vegetable side-dish. The beauty of pot-lucking is that it reduces the cost for everyone! And I am not meaning to make this a financial issue (because you didn’t start your request with “help – this is getting expensive”) but only responding to your comment that only two other women are in a position to help right now – I’m sure other woman in your fellowship would love to be considered as contributors and by asking them to bring a loaf of bread with butter you are opening the door to them being able to get creative and serve from their hearts. Present the ideas to others by sharing how blessed you have been in getting to open your home and you realized that others might enjoy getting to share in the hospitality.

Consider, if you were to make this same appeal (as you have in this blog) to your regular guests, what would their responses be? They likely wouldn’t tell you what to buy and how to cook it but would probably offer to bring it themselves!

My theory – potlucks are ideal for small crowds. When you get to a large chapel then you end up with duplicates, un-eaten dishes, and everyone ends up taking home more leftovers than they wanted.