North Carolina Babies

Panic setting in...

In 2.5 weeks, I am going to have a HOUSEFUL of people for DS's baptism.  From Wednesday through Sunday morning we will have 7 house guests and other family over most of that time (12 total people).

We have two dinners out planned, but otherwise, I fear I will be running like a chicken with my head cut off getting meals together and serving.  I am NOT an experienced cook. 

I would like to get this really well planned out in advance to minimize the stress.  I can put my Mom & sister to work doing prep, but they are visiting guests so don't want them to be too busy.

Can you offer ANY advice or recipies for feeding a big group of people?  I expect most meals will be buffet style, but would like to make one "fancy," sit down dinner following DS's 5pm Baptism.

TIA!

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Re: Panic setting in...

  • I would go ahead and make spaghetti sauce and freeze it for one night. That way you would only have to heat it up, boil the noodles, and make some bread. I have a really good and easy receipe if you would like it. That is probably a good idea for Thursday night because everyone will be tired from traveling in and probably will not want to go out.

    I would do something like a roast or a ham that you could cook in the crock pot for the sit down dinner. I make Pepsi cola roast all you do is put a roast in the crock pot, sprinkle onion soup mix over the top of it, then mix a can of cream of mushroom soup and a 12 oz pepsi and pour that over the roast. Cook on high all day. (I usually put mine on around 8 and cook it till we eat around 6 or 7). Then just make the sides.

     Let me know if you want the spaghetti sauce receipe.

     

     

     

     

     

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  • oh and I meant to say I would sub sandwiches for lunch one day, you put all the items out and let everyone fix their own. For breakfast you could do one big meal (eggs, bacon, etc) on a day that you have a little more time, and then the other days just do cereal and muffins.
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  • For a more casual meal you can do a taco bar. To keep it simple you can just to beef, but you can also do beef and chicken.

    For make ahead prep just brown ground beef and use a Taco Bell seasoning pack (or your favorite spice mix, etc.) Then freeze! 

    For the chicken, two options:

    1. just throw raw chicken in a large pot of water and boil for about 30 minutes until fork tender. When cool, shred and season. Freeze.

    2. The day of, throw raw chicken in a crock pot, cover with water and a taco seasoning pack and cook all day long until fork tender. Drain water but keep some in a bowl to add back in case it's dry.

    Then just buy a bag of shredded lettuce, cheese, tortillas and some sour cream  and you have an easy dinner that will feed a lot of people!

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  • To ensure that you too can enjoy your guests I would prepare a meal ahead of time and freeze, like a pp mentioned. And/or do a crockpot meal as well, that way you're not spending a ton of time cooking. GL!
  • I LOVE the detailed suggestions - thank you!!  katiesept24 - will you please send your spaghetti recipe?  This is great!  The more I can make in advance, the better. Smile
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  • Here is the sauce receipe:

    1lb of hamburger meat

    1 can of tomato soup

    1 can of whole tomatoes

    1 small can of tomato paste

    1 green bell pepper

    1 onion

    1 cup of ketchup

    oregano

    1.Brown hamburger meat, drain 

    2. Cut up bell pepper and onion put in pot and cover with water, bring to a boil, boil for 10 mins, drain water from pot

    3. Combine hamburger meat, tomato soup, tomato paste, whole tomatoes, ketchup, bell peppers, onion, and a dash of oregano into the pot, then stir up

    4. cook on low for 1-2 hours stirring occasionally

    **I love this receipe, its my moms! The longer you let it cook the better it is, if you have a lot of big eaters you may have to double the receipe (but I dont double the onion and pepper). Also I never measure out the ketchup, I just put some in, if you need more sauce you can put more ketchup in, that makes it thicker (if you want it thinner you can add some water). Make sure you dont let it go to long with out stirring because it will scorch on the bottom. This sauce freezes really well if you let it cool off the put it in a container. Enjoy!

     

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  • https://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Chicken-and-Dumplings/Detail.aspx
    I made both of these over the holidays with a lot of house guests and they were both a hit!  I make them regularly for us because they are so good!! :)
     
    edit//I made the pot roast a fancy sit down dinner by pairing it with roasted potatoes and roasted broccoli (both easy to make on a sheet pan in the oven for a large amount of people).  for the broccoli, put the florets on a sheet pan and drizzle with EVOO and salt and pepper.  The roasted potatoes were on allrecpies as well and they had honey and rosemary in them...i can't find the recipe bc my husband made them.  I made biscuits to go with it too.  YUM! 


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  • I would suggest a roast (crock pot) or a casserole recipe you can make ahead of time and re-heat.  I'm thinking something Italian everyone will like.  Then when the guests come, you can throw some garlic bread in the oven, toss a salad and you are good to go.  It will still be special, but you won't be as stressed.  There are tons of casserole recipes everywhere...and they are usually very simple.
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