Cooking for 16...ideas!?

[Calee]

So our non Disney, non magical yearly beach vacation with my family is coming up.

One of the hard things about this trip is figuring out meals. We have 4 families involved. My parents, my 2 sisters and their families, and me and my family. We have some folks on a limited budget so we don't eat out much and try to keep our grocery bill manageable. So. Any meal ideas? We have 4 young kids but the rest are adults or teen boys. I am sick to death of making spaghetti and tacos for this crew.

Easy or quick is a bonus so we don't have to spend half our beach day in the kitchen!

 

[powellrj]

What do you have to work with? Do you have a grill or a crock-pot or a pressure cooker? Do you have to bring the food already prepared to put in the oven?

 

[Calee]

What do you have to work with? Do you have a grill or a crock-pot or a pressure cooker? Do you have to bring the food already prepared to put in the oven?

We stay in a house for a week with a full kitchen. We grocery shop, prep and cook while there. Oven, stove, crock pot, fridge, etc. There is a small charcoal grill which is a little challenging to use due to size of family vs size of grill, but it is an option.

 

[Southernmiss]

Turkey and trimmings (instant mashed potatoes Idahoan are preferred by my family, easy and quick, green beans, macaroni and cheese, broccoli , roasted vegetables) would feed a crowd and make leftovers for a couple of days.

Lasagna or other pasta bake, bread, salad, dessert of ice cream.

Homemade chicken soup, made ahead and brought with you, add noodles as it heats, grilled cheese/panini sandwiches, fruit salad.

Chili in crockpot. Make baked potatoes, and everyone adds toppings, French or corn bread or crackers. Add a store bought chocolate cake for dessert.

Sandwiches for lunches.

Baked chicken or pork chops with bbq sauce. Rice, vegetables. Banana pdding for dessert.

Roast beef, Chinese buffet green beans, potato salad.

Make your own pizzas. Pizza shells, alfredo sauce and pizza sauce from jars,grilled chicken, pepperoni, sausage, spinach, mushrooms, cheeses, peppers, tomatoes, cheeses.

 

[powellrj]

Have you ever done hobo dinners? It could be chicken or hamburger. Lay on a sheet of foil and then stack with things you like. I usually put carrots, potatoes, mushrooms and onions with salt and pepper. Wrap up in foil and bake for 1 hour. Each person can make theirs so they can have as much or as little as they want.

Pulled pork in crock-pot. Get a pork shoulder and season it with salt and pepper and garlic powder and onion powder and a can of soda. I usually use coke or dr. pepper. Cook for 10-12 hours on low and then take our and pull the meat apart and add back to the crock-pot with the liquid and a bottle of bbq sauce and then heat and serve with buns and cole slaw.

A ham shank. Cover with mustard and brown sugar and wrap in foil and cook at 300 for 3 or 4 hours and then slice with baked sweet potatoes and a salad. Use the leftover ham for sandwiches. Do the samething with a turkey. Bake a turkey and have it with a starch and then use the leftovers for sandwiches.

 

[JLiz]

Cook a big pork roast in a crock pot while you’re at the beach. When you get back, shred it, add your favorite bbq sauce and serve on buns or garlic toast with potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans, and fruit.

Use the little grill for hot dogs since you can fit a lot of dogs in a small space or, even easier, boil them in some cheap beer and serve with your favorite toppings.

Poach some chicken and add to a big pan of homemade Mac and cheese. Serve with roasted Brussels sprouts or broccoli and a green salad.

 

[HeatherC]

Pulled pork or chicken. McCormick Seasoning packets are great. Server as sliders on Kings Hawaiian rolls with fresh cole slaw. Or serve on top of baked potatoes.

French Onion Chicken Noodle Casserole...just google for the recipe. Can prep in the morning and bake right before dinner.

London Broil is pretty cheap..marinade for a day or two with barbecue sauce in fridge and grill. Great sliced with baked potatoes or cold the next day over a salad.

Grilled chicken breast marinaded for a day in fridge. Also great cold the next day.

Chef salad...romaine, croutons, cheese, hard boiled eggs, sliced deli turkey or ham. Serve with a Italian bread and a cole slaw or potato salad. We do salad nights with a fruit salad along side it.

Spiral ham..sooo easy. Can do In crockpot too. Put some brown sugar on top and a can of crushed or diced pineapple. Serve with hash brown casserole...google Cracker Barrel’s recipe. Everyone love this.

 

[stsomewhere]

Bring a crockpot. Cook a pork loin or two in it all day. Make pulled pork sandwiches. foil chicken packets in the oven, Cook baked potatoes in the crockpot all day ( with toppings bar), look for some casserole recipes that can prepped the first day and cooked over the course of a few days.

Make your own pizzas

 

[mbgrace]

When we go away for big family beach vacations, we try to cook 4-5 big dinners per week. Chicken breasts & salsa in the crockpot (for tacos & nachos), flank or skirt steak on the grill with corn on the cob and salad, meatballs, burgers & hot dogs & chicken on the grill, and “bbq” pork and chicken in the crockpot are all usual suspects for us.

 

[Lionsfan]

tacos

 

[powellrj]

I like to fix hot roast beef sandwiches. Get a pot roast and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder and a can of rotel tomatoes. Cook on low all day in the crock-pot and then serve hot on buns. If you have leftovers, serve open faced over mashed potatoes and bread the next day.

A baked potato bar would be easy. Just get toppings like sour cream, cheese, bacon bits and bake potatoes and let people top their own.

Make extra baked potatoes and chop them up and then add them to eggs with onions and peppers and cheese and fry them all together and my kids call it skillet. Serve with toast.

Can you tell I am a lazy cook and like to make things that will go far so they can be used for 2 meals?

 

[luvbwv]

I am not a fan of sloppy joes, but on one of our group camping trips someone made sloppy pizzas. She toasted hamburger buns with butter & garlic salt, made ground beef and mixed it with pizza sauce and had sliced mozzarella cheese. Those were a bit hit.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Pot of chili, cornbread and salad
Chicken/pulled pork in crockpot, nacho chips and fav toppings
Sausage/peppers/onion/small potatoes in oven, one pan.. add can stewed tomatoes, Italian bread
Pot of Meatballs, sauce, Italian bread n salad
Breakfast for dinner.. pancakes with fun topping , bacon in oven and big pan of scrambled eggs.. pajamas and fun games/cards nite!
Make ur own pizzas...grill/oven, toppings and a salad
Hotdogs n chili nite!
Inexpensive homemade decorations coordinated theme nite/s can be fun too... we do shell painting ( cheap acrylics) , rock painting, etc
Have a wonderful time making family memories.

 

[Wendy31]

In addition to all these wonderful ideas, you could do breakfast for dinner one night, & have a pancake pajama party.

You could also do a Low Country Boil - sausage, chicken, shrimp, new potatoes, & corn on the cob.

 

[marthachick]

Maybe one night call in pizza using coupons. Limit to 2 or 3 kinds. Cheese, pepperoni and veggie.

 

[bellebud]

Do you all drive? Can everyone do 1 make-ahead big dish and freeze it? Like casserole type stuff, lasagna, etc. Then you'd have 4 nights taken care of with no work except putting it in the oven and maybe adding a salad and bread.

 

[kimblebee]

I would put each family in charge of providing all the meals for one day. Coordinate so that you’re not having lasagna every day.

 

[Kellydelly]

tacos, baked chicken, mostaciolli
maybe a couple of those large family sized stouffers lasagnas with salad and fresh bread on the side.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I would put each family in charge of providing all the meals for one day. Coordinate so that you’re not having lasagna every day.

I like this idea. Then, you only have to be on the hook for 2 days of cooking. Each family gets to prepare a few family favorites, and nobody is shouldering all the burden of planning, shopping, and cooking.

As to what to prepare, we're a big pasta family, so that would be one of my picks--spaghetti and meatballs, baked ziti, chili spaghetti (we have this a lot--my family loves it). For other meals, I would go with a pork butt--I cook it in the crockpot with barbecue sauce, onions, and peppers--great over rice or on rolls. Salsa chicken is another great crockpot meal--goes well in a tortilla, on rice, or as a taco filling. Have a burger night, and since you're on the beach, some kind of seafood night would be a good choice, too.

 

[barkley]

Pulled pork in crock-pot. Get a pork shoulder and season it with salt and pepper and garlic powder and onion powder and a can of soda. I usually use coke or dr. pepper. Cook for 10-12 hours on low and then take our and pull the meat apart and add back to the crock-pot with the liquid and a bottle of bbq sauce and then heat and serve with buns and cole slaw.

Cook a big pork roast in a crock pot

Pulled pork

Make pulled pork sandwiches

pulled pork in crockpot,

i'm guessing that like here, pork is the least expensive cut of meat in allot of places

if you don't mind pork for more than one meal (and i'll echo the pulled pork suggestions-easy and inexpensive for a large crowd)-you can use the same soda can method to cook and shred but then take the shredded meat and mix it in with some taco seasoning. with flour tortillas and some salsa you can have soft tacos.

go with stuff that requires the fewest 'add ons'-burger patties may be less expensive than other options but when you add in the condiments, buns, cheese, tomatoes, pickles.....it adds up for 16 quick.

Maybe one night call in pizza using coupons. Limit to 2 or 3 kinds. Cheese, pepperoni and veggie.

see if there is a papa murphys local to the place-$10 tuesdays are the best deal. any of their large pizzas-and you can up it to a family size for just $2 more. just make sure to only get ones that cook at the same temp/time otherwise you will have to eat in shifts.