Cheap Meal for a crowd

[clarabelle]

I am feeding about 60 this weekend at an inner city mission.
I will have some help -but not as much as usual (lots of people on vacation)

I know this group has had hot dogs and spaghetti recently so I was trying to do something different.

It can't be super hard to chew -some of these guys don't have good teeth.


Any thoughts?
Thanks!

 

[Green Tea]

Soft tacos? The vegetables would be easy, but the meat could be difficult to prepare. There has to be a trick to cooking that much ground beef.

 

[clarabelle]

I like that idea
Keep em coming

 

[Handbag Lady]

Sandwich bar (would be good if it is really warm where you are)
Taco bar (you can have hard shells and soft shell and making salsa is cheap
baked casseroles
Salad bar
Whole Turkeys feed a lot of people and are not hard to cook.

 

[Mermaid02]

chili??

 

[clarabelle]

Thanks

 

[Green Tea]

You could combine a few of those ideas. Cook whole turkeys ahead of time and have the meat sliced for the sandwiches. Make something in bulk for dessert like peach cobbler; You can buy the big aluminum serving trays at Costco.

You can probably get tomatoes for free from friends with gardens. Tear up lettuce. Get big French loaves and slice thru the middle, then cut into big serving size pieces, some whole grain buns, regular sliced breads.

 

[ToTLaugher]

My kids help prepare a meal every month at our senior center. The favorite dish for the seniors is Shepherd's Pie. They use potato flakes to make the mash potatoes easier and use canned and creamed corn between the layers. For the meat layer they use ground beef, ketchup and worcestershire sauce.

They also make chicken parm using breaded chicken patties.

HTH

 

[Green Tea]

Get some big pork butts, also known as shoulders (huge and not very expensive at Costco.) Smoke them ahead of time on your grill and anyone else who will let you leave it on their grill for most of a day. At 195º it will pull apart. Have buns, cole slaw....pulled bbq pork sandwiches. Maybe a few big watermelons sliced up for dessert.

 

[clarabelle]

Thanks everyone
These ideas are really helpful

 

[minniebeth]

I work at a soup kitchen and we get a variety of things donated from corporations/hospitals that do large amounts of food, but I was going to suggest soft tacos, the sandwiches are a big hit, shepard's pie would be awesome. They seem to love the soft, cooked vegetables, so even sides of cooked broccoli, corn, especially mashed potatoes, and of course, dessert!

What a wonderful service you are doing!

 

[cydswipe]

not sure what you call them where you are at...

you can actually brown the hamburger in the oven or roasting pan. Slap them on buns and you're done!

add veggie tray and fresh watermelon and you'd be set!

 

[GeorgeG]

Surf and Turf (Goldfish crackers and Animal Crackers...)

 

[clarabelle]

Thanks guys!

George -you are funny

 

[anniemae]

I would do cold cut platters with different cold cuts, rolls, pickles, olives, mustard, mayo etc. You could serve it with potato salad and/or chips.

 

[Imzadi]

Barilla Plus Pasta. It is super high in protein, so you can use it as a substitute for more expensive proteins. It is the ONLY pasta I eat now as it is made specially to be high protein and low in carbs. Barilla Plus is made with chick peas & other high protein, fiber & Omega 3 ingredients. Yet it tastes like regular pasta. People will NOT know the difference. So they aren't feeling like they are getting short changed, but are eating healthier. It is a better choice for anyone who would still like to eat pasta, but not all the carbs. And it does NOT taste like boiled cardboard the way "whole wheat" pastas do. You do have to cook it a bit longer than regular pasta.

You can check the chart for the ratio of protein, fiber & Omega 3's vs. other foods:
Barilla Plus pasta. OR: http://www.barillaus.com/PLUS_information.aspx

It is more expensive than regular pasta, but in exchange for buying/adding less of other protein foods, it's probably still less expensive - and more heart healthy & filling.

As it is a great protein replacement, you can actually use less meats in a dish. You can add cooked chicken to the Rotini (corkscrew) pasta & salad greens to make a chicken pasta salad.

If you make a simple tomato spaghetti sauce, you can still know people are getting a lot of protein, without making a more expensive meat sauce. Or you can make a pasta primavera (pasta & veggies) drizzled with olive oil, garlic, S&P, and still get a good amount of protein.

Buy a box and do a taste test for yourself.

 

[LaraK]

Ground Beef, egg noodles and cream of mushroom soup....makes fake stroganoff.

 

[clarabelle]

Thanks

 

[wide awake]

Meatballs and mashed potatoes or rice. The meatballs can be in tomato sauce or brown gravy, or swiss style...the brown gravy or swiss may be a welcome change. As much as possible I would add vegies to the meatballs or the sauce...not so much that they take over, but onions or mushrooms, some parsley...might add some much needed nutrition.

 

[Mimi1965]

Mac and cheese with tiny Ham cubes
or
Cold Macaroni salad- ( mayo/italain dressing) and finely diced pepperoni