Need help on spaghetti dinner

[Dory's Twin]

I am the mom who gets to feed 45 hungry highschool soccer players a pre-game spaghetti dinner (it's the night before)...I need help on how to cook 10 pounds of noodles at my home and keep them warm to serve at school....with out becoming a gummy mess....

any ideas PLEASE!

Dory

 

[mamacatnv]

I am feeding 40 or so high school football players in a couple of weeks! We are doing stuffed baked potatos and they are all coming to my home!

I have done spaghetti for large groups many times and here is my best advice:

Use elbow noodles instead, they don't get as mushy or gummy as the regular noodles do. They are easier to serve and keep can be kept warm in the oven easily. Use the same sauce, meat etc..Just mix it all up and put it into those large disposable aluminum pans, top with cheese and throw in the oven to keep warm.

I made this in the spring for the team and they loved it.

If it must be regular noodles, cook them in easy to handle batches, add the sauce and then combine as you get each batch done.

I have tried oil, etc to keep the noodles from sticking, the problem with regular noodles is that they are very hard to stir. With elbow stirring them is much easier.

If you have the capacity to cook the noodles right before dinner and serve them directly from the hot water that works well also, but it can be tricky to get that many pots of boiling water & noodles all done at the same time.

Good luck!

 

[Imzadi]

just undercook them slightly. This way as they are heating back up or keeping warm, they will continue to cook rather than OVER-cook.

 

[Dory's Twin]

Thank you. Both are great ideas! We won't be able to cook and serve directly, so I think that the ideas are exactly what I am looking for! We have one mom making Baked Ziti, but also wanted plain noodles so that those picky boys can have that too (if they don't like the sauce)

....Soccer boys are quite the group...big eaters, very health and weight conscious (want to keep it down)...pizza got the "ewww,that's just too greasy!".... Never have I heard that before!!!

This will be an interesting season...I like the baked potato idea!

THANK YOU

 

[DeborahA]

Dory, I cooked pasta supper for my son's football team for 3 years. I always put the sauce in an electric roaster -Nesco--that I borrowed. I simmered it in there and then transported it to the school, plugged it in and served from it. We always cooked the pasta at school. But, crockpots with a small amt. of water in the bottom will keep the pasta warm for a short time. Don't cook it all the way. I would assign several Moms to bring garlic bread. I would have them bake as many loaves of the frozen type as they could. When hot, wrap the loaves in newspaper and put into styrofoam coolers and transport. These are great for keeping baked potatoes hot too.
HTH
Deb

 

[mamacatnv]

Thank you. Both are great ideas! We won't be able to cook and serve directly, so I think that the ideas are exactly what I am looking for! We have one mom making Baked Ziti, but also wanted plain noodles so that those picky boys can have that too (if they don't like the sauce)

....Soccer boys are quite the group...big eaters, very health and weight conscious (want to keep it down)...pizza got the "ewww,that's just too greasy!".... Never have I heard that before!!!

This will be an interesting season...I like the baked potato idea!

THANK YOU

Funny........Football boys will eat the door knobs if you don't watch them.

I decided on the potatos because I am sick of making pasta, needed something loaded with carbs, didn't want to spend the college fund and I can put all the toppings into bowls & crockpots and they serve themselves. Our dinners are not a group effort, we pick a night & cook like crazy!

Have fun it sounds like you have a lot of "food" support to help you out.

 

[Dory's Twin]

I am thinking of the potatoes for next week! We have 3 of us doing all of the dinners...and I am kinda the lead on this (don't ask why...just happened! I am not great at this! But will definately give it a try!)....

The hardest part is that we don't have access to the cooking facilities at school so it all has to be crocked! I do have a single burner (Betty Crocker) that I use when we are at Dis...so I am going to try to use that but think that I may get "busted"!

I read on the internet that I can precook the noodles and the pour boiling water on them to warm them up.....and let the sauce warm them up the rest of the way.

Thanks for helping me out!


Dory

 

[cheerbop]

What I have done many many times is precook all my spaghetti and then put in huge Ziplock bags overnight or whatever in the fridge.
Then, the night before I had sauce simmering in a large, large crockpot or 2 or 3 overnight or all day or a few hours, whatever works.
A bit before serving I just dumped the cold spaghetti nooodles into the sauce in the crockpots--the hot sauce then just warms the spaghetti perfectly.

Easy Peasy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good Luck!

 

[mamacatnv]

I am thinking of the potatoes for next week! We have 3 of us doing all of the dinners...and I am kinda the lead on this (don't ask why...just happened! I am not great at this! But will definately give it a try!)....

The hardest part is that we don't have access to the cooking facilities at school so it all has to be crocked! I do have a single burner (Betty Crocker) that I use when we are at Dis...so I am going to try to use that but think that I may get "busted"!

I read on the internet that I can precook the noodles and the pour boiling water on them to warm them up.....and let the sauce warm them up the rest of the way.

Thanks for helping me out!


Dory

Since you are doing all the meals, here are some ideas that us moms have done in the past.

Nachos - Shredded beef, ground beef and shredded chicken in crock pots with all the fixins and they can make them themselves.

Submarine Sandwiches: Get the large loafs of french bread, slice in half and stuff with the turkey combo lunch meat (Costco) have lettuce, tomatos, onions, olives & italian dressing on the side.

Fried chicken- One of our local grocery stores makes great chicken and it is pretty cheap. Add salad and fruit. With our boys we add bread also.

Potatos- Chili, ground beef, cheese sauce for the hot items then I will have cheese, butter, sour cream & bacon bits - I will add garlic bread and salad.

I don't now about your booster club, but ours has roasters, crock pots and cheese machines. Maybe they will let you use them for your dinners.

BBQ beef sandwiches


Have a great season..............Your a great mom to take on this project, it is a lot of work, but I know your DS really enjoys knowing his Mom is involved.

I am usually the designated group cook. I have been feeding our kids since 2nd grade, they know I can cook in large quantities and look forward to my meals. I enjoy keeping an eye on all of them and watching them grow up. My DS is proud of this, remember they are football players and it is all about food!

Have fun..............If you need any ideas, feel free to PM me.

 

[jima53]

We have Cowboy speghetti once a week here and it feeds us for two dinners and one lunch meal. Basically a 2 pot meal with a bacon flavoring that you build on. It is a Rachal Ray 30 minute meal if you are familiar with her cooking show on cable tv.


Jim

 

[Dory's Twin]

Thank you all so much for your help....the dinner is tomorrow night (Thursday) and I am thinking that I have it well in hand thanks to you all.

I bought elbows and penne for noodles, will cook them up tonight and store them in ziplocks. Tomorrow I will run hot water over them at school to warm them and then dump them into a big pan that is warmed with a sterno flame (Got it at a party store)....The sauces are kept warm in crocks and should heat the noodles even more! The bread will be rolled tightly in newspaper and stored in styrofoam coolers....

WHEW!

I am nervous and excited all at once!

I can't wait to plan the next dinner....oh yeah, it's next week!

 

[MerryPoppins]

My grandmother used to work in a school kitchen. That was back in the days that they cooked from scratch and the school meals were very tasty! Maybe they still are some places, but they're pretty industrial where we live.

One of her cookbooks is full of recipes for 50. So if you ever want an idea of how much to buy, just fire me a PM and I can give you the recipe from the book. I haven't tried them all, but it sure can give you an idea of how much it suggests you buy for a crowd. I've used it a few times for church functions and it has been very helpful.

 

[Tiggeroo]

I used to host cross country dinners. We would do baked ziti in big foil trays. This way we could make it over the previous day or two and then just put the foil trays into the oven to heat. If you put out a couple trays at a time, if you end up with any leftover trays they can be frozen and used for another meal.

 

[Dory's Twin]

Okay Ladies,

Here's one...the boys have asked for a chicken dinner....how many wings or drums do you think I should have per boy. or can you think of an easier way to feed boys chicken?

Side dishes would be mashed potatoes, potato-cheese cassarole, mac and cheese, fruit and green salads, bread and more bread! So lots of "fillers!"

I thank you and I am sure the boys thank you!!

Dory

 

[mamacatnv]

Okay Ladies,

Here's one...the boys have asked for a chicken dinner....how many wings or drums do you think I should have per boy. or can you think of an easier way to feed boys chicken?

Side dishes would be mashed potatoes, potato-cheese cassarole, mac and cheese, fruit and green salads, bread and more bread! So lots of "fillers!"

I thank you and I am sure the boys thank you!!

Dory

We have done chicken on a couple of different occassions. We order the fried chicken from our local grocery store. It is tasty and really cuts down on the mess. We plan 2 pieces per kid - leg & thigh or Breast & wing. This has worked out well for us in the past.

 

[Dory's Twin]

Thanks!

I think that sounds right....I will pass it on to my cohort and see what she thinks...I know this sounds UNBELIEVABLE....but....I worry that these boys won't eat fried chicken...do you think maybe they will cave and be slightly NORMAL?

Any teenager that turns up a nose at pizza has me confused....will fried chicken be too greasy or too hard to pass up?

Dory