Feeding a crowd?

Question

We are having guests next week for the entire week. There will be about 16 of us for three meals a day. Breakfast and lunch will be no problem but I'm looking for some easy, inexpensive recipes that we can fix either in the crock pot, on the grill or in advance to keep the heat out of the kitchen in the evenings. I live in the south and it's begining to get hot. I'm already fixing lasagna one night and probably burgers and hotdogs another. Any other suggestions?

I'm loving the responses. Thank you all so much. This gives me some great ideas. If anyone has any others, please let me know. We entertain family often this time of year.

Answer 1

Here are some ideas we used for past summer get togethers. We have a large family too and our get togethers are as fun as I hope yours will be!
Cook some boneless chicken pieces on the grill now for a cold chicken on lettuce ( with extra goodies) like for a Cobb Salad ( you can even grill the bacon) Freeze it and take it out the night before to thaw.
If you have one or can borrow one, a turkey fryer set up would be great for this type of get together. You can:
Deep fry a turkey! Turkey is inexpensive this time of year. Do two! While your having dinner, drop the second one. You can make turkey sandwiches a day or two later with the second.

Use it another night to do a seafood boil. You can add your favorite seafood to it! (I'd add crawdaddies to it or maybe a few lobster and omit some of the shrimp) This is a little expensive, but soooooooo much fun!!!!!

Seafood Boil
Submitted by: Gary W. Brown
"An old recipe that's especially good for family get-togethers. It's good, it's fun, and clean-up is easy. It's best done outside around a picnic table. When shrimp and crabs are done, cover picnic table with four to five layers of newspaper. Remove everything from pot, drain, and spread in center of table. Gather everyone around and enjoy the feast. When everyone has had their fill, gather up the leftovers (if there is any), put all the scraps in the center of the table, roll up the newspaper around them, and put them in the trash. Go wash the one pot and the cleanup is done. Have fun and enjoy. "
Original recipe yield: 15 servings.
Prep Time:10 MinutesCook Time:30 MinutesReady In:55 MinutesServings:15 (change)

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INGREDIENTS:
salt to taste
1 (2.5 ounce) jar liquid shellfish boil ( or old bay)
3 pounds kielbasa sausage, cut into 1 inch pieces
5 pounds new red potatoes
4 lemons, halved
1 tablespoon diced green chile pepper, or to taste
12 ears fresh corn (broken in half)
10 pounds medium shrimp - peeled and deveined
12 blue crabs, cleaned

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DIRECTIONS:
Use a very large pot (we use a 40 quart pot), fill it half full with water; bring water to a full boil. Add salt, shellfish boil, sausage, and potatoes. Let cook until the potatoes are approximately 1/2 completed cooking.
Stir in lemons, hot peppers, and corn. Continue boiling until all of the vegetables are tender. Turn off the heat.
Mix in shrimp and crab. Cover pot and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes. When shrimp are pink and the crabmeat opaque and flaky, remove all of the vegetables and shellfish from the pot, and drain well.
http://seafood.allrecipes.com/AZ/SeafoodBoil.asp


Have a great time!

Answer 2

My suggestion is to cook as much as you can this week before they arrive. I recommend marinating a lot of steak, chicken and fish now so that the flavor really gets in before your guests arrive. Then I'd recommend BBQ'ing it outside to keep heat out of your kitchen. In terms of vegetables, just microwave baked potatoes and put them on the BBQ at the same time as the meat. Finally, buy a lot of pre-bagged salad so that all you have to do with all those people there is throw some dressing on the top.

There, a fast set of meals available at short notice with lots of people and no heat in your question.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Where to start :
Non- mayo pasta salads- use penne or bow toe pasta , diced veggies artichoke hearts, olives , Italian dressing ,meat in the form of diced chicken or cooked shrimp.
.Make a pot roast
get a spiral cut ham, make the classic cider raisin sauce
Make entree green salads with meat-
grill some chicken breasts
Stuffing a full pork loin with cornbread stuffing may be a bit much but you will get 24 slices out of it.
quarter 4 chickens marinate and grill.
meatloaf is great next day food
have fun

Answer 4

a really easy and *cheap* way to feed a lot of people is beans and rice. it's best done in the crock pot and it's a no brainer meal.

for 16 people, you need a big crock pot or big pot.

-2 lb pinto beans (bought dry from the grocery, sorted through for no rocks)
-2 lb of precooked sausage (i like jalapeno sausage)
-1 large white onion (chop into medium pieces)
-2-3 fresh jalapenos (deseed and remove white inside and chop)
-3-4 pieces of garlic (smash and remove hulls)

put all of this in the crock pot or pot on stove and cover completely with water. let cook (on high setting in crock pot or med-low setting on stove) for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. test for doneness by tasting the beans - they're ready when they are tender and flavorful.

once they're mostly done, you can add salt, pepper, season-all, fajita seasoning, and garlic powder to taste.

this is so easy ... i did half this recipe for my office and it cost less than $12 with sides! this is great with cornbread or rice ... and i serve it as a meal with one of those sides and fresh green beans with bacon. yum.

Answer 5

Taco soup! In the crock pot:

3 cans of beans (your choice but I like 2 kidney and 1 garbonzo)
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 packet of ranch dressing mix (dry)
1 can of corn
2 small or 1 large can(s) of tomatoes (diced)
1 can of tomato paste
1 - 1.25 lbs of ground beef or turkey browned and drained

mix all in crock pot and cook on low all day. Yummy served with tortillas or tortilla chips and it is recommended by weight watchers and a low cal dinner! It is SOOOO good!!

Answer 6

Why not try a different "theme" on different nights. Jambalaya for a "Loosiana" night, can be bought pre-packaged, and just add chicken. Make in advance and 'nuke' individual servings. For the crock pot, you can load it with boneless spareribs, and let simmer all day, covered in your favorite BBQ sauce. (I prefer Sweet Baby Ray's). For dinner, serve on hamburger buns with a side of cole slaw, for a great BBQ dinner.

Answer 7

Shish Kebab, Tacos, spaghetti, make breakfast for dinner--pancakes, bacon, omlettes, etc. We're having people this week too!!!

Go to allrecipes.com and you can get all the recipes you want--and change them up to create something unique for yourself!

My favorite is Shrimp and Pasta:

1 16 oz box spaghetti
2lbs uncooked, deveined shrimp, peeled
1 head broccoli--only florets, in bite sized pieces
1/2 cup white wine
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lime (or another one of lemon)
3 tbsp butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup diced onion
1 tbsp dried parsley

bring large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta till al dente. In large skillet, melt butter and sautee onion for 2 minutes, then add garlic and sautee for another minute. Add shrimp and broccoli and fry for 1-2 minutes, then add wine, juices and parsley. Saute until shrimp are done, about 4 minutes. When pasta is done, drain, then add the shrimp mixture and toss to coat. Serve. This makes 8 HUGE portions, but you can double it really easily!

Answer 8

BBQ Drumsticks. They are really cheap for a lot of them usually! You can cook them outside to keep the heat down, and then make a fruit salad inside so you don't have to use the stove at all . .

Answer 9

Veggie platters....Fruit platters...Humongous Salad...Each with different varieties of dips...Meatballs in the crock pot with any sauce of your liking...You can make the meatballs a head of time when it is still cool maybe morning. Place them in freezer bags..save in freezer till you need them. Also Frozen already cooked shrimp..you can buy them bagged and ready to go at Fiesta.
Just thaw out..places some bottled cocktail sauce with some chopped cilantro, lemon wedges...very good and no cooking. P. S Go to www.foodnetwork.com....many more ideas. Good luck and remember don't stress.

Answer 10

either a pot roast or stew works well,, easy to fix and inexpensive. use any basic seasoning recipe you like and use the crock to cook. make sure you have pleanty of moisture in the pot.