Meal ideas...

[k3am]

We're going with a group of 15 (8 adults 7 kids) to the mountains this weekend. I volunteered to do dinner for the first night.. would need to either be prepared in advance and warmed up there or something quick to put together. Any suggestions? Tacos and pizza need not apply - they'll make appearances later in the weekend. 

[mae0111]

Is chili in the crock pot too close to tacos?

Pulled pork/chicken sandwiches? Buffalo chicken sandwiches?

Ham and cheese sliders?

Tortellini soup (with or without sausage), bread, bagged salad?

Lasagna?

Chicken broccoli ziti tray?

Chicken parm tray? Or meatballs?

[mommyatty]

For a group that’s large with a lot of ages, I’m a huge fan of “bars”. Baked potato bar (you can do a ton of potatoes and reheat them pretty quickly), pasta bar (with red and white sauce, sausage, extra veggies, etc), salad bar, sandwich bar.

I also love pulled pork in the crockpot, but not everyone loves barbecue. I’ve had good luck mixing pasta with red sauce, topping with mozzarella, and baking it. It’s basically baked ziti. I do one with meat and one without when we have big groups or potlucks, and it’s normally a big hit/we don’t come home with many leftovers. You can get it all together in disposable pans and throw it in the oven when you get there. It only cooks about half an hour.

[supertrooper1]

Already mentioned, but I'm a fan of spaghetti or lasagna for big groups. I've also made this chicken cordon bleu bubble up for potlucks and it's always a hit. Add a bag of salad and it's a meal.

www.pillsbury.com/recipes/chicken-cordon-bleu-bubble-up-bake/c5376385-9736-43dd-8757-0990b4e76785

[186momx]

Ham and cheese sliders on hawaiiam rolls with a giant pasta salad

Costco frozen lasagna, bag salad, fancy rolls
Rice bowls (chicken, rice, frozen veggies) put together at the location
Hamburgers and chips

[sandandsea]

I vote make your own pasta bar. Kids would be happy with butter. Adults some red sauce. Garlic bread and Parmesan.


My mom does a soup buffet sometimes at home and makes 3 or so different soups for everyone to choose from. With some salad and bread. Tomato, chili, potato, chicken noodle, etc.

[soccermama]

I would do maybe a huge pan (or 2) of lasagna or baked ziti with salad and garlic bread.

Or, another favorite to feed a crowd would be large pans of beef or chicken enchiladas.

[rere]

I vote different types of pasta. Or, with the pulled pork you can also do nachos and sliders.

[k3am]

I talked myself into tortellini soup, salad, and bread. And then into pasta bar. And DH has now decreed back to the soup.

Another question.. if I prep the veggies and vacuum seal them tonight, they'd still be good Friday night, right?

[k3am]

In a fun turn of events, after buying and prepping all the food, I am no longer bringing soup.

[waverly]

k3am , not sure what happened, but I just have visions of me spilling the soup all over because I don't really have the right kind of containers to take pre-made soup on a trip.

[186momx]

k3am, I guess your family will be eating soup next week. So now what are you bringing?

[k3am]

waverly Oh no, definitely not already made soup in the car! I prepped all the veggies and individually vacuumed sealed them so that when we arrived, it'd just be a matter of browning the sausage, tossing in the veggies for 5 minutes, and then adding the broth, tomatoes, tomato paste, etc. and letting it simmer for 30 mins.

I let the group know I was also planning to bring some buttered noodles in case we had picky kids (mine are, honestly), and that led to one of the other women saying that her son wouldn't eat it would be better if she just prepared a pasta dish at home and brought it up and I could make her soup to try some other time. I said I'd already bought and prepared everything and it might not keep, but that's fine... got a sentence about how her son eats, but he wouldn't eat that and *he has to to eat.*

I said I'd already bought and prepared everything and it might not keep, but that's fine...I'm proud of myself for at least standing up and saying that if she had an issue with it, she should have brought it up *days* ago.

DH was adamant that we still make it, but I just don't have it in me. I am hoping that the fresh ingredients hold out since they're vacuum sealed and we can make it on Sunday when we get home, but even if they don't it's maybe $15 of ingredients at most. (And add in my hourly rate and we get close to $150, but I would have just been reading or cleaning, but it's still wasted time.)

DD was aghast when she heard this all. "You would NEVER do that to someone. You would tell me to eat the parts I like and keep my mouth shut." I had to laugh at that because I was also planning on buttered noodles for her... That is generally my rule when I cook at home for just our family, but I'm much more accommodating of their food preferences when we are away from home or with others. But both kids had already received the lecture of "I know what's being served on Saturday, and it's not your favorite. You will try it, you will not complain, and you will find SOMETHING to eat without making a fuss." (And they both also got the warning that I was venting to them and DH because they are my family, but neither one of them should let anyone else know how frustrating the situation is.)

186momx I told her to forget the pasta she was planning to buy and just use the tortellini since it was already bought and she can make the sauce. And buy the bread, since I'd been putting that off and planned to buy it the day of. I'm still bringing salad. (Which I'm not excited about since DH bought the wrong stuff for it, but whatever.)

The best/most amusing part? I do not like what she's planning to bring very much. But I will eat it with a smile and tell her it's great.

[sdlaura]

Ugh k3am, my kids can be picky but I’d never let that dictate the meal that someone else serves! The other parents could have brought something for the one kid - I’m sure there are some snacks he could eat instead of that one meal so he didn’t go hungry.

[k3am]

sdlaura, the frustrating part is that I was offering to BRING buttered noodles for any picky kids. And even after knowing that I was offering an alternative *and* had already bought and prepped everything, it still ended up like this.

I am doing my best to be like Elsa and let it go... hopefully by tomorrow night. If not, wine.

[waverly]

k3am , ugh your whole post is why I have never asked a group of people to vacation together. DH and I like to do what we like to do without including others ha ha.

I've done a few girls weekends, but everyone is lazy and no one cooks. It's all restuarants or take out. I came back from the beach and they had all ordered things individually from Uber Eats or equivalent. I think it was all from the same two restaurants or what not. Breakfast was bagels, pastries type thing.

I don't think I could handle planning one because I am sure there would be 100 conversations on group text in that same vein.  One of the ladies was asking us what to bring to the beach, and we were like well typically you would bring a towel and maybe a water bottle face palm. 

[waverly]

Mar 7, 2024 12:17:25 GMT -5 k3am said:

sdlaura , the frustrating part is that I was offering to BRING buttered noodles for any picky kids. And even after knowing that I was offering an alternative *and* had already bought and prepped everything, it still ended up like this.

I am doing my best to be like Elsa and let it go... hopefully by tomorrow night. If not, wine.

Right I was reading your story and was like but K3am offered to bring the noodles, why are you bringing the same/ more noodles?  

[mommyatty]

I would make the effing soup. There are 14 other people it sounds like would probably eat it or the alternative. I have a kid with borderline ARFID. (Something like Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) Which means he’s not merely picky but has full on anxiety over trying things or eating things he might not like. His doctor explained it as “that new food to him is tantamount to someone asking you to eat dirty cat litter. It might not kill you but you’re not going to do it willingly.” And I would have just quietly ensured he had something he would eat in my purse without saying a word.

Or throw the veggies in the freezer. They’ll keep.

[k3am]

I am taking it as an opportunity to not be in the kitchen. I can unpack and go for a walk in the snow and enjoy the peace while preparing for a night of people-ing. Hopefully with a roadie.

[librarychica]

Freeze the veggies. Enjoy your snow walk.

But that lady is pissing me off vicariously.

[186momx]

Freeze the veggies or just add them to the salad. Enjoy your walk and this family is pissing me off. I tell DD all the time when we eat at other people's house to take thank you bites and be nice. I also bring snack stuff I know she will eat.

[sdlaura]

We pretty much only go on vacation with friends, and this post is making me feel very lucky about the people we travel with. Everyone is so easygoing, and if they’re not, they can at least hide it for a long weekend

[waverly]

sdlaura , like I said we've never ventured out with entire families. But I have done 3 girls trips, and I can definitely rank them in terms of easygoing. The one where they order their own food and have it delivered- easy peasy. There was a little more work by the coordinator but that is normal.

The one where they had a coup and threw a mini tantrum to get plans changed and then the coordinator threw her own mini tantrum, and I had to take care of both sides of it. One girl brought up bad memories from college, and the other one threw down an undisclosed assault from college. That one was .... interesting.....

Then we had a pandemic, but I have a feeling that person is not planning another girls weekend with a larger group again.  

[sdlaura]

waverly I hear horror stories about those types of group trips! I definitely have some friends/acquaintances who I wouldn’t want to go on a group trip with because I’d be concerned about how well they’d travel with others.

[waverly]

sdlaura , overall it wasn't THAT bad. But I think I was less affected since I was not part of the core group in college, so that is why I kind of took on the well it's OK that we switch plans because of X, and it's OK if they didn't do this other thing becuase then we can all pay on our own.

The dramatic disclosure of truth we all just kind of looked at each other. Maybe they should have told their friends at some point earlier on instead of dropping it like a bombshell.  I have come to the understanding that the person is not great at communication. The group had some communication issues before I had been invited where they invited someone but then that person got the impression they didn't want them to come.  Not sure what happened there.  So much of this I wasn't involved in any way, so it was easier for me to brush it off probably.  

[k3am]

sdlaura I used to travel with former BFF and her family and it was great. We tried inviting another family? Hell on earth.

We travel with our neighbors frequently and that is also great. But then we also practically live in each other's houses anyways.

This is my first time traveling with this group. I'm sure it will be fine once we are all there. And it's a relatively short trip either way.

[dglvrk2]

k3am,How did it go?

[k3am]

Mar 11, 2024 7:32:44 GMT -5 dglvrk2 said:

k3am,How did it go?

It went great. I am exhausted. And sore, since we did a full day of activity and I ate shit on an icy spot.

DH made the soup for dinner when we got home and I know I’m biased, but it was delish.