My wife and I cook a meal for the homeless once a month. We need to supply the shelter with enough food for 40 people and my trouble is coming up with or modifying recipes for that many people. This month we were thinking of individual meatloafs for them but I was looking for suggestions or recipes for dishes that would be good for this type of thing. I have been a member for a while and read often but have not posted. I know that there are a lot of people with knowledge on feeding large groups out there so I thought I would ask for some help. Thanks in advance for any advice.
Feeding the homeless *****
- Thread starter JohnK
- Start date
Steve Petrone
TVWBB Diamond Member
John, I do not cook for crowds or cook professionally but I have cooked a couple of times for teens at a shelter. The last cook was a simple meat sauce and pasta. They ate every last drop....let me know if you want to know more. You are to be commended for your efforts.
John: Your question made me think of time when I was on the road with the youth group growing up. These churches would feed us and I would think the concept would be similar, feed a crowd of 20-50 and do it on a budget. Just some random thoughts that came to mind:
*Spaghetti (Of Course!) with bread and salad.
*Soup and whole sandwhich with chips
*Shepards Pie or Pot Pie with Salad
*Beef Stroganoff
*Chili and PB Sandwich
*Salbury steak and mashed pototoes
*Jambalaya
*Baked Chicken over rice
*Ham and potato salad
I could go on all night, but I better stop. Hope this helps.
*Spaghetti (Of Course!) with bread and salad.
*Soup and whole sandwhich with chips
*Shepards Pie or Pot Pie with Salad
*Beef Stroganoff
*Chili and PB Sandwich
*Salbury steak and mashed pototoes
*Jambalaya
*Baked Chicken over rice
*Ham and potato salad
I could go on all night, but I better stop. Hope this helps.
A little more information on this. I cook the meal at home and then a group from our parish takes the food to the shelter and serves it. So, I cook it and then it is warmed again once it arrives at the shelter. We pay for the food out of our pocket so I am definitely looking for inexpensive meals to make since money is a little tight. We took this on because the program was going to die if nobody volunteered after the last group stopped doing it. We already have our hands full with seven kids. My wifes brother passed away leaving five children. My wife and I have taken them in along with our own two children so we are busy.
John, individual meatloaves are good, but more labor-intensive than just slicing large, long meatloaves. There are some meatloaf recipes posted in the Beef forum and they would probably scale up to 40 servings all right.
My Apple-Smoked Meatloaf would probably not be a good choice because of the ingredient list. If you're going to have to make a couple or three batches, you'll want to keep the ingredient list fairly simple.
Jeff S. made some good suggestions.
There are some books on Amazon that might be helpful, such as "Cooking for a Crowd:"
http://tinyurl.com/2qfya5
Come on, friends! Help John, a new poster, with some suggestions and recipes.
Rita
My Apple-Smoked Meatloaf would probably not be a good choice because of the ingredient list. If you're going to have to make a couple or three batches, you'll want to keep the ingredient list fairly simple.
Jeff S. made some good suggestions.
There are some books on Amazon that might be helpful, such as "Cooking for a Crowd:"
http://tinyurl.com/2qfya5
Come on, friends! Help John, a new poster, with some suggestions and recipes.
Rita
John,
You're providing a great service. I agree with Rita; it would be much easier to make larger loafs and then slice them later. Does your church have a kitchen (larger than the one in your home)? A larger kitchen makes it much easier to prepare meals of this scale. I'm sure you've already discovered the benefits of disposable foil pans, etc. Other ideas to consider: lasagna, salads, soups, chili, chicken spaghetti (no tomato sauce), submarine sandwiches (extra long loaves). Breakfast is an easy meal to prepare and can be served anytime; scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits. Have you asked around for contributions from commercial sources such as local grocery or food wholesalers? I've had good luck obtaining donations from Sysco Food Services, large bakeries, and a local grocery chain.
You're providing a great service. I agree with Rita; it would be much easier to make larger loafs and then slice them later. Does your church have a kitchen (larger than the one in your home)? A larger kitchen makes it much easier to prepare meals of this scale. I'm sure you've already discovered the benefits of disposable foil pans, etc. Other ideas to consider: lasagna, salads, soups, chili, chicken spaghetti (no tomato sauce), submarine sandwiches (extra long loaves). Breakfast is an easy meal to prepare and can be served anytime; scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits. Have you asked around for contributions from commercial sources such as local grocery or food wholesalers? I've had good luck obtaining donations from Sysco Food Services, large bakeries, and a local grocery chain.
Thanks for the input and good ideas. Yes I have found the benefits of the foil pans. I know the large meatloafs would be less work up front but I thought it would make it easier for the servers to make the individuals. I do not know about access to the church kitchen but it is easier to work in mine with the kids and such. There is always something going on. I have not really gone out looking for donations yet. I am not good at that type of thing. We do get people from the parish every once in a while that will contribute a few dollars to the cause.
K Kruger
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I think the key to this sort of predicament is to focus on items that can be served either with a large serving spoon or with a spatula. This narrows the choices--but does so reasonably I think.
I say this because, one, your're passing the service to others and it's easier for them to serve if the item is designed to be easily served from the get-go; two, narrowing the possibilities means you're not jumping through logistical hoops trying to make something work that would have been better left alone; three, it is easier to scale recipes or to figure out yield if you focus on how they will be served, and that's easier to do if you narrow the serving possibilities; and four, narrowing the possibilities helps keep you sane and thus more likely to enjoy the process (of supreme importance, imo)--something you'll look forward to.
The other thing to keep in mind is that if the food is going to be cooked ahead of time then reheated on site, it must be cooled relatively quickly then chilled till cold. If this is the case then it's obviously best to lean toward items that are more easily cooled, more easily reheated--or adapt recipes or procedures so that this becomes the reality; usually not hard to do.
One more thing, also for sanity's sake, is to make the hands-on prep and cooking more reasonable by limiting (at least to some degree) how involved you make your recipe. Individual meatloaves for 40 might be a bit much--but individual patties made with a meatloaf mix would be easy--and easy to serve.
Pasta and sauce is easy and easy to serve. (I prefer smaller shapes like rotelle, rotini, penne, et al., over spaghetti or linguini because they are easier to manage and easier to serve.) One can change the shape and change the sauce and go for months on the same theme.
Soups, stews, chili and the like are certainly easy to serve. (It important to figure out your cooling game plan up front--especially for thick stuff like chili or creamed soups as these tend to cool slowly in large quantities, opening the door for spoilage or food safety issues.)
Shepherd's Pie and other casseroles can be good, easy and inexpensive. An advantage to Shepherd's Pie and similar layered casseroles is that it is often possible to cook and cool the layers separately, assembling the dish after cooling.
The door is open wider if you can cook then hold hot, eliminating the need (and space) for cooling and refrigeration.
I say this because, one, your're passing the service to others and it's easier for them to serve if the item is designed to be easily served from the get-go; two, narrowing the possibilities means you're not jumping through logistical hoops trying to make something work that would have been better left alone; three, it is easier to scale recipes or to figure out yield if you focus on how they will be served, and that's easier to do if you narrow the serving possibilities; and four, narrowing the possibilities helps keep you sane and thus more likely to enjoy the process (of supreme importance, imo)--something you'll look forward to.
The other thing to keep in mind is that if the food is going to be cooked ahead of time then reheated on site, it must be cooled relatively quickly then chilled till cold. If this is the case then it's obviously best to lean toward items that are more easily cooled, more easily reheated--or adapt recipes or procedures so that this becomes the reality; usually not hard to do.
One more thing, also for sanity's sake, is to make the hands-on prep and cooking more reasonable by limiting (at least to some degree) how involved you make your recipe. Individual meatloaves for 40 might be a bit much--but individual patties made with a meatloaf mix would be easy--and easy to serve.
Pasta and sauce is easy and easy to serve. (I prefer smaller shapes like rotelle, rotini, penne, et al., over spaghetti or linguini because they are easier to manage and easier to serve.) One can change the shape and change the sauce and go for months on the same theme.
Soups, stews, chili and the like are certainly easy to serve. (It important to figure out your cooling game plan up front--especially for thick stuff like chili or creamed soups as these tend to cool slowly in large quantities, opening the door for spoilage or food safety issues.)
Shepherd's Pie and other casseroles can be good, easy and inexpensive. An advantage to Shepherd's Pie and similar layered casseroles is that it is often possible to cook and cool the layers separately, assembling the dish after cooling.
The door is open wider if you can cook then hold hot, eliminating the need (and space) for cooling and refrigeration.
Bob H.
TVWBB Hall of Fame
Smoked sausage with mac n cheese is good, filling, and inexpensive, and should not to too difficult to prepare in quantity. If you have some time, talk with some grocery managers, and butcher shops, explain what you are doing. You might be surprised at their generosity.
John, have you seen Timothy's recipe for KELLY'S KUGELA? It sounds ideal for serving at the shelter and would be a good recipe for your kids to help with.
Rita
Rita
Bill Hays
TVWBB Platinum Member
I got up this morning and saw this thread's rating sitting at "4" and thought, "How could anyone rate what these people are doing at anything less than a "5"?? So, I "5" rated it and brought it's average back up. You guys (and gals
) please, keep up the great work.
Bill
Bill
Thanks again to all who have replied. I think I get myself into trouble by trying to do too much. I love to cook for people and I love to try new things and I tend to get carried away with planning a meal. I guess I would be better off trying to master some simple things that are tasty.
timothy
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
John,have you ever shopped at GFS,Gordon food service,they supply to the food service industry.Not sure if you have them in the city, but there out here in the burb's.I'm pretty certain that they work with church and non profit groups.Good luck and God Bless.Timothy