I mentioned several weeks ago that we’d be hosting our High School Youth each Sunday night beginning in the fall. (This has traditionally been called “Huddle”.) This begins today! I’ve been both excited and intimidated about this committment. Each Sunday night we’ll have around 30+ teens in our home. They are great kids though, plus we have two or three other great adult couples who will be joining us and who have offered to help with the food prep at any time. I plan to say “yes” to this offer of help whenever I need to – I’d be crazy not to! I’ll also be referencing this list of “Food to Feed a Crowd” as well as all of your helpful comments for meal ideas each week.
In addition to hosting the high schoolers on Sunday evenings, Matt and I have started teaching a marriage class on Sunday mornings in our home for six young married couples. We meet before worship time begins at church, and I’m hoping to provide some sort of muffin or other breakfast item along with coffee and juice each morning during class. Having these treats seems to put everyone at ease and well, the smell of hot coffee and muffins is just welcoming, isn’t it? We really want these couples to feel welcome and loved in our home. (Yes, food is my love language.) :)
In order to pull all of this off this year, I’m going to have to be very organized and try to get as much done on Fridays and Saturdays as possible. When I can, I’ll take pictures to share. Although it’s not terribly exciting, I was able to snap a shot of my beverage table this morning before class. I had to put the Applesauce Bread in a separate spot since this table filled up too quickly!
Today, we also had a church potluck. Food, food and more food! Here’s our menu for the week:
Sunday, September 18
Applesauce bread, fruit plate, coffee, juice
Potluck – Italian pasta bake, frosted brownies, green beans
“High School Huddle” – BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, cream cheese corn, homemade pickles (provided by my friend), carrot sticks with homemade ranch, grapes, butterscotch bars
Monday, September 19
Simple soaked pancakes, blueberries
Taco potatoes, fresh peaches
Chicken noodle soup, carrot sticks
Tuesday, September 20
Crustless breakfast quiches, oranges
Tuna salad on tomato slices, strawberry-peach slushies, sweet peppers
Cheesy salsa enchiladas, tossed salad
Wednesday, September 21
Coconut flour muffins, apples
Black bean salsa, organic corn chips, grapes
Chicken veggie quesadillas, fruit salad
Thursday, September 22
Pancake sausage muffins, applesauce
Cheeseburger macaroni, peas, cantaloupe
Lamb chops, baked potatoes, zucchini
Friday, September 23
Peanut butter honey toast, pears
Chicken burritos, fruit
Hamburgers, potato wedges, peaches, green beans
Saturday, September 24
Scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, peaches
Leftovers
Beef stroganoff, green beans, tossed salad
Question for you – for tonight’s pulled pork sandwiches, I purchased a 9 pound pork roast. I feel like that will be plenty of meat for 30 people, but I don’t think I got enough buns. How many buns would you feel necessary for 30 teens and adults? I know this shouldn’t be so complicated but for some reason I can’t feel comfortable with the amount of buns I got. But I don’t want a bunch of extras because one of my sons LOVES white flour buns and I’d prefer not to have lots leftover for his happy little white bun indulgence. :)
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Hi. I have a bun update. :)
I had originally purchased 40 buns, but we went and got two more packages just to be safe. We ended up only using 38 (surprisingly), even though there were 35 people here (my kids included). Therefore, we would have been okay with only the 5 packages of buns. Still, it was great to have piece of mind about the buns. Also, the 9 pounds of meat was the perfect amount as we only had enough meat leftover for two sandwiches.
Several ate only meat and bbq sauce without the bun. Several others came back for seconds. I still think using what many of you suggested as a general rule, estimating 1.5 buns per person is a great idea. I’ll do it this way from now on.
Also, the Butterscotch Bars and Cream Cheese Corn (recipe in Holiday Hospitality ebook and Learn to Cook ebook) were HUGE hits!!!
Most exciting of all – we asked the kids to each rinse their plates and cups and put them into the dishwasher after they were finished eating. At the end of the night, all I had to do was wash a few serving dishes and turn on the full dishwasher. Awesome! We are definitely going to go with that system every week!
Thank you all for your helpful input about my buns. I mean about the burger buns. Oh, you know what I mean. ;)
I think the standard for sandwiches is 1 1/2 per person, so 45 in your case.
I would much rather have too many than not enough. I would find another use for the leftovers.
My husband would buy 48-56 buns for that many people. Running out is not an option! :) We always have leftovers.
We also look at guy to girl ratio. I usually estimate 2 sandwiches for the guys and 1 for the girls.
You can freeze the leftovers and using them sparingly- especially your happy little white bun guy. ;)
Such a wise idea! I never thought about the guy/girl ratio.
I was thinking 45, so assuming 8 in a pack, I would say 48 too. Enough for half the people to have 2.
Just a thank you—I made the sausage pancake muffins yesterday {Saturday}, and they are soooo good. We loved them and they will be so easy to grab for a quick weekday breakfast. Such magic in a muffin. It really does taste like pancakes and sausage. Thanks again!
We just made the pancake muffins too! Yummy and so convenient.
And we made them this morning! :)
I’d probably go with 2 per person because I am scared of running out, always. You could “donate” the extras to someone else’s family. ;)
I always say feeding people is my spiritual gift. Glad I’m not the only one.
I’d say go big. Be comfy in your bun situation, and like RaShell says, freeze the rest. You actually could freeze extras for the NEXT time (or the time after that…) that you feed the youth group, hiding them from the white bun-lovin’ kid. Oh, and I’m sure you know to do this, but write down how many you use tonight for future reference. ;)
Have fun!
I tend to say 2 per head just cause I have an immense fear of running out. But RaShell looks more accurate than me in her info. I agree about freezing them.
So nice to know that someone else has a child who loves white flour buns! My eight-year-old daughter wants to eat them for lunch – no meat, but with ketchup squirted on them. That’s one of the reasons I tried making your homemade whole wheat hamburger buns last week and was so thrilled that they met with the family’s approval!
I too think it will have to do with how many guys and how many girls you have, but plan for 2 for guys and 1 for girls(generally speaking) Unless of course you have a lot that you know are gluten free or Atkins type people – in that case, you’ll go through a lot less buns. I guess it boils down to how much you want left-over. I will typically prefer to have left-overs vs. running out. Funny how these things become complicated.
At the deli I work at we also do catering and always figure 1 1/2 sandwiches per person because some will have only one and some will have 2.
i usualy estimate 2 helpings per person :)
I ‘feed’ people too and my is my love language too! I agree with the 1 1/2 per person. Leftover hamburger buns make great french toast, sounds weird but true.
I love your jelly glasses and mismatched coffee mugs. Just like home!
I cook for a Wednesday evening fellowship at our church with 50+ people. I always plan on 1 1/2 sandwiches per person, and it’s always enough. Any time I’ve done two per person, I end up with leftovers. Have fun! I always do! :)
I would say enough for 2 sandwiches a person some may eat 2 and some may not usually boys and me eat more some may even want more than 2 always good to have more than enough just in case then freeze the ones that are left!
suppose to be usually boys and men eat more
Depending on the guy to girl ratio I would say 48. Good luck : )
60 buns. 2 sandwiches per person on average. There will be women who only eat one, but also teenage boys who eat 3+.
You know some of them teen boys WILL eat 3 :) … I was saying 60 buns to be safe :)
I’d go with 45-50, but tell everyone to only take one first. Seconds are up for grabs, but not before everyone has had firsts.
I have a suggestion for your Sunday mornings, these mufins http://moneysavingmom.com/2009/06/baking-day-pumpkin-chocolate-chip-muffins.html
They are one of our favorites! I sub sucanat for the sugar, ww flour for the white flour, and melted butter for the oil to make them healthy. One benefit is that 1 batch makes so many muffins! This week I’m going to try making them with your homemade chocolate chips!
I am Youth Director at my church and I feed about 30 people every Wednesday, to figure out a good estimate for food, I usually multiply what ever I am doing times 2.5. So in your case 30*2.5=75 buns. Teenagers, at least my kids, eat waaaaaayyyy more than I would expect, especially the girls. I hope that helps
I agree to all the above that you should freeze the rest for hamburgers or something else the next time or two they come over.
I’m waving my hands violently because I know the answer to this one! :-)
1) You will PROBABLY have meat left over, but that’s okay, because you can use it later in the week when you need something fast to re-heat.
2) I’d say to buy seven 8-count packages of buns. That’s 56. You will probably have about 4 – 5 of them left in one package.
3) I can tell you exactly which kids will go back for fourths if you need a list! :-) Girls will likely eat just one each. A couple will just eat meat with no bun.
4) If you ever serve mac ‘n cheese on the side, it will be a huge hit, and one girl will probably JUST take a plate full of mac ‘n cheese. NO sandwich.
5) The carrot sticks with ranch will go pretty well. Salad does, too. Ranch is THE companion food for fresh veggies with that crew.
You’ll have to report back and let me know how close I was…! :-)
::giggle:: that’s funny … BUT TRUE! Girls will eat mac & cheese every time … we always serve a big tray of that when we do a bbq for the kids :)
Well….here’s the update. The food was a big hit! I had started with 40 buns, but then got nervous and send Matt out for 2 more packages. Turns out, we used 38 buns and had only enough meat left for two sandwiches. We have those two bun packages leftover, but at least I had peace of mind! Not everyone used a bun and several came back for seconds. I will totally make the cream cheese corn again because everyone loved it, as well as the butterscotch bars.
Best part: We asked them to all rinse their plates and cups and put them into the dishwasher when they were done eating. After they left, I only had a few serving dishes to wash and clean up was done. Perfect!
And I totally know which girl you’re talking about with the mac and cheese. Does her name start with a D? :)
That’d be an affirmative on the mac ‘n cheese lover! :-) And ANY pasta will speak to the heart of the “C” child who lives at mi casa!
Very good on your numbers guess! The other question of the day is now, “What was your headcount?” That seemed to vary a fair amount for us over the past four years, and DID make it hard to know how many buns to buy!
I’m with most of the rest. I figure 2 per person is safe, and guaranteed for some leftovers, but buns are so cheap (at least at Costco) that it’s no big deal.
You can flatten the leftover buns with a rolling pin and make ghetto pizzas! I know they don’t fit your healthier eating plan, but it’s an option to get rid of them… flatten them, then cover them with whatever pizza makings you and the kids want and heat them in the oven. MOST of the pizzas can meet your healthier eating :)
And yes, it will be more like 2 per boy, 1 per girl, in my estimation as well.
You can also feed the birds and squirrels with the leftover buns. :)
Wow… I guess I’m overestimating. I was thinking 90 buns (and even 120 lol). Knowing how she has boys who LOVE foo, and eat a lot. But this is a GIRLS soccer team and women don’t eat as much as boys. So I’d say 60.
I was thinking 30 kids plus 8-10 adults. I’d say 90 buns. I also agree with maybe a big pan of mac ‘n cheese. If the kids don’t inhale the buns you can always take them back so they’re not in house tempting the white flour loving child! I’m thinking that the girls are athletes so they won’t be shy about stepping up for 2nds! And most high school boys I’ve fed can wolf down 3 sandwiches if they’re offered.
I guess I’m in the camp that says – please tell us how many buns you went through! My two teenagers plus 4 friends and a husband went through probably 50-75% of an entire crockpot of pulled pork one day. (Corn tortillas work for the gluten-free crowd.) I did manage to get some frozen but they were still coming into the kitchen asking for more. I think my boys and friends are probably on the 3-4 sandwiches side of things. :)
I just made this breakfast casserole this morning and it was really good so it thought id share it with you! This was very hearty and I will probably make it for supper next time. You could serve with toast, biscuits or corn muffins.
Amish Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
1 pound sliced bacon,
1medium sweet onion, chopped
6 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese
1 1/4 cups shredded Swiss cheese
Directions
1. In a large skillet, cook bacon and onion until bacon is crisp; crumble bacon.
In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; stir in bacon and onions.
Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish.
2. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until set and bubbly.
Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.
Ididnt use swiss since I didnt have any on hand, just a half pound of cheddar and I added 8 eggs just to stretch it a little. Cooked for50 minutes. We thought it would be good with added veggies too. Oh and I also added a little parmasan cheese. Really good! I think it would work perfect for a crowd.
Oh and I also used sausage insted of bacon. Good use for your turkey sausage :)
I noticed all of your jar cups in the picture. We use them, too. When company comes or the kids have friends to play we use Silly Bands, the rubber bracelets, to mark the cups so we can tell one from another. I guess this could also be done with rubber bands or hair bands in different colors. I like that the silly bands are washable!
OOOh!! I love that idea—silly bands, etc, to identify cups! I’ve only seen my friends use those beautiful rings on goblets. But we don’t use goblets. Thanks!! I learn so much here!
Here’s our menu for the week!
http://strengthanddignity-proverbs31.blogspot.com/2011/09/our-menu-919-925.html
Here’s an economical dish for teenagaers called Barbecued Frankfurters.
1/3 C chopped onion
Here’s an economical dish for teenagers called Barbecued Frankfurters
1/3 C chopped onion
1/3 C chopped celery
1 clove garlic chopped
1 tbsp oil
1 (10 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
2 tbsps brown sugar
2 tbsps Worchesteshire sauce
2 tsps prepared mustard
2 tsps vinegar
1 pound frankfurters
In a 10 inch skillet, saute onion, celery & garlic in the oil. Add soup, brown sugar, Worchestershire sauce, mustard and vinegar. Cut frnks into 1 inch pieces and add to sauce. Cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Serve over rice, add a salad.
Okay, Laura…after a couple years of following your blog, it is FINALLY starting to sink in. Yea, Laura! Yea, Lauras-tee-hee! Last night we made your delicious Creamy Mac N Cheese. It was a hit! You are right about it taking just as long to make this from scratch as from a box. About 20 min tops. I doubled it and now we’ll have more for another day. I estimate it only cost about $1.25 for one meal for 4 with regular ingredients (no organics).
My plan was to make the Cheeseburger Macaroni with the Creamy Mac N Cheese, but my husband nixed that idea. (You can share with your Marrieds class that it is respectful to your husband to cook food he actually likes. Not the food you wish he would like!) My hubby is not a fan of Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper; he is a fan of Stroganoff. I told him I would look to see if Laura had a stroganoff recipe. I didn’t have to look! I’ll just use your recipe from this week!
Thanks for all your recipes, silliness and ideas! I’m not buying all organic yet, but I am making the big leap (for me!) to cooking from scratch. You are inspiring me to cook better for my family!