I super love when people come to visit us! I love planning the meals and preparing the meals and serving the meals and doing all the food up right in an effort to bless our guests while we visit. And of course, I love to visit with our guests.
In summary: Would one of you please come clean my house for me?
Man, I do not like to clean. I do like my house to be clean, but the act of cleaning is low on my fun list. Actually, it’s not even on my fun list. It’s on my do it because it has to be done so get over it list.
Hiring regular cleaning help is not in the budget right now, but I’m seriously thinking about seeing who might want to trade cooking for cleaning. Some people like to clean but not cook, right? Yes, I hear that this is true.
My boys are very helpful with their assigned cleaning chores, which is another reason I’ve not wanted to outsource this task to hired help. But sometimes my idea of clean differs from my boys’ idea of clean. (I probably don’t need to explain this.)
Well anyway. All this talk about cleaning is starting to make me upset. Let’s talk about food!!!! Aaaaahhh yes. Now I’m happy again. :) :) :) :)
Family is coming to town this weekend for our York College Homecoming festivities. I can’t wait to feed see them! This is always a wonderful weekend with people we don’t get to see often enough.
In order to enjoy my guests and avoid having to talk very much while I cook (this is a serious problem for me) – I’m making most of the food ahead of time or at least planning very simple, no-brainer dishes (like this Stir-and-Pour Bread).
Here are the meals we’ll be having:
Breakfast Foods
- Bacon Cheesy Eggs
- Banana Bread
- Applesauce Bread
- Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Lots of Fruit (apples, pears, grapes, raspberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, plums)
- Donuts (My dad almost always brings a box to share. It’s a Papa thing and we love it.)
Lunch Foods
- Potato Soup
- Chili (with Fritos – yes really – and shredded cheese)
- Sub Sandwich Bar
- Veggie Platter (carrots, cucumbers, sweet peppers, olives, pickles)
- Fresh Fruit
Dinner Meals
- Creamy Salsa Enchilada Casserole from Lesson 2 of the Let’s Do This! eCourse, with tossed salad, spicy avocado dip and chips, fruit
- Crock Pot Roast Beef from Eat Right Away: Slow Cooker Beef Edition, cheesy mashed potatoes, green beans, cantaloupe, stir-and-pour bread
(The Crock Pot Roast Beef recipe was originally written to be used for Roast Beef and Melted Cheese Sandwiches, but we love the flavor of this one so much, and it only takes about 30 seconds to prepare {seriously!!!!}, so we make it frequently to eat as a main dish without the cheese and buns.)
Here’s a picture of Creamy Salsa Enchilada Casseroles I like to serve guests.
So, so, so, so good. And easy.
Snack Foods
- Easy {Low} Sugar Cookies
- Applesauce (I’ve made huge bowls of this since apples are abundant right now.)
- Fresh Fruit
- Cheese and Crackers
- Chewy Granola Bars
Any of these meals sound particularly good to you? What do you like feeding guests when they come visit? Who likes cleaning?!?
I love cleaning and cooking :) for me cleaning is relaxing. I dont like doing dishes though. For big groups, I like to make pumpkin chili or Asian slaw.
I hate, no , despise cleaning. My kids do a lot of housework but I would rather cook a Million times over!
Yes, I’d come clean for you…maybe you could convince my family to choose whole foods instead of processed foods as a trade, lol ?! :0)
Those sound like great recipes! Can I join? ;) I have been busy with several projects and events going on this month. As a result, I have gotten a bit behind in some of my meal prep. Fortunately, I have an amazing husband who picks up where I leave off. More than once I have found him prepping dinner in the crockpot. He even got up early on his day off (6AM is his normal time, but he got up at 6 even on his day off) to prep a roast in the crockpot for dinner. He’s pretty awesome! :)
Ah now I can place you in Nebraska. My Mom grew up in Ravenna and I have made the drive from Missouri at least once a year for over 40 years. But unfortunately this year it was for Grandma’s funeral and I don’t have as many reasons to go back. I love your recipes. I made your raspberry oatmeal bars with apples because that is my son’s favorite fruit and he has asked for them every week since then — which since I am gradually moving the family into better eating is just so nice that he actually asks for them.
Thanks!
Sweetheart I’ll be there to help you clean just as soon as I catch up on my own … which may be on or around the judgement day ????
My favorite thing to prepare for guests is Tomato Soup with pasta cooked in it. I do it in the crock pot – just your favorite tomato soup and add uncooked pasta (our favorite is Tortalini) – and let it cook. You can make any variations you wish. Some I have tried = Italian sausage / kielbasa / assorted veggies . You can make it richer by adding some cream right at the end of cooking. It’s good with garlic bread and a salad.
My favorite thing to cook for family and friends is homemade pizza and ice cream with homemade hot fudge. The always ask for it if any one is coming. As for cleaning I can take it or leave it so I usually leave it. We had six kids so they had to do the cleaning when they were all at home.
Everything sounds wonderful! Your guests will feel so loved and cozy :) I love hosting guests in the wintertime because it is so nice to be able to throw on a big pot of soup or chili and make some homemade bread to go along with it :)
I used to prepare the food for our youth group retreats (between 15 and 60 people) and we always had tacos on Saturday night, and we made taco soup for lunch the next day to use up any leftover taco fixings :) It was always a hit!
I love cleaning! :) I love cooking, too, but do NOT feel confident planning and serving meals to guests. :P Your food sounds delicious!!! Especially the enchilada casserole.