Just sayin.....I love cooking (look at my threads in this sub-forum) but I don't like cooking for that many people.

I think cooking for a crowd is fun, especially for youth groups, Church functions, etc. The challenging part is to not get over committed in the effort or money. Being the cook has its benefits. I have pretty much filled the roll of camp cook when hunting and fishing these days. Last weekend when we on an overnighter I told my nephew that cleaning catfish was about like changing poopie diapers for me - I'm done forever. "you fellas mind cleaning the fish, I need to get dinner going"

Pot roast(beef) or a pork roast with potatoes and carrots, cornbread and salad.

I really love cooking too because I hate cleaning up afterwards ... that was rules at deer camp when I was growing up, cook or clean up ... I opted to cook. I also hate cleaning fish but love eating it.

I have access to a church kitchens that normally has two stoves and two ovens and two refrigerators (but the fridges also get packed with day time snacks for the campers & camp staff) , most types of cooking utensils for larger groups but not a single piece of cast iron ... This is in Washington state (Oregon sometimes) and of the 5 different kitchens I've had access too over the past 8 years, not one piece of cast iron. Normally, I do about 3 grocery runs, and pick up food for two evening meals and all that goes into the mini fridges in hotel rooms until the day I am preparing that particular item for the evening meals. We have never hauled food from TX up there and everything is made fresh on site the day it's being served mainly due to transporting. Usually one guy drives up but his truck is usually packed down with all the tools the construction team needs to do whatever type construction project they are assigned, so very limited space for his 3 day drive. I have been part of the construction crew up to about 2:00 pm when I then went to cook every year up until last year, when we moved to a different church facility that didn't have any of the members available to help run the camp/food for camp, so I shifted to full time kitchen duty. I've been told that is the path again this year.

the King Ranch Chicken and spaghetti are simple to prepare for a crowd and the group really loves my recipes on those ... I thought the brisket would be different enough and I could do it ahead of time but I need to talk to the guy driving up if he has room for a ice chest with 3-5 briskets (depending on our final head count plus about 10-15 people from up there).

ya'll have provided some really good ideas, keep them coming ...

chicken pot pie is usually a crowd pleaser and fairly easy to prepare for a crowd

Chicken flautas are simple to make and dirt cheap. I use mission corn tortillas and with one chicken i can do about 30 flautas. You can boil the chicjen the day before and debone and season the day you want to make them.

I’m making chicken spaghetti today.

do you have a recipe? or how to go about making these?

and we'll be off this weekend ...

salad available each evening

Monday, spaghetti, green beans, garlic bread with cherry dump cake
Tuesday, King Ranch Chicken, brown beans with chocolate sheet cake
Wednesday, to the river or beach, hotdogs/sausage wraps, chili, cheese, chopped onion, chips with probably store bought cookies
Thursday, Texas smoked brisket (vacuum sealed and frozen, on it's way up), baked beans, potato salad with banana pudding (special recipe)
Friday, hard & soft tacos with all the fixings, plus left overs from the previous nights, fresh hand picked blackberry (if they are ripe by then) dump cake
Friday alternate plan, twice baked potatoes

feeding 32-36 from our home church here plus pastor/family some nights

Have a good trip.

Sounds like you got a.good plan.

Chicken Spaghetti kids love it, easy to make in bulk.

4 cups of broken up dry Spaghetti noodles
1 -10.5 oz can of Cream of Chicken soup
1 - 12.5 oz can of fully cooked Chicken
Cheese to taste (wife uses cheddar)
Water crest optional
Salt & Pepper and season to taste.

I like Broccoli and little garlic powder in it, kids did not.

Good luck

Stub, that CS recipe is a cry for help. Have a talk with Aunt Lynn -



Aunt Lynn makes the best I have had.

Aunt Lynn's recipe sounds delicious. Unfortunately when you have kids and a wife that are picky eaters and do not enjoy the tastier things in life you have to go with the flow or fend for yourself.

One thing I have found in the past couple of years at HEB is their cream of jalapeno soup. That takes chicken spaghetti to the next level.

Oh man that sounds good (cream of jalapeno soup) and the possibilities are endless

I guarantee that they will eat it. I have fed it to picky eaters through two generations of kids. Nobody has ever turned up their nose. This and my shrimp creole always comes through for feeding picky eaters.

Finally an online recipe that makes some sense. For the longest time I thought everyone really did saute with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Nope, I use butter way more than olive oil.

I usually use equal parts of butter and olive oil when sauteing. I love chicken spaghetti but trying not to have two things similar during the week. For Future trips, I might substitute the CS for the King Ranch (but I love that too).

The brisket is new for this year and think it will be a hit. Previous years were pulled pork, beef tips over egg noodles/rice and a few other things but there is a lot of earlier in the day prep to get those into a roaster oven that I just don't have time for due to working construction projects 7:00 am to 2:00 pm before heading to the kitchen.

thanks again guys, definitely gave me some new good ideas to work out over the next 11 months to make some changes for next year possibly.

PMK what is King Ranch Chicken?

I listed the recipe for 100 in an earlier post on this thread ... but basically it is a creamy mixture of seasoned chicken, cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, sauteed onions, chicken broth mixture, layering corn tortillas, chicken mixture, cheddar cheese, repeat layers, then bake. Pretty much an all in one meal.

I could get you a smaller quantity recipe from my spreadsheet that has formulas for different size groups ... after I return. too many irons in the fire to complete before we head out. AT home, I usually do for 15-20 people into 2 aluminum foil pans and then freeze one for later use. I do similar when doing enchiladas and other dishes too. We always have various ready to cook meals in one of our freezers, for when family/friends show up or when someone from our Sunday School class is ill/death in the family that we can take to help out.