Dinner Ideas Needed

I had just had my extended family over for dinner a few sundays ago there weren't 14 adults but there was 11 adults and 5 children i made 6 cheese & beef stuffed shells i just made two casserole dishes of them, had salad and garlic bread and butter they are soooo delicious they are a different twist on stuffed shells because i hate ricotta cheese.
Let me know if you are interested in the recipe it is kinda long to type as a response. But they are good !
Just have fun, don't stress and ENJOY !!

T.,
I have a great recipe for "chicken bundles" made with chicken, cream cheese, onion, milk and crescent rolls. I have a .jpg file that you can print out if you email me a message I will send it to you. It's relatively cheap, looks very, very cute and impressive and you can make it ahead, just heat up on a cookie sheet and add a veggie or salad and be done!
Denise

I have a chicken dinner that is not too expensive, depends on price of chicken. It is called apricot chicken. The ingredients seem a bit unusual but my family and I have made this dish for numerous events and everyone has loved it.
Chicken cut in bite size pieces (I use tenders)

two large jars of Apricot Jam

Red French salad dressing (can substitute with Catalina dressing) (One to two bottles depending on amount of chicken)
Onion Soup mix (one to two pkgs depending on amount of chicken)

Preheat oven at 350
Place everything (uncooked chicken) into casserole dish, stir it and bake for one hour.
I usually serve it with rice because there is a lot of juice.

I have a recipe that you can adjust so it is different for the different ages you need to serve. You would need 3 of these but they are easy to throw together.

Chicken Noodle Casserole

(for a 9X13 pan or similar size) Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes (until hot)

2 cups of cooked chicken (2-3 boneles skinless breasts or several thighs whatever you have or like). You can boil them and then you have the broth for later in the recipe.

1 large bag of frozen veggies, use kid friendly for the kids and fancy for the adults. cooked and drained.

1 large bag of egg noodles, cooked a le dente or they get mushy.

1 can cream of whatever soup, use chicken for the kids and onion or mushroom for the adults.

1 can chicken broth or equivelent homemade.

Put chicken, veggies and noodles into the pan then mix soup and broth and pour over top and mix together.

Bake until hot.

add your choice of toppings like grated cheese, dry stove top stuffing mix, fried onions (like for green bean casserole) or whatever your family likes. If using cheese put back in the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese

Serve with a salad or veggies and dip and rolls.

For a special dinner with my family. I make homemade chicken noodle soup and pepperoni rolls. Everyone loves it and it is easy for me.

Baked Ziti feeds a crowd and is inexpensive.... lasagna, a big pot of chilli.... Just a few things... You could do something separate for the kids like mac and cheese... good luck.

Something that I do when I have extended family over: Italian sausage with peppers, onions and potatoes. You can serve this with a tossed salad and you are good to go! Here's what you do: Line your sausage links on a cookie sheet and bake them for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Halfway through this process, pierce the skins of the sausage with a fork and turn them over. After 1 hour in the oven, remove the sausages and let cool slightly (this part can be done an entire day ahead!). Take the sausages and slice them on the diagonal. Place in a roasting pan with thick slices or chunks of peppers (red and green look nice) and onions. Add cubed potatoes. Drizzle with a little olive oil, sea salt and black pepper. You can even sprinkle some Italian Seasonings throughout and mix it through. Cover tightly with foil and put back in the oven for 1-1/2 - 2 hours @ 350. While this is cooking, you can make a nice big salad to go with it and some crusty Italian bread. Dessert can be whatever. You will have a meal that will bring you RAVES! The beauty of this dish is that you can adjust it to whatever size you need to feed. The kids may not like this, but how about some meatballs and sauce for them? Either cook some rigatoni for them, or let them have meatball sandwiches! I hope this helps. Good luck!

Do a fajita bar. They are SO easy to make...I just buy a prepackaged mix from Ortega and then you add that to chicken/beef,onion and pepper. You then put out fixings in separate bowls: cheese, salsa, lettuce, green onions, quac,sour cream. For the kids who ar picky you could just do a cheese tortilla on the stove which is just cheese between 2 tortillas.

You can do an appetizer such as queso dip and a black bean and corn salad with a spicy dressing for the side.

You could do two big pots of chili...one meat (turkey or beef) and one vegetarian (I make a great sweet potato chili that my kids like). Then you could have crackers, bread, maybe even some cornbread or muffins and cheese to slice. Maybe do baked apples with a crumble topping and ice or whipped cream for dessert.

Hi T.,

Italian is usually the least inexpensive but you can still find roasts on sale. Pot roast is good or chicken pot pie, just make two big ones and serve with some crusty bread and salad. A pork roast is good too. Good luck,
J.

baked ziti? stuffed shells or manocotti

How about tacos and make a themed Mexican night. Get music from the library, pinata for the kids, tacos served buffet style...could also do chicken fajitas-both easy, can prepare ahead of time....maybe a little sangria and or margaritas?

here is what i do for big fam gatherings that is pretty cheap = and is a crowd pleaser - throw frozen meatballs/turkey meatballs (you can get a big bag at bjs) into the crock pot and pour CHEAP (in a can) spaghetti sauce over it and let it simmer all day - kget some sub rolls and make some macaroni and cheese (either boxes or homemade) and maybe some corn in a sauce pan - DONE!

i find a stir-fry with chicken and veggies (brocolli, onions, red peppers adn snow peas) and brown rice (or Lundberg's Mohogany rice) made with half broth/half water.
if you want an extra spin, use extra ginger and some coconut milk in the rice adn in the sauce for the stir fry.

J.
nutrition coach
www.nutrition-in-motion.net
coming soon holiday recipe makeovers! keep the flavor, lose the extra calories.

Sausage and peppers is pretty easy and can be put in the crock pot. Good old sloppy joes is easy too...they can also be crock potted. I am doing that tomorrow night for my family with a green salad.

Anybody heard of hawaiian haystacks? We eat these all the time when company comes. It's basically cooked, cubed chicken in a creamy sauce (VERY easy) over rice. Then you have the toppings that everyone chooses for themselves.

We put out bowls of pineapple and mandarin oranges, chopped tomatoes, shredded carrots, peas, chopped cucumer, shredded cheese, sliced olives, bacon bits, slivered almonds, chopped green onion, and chopped green (or red) pepper. Then you sprinkle crunchy chow mein noodles over the top.

Big hit because everyone can make their own plate with what they like. I like it because all my kids choose at least one fruit or veggie with no fighting. Because of all the toppings, you don't need as much of the chicken base. If I were cooking for that many people, I would probably only use about four chicken breasts.

Email me if you want the specifics on the chicken sauce.

We had a family reunion over the summer. On the night that I was responsible for dinner I served roast beef, turkey and ham sandwiches for 30 people. I cooked them ahead of time, sliced them and froze them because I knew I wouldn't want to do it once everyone was in town. I was surprised that it really wasn't as time consuming as I thought it would be. I cooked each of the meats on different days while I was cooking dinner. They were finished by the time we were done eating. After cleaning up the dinner dishes I sliced them and froze them. I bought everything on sale so it wasn't expensive either.

You can serve the sandwiches with your favorite rolls or bread. Add roasted potatoes and carrots as a side. Maybe throw together a salad and dessert.

How about a couple of lasagnas...easy to prepare, and most everyone loves them. Add a salad, garlic bread and you have a full meal.

T.,
When I made Easter dinner for my family, I made a great appetizer that EVERYONE loved, even the kids. Take phillo dough, sprinkle Parmesan cheese on it, put fresh asparagus spear on it, roll it up, bake in oven and sprinkle with additional Parmesan. Then I mixed some mayo and mustard together with some Parmesan to dip them in. They were a hit.
On the cheap side though, you could make homemade pizzas. Just have a selection of veggies and a couple of lunch meats or those precooked chicken strips. Then, let them make it themselves. Have 1 or 2 ready when people are there to snack on. One that we enjoy is simply grape tomatoes (cook in microwaves, drain juice), sprinkle of Parmesan, garlic, and basil. Its like a foccacia pizza. Serve a green salad and fruit as dessert. Cheap and super easy and something different for your family to talk about.
Another idea is to make breakfast for dinner. My grandparents make the family breakfast every Sunday for cheap. We have pancakes (regular, corn cakes, pumpkin cakes, whatever), homefries, scrambled eggs and sausage. Its cheap and tastes great!

Baked pasta! I use corkscrew pasta because my kids love the shape. Make sauce, boil the pasta to ALMOST done, mix them together in a 13 x 9 pan with lots of shredded mozzarella. Add cheese on top, bake for 30-40 mins, serve with salad and garlic bread.

I know its getting a little chilly, but how about a BBQ? Hotdogs and Hamburgers, potato/macaroni salad, brownies, etc. Fast, inexpensive and a final hurrah to the summer! Or an Italian night. Lasagna is so easy anymore with the noodles you dont have to cook, baked ziti, crockpot of meatballs and kids will love that too!

Taco buffet - make some beef in a crock pot (many recipes online, very easy), have the essential sides out, make some rice and get some beans. Very easy. They can help themselves. Or, I agree with the baked ziti. Maybe a salad on the side. How about a big thing of chili, or maybe two - one hot, one mild. Serve with pasta or rice underneath and have sour cream, cheeses, onions, etc out for the topping. Cornbread on the side. Good luck!