Easy meals for hospitality?

[pkstew2]

Hey gals I need some easy ideas for hospitality meals. I am not a big cook at all and not very good when I do try. I have several friends that are going through things and need help with meals and I'm always clueless about what to do other than take out and that gets $$$$. Would love to collect some quick and easy ideas for last-minute needs, or even some ideas for freezer meals to prepare ahead and have on hand and even some recipes that are easy to double and serve 2 friends at once. These are all families of 4-5 (married couples with children 12 and under that eat anything). Thanks in advance!

[jannylynn]

Check out my freezer co-op's blog: http://freezerchicks.blogspot.com
Some of the best recipes for this are:

Grandma's Secret
Parmesan Chicken
Speghetti Pie (I'm not sure if our recipe is on there, but any recipe will do!)
Stomboli

And many others will work for double and freeze!

[Kjersti]

What about a baked potato bar? Have cheese, chili, and lots of fun toppings.

How is your weather? Can you go out back and BBQ hamburgers and hot dogs?

Good luck and have lots of fun!!

[WalkersMommy]

PW's lasagna is pretty easy to make and it's delicious! I recently assembled it for some friends, then let them bake it. HTH!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2...e_best_lasagn/

[Rae's World]

old favorite......yummy

Bacon Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole

2lbs uncooked hamburger (93%**)
1 cup chopped fresh spinach (optional)
1 can cream of soup (chicken, mushroom, broccoli, whatever you like, we do chicken)
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 - 1 cup of real bacon bits (not those hard things in the salad section, unless you like those!!)
1 bag of frozen tater tots

Preheat over to 375

Mix raw hamburger and spinach with salt and pepper, to taste, in a large bowl. The smaller the spinach is chopped the better it mixes and less noticeable.*** Press hamburger into a flat layer in a 9x13 pan. Spread the cream soup over top. (Add any desirable veggies here, sliced carrots, peas, corn, more spinach, whatever, just make it an even layer) Sprinkle cheese evenly over top than sprinkle the bacon over the cheese. Add the whole bag of tots. It will be one layer but you will probably have to rearrange them a bit to cover all the cheese. You can put a couple of dashes over Lawery's season salt on top if you wish or even a bit of salt and pepper. You are your discretion.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10-15min. Eat with a salad. DH adds a bit of ketchup for dipping purposes. Yummy!!

**I say use 93% fat free meat because when it bakes the dripping from the hamburger stay in the pan. (3% has very little and is not notice able. If you choose to use anything less than 93% please cook and drain the meat first. Stir in the spinach, place in the bottom of the pan and proceed as directed. You will not have to cook as long. Probably only about 25-30 minutes total)

*** I always add spinach to any dinner I can. I call it Parsley in my house. You can kind of jumble the leaves all together and chop them up. They add absolutely no flavor to any dish. This dish is very versatile. Feel free to add any veggies you wish. It is up to you and what your family will eat. Enjoy!!!

[pkstew2]

Wow thanks so much - you gals are the best!

[MommaTrish]

I've got this one on my blog:

We make it for people all the time.
If you need more I had a whole blog train on my blog a while ago with lots of easy things.
http://mommatrishdesigns.blogspot.co...l/Blog%20Train

[Leila]

Salsa chicken. It's so easy! Just coat some chicken breasts with taco seasoning toss it into a lightly greased baking dish (just a quick psshhh of non-stick spray) top with salsa of of choice and bake until done. Open oven, top w/cheese and bake another few minutes until cheese melts. Serve with rice and beans as is or shred for tacos.

Swiss chicken is pretty simple too and it freezes well. Put 4-6 chicken breasts in a greased baking dish, top w/six slices of Swiss cheese (or whatever, I tend to use Monterey Jack) mix together one can cream of mushroom or chicken soup with one can full if milk and top cheese. Sprinkle with a box of stove top then drizzle some butter over top. Bake until done, about 45 minutes!

[Nutmeg]

Poppyseed chicken! It's pretty easy to make, easy to double, freezes well, and tastes great! My mom used to take it to all of the potlucks when we were little. It's actually what's in the oven for dinner tonight.
There are a couple of different variations floating around, but the one I use takes 2 cups of chicken, cooked and chopped; 1 8oz bar of cream cheese, softened; and 1 can of cream of chicken soup. Mix all these up and put them in an 8x8 pan. Melt a stick of butter and mix it with 3 tsp poppyseeds and 1 sleeve of crushed Ritz crackers. Sprinkle this on top and cook at 350 for 30 minutes. This works well for a small family--I'd double it for 4-5 people and use a 13x9 pan.

[Libby Pritchett]

Oh I love tatertot casserole -- I put frozen peas in mine.

Something I've made for hospitality meals before is pork chops served over egg noodles.

Dump a bunch of chops in the crockpot (I use the boneless country style cut), pour a few cans of cream of mushroom soup over (I usually use 3 cans for 1 package of chops). Cook on low all day, and just before serving, stir in a big dallop of sour cream.

Boil a package of egg noodles according to package directions and serve the porkchops on top of the noodles.

When I've done this as a hospitality meal, I buy a disposable aluminum foil pan. I just make a layer of the noodles and then pour the chops/soup on top. This is a really easy dish for them to heat up themselves if they don't want to eat it right then. It would also be easy to double this in the pot and make it for more than 1 family at a time.

I usually take this, a salad, and some brownies.

[pkstew2]

Yummy gals, you can't imagine how much of a help this is to me! My DH is going to be like "what?????".....you'll cook for others but not me?

[crystalbird]

I've made this one a few times to take to others. It makes quite a bit, so I often will use one of the disposable foil pans (like others mentioned) and then use a small casserole dish to put some in for us too. Just check the reviews about changing the order of the ziti layers - I think it probably makes a difference.

Baked Ziti

[Milmomma]

I vote for the lasagna as well, even just large batch of spaghetti. It heats easy and can be given with those bakery loaves of garlic bread. I think making the main part of the meal is the important part, for sides and breads I tend to get from the store. You can get bag salad and its a nice veggie for them for a couple meals. In my family you can't forget the breads. The bakery in the grocery store is great for that and deserts.

[mlewis]

This recipe freezes really well.

Man Lasagna (named by my hubby )
Brown 1.5 lbs ground beef; add 1 jar spaghetti sauce and simmer for 15 minutes
Boil 1/2 box penne pasta
After pasta is boiled al dente, add 3/4 cups sour cream and 1/2 ricotta cheese (I think this would be good even without the ricotta cheese or you could use cottage cheese) to the pasta and mix well.
Layer beef mixture in bottom of pan. Add pasta mixture on top. Top with 1.5-2 cups cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbling.

To freeze, make up the casserole, but don't bake it. Stick in the freezer until ready to use. I've frozen it for up to 6 weeks and it was still really good.