439013 Fri Sep 07 08:16:06 -0700 2007 10 31 Home Cooking 0 2919363 I have been providing food for a homeless shelter housing about 12 adults. This month, like last, I have been "assigned" the main dish. The food is to be dropped off in the morning, refrigerated and served that evening after being heated in on oven. Last month I made a chicken sausage, onion, bell pepper melange which was very popular. I'm trying to come up with a different dish this month - not too costly, not too exotic, that can be prepared the day before, and held until reheating before serving. One other caveat: I deliver it in a disposable alum. foil pan, so I'm looking for something that I can either prepare in one, or transfer to one for reheating. I was thinking of a paella of sorts or arroz con pollo. Any other ideas? Fri Sep 07 08:16:06 -0700 2007 11146 EllenMM 1 2919578 Ellen, I have volunteered at a soup kitchen for 12 years and almost any comfort/diner meals get rave reviews. Mots of the people there have limited palates and they seek known food that is filling and not overly spicy. We usually feed 75-80 people 3 courses on a budget of $35-40, plus donations. I'm not sure where you live, but pot pies/shepherds pies are well received. Beef stronganoff and stews go over well. Chicken and dumplings goes over very well. Any sort of lasagna/filled pasta always ends up with no leftovers. Scratch pizza is fantastic if you have the time. I make 1 with cheese and pepperoni, and 1 with sausage/pepperoni and mushrooms. Meatloaf and scalloped potatoes gets rave reviews. I did pulled pork BBQ with sides of beans and slaw and they loved it. The menus that don't do well are vegetarian or ethnic cuisines that aren't native or popular in the area. Fresh veggies are abundant now and they are well received and stretch the available food dollar. I want to thank you for helping others, and hope that many of those on Chowhound with the time and resources would consider doing the same. Fri Sep 07 09:11:53 -0700 2007 2919363 22220 Kelli2006 1 2919750 Good for you! Items I've prepared in the last volunteer kitchen (Which was almost 100% based on donations): Layered Mexican casserole: Spanish rice (tomato, bay, peppers, cumin), refried beans, spinach, sauteed peppers, meat of some sort (optional), olives, cheese (just make sure not to pack down the layers too much so that it takes a reasonable time to reheat through) Pepper steak Along the same lines as chicken and dumplings- Chicken pot pie (kept pastry topping unheated until just before service) Pasta primavera (I put some white beans in this dish, which surprised a lot of people- fortunately in a good way :) Pumpkin and spinach lasagna made with white sauce instead of red Chili macaroni and cheese- stewed tomatoes, macaroni, ground meat or beans, chili powder, garlic, topped with cheese (this we actually did with a large donation of ground venison that no one wanted to use! It went over well.) That's all I can think of off the top of my head- good luck! Fri Sep 07 09:57:09 -0700 2007 2919363 67581 4Snisl 1 2919770 Laurie Colwin writes in her Home Cooking book that colcannon went over like a lead balloon with the homeless women she was cooking for :) The only thing I've seen fail here is rye bread--universally hated. Fri Sep 07 10:06:22 -0700 2007 2919363 19108 foiegras 1 2920068 I have been doing this monthly for 3 years for a women's place and we love getting to cook for a group. Much more variety than cooking for two of us and of course we get to eat what we make. The rules for my group are absolutely no cooking with alchohol and meat must be cooked thoroughly. I buy the aluminum foil pans at Costco and they are very inexpensive when bought in bulk. I try to be seasonal. Last night we made a cold salad with pasta and grilled chicken in a spicy ranch dressing- the forecast was for 90 today. Meatball subs are good in the warm weather. I buy a local rice pilaf mix on sale and doctor it with veggies and serve with oven baked chicken legs (I make my own shake and bake) - they are really popular. I try to avoid tomato sauce and pasta as they get a lot of that. I often fall back on a giant meatloaf and mashed or oven baked potato. (Salad and veg is provided by another person). Macaroni and cheese is my vegetarian entree. Over the years we have resurrected tuna casserole, Rotel chicken spaghetti, cowboy baked beans, spanish rice, and other comfort foods from our past. I look for loss leaders like the 99 cents a pound hotel turkey breast and freeze it and I also but Italian sausage in bulk for a sausage bake. I'm quite fond of the All Recipes site for ideas and proportions as I can pump in my available ingredients and get some good suggestions. http://allrecipes.com/ Fri Sep 07 11:23:37 -0700 2007 2919363 66281 ginnyhw 1 2920163 Have you seen the tuna noodle casserole on the Chow site? It looks really good. It's a comfort food for me: http://www.chow.com/recipes/10889 Fri Sep 07 11:45:24 -0700 2007 2919363 39874 chowser 2 2921274 I encourage everyone to try the Chow tuna noodle recipe! It's really great...we loved it; I'm sure that the Old Bay Seasoning and dijon mustard are what gives it such a great flavor. Fri Sep 07 17:03:56 -0700 2007 2920163 11983 Val 1 2920318 Our Church group serves to a very large soup kitchen once a month. We always make baked chicken. We always hear from the organizer that it is one of the favorite meals provided. We usually serve it with a side of bread, veggie, and salad if available. Fri Sep 07 12:16:15 -0700 2007 2919363 56203 churchka 1 2921188 N.O. style red beans & rice. Easy to cook, easy to like. You can stretch a pound of smoked sausage to feed 12 by halving it lengthwise, then slicing into rounds. Saute the sausage pieces in a fair amount of butter, throw in a diced onion and four or five diced cloves of garlic, add the beans & water to cover. Toss in a couple of bay leaves, some thyme, and pepper to taste. Simmer for 2 hrs, or until the beans are tender. Take out about a cup of beans and mash lightly. Stir the mashed beans back into the pot to thicken. Holds well for several days, easily reheated. Fri Sep 07 16:36:40 -0700 2007 2919363 12023 Hungry Celeste 2 2922089 I feed my kids' soccer team after games and one of their favorites are baked ziti with chicken, sausage, mozarella and and tomato sauce. Their other favorite is I chicken, brocolli and pasta with alfredo sauce. For both dishes I prepare the ingrediants and toss it all into large aluminum pans and refridge until I am ready to heat in the oven. They are very easy to prepare, can be done inexpensively and are huge crowd pleasers. PS I love what you are doing. Sat Sep 08 05:42:46 -0700 2007 2921188 50795 greenstate 3 2922361 Chicken Pot Pie Chicken Stew with biscuits Spaghetti and meatballs Chicken, Rice and broccoli casserole If you have a computer, go to www.foodtv.com The searches are endless. And how wonderful you are for bringing such happiness to people who have so little in their lives right now. Sat Sep 08 08:50:13 -0700 2007 2922089 15691 mcel215