Meal Ideas for a Large Family

Hello A.,
Sounds like you have a lively house right now :)
I have quite a few recipes that would feed six. You can try soups and bread, I like cheesy potato soup, or I have a sausage corn chowder (it has potatos in it too), you could do chili with cornbread, and one pan of lasagna will feed a large group. If you'd like recipes, you can message me. Good luck!

Okay I dont know if you are italian or not... but pasta is a very cheap way to feed a lot of people.. the trick is making your own sauce... now my family recipe calls for about 4 hours or so to do this... so sundays are normally the best day...

First buy 4 large cans of Crushed tomoatoes, 1 small (and i mean tiny.. about half the size of a normal can) can of tomato paste, garlic, olive oil, and the meat of your choice.. i prefer italian sausage but some places sell a sauce pack.. it is one piece of pork, one piece of beef and a sausage or two... okay now for the great smelling part...

In a large pot (it has to be large cuz you are making a lot of sauce....) put about a few teaspoons of oil (just enough to coat the bottom of the pot)... put the heat on medium. Add the meat from that you have chosen and your desired amount of garlic.. now i add about two teaspoonfuls (if you dont want to get fresh garlic i found that teh minced garlic in a jar is great).. you want the meat to be browned but not cooked! try not to burn the garlic and the meat.. make sure you stir it and keep the heat on medium or lower...

okay once the meat is browned, you add one can of crushed tomatoes at a time (you should probably open these first before starting... just so that nothing burns) for every can of tomatoes fill it up with water and add one can of water... if you have a big enough pot you should be able to put all four cans in... open the tomato paste and scoop it out into the sauce... it doestn come out easily... a spoon helps :) stir it and turn the heat up to high. once it starts boiling, wait for about 20 minutes and turn the heat down all the way to low... this is called slow cooking :) you will find you have to stir it about every 20 minutes or so.. depending on your pan.. mine is non stick and doesnt burn the sauce... after a few hours you should see that if you put beef in the sauce it will start to kinda break apart.. if you put sausage you will see the links seperate... once the meat is cooked thru the sauce is ready.. it will have thickened up a bit and should be perfect consistancy for pasta.... if you want it thicker just keep it on the stove longer.. the meat will not over cook.. it stays nice and juicy... :)

put on a pot of water and boil up some pasta!

Enjoy!

I hope this helps... it feeds me and my daughter and my husband for a good week... on and off for meals... you should find with six people it might only last a few days but its a few days of CHEAP food! (and great tasting if i say so myself)

any problems email me at ____@____.com ill be glad to figure outwhats going on!!!

o and some people add seasonings to the sauce... i only do salt and pepper but feel free to add!!!

take care!

There are some great pasta meals that are very cheap. Get a can or 2 of crushed tomatoes season it up with garlic, salt and pepper let it simmer. Make 2lbs of pasta and dinner. If you want you can brown some chop meat and add it to the sauce. Great meal for about $4 without the meat and $8 with. There are many things you can do with pasta. Good Luck!

Check out Rachael Ray show menus (great ideas that you can tweak to your budget and family size) The spagitti stoup is great it also freezes well. You can make an entire pot (if you use ground turkey or pork they are around 1.5-1.7 a pound at walmart) if you make the meatballs small people think they're getting more and then you can use the same amount.
another thing you can try if you dont already have it is WIC. We have one baby boy and we get 7 gallons of milk 2 lbs of cheese and 2 1/2 doz eggs every month (and more). It saves us around $60ish ever month.

I hope this was helpful.
K.

I feel your pain! LOL

I have 2 teenage boys and a husband who eat.,...and eat.... and eat! We also currently have my 2 teenage daughters with us and we have a 9 year old. We also may have at anytime at least 2 more teen age boys here for dinner. Needless to say, I've learned to cook for many and keep to my budget for 5 people.
Here are some things I do and are fairly inexpensive.

1. Taco Mac:
1-2 pounds of cooked ground beef
1 pack of taco seasoning
Sour Cream
Salsa
Family size box of Macaroni & Cheese (I use Kraft)

Cook Mac & Cheese as directed. But, when I do the cheese, I put my butter and milk in the pan and let it melt and get hot, then I add my cheese powder and mix till smooth. Then I add about 6 slices of American cheese to it and let that melt, then add my macaroni.
Add cooked ground beef, taco seasoning and mix well.
Serve with Sour Cream and Salsa.

(If your little one doesn't like taco flavoring, remove some mac and cheese prior to mixing the rest together...I do this for my 9 year old and she just has mac & cheese for dinner. Or I add some meat to it and add my taco seasoning to the rest of the pan afterward.)

2. "Stuff in a pan" (My entire family loves this...and we use it for when all of my brothers and sisters get together with the kids for camp outs)

1 pound of breakfast sausage (I love the maple flavored myself)
6-8 potatoes, sliced
1 onion, chopped
8-12 eggs, scrambled
1-2 cups of shredded cheese

Cook your sausage (I use bulk type)
Fry potatoes and onions together in some low fat butter or olive oil. Once they are cooked, add the sausage. Then pour the eggs over top of all of it and cook till done. You can add some of the shredded cheese and melt it in too.

You can serve this with toast. I have put salsa and sour cream on it, I've served it in tortilla wraps, I've also added tomatoes and red bell peppers to it. You can fix it up with whatever you have on hand.

3. Chicken and Rice:

Family sized can of Cream of Mushroom soup
8 oz. Sour Cream
3-4 strips of bacon, chopped and cooked
3-4 T of Mrs. Dash seasoning

Blend this all together in a sauce pan and heat it up.
Serve over chicken or pork chops and sides of rice.... or you can cut up your meat and mix it with the rice and put the sauce mix with it.
My 9 year old loves this stuff.

Another thing I make is pancakes for dinner, serve with some sausage or bacon.... pancakes go a long way!

I'll try to come up with some more ideas for you.

more meat distribution(smaller portion sizes) lots of pasta

hi, i see you got a lot of pasta ideas, which is the classic way to make large amounts of delicious, cheap food. eggs are also cheap, and you can make quiche or fritatta to feed a lot of people. eggs are not really my thing, so i dont know any recipies, but im sure you can find them online. my favorite cheap thing to make is chili, because i can use all kinds of stuff in it, and i can make it super-nutritious. brown some meat with some garlic and onion in the bottom of a big pot, add some chopped peppers, you can add jalapeno if you like it hot, get rid of the ribs and seeds if you dont want it too hot. i use ground beef and/or ground chicken or turkey, some sausage if i have it, whatever. but if the money is tight you really can skip the meat all together, you will be putting in beans and rice, which makes a complete protein on their own. then i add canned tomatoes, i like to use stewed, but crushed is ok too, or diced or whole (squished up), whatever i have in the house. 2 or 3 big cans, or the equivalent. you can throw in a jar of salsa too, but you sure dont need to, i do it if i dont have enough veggies or feel like taking a shortcut or have an open jar in the fridge. once that is bubbling nicely, i turn down the heat and add beans, kidney beans are great, the darker they are the more nutritious they are, and if you rinse them in a colander first they wont be gassy. that is the base of your chili, after that, i add whatever frozen veggies i have around, i try to get the most nutrition i can in there, chopped spinach is great, chopped broccoli, chopped collard greens are super cheap, super nutritious, and add good color and texture. stuff like that. corn isnt as nutritious, but it is cheap and adds great sweetness and color. when you have everything you want in there, you can add some spices if you want, chili powder, red pepper, cayenne, whatever you and yours like, before we had kids, i used to make it super hot, now i make it pretty wimpy because we all eat it. then add a couple of cups of water and a cup or more of rice, whole grain brown rice is healthier. then close the lid and let simmer, check it after about 15 min to stir and see if you need to add more liquid for the rice. close the lid again. rice really needs about 20 min with the lid on, but i would give it a check in between because the amounts of liquids etc in there are varying and you dont want too little liquid for the rice, and when you stir, be sure to bring it up from the bottom. when the rice is done, its done, but you can simmer on low for longer.. we love this on its own, over rice or over egg noodles or any pasta, really, you can put some cheese on top when you serve it, yummy and adds calcium! serve with some toasty italian bread, its a big hearty nutritious meal. and it keeps for days in the fridge. mine comes out a bit different every time depending on what i have in my freezer. experiment with it. take care, D.

pasta dishes are good. Buying in bulk gets you discounts usually.As i feed 6 everyday myself i make dishes as come into head. Do you have any Discount grocery stores by you like Aldi's or Save-a-lot? Plus since you are helping your friends if they are homeless write a statement for them & social services should help them with housing & food stamps for food. Where do you live? i live in an income based place that has a bunch of empty appartments

First of all, how is it that you have 2 additional people living in your home & eating your food, but no addtnl money?
I would suggest that one if not both of those extra people, go and get some help from the state..(emergency welfare aid)
If they're not helping to pay a bill, they can at least contribute to the money needed to buy the food that they are eating..
Now back to your original question.--Chicken goes along way...
Because you can do so many things with it..(bake, fry, roast)
Or spaghetti-- It's quick and easy and usually will last about 2-3 days..Try that and see what works... Bon Appetit.!!

i have a friend who has 5 kids, i have 3 at home and we get together often for dinner. the kids favorite meal of mine is chicken and dumplings...i use chicken legs...or sometimes a small whole fryer. put it in the crock pot ALL DAY some italian seasoning and about 6 boullion cubes. then pick the meat off the bones turn up the crock pot for about another hour. make a slightly wet bisuit mix. shortening, flour, baking soda and milk. drop by spoonfuls into broth cover and let cook about 20 minutes or so flipping the dumplings about half way through.

years ago I had 3 kids and me and my husband, then I'd always have friends stay with us for weeks or months here or there, so I know what you mean! I used to just throw things together, especially the following: ground beef, fried in a pan, drained, can be mixed with spaghetti sauce AND any vegetables you have on hand, and mixed in with any type of pasta. It's pretty cheap, and it's filling with the pasta, plus has the meat and veggies all in one. If you fry up a pan of any ground beef you can get, even if it's a small amount.. you can mix in a can of chopped tomatoes and spice it up like spaghetti sauce, so it doesn't have to be a pricey jar of sauce.... hey, it goes a long way on a small budget! I've had so many friends stay with me I felt at one time or another I supported every friend I've had! It's not cheap that's for sure. Good luck

Hamburger is generally on sale for .99/lb at least once a month if you buy 3 or more lbs. You can make sauce, meatballs for sandwiches, chili, tacos,meatloaf or my favorite, shephard's pie-cooked burger,gravy on top,corn & mashed potatoes in a pyrex at 350 for 30 min.If you shop early, you can get meat manager's specials-$2 off a package. You can make french bread pizza, english muffin pizzas. Spiral hams are usually on sale monthly for .99-1.69/lb. You can make sides for the first night, ham & eggs, sandwiches, ham & cheese quiche, boil the hambone down & make split pea soup. We only buy what is on sale. If there is a limit, take 2 people & check out separately. Use coupons when ever you can, especially on sale items. We also eat alot of pasta-pasta with red sauce, vodka sauce, alfredo, just butter, butter & chick peas. Sometimes we have pancakes for dinner. Stock your freezer whenever something is on sale. It is not uncommon for my family of 4 to have 10 lbs. of hamburger & 10 lbs. of chicken in my freezer. I also shop 2 different supermarkets & just buy sale items. Hope this helps. Good luck. You are doing a great thing for your friends.

There are lots of websites that have thrifty meals-but the first that comes to mind is the story of the Duggar family.
http://www.jimbob.info/recipes.html