Feeding the in-laws....

[penquinmom]

Ok, so I had a weak moment, well actually I thought it was a good idea when I agreed to it, but anyway..I am having my husbands entire family to our house for t-giving. Now, the big day will be ok, DH will BBQ the turkey, I am making some stuff and my MIL, SIL and neice will be helping with the rest.
BUT....they will be coming on Wed. and not leaving until Fri evening or Sat. So I need meals for the rest of the time that they are here. Now I wasn't really stressed, but then my MIL sent me this email....long story but it upset me and now she will be calling next week and I want to have ideas of what else we will be eating so that I can talk about that and not about the email she sent me that made me feel like an incopetent 5yo-but that's another forum.
So I need menu ideas for 2 dinners, 1-2 lunches (not sure when they are coming/going) and 2 breakfasts. There will be 5 kids age 2-6 and 9-10 adults for these meals.
Other than BK, my DH needs to be able to eat these meals. He needs high protein, low carb, lowish fat foods. He had gastric bypass sx about a year and a half ago, and we all eat how he eats now. I however would be much better off if I also ate the amount he eats!!
I don't have a ton of money to spend on these meals, but I do coupon/sale shop and I am good at it, and since I have some time here...
Any ideas? I don't believe there are any other restrictions, other that my neices DH who is uber picky/plain eater, who will be told, here it is...if you don't like it, McDonald's is a mile that way!
Thanks everyone!

[cristeen]

Honestly, if you're cooking the tday feast, i'd be planning all the meals before and after to be super simple.

Dinners - spaghetti & meatballs are what came to mind. Feed the guests the pasta, you and yours just eat the meatballs. If you normally use homemade sauce, id make it ahead and freeze it now. Same w the meatballs. Serve w a green salad.

Breakfast, id be making a crustless quiche, fritatta, egg muffins, etc. Any kind of baked egg dish. Easy. Have a loaf of bread for those who want toast w their eggs. You could also do a crockpot hot cereal if this is a group that would do well w that. I have a great recipe for a multigrain cereal if you'd like it.

Lunch for crowds around here is usually hodge podge - set out a tray of veg, cheese, sliced meats and let them do it themselves (the open pkg, dump on tray types of meat and cheese, and veg that take less than 5 min, like baby carrots and celery sticks). I absolutely would not be planning to cook/serve 3 meals/day for that many people.

I will say, that if the family is wont to leave the dishes for you though, i'd be really blunt. As the meal was ending, i'd ask very clearly who's turn it was to clean up.

[BetsyS]

For large family suppers, spaghetti is always a hit. I like the idea of meatballs, to make yours carb free. Our family also always does tacos. You can have crunchy taco shells, tortillas for soft tacos, and plenty of lettuce to make salads. Everyone customizes to how they like it Cheap, easy, and everyone loves tacos.

I like the egg casserole ideas for breakfast, too.

For lunch, if you have the money, lunchmeat sandwiches are easy and popular. In my family of origin, egg salad is popular. My dh's family doesn't like this, though. In their family, something like sloppy joes or crockpot barbecue sandwiches would go over easier.

[maryeliz]

Could you suggest to your mother-in-law that each family take responsibility for one dinner (buying the food, cooking, and clean up). My family does this and it divides the work and lets people cook food they will like. We've often include a field trip-so we'll go to the local outside market, or an old school butcher and people can pick out ingredients they want. And some family members have chose to get take out or take everyone out to eat rather than cook.

I would also keep breakfast and lunch simple and self serve, and keep in mind you will likely have T-Day leftovers and the night before the holiday you may not want a heavy meal.

For your husband, if the meals being served are foods he just can't eat, maybe you could cook some foods he can have beforehand and just sub those in for the stuff he can't have. And for the picky eaters, I would just say in a nice way-you can help yourself to a sandwich or cereal if you don't like what we are having, or tell their parents very politely that maybe they can bring some foods that they know the kids will like.

It is very generous of you to offer your home and meals, but you really shouldn't get stuck with all the buying and cooking.

[mamadelbosque]

Another vote for both spaghetti & tacos. Only with spaghetti I'd also probably have sausage and maybe two different pastas (ie one pot of spahgetti & one pot of penne or something) - I mean, chances are you're going to need 2 pots to cook it anyways, so do two different types and you're good

And for the tacos, I'd also have a pot of beans (probably black, but possibly pintos) to go along - but thats *SO* easy. Just throw 3-6 cups of beans in a crockpot in the morning (rinse/sort first of course) covered with like, an onion cut in half and they'll be done by dinner. Have a couple different salsas... maybe even tell people your having tacos one ngiht so if they have a favorite salsa they like, to bring it That'd be lots of fun!!

[ollyoxenfree]

Do you have a slow cooker? You can make a really nice beef stew or using fairly inexpensive meat. The long slow cooking tenderizes the tougher cuts. You could even make it ahead of time and just warm it up. Pulled pork for sandwiches is another idea and is easy to do in the slow cooker.

[VisionaryMom]

Neither spaghetti nor tacos will work for her husband's diet. Yeah, you can just eat meatballs, but that's kind of crummy to have to do for days in your own home because lots of folks are there. I feel like with those, the carb is the backbone of the meal, so it's harder to just take out the tortilla and still have a taco.

MIL does the trays of cheese, crackers, veggies, etc. for Christmas, and it works wonderfully for lunch. You can do it everyday, and people don't really get tired of it because they can have their pick from everything each time. I'd add a relish tray to it.

For breakfast, you could make some breads, especially if there are recipes your hubby can eat. You can make them at night, and then folks are free to get what they want when they get up.

With my kids, I will say that I appreciate people having whole foods, so I'd love a breakfast that had bananas, boiled eggs, whole wheat bagels, etc. so that I could pick from those choices for them pretty easily.

For supper, what about a roast? You could do a roast w/ veggies and then make barley or rice on the side for anyone who wants it. Or stir-fry, which can work in a similar way.

[penquinmom]

Thank you all for some great ideas.
Yeah, spaghetti really doesn't work for DH, and I could cook him something else, but I hate that, just from an exclusion standpoint. I mean I do make/eat pizza once in a while for my kids and make him something dif. but I really try to keep it DH friendly.
I think I will kind of combine a few of these ideas, here is what I am thinking.
Dinner 1-chilli with beans, cornbread
BK-crockpot oatmeal and an egg casserole dish, plus we always have cold cereal, whole wheat breead, nut butter, jelly....
LU-I may do the lunchmeat/cheese/veggie tray idea...I'll have to see if I can find cheap lunchmeat. Or DH told me that he would be willing to grill turkey burgers and hot dogs.
Dinner 2-Dh can do tacos if I make tortilla's, which I can do ahead of time, so maybe that is a good plan.

As far as the picky ones, oh yeah, they will be told how it will be...and sadly they are not the children of the family, they are the grown-ups!!
My step FIL is actually really good about doing dishes and getting all the other men in the house to help, so I do appreciate that.
I can't really ask each family to make a meal because of financial reasons mostly (some I've seen their fridge/cupboard and it is processed scary to me!! ), some of them aren't even able to pay for their own gas to get here, they will be helped by their parents/grandparents ya know?
I think I am armed to talk to my MIL though, I have some things that I can just tell her she is welcome to bring to help.
And I think we might now have 4 more to add to our holiday-but it is my BFF and her family so that will actually help me, not hinder me!!
Thank you ladies, I knew I was coming to the right place!

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by VisionaryMom

Neither spaghetti nor tacos will work for her husband's diet. Yeah, you can just eat meatballs, but that's kind of crummy to have to do for days in your own home because lots of folks are there. I feel like with those, the carb is the backbone of the meal, so it's harder to just take out the tortilla and still have a taco.

For supper, what about a roast? You could do a roast w/ veggies and then make barley or rice on the side for anyone who wants it. Or stir-fry, which can work in a similar way.

yes, its a pain, but with a constrained budget, carbs hafta come into play somewhere. And a roast for 15 is neither budget friendly nor particularly easy to store - you have to assume the fridge is gonna be full of tky. And stir fry for that many is a lot of work unless you have a restaurant kitchen.

[BetsyS]

The reason I like tacos, sandwiches, chef salads, potato bar for large groups is that they are easily customizable. Hate onions? Leave 'em off. Love tomatoes? Pile on more. That sort of thing. That makes it easier for a large group, especially with picky eaters.

For tacos, my carb free MIL either eats a taco salad or alambre style, whih is basically the meat with toppings, no tortillas.

But this really depends on what you like. Our extended family loves Mexican food and will eat it several times a week. Stir-fry or any Asian flavors are very exotic and not as easily accepted.

[SophieAnn]

For lunches, I like to do nibbly trays, plus something hot that can be prepared ahead of time and just heated up.

Veggie tray with dip
Cheese and cracker tray
Fruit tray
Jellies/jams or spreads
Chips and dip (or Tortilla chips and salsa)

Soup, Stew or Chili can be prepared ahead of time and then reheated. You can also serve some crusty rolls or cornbread.

Another idea is to do a make-your-own sandwich bar (buffet-style) with breads & buns, cold cuts, lettuce, tomato, cheese, mustard, mayo, etc. This is a good one to do after thanksgiving because some of the leftover turkey can be used for sandwiches.

For dinners I would keep it simple. Spaghetti, pizza, burgers or frozen lasagne. Serve with salad, veggie tray and/or garlic bread.