Big family, big eaters.....HELP

[mamadege5]

Mamas of lots of children....help me with ideas for BIG family meals. My kids are all great eaters, one is slightly picky but we've taught them "if you don't like____ ingredient, pick it out" (mine is onions, yuck)

How do you save money and prepare BIG meals? I feel like I am constantly making food for a large party. We usually eat it all with no leftovers. We always have bread and salad with our dinners, dh calls the bread "filler" lol

And this is with only 4 kids eating, wait until the baby starts......

[tnrsmom]

Hey mama, I have 7 of us eating every meal. Dh is a huge eater and honestly probably eats enough for 2 people. :LOL I am a snacker during the day though so I eat much less at dinner.

I try to use items in my freezer such as frozen veggies which I buy in a huge bag. I also buy my meat in bulk and freeze into meal size portions. When I make lasagna or casserole type dishes, I always make at least 2 but usually 3 or 4 and put them in the freezer. If I have a few leftover lasagna noodles, I roll them up with a bit of ricotta and freeze them for a quick lunch for the kids.

I do the same thing as you with the pick out what you don't like. I try to have a main dish as well as 2 to 3 side dishes. This usually guarantees that everyone likes at least one part of the meal. If not, they are always welcome to an apple, carrots and some cheese.

Not sure if this is what you were looking for but hope it helps.

[coopnwhitsmommy]

first buy a BIG deep freeze Second buy 2 steers, 1pig, 50 chickens, 3 turkeys, and 2 geese ;-) that's what we did growing up with 5 people in the family, and what my Grandparents did with 7 people and a deer in their family.

But that might not be feasable as it isn't in ours now. We buy meat, and cheese in bulk, we buy tons of the starkist tuna pouches because they store easier than the cans I can seriously fit 20-30 in the space that 5-6cans would sit. We garden, and buy and make fresh frozen veggies. I get the big bags of pasta's 5lbs bags of rice. I do most of my shopping at stores like SAL and Aldies I take advantage of coupons. and I keep a running tab of what is in my cupboards. So when I go shopping I know exactly what I need. I also make my own breads It's a lot of fun...I have a little family now just the four of us but we plan on adding 2-3more so I'm practicing now :-)

hth

[kerc]

what about more rice/pasta as fillers.

[Alkenny]

Soups! Veggie soup, potato soup, chili, etc....with bread and salad, it'll go far!

Rice and beans are great fillers too!

[lilsacredmoon]

bumping this thread for more hints/tips/imput/advice ???
We are a family of 5 here which doesn't seem like a lot number wise but oiy! Dh eats for 2 full grown men, Ds who is 7 eats (and burns off) as much food as a 250 lb adult man, Dd who is 4 eats very well for a 4 yr old, my mother who lives with us literally eats me out of house and home by consuming more than Dh & Ds combined!
We are very much meat eaters here but do a lot of taters, rice, noodles, veggies, salads and homemade bread as well. For an average dinner I cook enough food to feed minimum of 12 (sometimes 18) servings which is readily scarfed down with hardly any leftovers.
So I am all ears for anyone's helpful advice
Thanks!

[Tummy]

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[mamadege5]

oh cool, my thread was bumped. Still looking for large quantity meals.