Cost-Efficient Ideas for Hosting Large Meals
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In general, meat goes a lot farther than chicken, even
though the meat itself may cost more. When meat is sliced and in a sauce,
people take just what they will eat. When chicken pieces are served, people
take a piece, whether or not they will eat an entire piece.
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If making chicken, buy legs and separate the drumsticks,
this way you can serve more and there are smaller pieces so people won’t
take more than they will eat.
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Make filling side dishes such as pasta salad, rice or potato
salad. Both pasta salad and rice are quick to make, and all three are quite
inexpensive. Add red, green and yellow peppers to the pasta salad for a
colorful addition to the table. Egg salad is also a fairly easy and
inexpensive side dish that is filling and popular.
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Avoid expensive salads such as guacamole or even big salads
if you use the prewashed lettuce as it adds up!
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When making quiches or kugels, substitute zucchini for
broccoli as it usually tastes just as good and is much cheaper!
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Serve chicken soup with a lot of vegetables and matzah
balls. Soup is always filling and with matzah balls and veggies, you don’t
need to serve the chicken. Remove the chicken and use it in a chicken salad
for another side dish.
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Make sure to serve a lot of challah (or bread loaves during
a weekday meal.) People love bread and it is incredibly filling! Make sure
to have olive oil and garlic, chumus, or something to dip the bread in.
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Rather than buying expensive soda, make a few different
juices from concentrate as well as ice tea mixes or lemonade. Always serve
water as well as many people simply prefer this.
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Do not serve people their meals directly, but rather put out
the food on platters on the table for people to take for themselves. This
way everyone takes the amount they want, exactly what they like and less
food gets thrown away!
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Make sure to cook food that is freezable, reheatable and
tastes good as leftovers, so in case you are a typical Jewish mother and
overcook, it won’t go to waste!!!
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Latest Comments:
sometimes I make a corn salad with colorful peppers and fresh herbs and an olive oil, garlic salt dressing. I also make a 3-4 bean salad w/ an assortment of beans. diced celery, lemon/lime juice, olive oil, garlic powder, cumin.
They are both not too expensive and if I have leftovers, they make a great soup.
Just add a can of flavored diced tomatoes, some water and other extra veggies and seasonings as you like.
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I am happy with the articles on frugal ways to have kosher meals presented. However, I would like to have some recipes for 30 --50 people that can be made in a kosher kitchen of a facility. Anyone having these recipes that can be shared would be appreciated. New ideas are always helpful . Thanks .
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My mother would cook a whole chicken in the soup, giving it a really intense flavour, and then remove the whole chicken, remove the bones, shred by hand, and saute' some frozen veg with a bit of marg and flour, add the chicken to the mix, and make a chicken pot pie to serve for the main course. Filling, delish, and no added expense!
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I cook for the Shabbat and have food for the whole week, in other words there is plenty of food for guest. What is not eaten on Shabbat carries us for many meals through the week because I cook them all fresh on Friday.
I begin my day with my Challah dough which I punch down through out the day giving it great texture. Next I make my Kugel and while that bakes set eggs to hard boil then I mix dough for the kids to bake cookies and cakes that freeze well and can be defrosted with no troubles, while I work on the entrées. Later in the day the kids will also be in charge of salads. The salads include: a pasta salad, egg and or tuna salad for sandwiches and a couscous or bulgur wheat salad. If I have had time to look over lettuce then there will be a lettuce salad too.
I also make two soups one for Friday night and one for Saturday, often Gefilte Fish and borscht or a gazpacho both of which may be served cold on Saturday. You can store and or freeze small buckets if you hav
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When serving chicken, if you're cooking chicken pieces, always cut the breasts in half before you cook them. People don't notice the difference, and you can serve twice as many.
Add turnips and parsnips to chicken soup along with the traditional onions and carrots. They add an enormous amount of flavor and sweetness, and can be mashed along with potatoes as an incredible side dish.
The bigger the salad course, the less required in the main course. Red cabbage salad doesn't require checking, and with raisins and pine nuts added makes a great and colorful salad. Coleslaw is good, too.
Potatoes can be cooked in so many ways, and are an inexpensive filler and/or side dish.
People rarely diet on Shabbos; it's the time to bring out the kugels and potato dishes.
Don't spend tons of money on expensive desserts. Home made single layer cakes are easy and appreciated, as are cookies, banana breads (great use for those brown bananas in your kitchen) and can be made ahead/frozen
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a good, brief, down-to-earth article. I especially enjoyed the substitute zucchini for broccoli tip, mostly because zucchini is always cheaply available in Israel, while broccoli is not& because of course for a bug-conscious housewife, broccoli is a real challenge.
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Thanks...we like hosting Shabbat--but it does get cost prohibitive
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This is great! I ALWAYS spend TOO much on shabbos & and on food together. I would love to see more on this subject.
You see, I'm always reading frugal tips & advice - but lots of it seem to only apply to people who dont' keep kosher like - buy store brands (which usually aren't kosher) or use coupons - but much of the coupons I find in the paper are for non-kosher items (or for items that may be kosher, but are so junky I don't want to buy them for my family.
I would LOVE see some more articles on how reduce the cost of groceries while maintaining a kosher home! Is there anyway to ask visitors for their tips?
Thank You,
Sarah Zeldman
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