What should I take to feed kids/youth at church

[*LC]

Hi,

 

I am provide a supper for the youth and kids at church one Sunday evening. Of course, it falls the weekend that one my kids is in a tournament. So, we may not be home between morning church and evening church.

 

Anyone have suppestion for something I can make ahead of time and bring into church that morning that will be easy to pull out and serve that evening.

 

The thought is there will be up to 70 kids from 5 to 18. This can be done as a snack supper. I will get the money that the kids put in the pot to pay for dinner; $2 a kid.

 

Thanks

 

LC

[QueenCat]

What about sandwiches, chips, fruit and cookies? You could have the sandwich makings, and the kids could make their own.

[NanceXToo]

I always find a couple of trays of baked ziti pretty easy to make.

[milovany]

It's pretty simple/unglamorous, but if I asked my three teens what they'd want me to bring they'd all say the same thing: homemade macaroni and cheeese (not the baked kind). With ingredients purchased on sale, mac and cheese can be pretty inexpensive per serving. Watermelon and chips would be decent sides.

[StephanieZ]

Can you just order a huge number of pizzas? The kids would love it. . . I bet if you negotiated a bit, a pizza shop would give you a great price on that many pizzas. Or, you might be able to find a great coupon deal. . . Add chips and a huge green salad for the few healthy kids, and you'd be good to go.

[Photo Ninja]

I have done this a lot for youth group, but usually have about $2.50 to spend. Here are the teens' favorites:

 

Chicken Caesar salad and french bread

 

Baked potatoes with toppings (sour cream, chili, cheese, butter, bacon bits) Wrap the potatoes in foil and bake till they are almost done, then place them into a cooler lined with a towel, then cover up with the towel and close the lid. They will stay hot for a very long time. I have had them still hot enough to eat 8 hours later!

 

Spaghetti, salad and french bread (cook the spaghetti and place it into gallon Ziploc bags with water. Prior to serving, drain the water and place the cooked spaghetti into very hot water for no more than a minute and it will heat up nicely. Top with hot sauce, which can be kept hot in a crock pot if needed.)

 

Pulled beef sandwiches and salad or baked beans

 

Chinese chicken salad

 

Grilled burgers, salad and beans

 

Tacos, refried beans, tortilla chips

 

Beef and bean or bean burritos and tortilla chips

 

Taco salad

Edited August 14, 2010 by Photo Ninja
directions for precooking potatoes

[Rivka]

Taco and/or burrito fixings work really well for something like this. Kids tend to love anything that's make-your-own.

[Julie in CA]

Frozen meatballs dumped into an electric roaster (or multiple crockpots) with a jar of marinara sauce.

Shredded mozzarella on the side

Bags of sandwich rolls

A couple of huge green salads with minimal toppings, and a few bottles of dressing.

Large trays of small servings of brownies (can be made the week before & stashed in freezer to pull out on the day needed). :)

 

The salad will be the hardest part. I think I'd get the big bags of iceberg salad the day before and call it done!

[*LC]

Thanks for all the great ideas.

 

We are asked not to do pizza, because the youth minister likes to keep that for the events that the youth put on. Plus, I think the youth counselors are worried they would end up with pizza every week.

 

I think I am going to go with the sanwiches, because I think everything else should be served warm. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) If my child's team makes the finals, we will be walking into church at the time the food needs to be served. The way the earlier game works with the finals, I know wouldn't have time to go home to pick up crockpots between the games or before church. My plan with sandwiches would be to put all the makings on platters that I will put in the church fridge that morning. That way I will have them there and ready to go.

 

Thanks again for the great ideas. I'm guessing I will need to do another of these dinners in a few months, so I am keeping these. They had tacos tonight.