Meal for 8.. with what.....!!!!

lizzie12_2

Have been cooking a meal for friends one evening a month instead of eating out. Now the small group has grown to 4 couples......which is a great night. The snag is....... the friends we were going to next week have cancelled due to something cropping up.....they have swapped with us.

So..... we are catering for two couples next weekend !!!!!!!

No problem you may say..... slight hitch . we are really running short this month.....as this happens sometimes. Everything gone pair shape.

What the ........do I do for a meal???

lil_me

What have you got in/got to spend would probably be a good start. Any specific fussy eaters, vegetarians etc to cater for ?

Cheap and easy meals I do when friends come over include lasagne, chilli etc.

Are you expected to do one course or more ?

lizzie12_2

Right.... Ive just made a list of the stock we have to use ( have to use this , no leftover pennies for extras other than bread and milk..)
Sounds terriblebut, I am doing the storecupboard challange ( alone) for this month and had NOT expected the rota to change...

Fridge

4 eggs
cheese (lots), cabbage,Bag of Radish, 5 peppers, stick celery, 2 packs beetroot, tomatoes, 2 rounds gammon, pack of Mozzarella, potato salad, Red Pesto,

FREEZER stewing meat (2packs), Turkey Breast cubes ( stirfry), Garlic Bread, Summer Fruits (strawberry, blackberry, red and black currant) 2 packs, Mince beef, Chicken breast(1), waffles, fish cakes/fish fingers, half bag of swede,cauliflower,damzons. 2 large bags of spinach!!

Tins of fruit, salmon, Tuna, Tomatoes,soup.
Packets, Jelly,soup mix,mung beans,Bulgar wheat, Harricot Beans.

Large bottle of wine and cans of beer (Morrisons special)

Hope someone can have an idea that springs to mind.

Not sure regarding a buffet, starter and main meal OR Main meal and a sweet.

I know we will have a good evening, but slightly on edge as to what to prepare at short notice.
Dont mind what gets suggested, Veggi, meat dishes,

Bearing in mind we have to eat for the rest of the month also.

Any Takers? Thanks in advance....
L.

lil_me

If you can buy some lasagne pasta, with what you have in very doable. I think it's about 30p for a value one which should make enough for 8 easy, or is it 6 as you said 2 extra couples ? Anyway any left overs can freeze. Just get cheaper/reduced bread/milk maybe to compensate. My Dad does one with spinach in the layers aswell as the beef (my partner won't eat it) but I like it done that way. If I remember correctly he blanches fresh spinach and adds it in with the cheese layer. Already said you have garlic bread, then maybe a summer fruit pudding for dessert ? Soup for a starter instead of a desert.

Stew and dumplings/cobbler if you have some flour as another suggestion.

Other option is to work out what is for each meal each day for you and your partner, if there simply isn't enough to cover that plus this extra evening, I would be honest and say I couldn't..looking at what you have in, if that is to last another 19 days for 2 people I don't think it'll stretch that far without needing a few extras,never mind even more to cook for.

traciekan

make a bread and butter puding layering buttered b read with chesse toms leeks whatever ensing with cheese then pour 3eggs mixed with milk all over and bake gas 4 for about 30 mins. serve with some roast ve esp onions and pepers and a saladcost next to nohing tastes great
make some meriungues and mix them with the frozen fruit for eton mess

Fivenations

Well, you've got plenty of booze so that's a good start! And people normally bring more so hopefully everyone will be too squiffy to remember what the dessert is!

For starter, use the tuna or salmon to make some kind of pate.
For main, Bulgur stuffed peppers served with a sidesalad
For dessert - Why not use the frozen fruit and some bread to make a Summer pudding? Or use then to make a jelly type dessert?

Are any of the guest coming good enough friends to understand your predicament and help out by bringing along a few items to bulk out the main meal you provide?

Old Italian saying - Friends are like umbrellas. You can never find one when it rains.

lizzie12_2

lil_me wrote: »

If you can buy some lasagne pasta, with what you have in very doable. I think it's about 30p for a value one which should make enough for 8 easy, or is it 6 as you said 2 extra couples ? Anyway any left overs can freeze. Just get cheaper/reduced bread/milk maybe to compensate. My Dad does one with spinach in the layers aswell as the beef (my partner won't eat it) but I like it done that way. If I remember correctly he blanches fresh spinach and adds it in with the cheese layer. Already said you have garlic bread, then maybe a summer fruit pudding for dessert ? Soup for a starter instead of a desert.

Stew and dumplings/cobbler if you have some flour as another suggestion.

Other option is to work out what is for each meal each day for you and your partner, if there simply isn't enough to cover that plus this extra evening, I would be honest and say I couldn't..looking at what you have in, if that is to last another 19 days for 2 people I don't think it'll stretch that far without needing a few extras,never mind even more to cook for.

Thanks for that,, yes Knew it was a tight month,but not this tight, this is for three of us not 2! Oh said not to change plans again. Men!!!!

Thanks for the ideas, will have a play around and see what comes up.
This is a challange and a half .

lizzie12_2

traciekan wrote: »

make a bread and butter puding layering buttered b read with chesse toms leeks whatever ensing with cheese then pour 3eggs mixed with milk all over and bake gas 4 for about 30 mins. serve with some roast ve esp onions and pepers and a saladcost next to nohing tastes great
make some meriungues and mix them with the frozen fruit for eton mess

That sounds lovely, thanks for the idea.

Fivenations

Another starter idea - Tuna and haricot bean salad.

Good luck. Hope next month is better for you.

Nicki

Do you have rice or pasta?

How about using the gammon, eggs and some of the veg to do a fried rice dish. If no rice, but pasta, you could use the salmon, cheese and pasta to make a nice salmon pasta bake, and serve with the garlic bread.

For pudding you could use the tinned fruit to make Black-Saturn's fruit cobbler, which is just tinned fruit, flour, sugar and milk and apparently goes down a storm (its on my menu for next week but I haven't tried it yet)

If you need a starter, you could use the spinach and the cheese, wrapped in pastry and then fried to make spanakopita.

I would keep the bulk of your meat for the family for the rest of the month

GIRLPOWER_2

We do something like this but everyone brings a course.

The next one is at my house in a few weeks for 4 couples.

us - mains -
couple a - starters
couple b - dessert
couple c - cheese board

The person who hosts always does the mains and the other couples normally have a course they have not done for the last 2 times and everyone brings wine. Everyone makes lots of effot as you only have one course to do and if a couple cancels then the cheese board goes which to be honest hardly gets touched anyway!

It may be worth a thought as it's not just the cost, its all the planning and work that goes into it.

If I were you I'd use the stewing steak and slow cook in red wine and tyme.


HTH