Soup Kitchen ideas

tallyhoh

Been working at a soup kitchen for the homeless for a while now. To keep expenses down for them (electric/food) I have started doing the cooking at home a couple of times a week with a friend


To start with we have been doing pasta & a soup.


Its been okay up to now as I had a freezer full of veg from the allotment from the summer but now running out.


We can buy packs of cheap pasta but what can we use with it?


We need cheap ideas for soup as well.


Some of the customers could benefit from a fairly nutritious but filling meal.


Any ideas welcome for approx. 35/40 people

meritaten

firstly, use the organisation to get access to wholesalers for 'catering' size cans/packs, bulk packs of cheese etc. many of them will issue access cards to charity workers etc.
as for fresh veg - you must have wholesalers in the area who would be willing to donate a small amount of veg to charity - you are only feeding 35 to 40 people, a small sack of potatoes, and ten or twelve leeks, a few pints of milk and you have a nutritious tasty soup.
ask in your local bakers if at the end of the day you could have any leftover bread. (assuming you are serving evening times).
the name of the game is 'SCROUNGE' where you can!
Then keep recipes simple - the more ingredients the higher the cost. even small amounts add up over the year.

Steve059

This recipe of mine for a vegetable soup is simple, yet very flexible about the exact ingredients. I also can't see any potential dietary or medical problems.

VEGETABLE SOUP

Makes 4 x 250ml servings

INGREDIENTS

100g to 125g of at least 2 vegetables (see below)
1 onion
½ a tablespoon of oil
2 vegetable stock cubes
1 litre of water

METHOD

Peel the vegetables and chop any tops and/or bottoms off, if required, and then chop them into 2cm (1 inch) pieces. Peel the onion and chop it into 2cm (1 inch) pieces.

Put the oil into a large saucepan on a medium heat. Add the onion and fry for about 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Stir frequently to stop it sticking.

Add the stock cubes, vegetables and water. Stir thoroughly. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat until it is just boiling.

Put the lid on and cook for 30 minutes. Check the liquid level from time to time and top up if it starts to dry out.

If you have a food processor, put the soup in it and blend it to the desired consistency. If you have a hand blender, put it in the soup and blend it to the desired consistency. If you don’t have a food processor or hand blender, use a potato masher, press the soup through a sieve with the back of a spoon, or leave it lumpy. If you used a food processor, rinse out the saucepan and put the soup back into the saucepan.

Put the saucepan on a low heat and reheat the soup gently.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

Use green vegetables (celery, courgettes, green beans, leeks, peas) and mushrooms for a light and delicate soup.

Use root vegetables (carrots, parsnips, potatoes, swedes, turnips) and tomatoes for a thick and hearty soup.

Use both green and root vegetables for a medium soup. The so-called “Holy Trinity” of soup base ingredients is carrot, celery and onion.

boultdj

How about looking at thr week end deals at L*dl and super 6 at Ald* for ideas.

This week end is mince beef at L's so I'm thinking 2/3 pks of beef,bag of onions,2/3 bags of carrots,1/2 swedes and you'v mentioned that you'v got pasta so minstroni soup, or get more beef and do cottage pie with a 3 root mash.

Next week it's chicken, so I'd think chicken and pasta in white sauce and then use the carcasses to do a chicken & sweetcorn noodle soup.

Also see if you can find Memory Girl's blog, in her archives there is a challange that she did where she did a diffrent soup each day for a month.hth

MummyBobble

Some great ideas there.

Is your soup kitchen part of a registered charity? If it is you may be able to apply for grants/donations towards your running costs (if not it's still worth looking into). Most large supermarkets have some sort of community support so it may be worth asking them and explaining what you're doing (they may ask for something in writing but I've always found speaking to someone first is the best way to start). Our PTA have had donations of tins of chocolate, wine etc for our raffles from our local Asd@ so you never know, they may be prepared to throw the odd sack of spuds, onions, loaf of bread or whatever your way. Every little helps

What you are doing is fab :T

FurryBeastOz

tallyho it might make sense to PM monnagran who posts on the OS Doorstep thread. She does church catering for a drop-in centre so might have lots of ideas/recipes. Although it doesn't sound like her last effort was as successful as normal. She seems to cook for 70odd people quite often.

'Distinguished myself at lunchclub on Wednesday.
Tuesday night I got absolutely everything ready for the morning, even to weighing out all the ingredients for dumplings and chocolate crunch and putting the right number of eggs in basins with the egg whisk beside them. Next morning I sailed into the kitchen and proceeded to somehow mix up dumpling dough and choccy crunch. It wasn't until I had a strange mixture of flour, suet, salt, cocoa, sugar, melted marge and eggs all in their lined tins and baking in the oven that I realised what I'd done. No, I couldn't have given it to anyone to eat, it was vile. Talk about being organised. I'm giving that up for sure. Back to disorganised chaos - much safer.

got-it-spend-it

I make a dead cheap vegetable and lentil soup for our sunday lunch. The lentils make it more nutritious and filling, and you can really include whatever veg you have.

For 4 portions I use the following:

1 onion, chopped
1 medium potato, peeled and chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
Aprox 50g red lentils (although I never weigh these and just chuck a handful in.
1.5-2 pints vegetable stock

I just cook all of the above down then blend. If I have any knocking about then I also add parsnips, butternut squash or a sweet potato too. It's also nice with some curry spices added too.

tallyhoh

MummyBobble wrote: »

Some great ideas there.

Is your soup kitchen part of a registered charity? If it is you may be able to apply for grants/donations towards your running costs (if not it's still worth looking into). Most large supermarkets have some sort of community support so it may be worth asking them and explaining what you're doing (they may ask for something in writing but I've always found speaking to someone first is the best way to start). Our PTA have had donations of tins of chocolate, wine etc for our raffles from our local Asd@ so you never know, they may be prepared to throw the odd sack of spuds, onions, loaf of bread or whatever your way. Every little helps

What you are doing is fab :T

It is a registered charity & we do get grants & stuff but sometimes it barely covers the electric bill & rent.


I think you are quite right & I will talk to our pastor regarding canvassing more stores.


Thank you for all your ideas so far people

Nicki

I do this too for about 50. We tend to do things like macaroni cheese (sauce made with eggs milk and cheese to be more nutritious) with packs if bacon off cuts mixed in for meat eaters; minced beef with cheap frozen veg and gravy served with dumplings or cobbler; noodles with veg and chicken; chilli or spaghetti Bol padded out with extra veg. I don't very often do potato based stuff I have to confess as peeling potatoes for 50 is quite an undertaking

Owain_Moneysaver

Nicki wrote: »

I don't very often do potato based stuff I have to confess as peeling potatoes for 50 is quite an undertaking

Maybe a local chip shop would run a load for you through their 'rumbler' in the morning before they open.

And the OP should note that any more than 'occasional' food preparation may require the kitchen to be registered with Environmental Health as food premises.

mardatha

Rice puddings.
Wartime soup recipes.
Piles of pancakes with butter or jam.
Pies with lots of veg and little meat.
Lots of bread and jam or bread and butter or bread and anything.
Good for you, great job!