pot luck ideas
 

Can anyone give me an idea for a main food item for a quilters retreat?

How about a crock pot full of meatballs. Use for sandwiches or not.

I buy enough pulled pork or beef from a barbecue place to fill a crock pot. I keep it in zip lock bags in the fridge until the day needed. It's hassle free.

Stuffed shells? The large shells in the pasta aisle have the recipe on the back of the box. No meat involved.

BBQ
Italian Beef
chicken salad
Ham
meat loaf
Soup
chicken and noodles
casseroles

Check out The Pioneer woman on the internet or Food Network. I love her chicken spaghetti...make ahead and put in crock pot to warm up. All the recipes I have tried are winners!

Chicken spaghetti, mexican-type casseroles or taco salad.

I have a great recipe for Tortilla Soup. It fills up one of those great big crock pots, so it goes a long way. If interested, send me a PM. Every time I've taken it anywhere, it was a hit.

I make this for pot lucks when I feel like I need to cook something. I take packages of small rolls to make sliders and don't have a drop left. Be sure and take many copies of the recipe with you.
It's so good and known by so many names it was given the name of The Roast.

The Roast
1 (4-5 lb) beef chuck roast
1 envelope ranch dressing mix
1 enveolope au jus mix
1/2 cup butter, cut into tablespoons
5 Pepperoncini peppers (comes in a jar like pickles)

Place roast in crock pot. Sprinkle with ranch and au jus mixes. Place butter on top. Add peppers. Cook on low for 8 hours or until meat is very tender.

I pre heat my crock pot with boiling water and use a slow cooker liner. Pre heating takes an hour off the cooking time.

Thank you for the great ideas!!!

I'd make a chicken salad that can be served hot or cold.

I try to gear the food to the season or the weather. Mains are easy as the great gals have listed cold weather I like to bring crock pot stroganoff with crusty french bread. Obviously, lots of salad side dishes. Good Luck.

I have served ravioli - got it at Costco and had it ready to go except for the sauce, put it in the crock pot added the sauce and had extra sauce on the side for the folks that liked a lot.

I've not tried this recipe, but am making it for my next pot luck, It's from apassionateplate.com

bk

Chicken Breast Marbella

http://apassionateplate.com/wp-conte...78-300x200.jpg Print

This recipe has been adapted from the original Chicken Marbella in The Silver Palate Cookbook. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts replace the skin-on, bone-in pieces, making this easier to eat at a party.
Author: A Passionate Plate
Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 6 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• ½ cup red wine vinegar
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup dried pitted prunes, cut in half
• ½ cup dried apricots, cut in half
• ½ cup pitted Spanish green olives
• ½ cup capers and a little juice
• 1 Tbsp. minced garlic
• ⅛ cup dried oregano
• ½ cup chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

1. COOK THE CHICKEN:
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
4. Heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Spray the pan with a little olive oil non-stick spray (or brush lightly with olive oil) and place three of the chicken breasts in the pan. Cook the chicken until it begins to brown, about 2 minutes, then turn and lightly brown them on the other side.
5. Remove chicken to a baking sheet lined with foil (the chicken will not be fully cooked at this point).
6. Wipe out the pan if necessary, then repeat the browning process with the remaining three chicken breasts.
7. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the chicken just until it is cooked through. (Test by cutting into a piece or using a meat thermometer - chicken should be 165 degrees). Be careful not to overcook the chicken or it will be dry. When the chicken is fully cooked, remove from the oven to cool.
8. PREPARE THE MARINADE:
9. In a large saucepan, combine the red wine vinegar, olive oil, white wine, brown sugar, prunes, dried apricots, Spanish olives, capers, garlic, and oregano. Heat the marinade to a boil and cook for one minute more. Stir in the parsley and remove from heat.
10. SLICE THE CHICKEN & ADD THE MARINADE:
11. Slice each chicken breast diagonally into thin strips. Place the chicken into a glass or ceramic casserole or other dish with sides, and pour the marinade over the chicken. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to two days.
12. SERVE:
13. Chicken Breast Marbella can be reheated before serving covered tightly with foil or a lid. Or, serve it cold or at room temperature.

Bkay - sounds Delish, but way too much work, extra purchases for me...

Onebyone - roast beef. Shred after cooking? How long cook? Have one in the freezer...may try this.......thanks

When at a re-treat with dinners involved.... divide the number of dinners by the amount of quilters. (example: 4 dinners, 8 quilters = 2 quilters to a group) each group decides on what they want to "MAKE" for ONE DINNER. Of course you need to pre-plan all this in advance to make sure you have all the ingredients you'll need, each night is accounted for.(no duplicates ??) Each night a different GROUP cooks dinner. We have done this for retreats, camping trip, family reunions, etc. The BEST part of all is that you have to cook (and clean up) only ONE MEAL for the entire retreat. Anything goes but crock pots are highly utilized. We had a girls only camping trip a few years ago. We were out for 4 nights. We had enough gals that breakfast was also cooked by different groups. Lunch was "bring your own" as we were usually out hiking somewhere at noon. When YOUR group dinner is over you just sit back and relax while the next group cooks.... easy peasy ! Of course there are lots of snacks, extra salads and desserts that show up. NO ONE has EVER gone hungry. One year we had a FRIENDLY competition between a few groups. OH MY ! We ate like royalty ! My group included my friend and me! We signed up for the last breakfast. Probably about 20 + gals on this trip... We had scrambled eggs, bacon, bagels with cream cheese and Fruit Soup(served with a dollop of cottage cheese on top!) which we made ahead of time and froze. It acted as ICE in the cooler and was perfectly thawed and chilled (after being in the cooler for 4 days) by the time it was eaten....clean up was a breeze, too ! Needless to say, there was NO FOOD left when clean up time came! Wash a few dishes and we were done! Off on another hike ! More hands make less work...... Happy Quilting !!

Recipe for the fruit soup, please
QUOTE=borntoquilt;7569573]When at a re-treat with dinners involved.... divide the number of dinners by the amount of quilters. (example: 4 dinners, 8 quilters = 2 quilters to a group) each group decides on what they want to "MAKE" for ONE DINNER. Of course you need to pre-plan all this in advance to make sure you have all the ingredients you'll need, each night is accounted for.(no duplicates ??) Each night a different GROUP cooks dinner. We have done this for retreats, camping trip, family reunions, etc. The BEST part of all is that you have to cook (and clean up) only ONE MEAL for the entire retreat. Anything goes but crock pots are highly utilized. We had a girls only camping trip a few years ago. We were out for 4 nights. We had enough gals that breakfast was also cooked by different groups. Lunch was "bring your own" as we were usually out hiking somewhere at noon. When YOUR group dinner is over you just sit back and relax while the next group cooks.... easy peasy ! Of course there are lots of snacks, extra salads and desserts that show up. NO ONE has EVER gone hungry. One year we had a FRIENDLY competition between a few groups. OH MY ! We ate like royalty ! My group included my friend and me! We signed up for the last breakfast. Probably about 20 + gals on this trip... We had scrambled eggs, bacon, bagels with cream cheese and Fruit Soup(served with a dollop of cottage cheese on top!) which we made ahead of time and froze. It acted as ICE in the cooler and was perfectly thawed and chilled (after being in the cooler for 4 days) by the time it was eaten....clean up was a breeze, too ! Needless to say, there was NO FOOD left when clean up time came! Wash a few dishes and we were done! Off on another hike ! More hands make less work...... Happy Quilting !![/QUOTE]

Oh, sounds so good

Two ideas.... I like chili with bowls of different toppings. Chicken Parmesan: buy already cooked and frozen breaded chicken breasts....bake in oven as directed. Remove, top with slices of mozzarella cheese and heated marinara sauce. Pass the parm cheese. Serve with salad and French bread. The cheese will melt without putting in oven.

Pete, would you be willing to share the Fruit Soup recipe?

mit150 and Texas Sunshine, I piggy-backed on your suggestions and came up with something using an old recipe I have for Chicken Spaghetti. It's not the usual spaghetti that we think of. It's more like The Pioneer Woman's recipe except for a few items. I used penne pasta, and combined ingredients to make it more of a tex-mex dish. I used sliced smoked sausage instead of chicken. Was delicious and made a bunch! I kept some for DH's lunch and brought the rest to a funeral at one o'clock. Recipe will follow as soon as I write it as I made it.{{wink}}

This is the "Southwest" Pasta I did today. This is not my usual Cajun fare but it was delicious.

1# sliced smoked sausage, browned in Dutch oven. REmove from DO and set aside.
Add chopped onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, and parsley. (I buy the fresh combination. Used about 1 1/2 cups.)
Add a litle water, broth, or red wine to deglaze the pot. and allow vegetables to cook until tender.
Add a small jar of chopped pimento then the following ingredients:
1 can condensed cream of tomato soup
1 can condensed cream of Golden mushroom soup
14 oz. can of unsalted chicken or beef broth
`1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

Cook on low heat until reduced a little then add 1# mild-Mexican Velveeta cheese ut in small cubes. Then all of the cheese has melted, add the sausage. Cook slowly, stirring often, until desired thickness of sauce is reached.
Toss over 2# biled rotina or penne sausage.

Note: I added a small block of cream cheese to the mix. And no salt added to the sauce, but I did salt the pasta.

I sent the recipe, it came up. Saw a type and edited. It did not save. Not sure what happened. It seemed to be locked in the reply box. So closed it out. Will attempt later.

This is my second try to get this recipe through. This time I'll try not editing if I get any typos.
Southwest Pasta
1# sliced smoked sausage, browned in Dutch oven. Remove and set aside.
Add chopped onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, and parsley. (I buy the fresh combination. Used about 1 1/2 cups.)
Add a little water, broth, or red wine to deglaze the pot and allow the vegetables to cook until tender.
And a small jar of chopped pimento then following ingredients:
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 can Golden mushroom soup
1 14-oz. can of unsalted chicken or beef broth
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Cook on low heat until reduced a little, then add 1# mild Mexican Velveeta cheese, cut into small cubes for quicker melting.
Once the cheese is melted, add the browned sausage and allow to cook slowly until the sauce reaches desired thickness. Stir often to avoid scorching.

Toss over 2# boiled penne or rotini pasta.

Note: the only salt I add is what I add to the pasta.

Oh my! I see that it has come in.:o

Here is the recipe for the Fruit Soup I mentioned in an earlier post. Hope you enjoy ! You can use any fruit you want in any amount but for some reason the BANANA in a MUST.... enjoy! And let me know how you liked it!

Fruit Soup:
1 pint fresh strawberries OR 1 (16oz) frozen strawberries, thawed and mashed)
1 cup water
2 TBLS white sugar
2 TBLS quick cooking tapioca
1 small can frozen orange juice concentrate (add water if soup is too thick!)
1 banana, sliced
1 apple, chopped, seeded, cored
2 cups chopped fresh or canned fruit (drain syrup) of your choice. I always use more than it calls for.


Soak tapioca and sugar in water about 5 minutes: then cook 2 minutes. Cool !
Add orange juice concentrate to tapioca base. Mix well!

Add strawberries, banana, apple, and the rest of the fruit.
Add lemon juice: mix well and CHILL...

Serve in individual glass bowls topped with a scoop of cottage cheese and a tray of stone ground sesame crackers (or YOUR choice). You could also serve in large chilled glass bowl and let guests serve themselves. Have cottage cheese in a side dish, add as desired.

I have made this with just about any fruit you can think of and tastes great every time. (Remember the banana mentioned above) This freezes well. Maybe freeze in individual sizes to use for a FAST smoothie ??? or just a quick dessert when company shows up....

***I just Googled "Summer Fruit Soup Recipe". Taste of Home has a fairly similar recipe and I think I like their directions a little better. *** ENJOY ! Borntoquilt !! (Kennie) :wave: