Tag Archives: large families

large family food idea dinner calico beans and sauerkraut and kielbasa

Posted on 11/05/2013 | 4 comments

This is a large family food idea that we enjoy eating it is very simple and cheap to make for a big crowd. I like to make this meal for the days that we are away running errands. I can put my oven on a low temperature and let it simmer all day long and when I return home, exhausted, dinner is all warmed and ready to eat.

Calico beans for a large family

2 cans lima beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
4 cans pork and beans (15oz)
1/2 bag of bacon bits
3/4 c brown sugar
2 t salt
1 t mustard
1 T minced garlic
1/2 c vinegar
1/2 c ketchup
1 small onion chopped

Mix all together and place in oven or crock pot and let simmer. If you have a larger crowd, just add a few more cans of beans.

Sauerkraut and kielbasa

Take however much kielbasa your family will eat and sliced it small chunks. Place in your pan or pot, depending upon how you are cooking it. Take your bag of sauerkraut and rinse it a few times. Let drain and then add that to your kielbasa. I add about 1 -2 Tablespoons of chicken bouillon to help take some of that “tart” flavor away. Try it, you will enjoy it.

Bake these alongside one another in your oven while you are out doing errands and when you come home you will have a delicious tasting dinner all ready to eat. Serve with a side of cornbread.

4 Comments

Posted in In my kitchen, meats, Uncategorized

Tagged kitchen, large families, recipes

large family food idea snacks granola bars

Posted on 11/04/2013 | 18 comments

Around our household, Wednesday is Kitchen Day. On kitchen day, we usually spend the day baking and preparing foods for the week. I try and choose at least 2 snacks to make for the week for us to enjoy. This was one that was on my list to try and so we did. It is now part of our rotation in our Master snacks list.

This past year, I have been trying to build my large family food idea lists. I want foods that are easy to make and that my family enjoys. We have tried numerous granola bar recipes over the years and many have failed. This is one given to me by a dear friend and it is delicious.

2-20 oz pkg mini marshmallows
1 1/2 c butter
1/2 c oil
1/2 c honey
1/2 c peanut butter
10 c oatmeal
9 c Rice Krispies
2 pkg graham crackers, crushed
1 pkg chocolate chips

Melt the first 5 ingredients until just melted over med low heat

In a large mixing bowl, mix the oatmeal, Rice Krispies, graham crackers , and chocolate chips.Pour the melted mixture over top of the dry mixtureStir until combinedPress into a greased, jelly style roll pan

Let cool and then cut into bars. Keep extra bars covered in a container. You will get 2 large jelly style pans from this recipe.Recipe for the “smaller” families

20 oz mini marshmallows
3/4 c butter
1/4 c oil
1/4 c honey
1/4 c peanut butter
5 c oatmeal
4 1/2 c Rice Krispies
1 pkg graham crackers crushed
1 cup chocolate chips

18 Comments

Posted in In my kitchen, snacks, Uncategorized

Tagged kitchen, large families, recipes, snacks

large family food idea –breakfast overnight egg casserole

Posted on 10/31/2013 | 3 comments

Making food for a large family, I have found is really no different than making it for a smaller family. We just go through more of the food. When it comes to eggs, I am thankful that we have a flock of chickens. When we make our weekly dinner breakfast meal, we will generally go through around 50 eggs!!!

Along with baked overnight french toast casserole, we love to make this egg breakfast casserole.

Making casseroles, simplifies the time that I have to spend standing in front of the stove, flipping eggs. I just mix it all together and pour into the pan. Let the oven do the work, while I go change some diapers:)

Our large family food idea for breakfast overnight egg casserole:

2 dozen eggs
2 c milk
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 cans potatoes
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt and pepper
2 bunches of green onion
2 cups shredded cheese
1 16 oz container of sour cream–sour cream will make your eggs fluffy and easy to cut and serve

In a large mixing bowl, crack your eggs.

Add your milk and whisk Add your sour cream Add your cream of mushroom soup, salt, pepper,and garlic and whisk well. chop up some green onion, and add Chop up your cans of potatoes and add Mix in your cheese, I used a mexican cheese blend. Pour into a greased 9 x13 baking dish. You can bake immediately or cover it and refrigerate overnight.

Bake in 350 for 45-60 minutes. This will puff up when finished

A yummy twist from plain ol eggs.

3 Comments

Posted in breakfast, In my kitchen

Tagged breakfast, kitchen, large families, recipes

Garbage bag snack mix……a large family snack

Posted on 06/04/2013 | 18 comments

That title doesn’t even sound appealing. But for our large family its a monthly item. With so many little ones we were always grabbing a bag of pretzels or snack mix for a quick treat for them. They grew tired of always having plain pretzels (but they were cheap) and they loved the snack mixes but at $4 a box we couldn’t afford that. So we came up with the garbage bag snack mix. I would purchase their favorite snacks–cheese balls, bugels, combos, etc but then I would throw in the boring stuff like cheerios, chex cereal, oyster crackers, and pretzels. Then we would have a snack mix that would stretch our budget.

First we gather all items

Next we get a heavy duty trash bag

Then we let each child participate. Each child taking turns dumping their snacks into the bag.

Then we let an older one roll the bag to mix it up.

Doesn’t that look good???

Scoop into gallon ziploc baggies.

We store ours in a cool basement, but you can store them in the freezer for longer than the month. It will ensure the freshness of the snack mix.

An easy to grab snack when on the go, don’t forget to bring small plastic cups for everyone’s portions.

You can use any combination of items you like. Here is the ones that we typically use.

4 boxes crispy oats cereal
3 boxes rice squares cereal
3 boxes corn squares cereal
4 bags puff corn–buttered and cheese flavored
1 large box goldfish
2 boxes wheat thins
2 bags frito twists
1 bag multigrain crisps chips
1 bag nacho cheese chips
1 bag pretzles
1 bag combos
2 boxes cheese snack crackers
1 bag potato skins
1 bag cheese puffs
2 bags bugels cheese and regular