Looking for easy meals to feed 9 people

Beginning of next month I'm going to have 6 family members visiting for a few days and need suggestions on quick and easy meals to feed 9 people. I would appreciate any suggestions.

Ages? (Let's face it-if 8 of them are teenagers, you'll need more than if they're toddlers!)

Large bowl of pasta/veggie salad with roasted or grilled chicken. Baked potato bar with all the fixing for a top it yourself lunch. Chili and toppings. Various cold cuts/cheese for assemble it yourself sub sandwiches. Sloppy Joe sandwiches with chips and veggies(think veggie tray with dip). Roast spiral sliced ham, potato salad and jello salad served with rolls or biscuits. Large pan of mostaccoli with sausage or meat sauce, garden salad and bread.

this will kind of echo patrice, but lasagna, soups, and roasts...a fish fry, and cold cuts. Grilled hot dogs and burgers are always a hit.

For breakfasts sweet rolls and coffee

dizzy wrote:Ages? (Let's face it-if 8 of them are teenagers, you'll need more than if they're toddlers!)

All adults with the exception of Ty, who's 15 and my neices daughter, who I believe is about 12 now.

Good ideas so far. I'm hoping to make some lasagna ahead of time and freeze it. I want to make homemade pasta and cheese for it. How bout a beef stew? I probably need about 3 or 4 dinner meals. Breakfast won't be so bad and lunches I'll probably make a huge bowl of pasta salad and have lunch meats for sandwiches.

hmm, Brunswick stew is also an option... Mom makes a version of this, but I don't have her recipe at this time.

Brunswick stew, made with chicken, tomatoes, corn, and lima beans, along with seasonings and chopped vegetables.

http://southernfood.about.com/od/brunswickstew/r/bl80111a.htm

I don't have time right now, I'll have to give you my recipe for chicken (turkey) casserole. If you have any left over ham, a big dish of scalloped potatoes w/ham would be nice. Mac and cheese is another easy option.

Taco salads

1 head of lettuce
2 chopped up tomatoes
onions
chopped green peppers
2 cans of chili (homemade is better)
black beans
drained corn
picante sauce
southwest dressing
nacho chip strips
shredded cheese

I can't give exact amounts because I just put it together as I go until it is right. Nacho chip strips I put on top as I serve so they don't get soggy. Add sour cream and guacamole if you want. This is really pretty inexpensive to make for a lot of people.

I used to cook the Wednesday Night dinner at our church. We fed about 30 to 50 at each dinner.

You can do LOTS of things if you just think a bit differently. Most people waste a lot of time with prep before meals. If you can do things ahead it makes actual cooking time easy. That leaves you more time to be with the guests.

For example:

* Dicing a whole bag of onions at one setting in the food processor and then freeze them. Then when the recipe calls for onion all you have to do is open a sack. You can do the same thing for other veggies (peppers, zucchini, celery, tomatoes etc.) as well although you might need to blanch some to make them freeze better.

* Cook up a big roll of sausage and then freeze it. Great easy to use ingredient to add to pizzas, omelets, sauces, and gravy.

* Hamburger can be cooked and packaged into 1 or 2 pound bags and frozen as well. Then when the recipe calls for "1 pound ground beef" you are steps ahead. Precooked and boned chicken and turkey are also great to grab for a ready recipe.

* I always save all of my extra drippings, broths and meat juices (even some veggie juices) by freezing them in ice cube trays and then storing them in a labeled ziplock. That makes it easy and FAST to add extra flavor to simple dishes.

* Bake your bacon instead of pan frying it. Easy and fast. Bake or broil your toast and you can do a pan full at a time.

I often seem to end up with a table full of hungry folks at my house. They always have more fun if it is less of a formal meal.

Since these are family members why not let them take part in meal prep. Cooking as a big family is a great way to spend time together. You could make up a big bowl of pizza dough and sauce and then each person could make their own personal pizza creations. Tamales is another recipe best cooked with a crowd of chefs. A giant bowl of dough and you could also make personal sweet rolls or their own crepes or personal pancakes.

Sometimes it is fun to have a "junk food" dinner with all of the family around. Pull out condiments, plates of leftovers, lunch meats, cheese, fruits, pickled okra, hot veggies, popcorn and bread etc and let them have at it. Chef salad night works the same way only everyone starts with a big bowl of lovely fresh greens and then they get to "go at it" topping it the way they like best. If I do that I am sure to have some special toppings available like perhaps some cold boiled shrimp or black olives or a couple of special cheeses.

I like to make up meatballs and freeze them uncooked. Makes for a quick prep time when you want a meatball meal. We also like to have quick breads like banana or pumpkin bread in the freezer to pull out.

I have also made up fruit pie fillings for the freezer. (It is a great thing to do with part of your fruit harvest!)

You just make up the fruit filling in quantity like you would for several pies.  Then I put a ziplock bag on its side in an empty pie tin and fill it full of the filling.  I freeze the filling in the tin so it will retain the pie shape, then label, seal the bags and refreeze. 

When unexpected company comes you grab a purchased frozen pie shell, stick your frozen middle inside of it and pop it into the oven.  While you visit the pie bakes and it looks like you are some kind of amazing host when it is ready.

I love that idea FF, I'm going to have to remember that when my peaches and apples are ready in the Fall.

I was thinking of making a dump cake.  My family's not big fish eaters and I'm not big on brunswick stew.  I figure my Dad will probably be cooking breakfasts, he likes to make big breakfasts.  I'll make up some lasagna and freeze it.  I'm also going to make up a beef stew ahead of time.  I like the ideas of hotdogs cooked on an open fire, that way everyone can roast their own. We'll probably eat out one night because my Dad likes trying new resturants.  I also have some left over ham in the freezer, so I like the idea of making scallped potatoes with ham.  Thanks for all the suggestions.