The QECH way to Feed a Crowd

I love hosting parties, but I don't do it very often because... well, really the only reason is that it can get really expensive fast. Because you gotta eat! And if you have a party, well, everybody's gotta eat! The hardest part for me about entertaining is figuring out how to feed a crowd on a budget without going crazy myself.

I mentioned in a recent post that I have discovered "make-your-own" meals. Depending on how fancy and complicated you get, a buffet like this can really cut down your entertaining costs. And the great thing is, there are so many types of meals that you can turn into "make-your-own": tacos, baked potatoes, mini pizzas, etc. Besides being economical, it also provides your guests with something fun to do, AND it enables them to make their meal more or less the way they like it.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, one of my most favorite fast food restaurants, has this buffet idea down pat! If you've never been there, they operate kind of like Subway, in that they have a cafeteria-style counter where you instruct them which ingredients you want on your taco/burrito/fajita/salad, etc. I almost always order the Burrito Bowl, which is a burrito without the burrito. Make sense? You start with a bowl, and add rice, beans, meat, salsa, sour cream and guacamole if you wish. It. is. so. good. Seriously. I get cravings for that stuff!

In fact, it was the first thing I thought of when trying to come up with a menu for my Certain Little Someone's first birthday party, mostly because it was one thing I could eat when I was nurisng him. Because of his allergies, my diet (and now his) was very limited and it was so wonderful to be able to eat something that I loved and not have to worry about a reaction. I just ordered it without the cheese and sour cream, and YUM YUM!

So for his party, I more or less re-created the Chipotle's Burrito Bowl idea, with rice, beans, chicken, a variety of toppings and tortilla chips on the side.

QUICK... perhaps not so much. Quicker than the cake, I can tell you for sure! But not as quick as hot dogs, say, or spaghetti. Especially the beans, because I had to soak them the day before and then let them cook for quite some time.

But EASY, that's for sure. I borrowed some slow cookers and they really made it easy, especially since I could cook them at home, transport them to the park where we had the party and keep the food warm for the duration. The hardest part was shredding the chicken breasts which seemed to take about half of forever, but really I think it took about 20 minutes.

About as CHEAP as feeding 40 people can be, I think. This is what I ended up using:

8 lbs chicken breasts
2 lbs rice
2 lbs beans
2 lbs salsa
2-3 lbs cheese
1 lb sour cream
2-3 lbs tomatoes
2.5 lbs tortilla chips

For side dishes, we had some sliced apples, which my mom had given me from her apple tree, served with coconut yogurt dip, and sliced watermelon which my mother-in-law graciously provided. For drinks, I served home-made iced tea, Sparkling Grapefruit Punch (grapefruit juice mixed with sparkling water!), Capri Sun drinks for the kids, and a couple bottles of store-brand soda. Since some of the food items were contributed by others, I only spent about $30 on the food that was eaten. (I did buy too much, which I often do!) If I had to buy everything, I probably would have spent, at the most, $50. Not bad for 40 people!

HEALTHY, too. In fact, the unhealthiest thing was probably the tortilla chips, which are totally unnecessary, just a nice addition. Most of the ingredients (chicken, rice, beans) were cooked with only some added spice for flavorings, so no sauces or convenience foods with questionable ingredients.


Cilantro Lime Chicken
8 lbs chicken breasts
4 limes, juiced
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
salt
pepper
garlic or garlic powder
fresh or dried cilantro

A note about the ingredients: I used individually frozen chicken breasts, and they fit nicely in two crockpots. You can also use red wine vinegar instead of the apple cider vinegar. I pretty much just added the salt and pepper, garlic powder and cilantro a little at a time until I had achieved the taste I was looking for, so I have no idea how much I actually used. I would say at least 1/4 - 1/3 cup of fresh cilantro, and if you're using dried, at least 1 TBSP.

Place the chicken breasts in the crock pot. Mix the lime juice, vinegar, some salt and pepper and garlic powder and cilantro together. Pour over chicken. Cook on high for 6 hours. After 4-5 hours, you should be able to shred the chicken: remove the breasts from the pot and use two forks to pull apart the chicken into shreds. Return the chicken to the pot and stir in additional seasonings as necessary.


Chipotle Copycat Rice
4 cups rice
10 cups water
2 limes, juiced
approx. 1/3 cup fresh cilantro

Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook on High for at least 4 hours. I actually ended up removing the rice from the crockpot and cooking it on the stovetop until it was mostly done, because the crockpot was taking too long.


Burrito Black Beans
2 lbs black beans, rinsed, soaked and drained
lots and lots of water, as much as your crock pot or pot will hold
2-3 bay leaves
ground cumin
cilantro
garlic powder
green onions
salt
pepper

Once again, the spices are to taste. Start with a small amount of each, and periodically taste and add more as necessary. Place all the ingredients in the crock pot and cook on high for 4-6 hours, until beans are tender.