{Guest Post} 5 Things I Know About Feeding A Big Family

Posted on: August 18, 2016 | Guest Posts, Postpartum

Today I am hosting a blog for Jessica Dill of Special Dilliveries.  She is a mother of 5 and an expert in cooking for a large family.  I asked her to share some tips with us!

5 Things I Know About Feeding a Big Family

By: Jessica Dill

“I actually had so many kids because I didn’t know how to cook any less!”

If you’ve been around our house at all, you’d know this is pretty much my catch all phrase for why I had five children.

But the thing is, its pretty much true.

I’ve always loved to cook for people. And when I say “people”, I mean LOTS of people!

I mean, it is no doubt why Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday. You come around the Dill house and you will eat… And not just snacks out of a bag, but hot food that I made from scratch (or at least a box, shhhhhh).  There’s just something so satisfying to me about sitting down to a meal and watching friends and family feel well nourished and full.

So my friends, today I’m going to share with you my top tips and things I know about feeding a large family (or at least large groups of people).

#1 – PLAN, PLAN, PLAN

I don’t know how many times I heard this from people before I actually started doing it, but seriously I’m know a believer in that meal planning saves lives!

Not only does it save money, but time and thought too. It may take a couple hours of sitting down one day a week or one day every other week to plan out meals, but after the shopping is done, you’re DONE. And all you have to do is pull out the handy plan and you know what’s for dinner that night!

This is my favorite simple plan format: http://www.mom4real.com/free-grocery-list-printables/

#2 – SLOW COOKERS ROCK

I’m not sure if they call them slow cookers or crock pots where you’re from, but around here they are just called fantastic!

How awesome is it that you can just throw a bunch of stuff into a pot, it cooks it all day, and BAM… you have dinner! (Or breakfast… or lunch)

They even make ones that actually mix the food for you now days, how much easier does it get?

If you’ve never used one before and quick Google search or Pinterest look-see will show you just how awesome most other people think they are as well.

My personal favorite quick recipe is Loaded Potato Soup.

#3 – YOU CAN NOT BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT

Remember what I said in #1? Well, sometimes I’m not so great at that and we end up trying to figure out random things to throw together to eat.

It has created some of the greatest food concoctions of ALL TIME!

Don’t be afraid:

Throw that macaroni in the bottom of a baking dish, with some Mexican hamburger, sour cream, salsa, and top it with some cheese and crushed up left over taco chips!

Sometimes the most random things thrown together are the best meals.

#4 – YOU JUST GOTTA EMBRACE THE LEFTOVERS

Some people don’t like leftovers. That’s cool.

But when you feed a big family, you PLAN to have leftovers!

Lunches and snacks are made 10 times easier if you already have something made. You know like last night’s lasagna or crock-pot honey, garlic chicken legs from two nights ago?

Get your-self some good Tupperware and baggies/ziplocks and embrace and use those leftover to your advantage.

#5 – PREP HELPS A LOT

Ever notice how fast food comes out so fast?

Want to know how they do that?

They spend hours every morning prepping food!

I’m not going to tell you to spend hours every morning prepping food, but I am going to tell you once you make your plan and get your groceries, to spend a couple hours prepping for the next week or two because I know prepping even a little bit for the week can make a hug difference!

Did you know you can cut up veggies and freeze them?

That they make fantastic freezer bags now that you can fit whole slow cooker meals into?

How awesome would it be to be able to have carrots, celery, and cucumbers ready for snacks on the go for the next week?

Just take a little bit of time and sort, chop, prep your way to being a lot more prepared.

 

Do I think cooking for a large family is easy?

HECK NO!

Do we still have nights where we eat cereal or frozen pizza?

ABSOLUTELY! (Probably more than I let on, whoops.)

But it doesn’t have to be a chore and it doesn’t have to be rocket science.

You can make good food for lots of people, and often, with a little bit of planning and a little bit of prep!

(And maybe a little wine…)

Jessica Dill is the owner of Special Dilliveries, LLC and resides in the tiny town of Burlington, Indiana with her husband (Rob), 5 children (too many to name), dog (Timber), cats(Tali and Al), and slew of chickens.

 

 

 

 

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