How to feed 70 people for 4 days on $500
Aug. 5th, 2013 10:07 amI might get in to actual recipes later, but I feel like writing a response to the constant "HOW DID YOU MAKE SO MUCH FOOD given that budget?". It's flattering (especially coming from the board of directors), but I'm not actually magical here.
1. Sourcing
- learn the prices for common foods at grocery stores you frequent. I am now quite familiar withthe main ingredients I used at both Winco and Kroger. Winco is somewhat lower on canned/frozen food, noticeably lower on dairy, dry bulk, and onions, but charges half again as much per pound for potatoes. Since I was making things in bulk, it was frequently worth it to shop at both stores.
- when reasonable, buy the large size - assuming you're going to use it all (and that it's actually cheaper)! The 20 lb bag of rice was was $10, only $2 more than the 10 lb bag of rice. In the rice case, I did expand my ingredients and actually used it all up, but the idea is there. Similarly, I needed 15 lbs of flour for the baking. Since the 20 lb bag cost less than the 10# plus the 5#, I bought it, and will enjoy the leftover flour myself after saving the con some money
- learn what makes sense to buy in which section! Corn comes fresh, frozen, or canned. Since this is all getting cooked together and texture won't matter so much, which way is the cheapest? Also, beans - yes, $0.60/can looks cheap, but that's like a cup and a half of beans. A pound of dry beans costs about a dollar and makes maybe 6 cups of beans. Definitely worth the time to prep.
-Think outside the grocery store. This is especially true for storable bulk comodities, like flour/grains, rice, beans. Since they can be stored dry for a long time, you can buy larger portions if you're going to use it later. I did not have any on hand for this, but I've found a local supplier sselling 25 lb bags of rice, beans, wheatberries, etc, for about $15-20.
- Think outside the grocery store part 2: use what's availible. As it is late july/early august, if you stand still too long, you will find yourself holding zucchini. That goes great in soups or stews! Cabbage is also incredibly cheap right now, and is a great source of fiber and bulk!
2. Methods
- you can get away with a lot more if you make meals with everything mixed together! Most folks won't eat cabbage, but use it to bulk up red beans and rice, and no one even notices. Miss "I hate onions" was a bit alarmed to learn that there were onions in every dish, "but it doesn't taste like onions!" Mixing everything together gives it the flavor of the dish you are aiming at, even if it's similar ingredients
- on that note - vary your flavors and you can use the same ingredients over and over! The spaghetti sauce, red beans and rice, chilli, and chicken choweder, all used an astonishing amount of the same few veggies - cellery, corn, carrots, onion, peas (give or take a couple). But they didn't seem repetitive because they used different flavors - tomato/beef base with herbs, pork/stock based, tomato/beef based with spicy flavors, chicken/cream based. Respectively.
- meats: they don't need to be the feature! This was the hugest cost savings - meats are the most expensive part of the average meal. This is another part where soups/stews/mixed meals come in handy. If I served everyone 2-4 oz of meat on a plate, they would be seriously disapointed. But that same meat as a flavor/protine element in a stew goes a long way.
- also with meats: learn to suplement them. Three of our dinners were based around hamburger and beans, because beans are cheap (and good for you. And if you soak them, it eliminates a lot of the, urm, unpleasant aftereffects). Barley isn't a great source of protine, but it helps make meats go further too (mind, it isn't friendly to those who are gluten intollerant).
That is the advice that occurs to me now!
1. Sourcing
- learn the prices for common foods at grocery stores you frequent. I am now quite familiar withthe main ingredients I used at both Winco and Kroger. Winco is somewhat lower on canned/frozen food, noticeably lower on dairy, dry bulk, and onions, but charges half again as much per pound for potatoes. Since I was making things in bulk, it was frequently worth it to shop at both stores.
- when reasonable, buy the large size - assuming you're going to use it all (and that it's actually cheaper)! The 20 lb bag of rice was was $10, only $2 more than the 10 lb bag of rice. In the rice case, I did expand my ingredients and actually used it all up, but the idea is there. Similarly, I needed 15 lbs of flour for the baking. Since the 20 lb bag cost less than the 10# plus the 5#, I bought it, and will enjoy the leftover flour myself after saving the con some money
- learn what makes sense to buy in which section! Corn comes fresh, frozen, or canned. Since this is all getting cooked together and texture won't matter so much, which way is the cheapest? Also, beans - yes, $0.60/can looks cheap, but that's like a cup and a half of beans. A pound of dry beans costs about a dollar and makes maybe 6 cups of beans. Definitely worth the time to prep.
-Think outside the grocery store. This is especially true for storable bulk comodities, like flour/grains, rice, beans. Since they can be stored dry for a long time, you can buy larger portions if you're going to use it later. I did not have any on hand for this, but I've found a local supplier sselling 25 lb bags of rice, beans, wheatberries, etc, for about $15-20.
- Think outside the grocery store part 2: use what's availible. As it is late july/early august, if you stand still too long, you will find yourself holding zucchini. That goes great in soups or stews! Cabbage is also incredibly cheap right now, and is a great source of fiber and bulk!
2. Methods
- you can get away with a lot more if you make meals with everything mixed together! Most folks won't eat cabbage, but use it to bulk up red beans and rice, and no one even notices. Miss "I hate onions" was a bit alarmed to learn that there were onions in every dish, "but it doesn't taste like onions!" Mixing everything together gives it the flavor of the dish you are aiming at, even if it's similar ingredients
- on that note - vary your flavors and you can use the same ingredients over and over! The spaghetti sauce, red beans and rice, chilli, and chicken choweder, all used an astonishing amount of the same few veggies - cellery, corn, carrots, onion, peas (give or take a couple). But they didn't seem repetitive because they used different flavors - tomato/beef base with herbs, pork/stock based, tomato/beef based with spicy flavors, chicken/cream based. Respectively.
- meats: they don't need to be the feature! This was the hugest cost savings - meats are the most expensive part of the average meal. This is another part where soups/stews/mixed meals come in handy. If I served everyone 2-4 oz of meat on a plate, they would be seriously disapointed. But that same meat as a flavor/protine element in a stew goes a long way.
- also with meats: learn to suplement them. Three of our dinners were based around hamburger and beans, because beans are cheap (and good for you. And if you soak them, it eliminates a lot of the, urm, unpleasant aftereffects). Barley isn't a great source of protine, but it helps make meats go further too (mind, it isn't friendly to those who are gluten intollerant).
That is the advice that occurs to me now!