Hebrews 4:16 Let us …… approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
A recent Free Meal Program was started at our church. We prepared Spaghetti for 200, not knowing how many would show up to eat the first time. We had 65 people, which is a good start, but we had cooked for 200. We were able to offer a free meal to all of our volunteers which numbered over 40. We served approximately 100 people. Spaghetti is something that can be frozen and reused very successfully.
For 100 servings you need:
4 #10 cans of spaghetti sauce – good quality that you buy from a Restaurant supply store (we found this for $2.79 for a #10 can)
5 lb. ground beef – browned and drained – Bought in a 5 lb. roll for $2.29 per lb.
Add to the sauce and place in a large slow cooker. Set the temperature to at least 150′. The safe zone is above 140′.
We prepared 10 lbs of spaghetti noodles – which should have been 160 portions, but we gave generous servings. The pasta is inexpensive. We found this at a restaurant supply store for $19.95 for 20 lbs.
The main dish cost us less than $.30 per serving. After we figured all cost for food and paper goods we were able to serve people for approximately $1.20 per person.
Our menu included: salad, bread, green beans (bought #10 cans), fruit salad (bought #10 cans) with drinks and salad dressings. We spent approximately $1.00 per person for food and spend $.20 per person for paper plates, etc. We will be switching to real plates, silverware, etc. by the next meal.
Since we cooked for 200 we had prepared a lot of extra food. We took the pasta that was cooked and mixed it with the remaining sauce to make “baked spaghetti casseroles”. These will be used later and topped with grated cheese. The extra sauce was frozen and will be used for other casseroles or spaghetti. The dry pasta, of course, will remain in the pantry area. We froze the leftover green beans, bread and fruit cocktail. The only item that was really “lost” was the salad. This was donated to our youth program for their Sunday night dinner.
Keep tuned for more large quantity recipes and how to use them economically.
This was a successful first time out for this program! I know that once the word gets out on how good the food was, you will have more and more people show up, maybe more than you can seat, but that is a good thing!
I’m so proud of you Mom and all that you have done to help others in need. I only hope that one day I can do as much and give back as much as you have. Love you!
Way to go! I’m sure God is smiling when your name comes up!
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