The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Gone Fishing on December 17, 2015, 09:53:24 AM
-
The Christmas potluck invitations are coming out of the woodwork. I generally like to cook something pretty intensive, but don't always have the time. Any ideas for something pretty easy, but still looks like I made a bit of an effort vs chips and salsa?
-
Some ideas:
Pulled pork on slider buns (easy crockpot recipe that can be frozen and taken out a bit at a time)
Pasta salads (can use bottled dressing)
Fresh fruit on skewers (nice this time of year when there's so much junk food)
Casseroles
-
Super easy but nice spinach artichoke bites: http://parkhouselove.com/2012/04/09/spinach-artichoke-bites/
Just did it for my potluck at work
-
Crockpot Dump Cake. Super easy and good. You can use any pie filling and cake type you like.
http://www.ayearofslowcooking.com/2014/03/3-ingredient-slow-cooker-dump-cake.html
-
I made this for a holiday potluck with friends last weekend:
http://iowagirleats.com/recipes/superfood-salad-with-lemon-vinaigrette/
quinoa, black beans, pomegranate, orange, avocado, red onion... with a lemon vinagrette.
Looked really impressive and everyone loved it, but it was actually really easy to make. As a bonus, pretty much everything in it was in season, so cheap! The orange even came right off our neighbor's tree.
-
Jalapeņo popper spread is always popular at our parties: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Jalapeno-Popper-Spread/Detail.aspx
-
Panzanella!
http://food52.com/blog/10820-how-to-make-panzanella-without-a-recipe
-
Comfort food dish:
- Wide egg noodles
- Cream of mushroom soup
- Cheddar cheese
- Canned tuna
- Onion and garlic as desired
- Saute the onions and garlic if you want to include them.
- Boil the noodles, while in another pot melting the cheese in the soup.
- Stir everything together.
It's also nice to put some shredded cheese on top and put it under the broiler until it's bubbly and toasted.
-
- Break out the crockpot
- Throw everything that's about to expire in
- ???
- Profit
In all seriousness though, you can make green chili soup
4 stalks of celery chopped
1 onion
1 large jalapeno
2 cans black beans
2 cans corn
4 cans green chilies
~40 oz of green enchilada sauce
black pepper
cilantro
pork/chicken if you want
crock pot on low all day
-
Really good bread. Real butter or olive oil. It's cheapest homemade, but still reasonable and easy if you stop at a bakery.
In my old potluck group, a girl was a hero by bringing things like Frito salad, juice boxes if she was on drinks, chocolate pudding.... in a community where there was huge pressure to make everything from scratch out of organic free range sustainable power foods.
-
I made this sausage pinwheels (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/24596/sausage-pinwheels/?internalSource=search%20result&referringContentType=search%20results)* recently, and turned out pretty well. Looks pretty good, but really simple. I recommend making it just before the event so it's still warm (or warm it in toaster oven if available), but it's still ok at room temperature.
*I was lazy and just bought the sausage, plus some modifications based on comments -- like 475 degree instead of 375, and use backing rack so it doesn't sit in oil
-
Are sweets a go? I make these as Christmas favours for our offices each year. Minimum effort for maximum impact.
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/14879/mini+christmas+puddings
-
Some form of squash soup is always yummy and easy and cheap.
-
Easy potluck ideas for...
Entrees: Meatballs in a crockpot, lil smokies in BBQ sauce, deviled eggs, a roast spiral-sliced half-ham, mac'n'cheese (boxed or made from scratch, both will be loved).
Starchy sides: homemade bread with homemade butter, savory biscuits, twice-baked potatoes, mashed potatoes & gravy, a rice dish.
Veggies/fruit: a veggie tray (jazz it up with radish roses), apple slices (tossed in lemon juice) with a caramel dip, green grapes with red pomegranate seeds, fruit salad.
Desserts: bar cookies, frosted brownies, apple crisp, peach cobbler.
-
Jiffy Corn Pudding. Diet food it ain't, but I always take home an empty pan. The recipe used to be on the Jiffy Corn Bread box -- not sure if it still is. If not, here is a version:
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can cream corn
1 stick butter, melted
2 eggs
1 (8 oz.) pkg. sour cream
1 box Jiffy corn bread mix
salt and pepper to taste
Mix everything together, dump into a greased 8 x 8 inch pan, and bake for an hour at 350 degrees. If I'm feeling really fancy, I chop up an onion and saute it until golden brown, and add that to the mixture before baking.
-
I like to bring a shredded carrot salad to potlucks. The color is pretty (bright orange) and it's super easy to make. Basically you dump a package or two of shredded carrots into and bowl and then dress it with something (could be bottled stuff, could be a homemade mixture of something). My favorite dressing is rice vinegar, oil, garlic, ginger, cilantro and some cayenne. Healthy, crunchy, cheap.
-
Make several banana breads now, store in the freezer (double wrapped). Defrost as needed for potlucks, they taste just fine after freezing/defrosting. Make sure to keep them wrapped while defrosting so they don't lose moisture.
-
Deviled eggs are my easy go-to. You can dress them up with chopped scallions, chopped bacon or siracha drizzles.
I am about to make these delicious and easy looking peanut butter cookies for a dinner tomorrow:
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2015/10/salted-peanut-butter-cookies/
-
I like to bring a shredded carrot salad to potlucks. The color is pretty (bright orange) and it's super easy to make. Basically you dump a package or two of shredded carrots into and bowl and then dress it with something (could be bottled stuff, could be a homemade mixture of something). My favorite dressing is rice vinegar, oil, garlic, ginger, cilantro and some cayenne. Healthy, crunchy, cheap.
You can do pretty much the same thing with beets: shred 'em, add simple dressing, and spices. If you want to get really fancy add pine nuts (toasted if you have time) and/or crumbles of feta cheese.
If there are leftovers of either of these sturdy salads they will still be good the next day.
-
I like to bring a shredded carrot salad to potlucks. The color is pretty (bright orange) and it's super easy to make. Basically you dump a package or two of shredded carrots into and bowl and then dress it with something (could be bottled stuff, could be a homemade mixture of something). My favorite dressing is rice vinegar, oil, garlic, ginger, cilantro and some cayenne. Healthy, crunchy, cheap.
You can do pretty much the same thing with beets: shred 'em, add simple dressing, and spices. If you want to get really fancy add pine nuts (toasted if you have time) and/or crumbles of feta cheese.
If there are leftovers of either of these sturdy salads they will still be good the next day.
The advantage to bringing beets is that so many people dislike them (or think they do), you often get to bring a lot of it back home with you. :)