Large crew recipes

We're only experienced in chartering with our two young kids but the next trip will have (gulp) 10 on board. Any suggestions for easy dishes to feed that crew for breakfast, lunch and dinner on the boat? Thanks y'all!!

yes , reservations <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

But seriously, the breakfast and lunches shouldn't be too bad, we always seem to find no one wants a big heavy meal then anyway so a big batch of scrambled eggs for all, maybe me sausage/bacon, cereal, yogurts, fruit. You could always do a large batch of toast on the grill or in the oven as long as someone babysits it. Lunches you can do chicken salad, tuna, lunch meat, (we use a lot of tortilla shells for this, hot dogs (and chili!) snack foods, more fruit. Dinners could be interesting, but cold pasta salads, tacos, burgers if you can fit them all on the grill. Grilled wraps are tasty, your choice of filling meat, cheese, spices We do a tasty Buffalo Chicken wrap, grilled chicken, cheddar cheese, red hot sauce, blue cheese dressing, you can also do a version of a BBQ wrap, grilled chicken, cheddar, bacon, BBQ sauce etc then wrap in a tight burrito with closed ends and grill. Bring a lot of large ziplocs, you can make extra pasta, rice etc and store more easily for easy re-use in another meal.

We always like portholes. Eggs, green onions cheese in a muffin tin lined with bacon (Canadian bacon works). Easy to make 24 of them.. 2 tins, baked. Yum. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Groovin.gif" alt="" />

Jambalaya, spaghetti and meat balls, and pulled pork have worked well for us. We cook these at home and vacuum pack and freeze. We boil the noodles/spahetti on-board, but the rest is heat and eat. We also vacuum pack hamburger pattys and grill them.

My cabin kitchen is about the size of the kitchen on my grandparent's sailboat and I often feel like I am cooking on a boat - hot, cramped, no counter space and no storage.

When we have guests, a few meals and methods that save my sanity -

An egg bake or quince-like cooked dish that can be eaten hot or at room temp. I use this as my base -

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/as_you_like_it_breakfast_casserole/

It is a great way to use up odd and ends of veggies, cheese, stale bread and rolls (cubed) and meats. I prep it the night before and cook it first thing in the morning before the kitchen gets too warm.

You can put it in a heavy duty Ziploc bag (instead of a pan) the night before if fridge space is an issue.

Any chance you would take a cooler along? As in a cooler with meats?

I pre-cook a lot of meats prior to heading out. Things like pulled pork, shredded beef and grilled chicken breasts that are cooked and vac packed work really well for lunches. Thaw them out and put out the rolls and sides and let everyone eat whenever they want.

As for dinner, I vote reservations!

Hopefully Kneafsey will stop in and let you know how to feed them hot dogs on a daily basis.

Not sure what the adult/kid ratio is but it is always good to let the crew share the chores. If you have 4 couples let one couple be in charge of meals for a day. As the experienced crew you can do the first day and show them the ropes, then let them take turns. We do not have large groups but it works well for 4-6 people so just expand it. We do not bring pre cooked food from home but with 10 it may be worth the hassle to pack at least a few meats etc..

Bruce you forgot the mac and cheese dipping sauce for the hot dogs.

We find traveling with packages of precooked bacon from Sam's works very well. does not need to be refrigerated until opened. 72 count for about $10. Just heat in the microwave.

And grilled cheese, don't forget them Mike. I think that is what you had every day for lunch. Must have been out of hotdogs.

We always have ten people on our charter and meals seem to work out just fine. We also bring down precooked bacon and dehydrated hash browns. This with some eggs is great for our crew.

For lunches we usually have some type of sandwiches that are easy to make while we are sailing.

We always ask for an extra grill from our charter company so we can have two grills going at once for all the mouths to feed. Some type of meat, veggies or salad, (and with the risk of being made fun of again) a side dish like instant potatoes, pasta, or rice. It works well for us!

The last few trips the fisherman of the group has caught something right when the meat has been finished on the grill so we put the fish on the grill and enjoy!

Asking for an extra grill is a great idea! Hadn't thought about that.

Pancakes! Box mix, no milk needed. Just add butter and syrup. Maybe box sausage too? Easy to make and serve, everybody likes, especially kids. We used to bring our own WinnDixie brand but found similar at Ticos.

Cold meat wraps for lunch. Egg salad on last day...left over breakfast eggs. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

I think pancakes are awful for a large group. You can only make one (maybe two) at a time so it takes a while. Eggs and yogurt are our typical breakfast foods. We did do pancakes once - haven't done it ever since.

Everything else, we really don't change what we do from when its just two of us to 10 of us. Deli or burgers/dogs/chicken for lunch, dinner we often grill (fish, burgers, steak) or make tacos or spaghetti.. easy stuff that's simple for small or large groups. Dinners are also what we tend to eat out most frequently for.

Grill packets.

chicken strips, veggies, squirt of lemon juice and a dollop of pesto. Fold the foil around the food and grill the packets about 20 minutes each on medium. Each person gets their own packet and we usually boil up s big batch of rice to go with. I like to liberally douse mine with matouks.

Ok, you guys are making me hungry!

I love pancakes for breakfast but Matt does have a point. Maybe if someone made up the mix, each person cooked their own as they were ready it might work?

Can you ask for an extra percolator and an extra grill?

Every time I see this subject line I think of that Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man".

Sounds easy.
What's a muffin tin?

Breakfast - If you have kids, cereal is easy, get the long lasting milk. We often do breakfast sandwiches; eggs, bacon, cheese on an English Muffin. You can toast the muffins in the oven under the broiler. Some mornings we just have muffins, yogurt and fruit. Trail mix is always a good staple.

Lunch - as other have mentioned, wraps work really well. Bread doesn't last long before it molds. We often have leftovers from dinner that go in the wraps. Sometimes we just have cut up cheese, salami sticks and crackers.

Dinner - We have 11 nights on the boat, we plan 5 on board meals. The rest we eat on shore. Here is menu (most of the time)
Filet mignons, rice and salad
Marinated chicken breast, red skin potatoes and green beans
Marinated pork tenderloin, stove top stuffing and a veggie
Cheeseburgers and pasta salad
Lasagna or spaghetti (in case it is raining and we can't grill), salad and garlic bread

The pan you make muffins/cupcakes/popovers in....

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" /> Good one!!

Great idea!

That's why the aliens are in control of GMO foods so they can fatten us up for slaughter
with chemicals that increase the size of your liver and other organs untill they're gamier enough for their pallets.
Notice all the UFO sightings lately.
They're the buyers checking out the market. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

It's a metal pan with little built in cups where you put mix in, to make muffins. You can cook lots of individual portions of food in them.

I'm wondering whether muffin tins would normally be provided in the galley? Don't know.

Something else you can make with muffin tins for a crowd is make a 'nest' of shredded hash browns in each cup, bake until crispy and then crack eggs into each nest. Kind of cute and really easy.

Sounds good.
I'm thinking instant pancake mix and fresh blueberries or Walnuts

yum! I'm making this next family brunch! seems instant hash browns would be best for this?

The OP could pack muffin tins easy enough if the boat doesn't have them, if one of the crew are a teenage daughter like I have, each one of her bathing suits will fit in a cup! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />


here's a tasty looking recipe that incorporates the pancake batter into the muffin mix.
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/impo...12-86388de26b3f

30 minutes is not too bad in the oven if you can ventilate well.

I would just use frozen hash browns, especially on a boat, but Ree Drummond says that she grates baked potatoes. This is her recipe.

I am loving the muffin tin idea and will be using it next time we have a big group.

When we have a large crew, here's what we do:
- Survey the crew for meal suggestions that require little galley time. Ask couples to sign-up to cook one dinner and one lunch. Plan to eat a few dinners ashore.
- We cook a big breakfast the first morning out. After that, everyone makes their own breakfasts as we seem to have early-birds and sleep-ins.
- I make taco filling and spaghetti sauce/meatballs at home and freeze them. It saves a lot of time.
- Whenever we grill, we cook extra meat which will be sliced for lunch the next day. Chicken can be sliced for one lunch and made into chicken salad another day.
- Ask each couple to pack some favorite snacks. It's fun to see what they bring along.

Karen

Or maybe you could get Sleepychef to join your crew.