How can I feed about 200 homeless people breakfast on a budget?
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Feeding 200 people on a budget.
Oatmeal is very cheap. You can thicken (and yummy) it up by adding half a tablespoon of peanut butter (also cheap in large quantities) and add fruit bits. The nut butter makes it more dense and fills you up well.
Egg scramble with frozen spinach, onions and black beans. Also filling and cheap. Serve with a side of bread.
I thought I was the only person who LOVES peanut butter on my oatmeal :)
Hopefully this breakfast is going to be prepared and served in a "commercial" size/style kitchen with ovens and large pots/pans.
Step 1
Service 200 people at one sitting is quite a job and takes a lot of planning so I hope there are other people helping with the set up of tables/chairs/serving/and control.
Step 2
As a general rule we have always found that baked food is easier to prepare/serve than pots or pan cooking.
Step 3
Also, breakfast may mean "sausage/eggs/pancakes" to most people but, from experience, I have found that is not always the case with homeless people.
Step 4
Generally, non-breakfast foods go faster than the usual breakfast items so it may be a good idea to think "out-side the box" a little in this type of situation.
Step 5
I would suggest that no matter what type of food you serve to have plenty of gravy available. Just any good gravy will suffice. Here is one recipe we use and rarely have any leftovers. These recipes are for 48-50 people so you can expand if necessary. www.angelfire.com/
Step 6
Scrambled eggs are much easier if you use the oven and they are easy to portion into squares. here are two very good recipes for 100 servings. lotsofinfo.tripod.com/
Step 7
lotsofinfo.tripod.com/
Step 8
Baked oatmeal is good (but - not everybody likes oatmeal). www.angelfire.com/
Step 9
Why not think about something like a rice casserole? It will go very fast especially if you have gravy. Here is a recipe if you want to try it. Easy Rice and Ham Casserole - www.angelfire.com/
Step 10
If you fix something like apple crisp or peach cobbler you will have no left overs. www.angelfire.com/
Step 11
it would be nice if you had someone making drop biscuits and serving gravy.
One very important fact: Do not use aluminum pans when preparing scrambled eggs!
THE ALUMINUM WILL TURN THE EGGS GREEN!
Thanks. I do have help to serve. We serve out of coolers on the street. I'm just starting to help because the family that started were doing it by themselves.
I have worked with similar accommodations also and that is why I recommend working with smaller amounts so they can be done at home and carried in the same baking pan to the site.
People who come to this type of service will usually like food with substance such as not so just breakfast type dishes as many times those are the most difficult to keep warm/fresh. You may get more people to volunteer making a pot of potato chowder/soup than a pot of oatmeal that will not taste near as good.
Smaller groups here in the area make peanut butter sandwiches with water bottles, fruit and a small care kit (with essentials like: toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash) and a blanket or clothing article.
Oatmeal is cheap and filling. Eggs, any 'salads' like hamsalad, eggsalad, etc. Biscuits and gravy. Grits and creamed rice are good and cheap.
eggs are still the most inexpensive source of protein at roughly 10cents each and nutritional item to eat
hard boiled eggs can be made ahead kept refrigerated till needed and distributed easily, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are easy to make and distribute too. small juice boxes would go well
so eggs being ten cents, bread pbj sandwich and juice pack would equal under $1.00 per person
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