First, what is your budget? Does the church give you a certain amount for ingredients or is it entirely by contribution? I'm only assuming that you don't pay for it all out of your pocket.

LindaC does a lot of funeral church dinners and has it down to a science, pretty much. Our local churches have things like "Mission Monday" and have a meal the first Monday of each month for $5, proceeds going to various missions. Usually it's meatloaf/baked potato/green beans or spaghetti/salad/garlic bread, occasionally chili and hot dogs. Sometimes it's soup and salad with bread. I don't think there is dessert at all.

I'm not sure there is a "table" regarding costs, but I know several sites like Growlies for Groups have charts showing how much salad or soup or potatoes you would need to have for 100 people, so that might be a place to start.

Good luck!

Annie

Thanks Annie. Yes I really need to get more of the particulars. I think the people putting on the dinner do pay for it all but I really need to get some clarification. From what I can recall the main dish, whatever it may be, is provided by the merchant/individual who is putting on supper for that night.

Appreciate all your info. I will check out Growlies for Groups. Thank you again.

Kate

Got to run an errand....I'll be back later to post some ideas....with a donated dessert, I can feed ag ang for about $1.00 per person...If i have to make dessert...it will run more to $1.35 per person.

Where to start?
Figuring amounts....I go by what seems like a serving for one and multiply it out.
For example for a pasta with a tomato meat sauce...I figure 7 servings per pound of meat. That's a little over 2 oz per person. Then I think about the pasta and figure a cup of cooked pasta per person....depending on the kind of pasta this is about 2 oz for fusilli. Add 2/3 cup of tomato sauce and2 oz of grated cheese and you have a good meal.
As with all things, the more you make from scratch, the cheaper your meal will be. I never buy salad dressing...I make my own and everyone loves it. Never buy things like ham salad or sliced ham. Always buy bone in chicken, poach it and remove it from the bone and I have chicken broth and cooked chicken.
No canned soups, I make sauce using the chicken broth, onions, flour, milk and a little cream cheese.
I watch for things on sale. and when I know I need to "do" a meal, I plan around whatever meat is on special....chicken breasts, ground beef, ham, turkey etc.
Green salads are made from ice-berg lettuce, bags of spinach, and some grated carrot and shredded red cabbage, with my dressing. I buy day old French bread and slice it in thick slices and serve it with real butter.
The salad dressing is made with Extra Virgin olive oil and dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar....and it's about 20% of the cost of a bottled dressing and 100% better.
If I am making sandwiches, I use day old French bread and slice it myself with an electric knife. I grate cheese....mostly except when pregrated is cheaper, buy fresh veggies and fruits.
If you want specific recipes and meal plans complete with costs, email me, I have a file.
And for the record, I used Growlies for Groups when I began doing this....it's pretty well worthless as far as estimates of amounts are concerned....they way over estimate. But there are a lot of "group friendly" recipes.
Good luck!
Linda C

Thank you Linda. Wow! Lots of really great info there, very helpful. I need to talk to our pastor again and see what the skinny was but that gives me a terrific place to start.

Thank you so much.

Kate

Kate, I can't help with costs, but here's a link to a site that has quantities for about 40 types of food. Look at her other pages too; there are many notes on quantity cooking.

That said, LindaC is is our own guru for quantity costs & recipes. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Ellen's Kitchen Food - Quantities for 25, 50, 100

Hate to pour cold water....but read....that site says 3/4 of a pint of whipping cream for 25 people? Really? I use 1/2 a pint for 6...possibly 8. don't you?
And they recommend one # 10 can of veggies for 25 people...won't be near enough for corn but more than enough if it's peas! LOL1
They mention hamburger....but don't say if it's for patties or meat loaf or meat balls. And if you make 9 pounds of mashed potatoes for 25 people you will have a lot of leftovers....unless you aren't having anything else to eat.

And there are variables like the age of the people....kids and younger people eat a lot more than older people....and farmers eat more than lawyers....as a rule! LOL!

The first dinner we did, we aimed for 100....but only had 75. We cooked a ham and a turkey, had oven roasted potatoes....bought 25 pounds and had about half or more of the potatoes leftover. We had an 18 pound ham and an 18 pound turkey. We served hot sliced meat....all the turkey was gone, but we had lots of leftover ham. I think it was a mistake to serve 2 meats, instead of choosing one or the other, people took some of both.
One time for a funeral, there were lots of kids, so I made a platter of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to go with the chicken salad and the sliced ham sandwiches. Had to make more as lots of adults took peanut butter!
The point is you never really KNOW just what people will eat!

If you live near a Gordon Food Service store, they have a portion guide that people use for parties/graduations. And if it's for a church I believe you get a 5% discount and are tax exempt...

How do you make ham salad? I had it once at a neighbors house when we loved in Ohio and loved it.

Thank you all very much. I'm not aware of Gordon Food Service but I'll do some research. Ham salad sounds good, really anything goes for this supper. Since I'll probably be on a waiting list for our turn to provide the meal also if our time comes up in late spring/summer something like a ham salad sandwiches would be great.

Appreciate everyone's input.

Kate

I make a ham salad for sandwiches for a mob by grinding some of that ham they slice in a deli....it's boneless and made of ham pressed together, costs about $7 to $9 for a 5 pound loaf.
I grind it or chop in the Cuisinart...just zap it briefly.
Then I mix it with dijon mustard, maybe a tablespoon per pound of chopped ham, and some sweet pickle relish, drained, about 1 10 oz jar per 5 pounds of ham and some grated onion. I use one whole onion pureed in the FP for 5 pounds of the meat, and add mayonnaise to make it spreadable. If I think I need to I may to add a dozen hard boiled chopped eggs to stretch the ham.
That will make enough ham salad for 4 sandwiches made with hamburger buns. I buy the supermarket buns at 8 for $1.00, so that's about $15 to $17 for sandwiches for 40....including the price of lettuce for the sandwiches.

Hee hee........read your second to last sentence...

"...enough ham salad for 4 sandwiches..."

Wow! Heck of a sandwich! MY kind of meal!!
(I must be a farmer).

Not pickin' at ya, just found it a hilarious visual!
I DID see in the last sentence that it's for 40 sandwiches.

Deanna

You know I am the typo queen!