nephew, wife and 18 month old baby. Their schedule is very loose, so I need to be prepared ahead of time to serve them breakfast, lunch or dinner, because I'm not very good at whipping up stuff while chit-chatting with guests. They are professionals, with cultured palates, but keeping it simple would be less stressful for me. Also, I have had very little experience with children, and don't know what an 18 month old baby eats. Any guidance would be very appreciated. Thank you so much!
Help, please, need make-ahead menu ideas/recipes for overnight visitors,...
- Thread starter marianne
- Start date
hallie-in-fla
Well-known member
How long are they staying? Here are some make ahead ideas,
Lasagna is easy to make ahead and freeze. Then you can just keep bagged salad and even frozen rolls at the ready.
I also highly recommend Gretchen's Lamb You Can Eat with a Spoon, because it's actually better if made a day or 2 ahead. There are lots of stews or braises like this that might be a good option. It's a little warm for that in Florida now, so you could also do a dinner salad of romaine with sliced flank steak, carmelized onions and blue cheese with a nice vingarette, all done ahead and stored separate. Quick to throw together and with crusty bread makes a nice dinner for hot weather.
We throw salmon on the grill when we have out of town guests, very little prep and about 10 minutes on the grill total and we don't have to heat up the kitchen. We usually serve with a pesto pasta salad when it's hot out. I keep hagen-daz lemon sorbet on hand for desserts.. serve a scoop in a chilled martini glass with a sprig of mint and fresh berries. It looks sophisticated but is dead simple.
For lunch, you could make different spreads ahead of time, like horseradish cream, roasted pepper, blue cheese, and then use them with different meats (tenderloin made-ahead would be fantastic) on bakery bread with arugula or greens to make hearty sandwiches for lunch with some store bought fruit salad.
Pasta salads or antipasti plates might be a good lunch option too. Costco makes some nice pre-made chicken salad and crudite platters too.
For breakfast, I keep quick breads like NLB's banana bread in the freezer, then thaw in the fridge or on the counter overnight. Again, with store-bought fruit salad it's easy to throw breakfast together. Scones with jam are my favorite, but do require some preparation and baking, but go together really quickly. I pre-measure dry ingred. and put in ziplock bag, then just add cream and pop in the oven.
I'd be happy to post recipes for stuff if anything sounds helpful.
Enjoy your guests.
Lasagna is easy to make ahead and freeze. Then you can just keep bagged salad and even frozen rolls at the ready.
I also highly recommend Gretchen's Lamb You Can Eat with a Spoon, because it's actually better if made a day or 2 ahead. There are lots of stews or braises like this that might be a good option. It's a little warm for that in Florida now, so you could also do a dinner salad of romaine with sliced flank steak, carmelized onions and blue cheese with a nice vingarette, all done ahead and stored separate. Quick to throw together and with crusty bread makes a nice dinner for hot weather.
We throw salmon on the grill when we have out of town guests, very little prep and about 10 minutes on the grill total and we don't have to heat up the kitchen. We usually serve with a pesto pasta salad when it's hot out. I keep hagen-daz lemon sorbet on hand for desserts.. serve a scoop in a chilled martini glass with a sprig of mint and fresh berries. It looks sophisticated but is dead simple.
For lunch, you could make different spreads ahead of time, like horseradish cream, roasted pepper, blue cheese, and then use them with different meats (tenderloin made-ahead would be fantastic) on bakery bread with arugula or greens to make hearty sandwiches for lunch with some store bought fruit salad.
Pasta salads or antipasti plates might be a good lunch option too. Costco makes some nice pre-made chicken salad and crudite platters too.
For breakfast, I keep quick breads like NLB's banana bread in the freezer, then thaw in the fridge or on the counter overnight. Again, with store-bought fruit salad it's easy to throw breakfast together. Scones with jam are my favorite, but do require some preparation and baking, but go together really quickly. I pre-measure dry ingred. and put in ziplock bag, then just add cream and pop in the oven.
I'd be happy to post recipes for stuff if anything sounds helpful.
Enjoy your guests.
norris-in-wilmington
Member
Ask, but the baby will probably be no big deal.
I have an 18 month old and a 4 year old (I don't find time to cook nearly as often as I would like), and in my vast experience of 2, I've found that 18 months is a really good age for food. They have enough teeth to eat most everything (aside from certain allergens, like peanuts, that some pediatricians suggest avoiding (but that is changing, now, too)) and they are open to trying just about anything. Some time after age 2 or so, a lot of kids suddenly decide they don't want to eat anything unfamiliar.
These days, my 18 month old daughter won't eat the same food twice in a single 36 hour period. Too much to taste, too little time. So she loves going to places where someone other than me is cooking.
At home its gotten to be like the meals they showed in the movie the Last Emperor. We just parade a succession of dishes in front of her for every meal to see what she will agree to eat. My older one was MUCH easier at this age.
In any case, if there *are* foods your nephew's baby must have, they will probably bring them along. We always do when we travel.
Enjoy the visit.
Ooo. I just thought of a suggestion. I'll post it separately.
I have an 18 month old and a 4 year old (I don't find time to cook nearly as often as I would like), and in my vast experience of 2, I've found that 18 months is a really good age for food. They have enough teeth to eat most everything (aside from certain allergens, like peanuts, that some pediatricians suggest avoiding (but that is changing, now, too)) and they are open to trying just about anything. Some time after age 2 or so, a lot of kids suddenly decide they don't want to eat anything unfamiliar.
These days, my 18 month old daughter won't eat the same food twice in a single 36 hour period. Too much to taste, too little time. So she loves going to places where someone other than me is cooking.
At home its gotten to be like the meals they showed in the movie the Last Emperor. We just parade a succession of dishes in front of her for every meal to see what she will agree to eat. My older one was MUCH easier at this age.
In any case, if there *are* foods your nephew's baby must have, they will probably bring them along. We always do when we travel.
Enjoy the visit.
Ooo. I just thought of a suggestion. I'll post it separately.
norris-in-wilmington
Member
Tim's Grandmother's Angel Biscuits
I just got this from epicurious (thanks to Micheal in Houston), which is how I found all of you guys again.
In any case, make these a head of time, keep the dough in the fridge for up to a week, and bake what you need. They are wonderful for breakfast.
The lard comment below is mine, the rest of it is original.
Tim's Grandmother's Angel Biscuits
5 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. baking powder
3 tbls. Sugar
3/4 cup shortening (use farmer market lard (not hydrogenated) if you can get it, the biscuits are SO, SO, SO very, very good this way)
1 packet of yeast (2 1/2 tsp.)
2 cups buttermilk
Dissolve yeast in ½ cup warm water. Sift dry ingredients into large mixing bowl. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender. Stir in buttermilk, work into a dough. Place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge overnight.
The dough lasts about a week in the fridge. You pinch off what you need, roll or shape into 1/2-thick biscuits and bake at 400ºF for 12 minutes or until golden brown.
These are a real treat and totally yum, the only biscuits I will eat. A basket of these on the table when company comes disappears in minutes since most people have never had yeast-raised biscuits. And, they are really easy. With the dough in the fridge, you can have fresh baked biscuits in the time it takes to heat the oven and bake.
I just got this from epicurious (thanks to Micheal in Houston), which is how I found all of you guys again.
In any case, make these a head of time, keep the dough in the fridge for up to a week, and bake what you need. They are wonderful for breakfast.
The lard comment below is mine, the rest of it is original.
Tim's Grandmother's Angel Biscuits
5 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. baking powder
3 tbls. Sugar
3/4 cup shortening (use farmer market lard (not hydrogenated) if you can get it, the biscuits are SO, SO, SO very, very good this way)
1 packet of yeast (2 1/2 tsp.)
2 cups buttermilk
Dissolve yeast in ½ cup warm water. Sift dry ingredients into large mixing bowl. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender. Stir in buttermilk, work into a dough. Place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge overnight.
The dough lasts about a week in the fridge. You pinch off what you need, roll or shape into 1/2-thick biscuits and bake at 400ºF for 12 minutes or until golden brown.
These are a real treat and totally yum, the only biscuits I will eat. A basket of these on the table when company comes disappears in minutes since most people have never had yeast-raised biscuits. And, they are really easy. With the dough in the fridge, you can have fresh baked biscuits in the time it takes to heat the oven and bake.
gayle-mo
Well-known member
Toddler foods...
My granddaughter is now 21 months but she has always loved most fresh fruit (especially bananas, cherries, peaches, cantaloupe, pineapple), most veggies - steamed (zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans) or even fresh (tomatoes, cucumbers), cubes of cheese, bagels, mac and cheese or any kind of pasta dish. Little ones love things they can dip, too, such as graham crackers or fruit dipped into peanut butter. Assuming, of course, there are no food allergies. They will eat scrambled eggs, omelets with cheese and ham. (and maybe even more items)
Most kids will eat very healthily if their parents don't introduce them to McDonald's and other junk foods too early.
Our granddaughter eats what we eat with the exception of a few things.
Don't forget juice. Hope this helps some.
My granddaughter is now 21 months but she has always loved most fresh fruit (especially bananas, cherries, peaches, cantaloupe, pineapple), most veggies - steamed (zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans) or even fresh (tomatoes, cucumbers), cubes of cheese, bagels, mac and cheese or any kind of pasta dish. Little ones love things they can dip, too, such as graham crackers or fruit dipped into peanut butter. Assuming, of course, there are no food allergies. They will eat scrambled eggs, omelets with cheese and ham. (and maybe even more items)
Most kids will eat very healthily if their parents don't introduce them to McDonald's and other junk foods too early.
Our granddaughter eats what we eat with the exception of a few things.
Don't forget juice. Hope this helps some.
The slow cooker cassoulet up in T&T is very, very good and won't heat up your kitchen.
The Noe Bakery blueberry scones at post 2426 can be made ahead and frozen and then baked in the morning. Grilling is always good. We love the foil bags that you can throw on the grill, filled with all kinds of cut up veggies, herbs, olive oil/butter and sometimes some viniagrette. Easy.
The Noe Bakery blueberry scones at post 2426 can be made ahead and frozen and then baked in the morning. Grilling is always good. We love the foil bags that you can throw on the grill, filled with all kinds of cut up veggies, herbs, olive oil/butter and sometimes some viniagrette. Easy.
If you go to T&T up above and in One dish meals, CathyZ has posted the recipe with tweaks added.
I do not brown the chicken and do not add the spinach, but I do add some potatoes. It's so tasty and smells so good. Serve with crusty bread and a green salad. Even better the next day. Here's the link
http://www.finerkitchens.com/swap/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=21&msgid=15
I do not brown the chicken and do not add the spinach, but I do add some potatoes. It's so tasty and smells so good. Serve with crusty bread and a green salad. Even better the next day. Here's the link
http://www.finerkitchens.com/swap/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=21&msgid=15
