Camp Meals (for ~50 people)

[KinkyKristina]

I joined a theme camp for the first time and they want to have a planned dinner meal each day. Despite having been to burning man since 2005 this is so out of my normal experience since the small groups I've good with, we've always done our own meals. So I'm reaching out for some help on what I should plan for the daily dinner meals. Supposedly we'll have a Fridge and Freezer so that should make things a bit easier but I'm reluctant to rely on them totally since between that and a A/C I think we'll be burning through more gas than people realize. So I'm looking for suggestions on what to suggest to prepare to feed about 50 people.

I normally do taste bites, lemon fish (foil pouches), rice and beans, and other things that come in foil pouches where all I have to do it heat up water. Basically most stuff I've done in the past required no refrigeration.

So what I'm thinking so far is

Monday: (People arriving - camp setup)
- Goal: Easy to little or no cooking

o Pre-purchased Fried Chicken
o Fruit Salad (make)
o Regular Salad (make, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots)
o Chips

Tuesday

o Hamburgers (Buns, Lettuce, Tomatos)
o Italian Sausage (Buns)
o Leftover Fruid and Regular Salad
o Chips

Wednesday

o Burritos
Cooked black beans, Rice, Vegetables, Pre cooked sliced chicked ( or larged canned Chicken for Cosco or Sam's Club)
o Salad

Thursday

o gnocchi, fresh vegetables, basil pesto sauce

Friday

o Spaghetti and Meatballs


Saturday
Goal: Allow every to go to Burning of Man with enough time to get a good seat

o Chilli
Hamburger Meat (Pre cook), Red Beans, Tomatoes (diced canned), Spices
Rice to server chili over

Sunday
Goal: Cook Early, Serve Cold latter, Allow people to go to Temple Burn with enough time to get a good seat

o Robo Chicken Ourzo Salad
viewtopic.php?p=259989#p259989
Substituting Mangos for Canned Pineapple


Suggestions?

[illy dilly]

Sounds like you have a plan!
Spaghetti is one of our favorites, because it doesn't require serious refrigeration. The "rolls" of meet that come in 5lb tubes will stay fresher better on just ice, than butcher style ground beef. You could also do precooked frozen meat balls?

Like you said, Taco's/Burritos one night. We get the pre-cooked and frozen "fajita" meet from the frozen food section.

[some seeing eye]

You are being smart in sequencing fresh ingredients early in the week and using non-refrigerated ingredients as much as possible! Suggest strong flavors, salty and announcing the nationality of the food before each meal/ for the week, getting people in the right state of anticipation. I've done some of these 2 pan meals for ~125 person groups. I did it vegan, but you could split or go all meat. Make it special with the beverage of the night.

Thai Curry
Curry paste, coconut milk, fish sauce (can be vegie), brown sugar, garlic
Green vegies, red grapes/pineapple, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, tofu/meat, canned asian vegies
Quick cook rice noodles/ rice/ precooked rice
Green papaya salad - see if you can get it refrigerated shredded with red pepper and vinegar
(Thai can beer)

Italian
Canned sauce, basil and more basil, garlic, peppers, onions, mushrooms, canned/jared artichokes, olives
Meat/ non-meat meat, Parmesan
Pasta
Caesar salad with bacon and hard boiled egg
(red wine)

Northern Japan
(Smoked) salmon, potato pieces, miso, ginger, mushrooms, seaweed
Cucumber Japanese vinegar salad & miso soup
(sake!)

Korea
Meat/ non-meat meat
K-BBQ sauce
Kimchi, bean sprouts, slivered cucumber
Rice
(Soju)

West Africa
Tomato sauce, onion, bell pepper, peanuts, peanut butter, ginger, cinnamon, cloves (just look up ground nut/ peanut strew recipes)
Rice

There are many Chinese and Indian dishes that could be playafied.

But with a frig and freezer, you will be a hit!

[FIGJAM]

I'm with illy on the spagetti, but make your sauce ahead of time and freeze it.

Chilli dogs are easier than burgers and again you can do pre prep.

[Token]

whatever you do, make sure someone else does the dishes.

[Token]

oh, and expect half the people to miss dinner each night then rummage the kitchen for snacks and make a glorious mess.

bring lots of snacks that need zero cleanup.