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Home > More than halfway done with my charity gig!

More than halfway done with my charity gig!

June 24th, 2015 at 04:41 am

Whew! I've been cooking basically since I got home from work. I've got a huge pot of pinto beans simmering to make refried beans for making burritos tomorrow for Thursday's donation. Luckily I only have to worry about the cooking this week; the organization found people to pick the food up Wednesday and Thursday so we don't need to deliver it.

It's a really good organization so I'm happy to help, but it's been a lot of work! First figuring out things that will be good in big batches, then figuring out whether to double or triple recipes, then shopping for the ingredients and disposable containers, then cooking it all up. (Not to mention delivering it the first two days.)

The first week of stuff (for 2 meals) cost $140, and the second week $95. So it's cost nearly $60 per meal. Feeding 20 people each time, that comes to almost $3 per person per meal. I have one more meal to do next week.

I'm sure there are ways to do this more cheaply; I'm probably making rookie mistakes. But I'm using the money I likely would have donated to them anyway, so I don't have a problem with it.

Here's what I've made/am planning to make for the 5 days I volunteered for:

(last Wed.) Three-bean and tempeh chili, cornbread, lettuce/cucumber/tomato salad and 2 bottles of dressing.

(last Thurs.) Mac and cheese, veggie marinara pasta bake, mixed greens salad and 2 bottles of dressing.

(tomorrow) Potato salad w/chopped hard-boiled egg, pasta-veggie salad, sliced cantaloupe and watermelon.

(Thursday) Bean/cheese/veggie burritos, Spanish rice, chips and salsa.

(next Tuesday) Veggie baked beans, coleslaw and biscuits.

Everything is vegetarian and I made sure at least one substantial piece of each meal was vegan. I don't even know if they have any vegans or vegetarians working for them; I just don't feel comfortable buying or working with meat. (Even when I ate meat, I never cooked it beyond making tuna sandwiches with canned tuna.) My concession was making sure at least one thing had dairy and/or egg in it, since I know vegan food can feel unsubstantial if one is unused to it. At least basic dairy stuff doesn't require any special knowledge, though I had to ask NT for a refresher on how to hard-boil eggs!

I don't know if I'll do more if they ask me to; I don't mind the work but I'd like to use my charity money for other things as well. Also I don't have many more ideas for vegetarian meals that are accessible crowd-pleasers!

2 Responses to “More than halfway done with my charity gig!”

  1. Carol Says:
    1435149555

    Wow, seeing it all written out like th3:45time that brings home what an undertaking it was. Good work!

  2. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1435190159

    I bet they are really enjoying your food!

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