Some Menu Ideas

A few weeks ago, I did a post about our first rounds of hosting "Tuesdays at the Table," which was one of our favorite parts of the end of 2016. I shared with you the menus I put together and how I arranged the schedule to have the food done on time. Some of you told me you liked seeing the menus because you have a hard time coming up with new menu ideas, so I thought I would give you a second round of them, just for fun!

Week Five:
This particular week, we invited over a family of four - two parents and two kids, ages 4 and 1. Interestingly enough, I was told that this time, the husband was the pickiest eater of the bunch, not the kids. And his favorite food? Processed cheese. Well, not exactly clean eating friendly, but doable! So how do you keep a picky, processed cheese loving grownup, two kids, and a girl trying to watch what she eats all happy at the same time? TACO NIGHT!!!!!

* Taco bar {similiar to what we did on pizza bar night} including ground turkey with my homemade taco seasoning, chips, tortilla shells, spinach, chopped tomatoes, green onions, black olives, shredded cheddar, shredded mozzarella, plain Greek yogurt {in place of sour cream}, good old processed cheese sauce, and salsa.
* Homemade guacamole
* Homemade from-scratch brownies. {I happened to know the wife in this couple adored that recipe, so I made them specifically for her.}
{I chopped up all the veggies and made the brownies and the guacamole earlier in the day and then browned and seasoned the meat right before they arrived. While the meat was simmering, I laid out all the ingredients to the taco bar and let everyone make whatever they wanted: nachos, taco salad, soft shell tacos....whatever.}

Week Six:
Another family of four, and this time, a family I'd consider to be connoisseurs of food. No pressure! They actually came to eat with us the week of Thanksgiving, and it was my chance to make the kind of Thanksgiving dinner I would make if I were in charge of the menu. {No turkey!!!!} The kids this time were around 6 and 1, so I wanted something that appealed to everyone.

 * Ham {didn't do anything to it - just cooked it in the crock pot straight from the package}
 * Macaroni and cheese
 * Savory sweet potatoes
 * Homemade stuffing/dressing
 * Soft maple cookies with browned butter frosting.
{I cooked the ham in the crock pot all day. In the afternoon, I assembled the three side dishes and baked them all shortly before dinner. I'd made the cookies a couple of days before.}


Week Seven: 
This week we invited over a couple we'd never hung out with before {all four of us, I mean}, and other than knowing they didn't have any food allergies, I wasn't sure what they liked, so I was a little nervous. It was a COLD week, so I decided to go for soup, and it ended up being a perfect choice, because all of us were in various stages of fighting a cold, and soup was a perfect fit. Although we had a full menu prepared, they brought a sugar cream pie as a gift, so we added that to our menu for dessert.

* White Chicken Chili
* Cornbread {from a box...I'm not THAT fancy...yet}
* Crackers
* Green beans
* Brownie cookies with peppermint frosting and the gifted sugar cream pie
{The white chicken chili does not take long to make, so I assembled it in the afternoon and just let it simmer. I threw together the cornbread right before they came, since it doesn't take long to bake, and put the green beans on to warm up at the same time. I'd made the cookies a couple of days before.}

Week Eight:
This time we had just another couple over, and they were friends who had helped us so much when we were packing and moving. Sandee came to help me paint and clean and both of them showed up with a truck and trailer when it was time to haul the contents of our old garage to our new house. We wanted to thank them with dinner, and we did...but may I submit that the menu below is a TERRIBLE idea for anyone battling gallbladder issues? We were in the ER twenty minutes after our guests left!

 * Chicken taco soup {which was both healthy AND delicious, and I'll be making it again and sharing the recipe, but the acidity from the tomatoes and all the corn in there were just too much for Ryan's broken gallbladder}. I served this with cheese and Greek yogurt {you could use sour cream if you prefer}
* Homemade guacamole with chips and salsa
* Blizzard cookies for dessert. {They're basically chocolate chip cookies, but you use white chips and add in blue sprinkles.}
{The chicken taco soup comes together pretty quickly, so I assembled it in the afternoon and then let it simmer until it was time to eat. I also made the guacamole in the afternoon and just kept it in the fridge until dinner time. I'd made the cookies a couple of days before!}

So there you have it! A second set of menus. Hope you can find something helpful in here! :)

Linking up with Tamar!