Unexpected guests?

**sunshine** · 04-28-2005, 08:11 PM

Lately I've had several instances of unexpected guests at dinner time. How would you handle it?

Here's what I planned for dinner. . . . . I'll post later what I actually did for dinner after I see what all of you come up with.

Pork chops, creamed peas, rolls - planned on having 4 people, ended up feeding 9 people.

Tuna burgers, french fries, carrot sticks- planned on having 4 people, ended up feeding 15 teenagers from the baseball/softball teams.

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn- planned on serving 4 people, ended up with 8 people.

**pip** · 04-28-2005, 09:37 PM

Silver turtles or sloppy joes can stretch a ways. Silver turtles are foil dinners that have ground beef, potatoes, onions,cabbage. carrots, seasonings. You can add a lot of veggies and just a little meat and they taste great.

**sunshine** · 04-28-2005, 09:56 PM

Ok-- this is what I did.

Pork chop night. I diced the pork chops up, made up LOTS of rice, opend a can of peas and a can of carrots. . . we had fried rice. Made caramel dumplings for dessert.

tuna night--- boiled a bag of noodles, tossed in 2 cans of tuna, a can of cream of mushroom soup and a can of peas, cut extra carrot sticks and served with ranch dressing dip. Fixed ambrosia for dessert from the pantry.

meatloaf night--- crumbled the meatloaf, added it to a LARGE pot of water, tossed in potatoes, carrots and corn , seasonings and made dumplings. We had hamburger stew, and I made sratch brownies for dessert.

Mostly it's the meat part that stresses me-- I can hit the pantry for extra sides, etc when people show up unexpectedly.

I can go for years and not have one unexpected guest-- now I suddenly got clobbered with lots all at once.

**Mommy2five** · 04-29-2005, 03:40 AM

I don't do well with unexpected guests!

**Mommy2five** · 04-29-2005, 03:40 AM

That was very clever of you

**SewCrafty** · 04-29-2005, 09:21 AM

You did great Denise!

I don't deal well with unexpected guests either.

**jlxian** · 04-29-2005, 09:49 AM

You were incredibly creative! I would have probably made some kind of casserole -- but I think I like your solutions a LOT more. Plus you probably did not have time for the casserole to bake.....

Thank goodness I have not had to deal with this particular problem.....yet (knock on wood).

**mommy2many** · 04-29-2005, 09:55 AM

Wow Sunshine!You did a great job! I wish I were that creative when it comes to meals!

**pip** · 04-29-2005, 10:10 AM

Good job.

**PrairieRose** · 04-29-2005, 10:32 AM

I think you handled it perfectly Denise. I always freak out when I have unexpected guests for dinner b/c I rarely have more than just what I've cooked thawed for meat.

**trelawney8** · 04-29-2005, 10:50 AM

You definitely did a great job - I think that I would also be nervous about stretching the meat, but when it's mixed up like that with vegetables and rice/noodles, etc. I find that people don't even notice.

I might start showing up at your house unannounced!

**sunshine** · 04-29-2005, 06:27 PM

Come on over-- you never know what I'll throw together and call it dinner

**dmvezina** · 04-29-2005, 07:00 PM

I double my recipe that I was going to make if I can or I'll make a big salad to go with it to stretch out the meal.
I almost always have salad stuff on hand.

**Mom23boys** · 04-30-2005, 01:48 PM

WOW, I think you handled that with creativity!! I would have never pulled it off. If I ever have unexpected guests show up for dinner I am calling you for ideas!