Potluck idea - that can go several days without refrigeration

[Jamauk]

DH and I are going to a log home building seminar in Jan. Its three days and its actually hosted in the home of the instructor. We'll be staying in a hotel as the class is about three hours from where we live.

The last day of the class is a potluck - any ideas of what I can bring? There is a grocery store down the road, but I'd really rather take something home made.

TIA!

[Domestic Gal]

Take your crockpot with you and go to the store and buy something like meatballs and a bottle of bbq sauce and take that. Or if you are going to have a fridge in your room you could bring some little smokies from home and a bottle of bbq sauce and put them in the crockpot.
Or you could do a cookie tray. Make the cookies at home take them with you and make a nice tray.

[AmyMCGS]

Cookies were my first thought, too.

Or what about something like roasted nuts, or snack mix?

Or if you have a dip recipe you like, maybe you could assemble the dry ingredients at home, then pick up the sour cream (or whatever) and stir it together in the hotel room. Serve with crackers, or pick up carrots and celery at the store.

[Ceashels]

I love the take the crockpot idea. Pack a cooler with your ingredients and pre-chop your veggies. Freeze any meats and they can slowly thaw in the cooler over the 3 days. The hotel should have ice available to keep everything iced down. The night before the pot luck pull everything together and plug it in. The other people on the floor and hotel staff are going to be so curious about the wonderful smell they won't know what to do.

[nuisance26]

~A couple cans of refried beans, a jar of salsa and some velveeta cheese(or a couple jars of salsa con queso) in the crock pot makes a yummy dip. You can garnish the top with sliced jalepenos or sliced olives. A little dried cilantro looks good too. Don't forget the chips!~

[Squirt]

I like the dip ideas. People love dip


You could add canned diced tomatoes to the above dip, and maybe a can of sloppy joe- I don't know how close that comes to taco meat.

[foxxyroxie]

Here's a couple of crockpot recipes for you to consider:

CROCKPOT MIXED BEAN CASSEROLE
½ pound bacon, chopped
1 pound lean hamburger
1 cup chopped onion
2 cans (1 lb) pork and beans
2 cans (1 lb) butter beans, drained
1 can (16 oz) B&M baked beans
¼ cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon liquid smoke (optional)
1 cup catsup
Brown bacon, hamburger and onion; drain. Put browned meat, beans and remaining ingredients in crockpot and mix. Add rest. Cook in crockpot on low at least 8 hours. Can also bake in oven or cook on top of the stove in a Dutch oven. This can include more types of beans.There are probably a dozen variations of this recipe, all good.

MY SUGGESTIONS FOR YOU: Just brown bacon, ground beef and onion. Freeze and even in refrig or cooler in hotel room will be good for couple of days.
The rest is just canned goods, a zipper baggie with brown sugar and a brand new bottle (small) of catsup.

CROCKPOT MEXICAN DISH

6 corn (or flour) tortillas, in pieces
1 can Ranch Style Beans (use any chili beans if you can't get Ranch Style)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can Rotel tomatoes (with juice)
1 lb. ground beef or turkey, browned with chili powder and garlic powder to taste and drained
8 oz. Velveeta cheese, cubed

Place in order given in your crockpot. Cook 3 to 4 hours on low.
Cook's Notes: The corn tortillas hold together better than the flour ones. Ranch Style Beans may be a "Texas" product, I'm not sure on that I use a cream soup substitute I make up, which does not have as much sodium as canned cream soups. Can use ground turkey.

MY SUGGESTIONS FOR YOU:
Brown meat and freeze as with other recipe.
Tortilla shells will keep a couple of days at room temp or refrig/cooler as long as their in a sealed/airtight baggie.
The rest can be stored at room temp, including the Velveeta.

Good luck and have fun. It sounds like a really cool seminar to attend. I'd love a log home.

[Dancing Lotus]

I think takeing your crockpot is a great idea. You could just hit the grocery store the night before for what ever you need. Bring a cutting board and a knife with you just incase.

[sunshine]

Canned fruits, mixed with instant pudding mix (dry mix) makes a wonderful fruit salad.

[sunshine]

PANTRY SHELF FRUIT SALAD


1(16oz) can sliced peaches,drained
1(15oz) can pineapple chunks, drained
1(11oz) can mandarin oranges, drained
1 cup maraschino cherries
1(21oz) can apricot pie filling


Combine peaches,pineapple,mandarin oranges,cherries and pie filling in a large bowl toss gently to mix well.

Chill until serving time

[Jamauk]

THanks everyone! I think I'm gonna go wtih the crockpot. I was gonna do cookies, but evidently that guy running the seminar is particularly proud of his cookies and according to the forum over on their site - its maybe an insult if you bring your own? I dunno - that's my DH's interpretation.....??


I'll probably either go with a dip, or with lil' smokies (found a great deal on them last month and have four packs in teh freezer) with bbq sauce.

[Libby]

Heh I was going to say make your own snack mix - chex mix. Make several varieties from savoury to spicy to sweet. Or a meat & cheese and cracker tray - you can keep the cheese cold in a cooler with ice from the hotel.

[yonksgirl]

Try adding jelly to the little smokies and BBQ! It is so yummy and no one can figuar out just what it is! LOL!

[Jamauk]

Try adding jelly to the little smokies and BBQ! It is so yummy and no one can figuar out just what it is! LOL!

Oh Yeah!!! I usually do chili sauce and currant (or grape) jelly....yyyyuuuummmm!!!!!