Church Ladies Potluck Lunch For Sewing Circle

Church Ladies Potluck Lunch for Sewing Circle day. Need help planning a luncheon for a crowd? Today we’ve got recipes and amounts for a Lasagna planned menu for 70 people.

Cooking for a crowd can be a challenge.

And it’s something I get to do at least once a year as volunteer kitchen staff for our Church Ladies Sewing Circle.

Our Sewing Circle committee makes a list for each volunteer season, which runs from September to May. We get together one Tuesday a month to make blankets for storm and fire victims, children’s home bibs and this last Tuesday, it was Baby Bundles for the local fire department.

Since it’s an all day work session, and every Church Lady who can shows up, we have 2 ladies in the kitchen getting the potluck lunch ready to serve. So the rest can concentrate on getting the projects done.

This was our Church Ladies Potluck Lunch:

This last Tuesday it was my turn for the year. My co-volunteer and I decided to have lasagna.

We knew we needed to plan for up to 70 people. Our Church private school is right beside the Church, and all the children and teachers come for a hot lunch. Some of the volunteer’s husbands come for lunch, too if they can. It’s quite a party!

Planning a Potluck

We’ve discovered the app called Perfect Potluck. We post our menu on the app, then put the link on our Church Ladies Chat. Within a few days the lines are all filled up and the work is over until sewing circle day.

This was our menu:

• Lasagna: 5 – 9″ x 12″ deep pans.
• Caesar Salad: 2 large bowls (about 2.5 heads of lettuce plus the rest of the ingredients.)
• Fresh Fruit Salad: 2 large bowls.
• Garlic Toast: 5 loaves French bread.
• Dessert Bars: 2 – 10″ x 15″ pans

How to Decide Portion Amounts for a Crowd

One of the most important things when planning a potluck is knowing your crowd. We knew a third of our group would be school children, with only 4 boys among them. Another 10 or so are preschoolers who come with their moms. We also thought there’d be about 10 men. So our 70 people were the same as planning for 55 adults. Each deep pan of lasagna is thought to serve 12, so 5 pans is 60 servings. And we had lots left over, so that was perfect.

We determined about 1 head of lettuce, plus added Caesar Salad ingredients, would serve 12. So 2 people needed to bring 2 and a half heads each. We also had plenty of salad.

We often ask for Tupperware “Fix and Mix” bowls of salad. Two of these bowls of Fruit Salad (perhaps 2/3 full, not straight full) were plenty for our meal.

And a loaf of French bread is about 20 pieces, so at 1.5 slices per person, we needed 80 slices. Five loaves times 20 slices is actually 100 slices, so we had lots left over.

The Church Lady Potluck Lunch Yummy Recipes

Lasagna

Print Recipe

Lasagna

Servings: 6 people

Ingredients

Meat Sauce

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb. ground chuck
• ¾ cup onion, diced
• ¾ cup bell pepper, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 28 oz spaghetti sauce
• 3 oz tomato paste
• 14 oz crushed tomatoes
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped, packed
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1 pinch garlic powder
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp sugar or to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

To Assemble Lasagna

• 12 lasagna noodles
• 15 oz ricotta cheese (may substitute with cottage cheese)
• 24 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 4 oz parmesan cheese, fresh, grated
• 1 egg, large
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook the Meat Sauce

• Fry the ground chuck in 2 tbsp olive oil. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder. Drain and set aside.
• Sauté the peppers and onion until onion is translucent. Add garlic cloves and cook one more minute. Return the meat to the pan and cook 5 minutes.
• Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and simmer up to 45 minutes.

Assemble the Lasagna

• Boil and drain the lasagna noodles. Spread them onto an olive oil coated pan, turning them to get oil on both sides so they don't stick. Cool.
• Place ricotta (or cottage) cheese into blender, add egg and salt and pepper, and blend until smooth. Add sour cream if it's too thick. Mix with mozzarella (except for 1 cup or so for the top) and parmesan in a large bowl. Set aside.
• Ladle a cup of sauce into the pan.
• Add a layer of noodles, usually 4 side by side, in a deep dish foil lasagna pan. Ladle 1/3 of the rest of the sauce onto the noodles. Add a line of cheese mixture to each noodle.
• Repeat the last step twice. Then top with the saved mozzarella cheese.

Bake

• Heat oven to 375°. Tent the pan with aluminum foil so the foil can't touch the cheese. Bake for 40 minutes, then remove foil and bake another 15 minutes.

Caesar Salad for 25 to 30 people:

• 2.5 to 3 heads romaine or iceberg lettuce, or a mix of both
• croutons, 1 large bag
• 1 thinly sliced red onion
• pepperoncini peppers, drained
• 12 oz. fresh parmesan cheese flakes

BEST HOMEMADE DRESSING:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 tsp seasoned pepper

I mix this in a pint jar with a small wire whisk or wire mixing ball. So-o-o good.

Do you ever have to organize a

A Potluck Lunch?

If so, this post could come in handy. I can always use reminders how to compute food amounts for a crowd since I do it so rarely.