Covered Dish Potluck Ideas and Discussion (white wine, cider, ingredients, frozen)

[SunnyKayak]

Every First Friday night our Church has a Covered Dish Dinner

Last month I made tomato pudding the week before I cheated and took 2 foot long subway subs and cut them into finger food sizes.

I would love for some new ideas that are easy to make.

When you go to potlucks what is one thing you hope someone will bring?
My favorite items is deviled eggs.

Things that I always expect at every potluck is Fried Chicken, Potatoe salad and baked beans.
As you can tell I am in the south is the potluck staples different in other parts of the U.S.?

[tahiti]

Sweet and Sour Meatballs: (bear with the ingredients, lol)

3 lbs small meatballs (frozen work well if you don't have time to make fresh)
1/2 jar (16 oz) spag sauce
16 oz sauerkraut, drained
16 oz can jellied cranberry sauce
1/2 cp packed brown sugar

Mix all but meatballs together. Put meatballs in crockpot, cover with sauce. Low for 3-4 hrs.

I've VERY ingredient sensitive, lol, but i heard so many good things about this recipe I had to try it. It's really very good and whenever I make it it's the first to go!

[I love the Bears]

buffalo chicken dip with corn chips or tortillas

2 blocks of cream cheese - softened and then mixed with
1 cup ranch dressing
3/4 cup of hot sauce
1 1/2 cups of cooked chicken

mixed together and baked in oven for 30 min at 350 or poured in crock pot...

[Ohiogirl81]

I hope they'll bring brownies! Deviled eggs, too, because they're a PITA to make (in my opinion, anyway!) but I really like them.

I like to take simple pasta salads, because they're easy to make and transport, and they're indestructible and don't spoil easily:

**Couscous with shredded carrots, minced onions and celery, a little olive oil and maybe a sprinkling of parsley or oregano and feta cheese

**Pasta with broccoli and/or peas, garlic and onion, pepperoni and diced mozzarella cheese with an oil/lemon juice dressing.

[Cattknap]

You can't go wrong with pasta - lasagna, spaghetti, baked ziti, mac & cheese - most people love pasta.

[SunnyKayak]

Thanks for the suggestions keep em coming.. hehe

Here is the tomato pudding recipe in case you want to try it
I will warn you it doesnt look pretty once it out of the oven so you might want to garnish it maybe bake tomato slices on top.

Reason I say that the first few people in line was scared of it until someone tried and told them how good it was.

Tomato Pudding
1 quart cooked fresh or canned tomatoes

6 to 8 leftover biscuits or day-old bread

1 T. minced onion

1/4 t. allspice

1 C. sugar

2 T. butter

Tear biscuits or bread into bite-size pieces. Combine all ingredients and pour into a greased casserole dish. Bake at 325°F. for 20 minutes.

[NCN]

We go to Sam's and get frozen mesquite chicken breasts. I think they would be good to bake for church dinners because they are good after they are prepared even when they are lukewarm.

You asked if there is something we look for at church suppers. I look for chicken and dumplings and from scratch green beans made with fatback and homemade biscuits.

Another food that is good even when it is not too hot is baked beans. I like to get two cans of the prepared kind (the ones with the secret recipe) and fix a 13x9 dish in the oven putting strips of green pepper and/or onion in the casserole dish before I bake them. For church suppers, I usually leave out the onions. It is good with green pepper only.

Combination of ingredients for mixing with a prepared coleslaw mix from the produce section of the grocery store: one part sugar (1/4 cup), one part apple cider vinegar (1/4 cup), two parts mayonnaise (1/2 cup.) Add salt and pepper to taste, or forget them. This needs to be stirred again just before the line forms to make sure the slaw is covered good.

I think I put this on another thread. A good dressing to spice up potato salad: To every 1/2 cup mayonnaise, add 1/3 cup french dressing and stir together. Be ready to let people know it is not spoiled, because the color is different than plain mayonnaise. Just add this to the normal ingredients you usually put in potato salad. Of course, you can add salt and pepper to this also.

[BlueWillowPlate]

heh
Like Ohiogirl, I always look for brownies, too.

Some yummy ideas here.

I don't go to church suppers, so am not sure about what that would involve, but when it comes to potlucks, I'll ask what's needed.

I always like a good salad.

Depending on the time of year and the amount of people to feed, I might make a simple Insalata Caprese:

Fresh, preferably homegrown tomatoes
Ditto with the basil
Fresh mozzarella, usually sliced into discs
Dress it up with leaf lettuce or arugula
Olive oil, freshly ground salt and pepper

I agree that pasta salad or a baked pasta dish is always welcome.
I've had good luck with manicotti, usually I make it with spinach instead of meat.
Garlic bread is usually desirable, as well.

[sweetana3]

1/2 pound cooked tricolor twisty noodles
bag of thawed chopped broccoli
about 4-8 oz of cubed mozzarella cheese
can of drained kidney beans
handful or more of chopped walnuts.

Pour over a mixture of (easiest to shake in a jar first)
1/2 cup oils, mixture fine or all vegetable oil
1/4 to 1/3 white wine vinegar
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 or two smashed garlic cloves
teaspoon oregano
small amount of sugar, concentrate, splenda, etc.
salt and pepper

All can be adjusted to taste. You get a pretty colorful dish that is fairly safe to leave out and not poison anyone. I find it incredibly filling.

You can change most everything. We use mozzarella because it is slightly dryer and doesnt get "slimy" in the dressing. You can use different veggies if you want to be creative and different beans.

Got this from a spa recipe book and make it several times a year.

[Jaxson]

Here is it homemade chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes.

How about:
Baked mac & cheese (homemade not that box junk)
meatloaf
crock of baked potatoes; take butter and sour cream too
Scalloped potatoes
Summer time veggies out of the garden
Brownies!!!! (that must be universal)
Tacos
Jello Jigglers (kids love them so do older folks)
Rice pudding
Chili
Vegetable soup
Ham & beans with cornbread


We have a carry in every Wed before bible study and it sure is nice to eat together and only have to take one dish to boot. HTH!