In the beginning, I was in the kitchen. After eating pizza for three weeks, I could not take it anymore and I laid out a plan to our youth minister and started cooking for the teens.What a difference a home cooked meal made in our ministry!
Many of our teens have parents who both work, so sitting down to a family meal is a rare event. No judgement here, just stating the facts. Families are busy, so meal time is relegated to drive thru's and carry out orders much of the time. Totally get it. Now that I am working, I see how easily that can happen.
Once I started cooking the teenagers would arrive early and help me. It became an impromptu cooking school for a time and I loved every minute of it. They were eager to learn and I was happy to help.
Time went by and after four years running the kitchen, I stepped aside and joined the Core Teen working in a more direct roll with the kids, as a team leader. The home cooked meals continued with other parents stepping up and volunteering. I had laid out the plan and they picked it up and ran with it.
This year, after taking the job as the liturgist at our parish, I found myself back in the kitchen. This way I could stay involved with the teens, all while juggling my new responsibilities. It has worked out well. Jerry and I cook one weekend every other month. Totally doable.
Recently I posted a photo on the gram and on FB of one of the dinners we prepared. It was my chicken fajitas and all of a sudden every one was asking questions.
What were my favorite recipes for Youth Ministry?
How do you know how much to make?
What do you make when you can't reheat?
And so on...
So I thought I would share a few tips that I have learned over the years.
#1 - Know your kitchen
Do you have a kitchen available to you or do you need to work without one? If you do have one, are you allowed to cook on site or do you have to bring the food in to reheat?
These are important questions. If you have a kitchen and can cook on site than go for it. Save yourself the trouble of transporting cooked food and make it there.
If you don't have a kitchen available, then the crock pot becomes your best friend. If you can grill, then use that to your advantage as well.
#2 - Know your kids
Are there food allergies to be aware of? Are there vegetarians in the group? Teenagers these days are very assertive when it comes to what they eat and why. We have several vegetarians in our group so I always make sure they have options with whatever I serve.
#3 - Know your numbers
I am of the school that leftovers are a good thing. I always air on the side of caution and add 10 to the number of kids excpected to attend. Why so cautious? Experience has taught me this lesson well. So always add 10. If you have leftover food, then yu can always give it to the local homeless shelter (as we do) or if your youth minister is single, they will be the happiest of happy to take it off your hands.
#4 - Budget
We are blessed at our parish to have a thriving and well established youth ministry. Our budget runs between $130 to $150 to feed about 50 kids on average. That is not the norm. So be in touch with what your parish needs.
#5 - Make what your kids at home like
When I started, I just made what my family loved. The kids loved it as well. Lasagna, hot dogs and hamburgers, meatball subs, fish and chips, and soup with bread. Just go with what you know. If you need a few more hints on what to make here are a few of our favorites:
Jonathan's Favorite: Macaroni and Cheese
Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes
Chicken or Beef Fajita's
Bombay Sloppy Joe's
Super Duper Swedish Meatballs
Taco Soup
All these recipes multiply easily. I hope that helps get you started. If you have any questions just leave them in the comment section.
Also, share your favorite dishes. I am always open to new ideas.
Happy Eating my friends! May the odds be ever in your favor.
ah, I'm hungry just reading this. We miss your food (and you of course!)
ReplyDeleteWe miss you guys too!! Maybe I will get on a plane and come cook for you <3
DeleteFabulous Mary! Youth ministry is SO important and a meal is a terrific idea!
ReplyDeleteOur favorite for feeding large crowds of any age? Pulled chicken/pork/beef in the crockpot served with buns, tossed salad, cut mixed fruit and cookies. Everything can be done in advance and we don't need to heat anything up - just plug in a crockpot and stick in some serving utensils. Yes, it's more lunch-ish than a true "dinner" or "supper" or whatever you want to call it but it's great food and easy to do. Plus, there's something for everyone to eat and its easy to scale up or down. You can add or sub cut veggies, chips, coleslaw, or any other sandwich/picnic side you'd like too. As my daughter says, "Easy peasy lemon squeezy!"
Blessings on all that you do for your community,
Lea
We have done BBQ as well. Anything where you can use a crock-pot is AWESOME!! Thanks for sharing Lea!!
DeleteGreat ideas, Mary! To #1, Know Your Kitchen, I would add this word of caution. Make absolutely sure in advance that the kitchen you will be using has all the serving utensils, cookware, serving dishes, paper products, etc., etc., etc. that you will need for cooking or reheating, serving, and eating. We do funeral luncheons in my parish, sometimes as many as 3 a week with anywhere from 50-200 attending. We learned the hard way that we must either keep our frequently-used "stuff" under lock and key or tote it back and forth from our homes every single time. Things have a way of mysteriously disappearing -- yes, even in churches! And that's just the kitchen for starters. Oh, the tales I could tell about the sacristy...lol!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness AC! This made me think about the kitchen coordinator at our church who left the church as a whole after a tiff about six missing teaspoons! She was quite the personality! I have to say that she did a great job of making sure we never lost anything. The solution after she left? Make everything look so industrial no one would want it at home! :)
DeleteLea
Hahahaha! Well, I could live with about six missing teaspoons -- after all, that's small stuff. You all sure did come up with a great solution!
DeleteWe use paper and plastic for this very reason AC!! LOL! I bring in my own pots and pans, knives and serving spoons. I clean them there and bring them home. It's just easier for me.
DeleteSome of my favorite memories from back when I was a teen in church come from our youth program's weekly prayer breakfasts before school (such a great service to us in many ways) - you could totally do some of the same food (French toast, or cheesy scrambled eggs, or what have you) for dinner!
ReplyDeleteKellie, we do Breakfast for Dinner all the time. The kids love it. French Toast Casserole is a fav.
DeleteAwesome.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if you could do a post sometime on what makes good youth ministry in general for a parish, what works, what do kids need. Our parish is really lacking anything other than a typical "CCD-like" program for elementary and Confirmation prep for older. There is some parent interest to get it back and going.
I'll take that to heart my friend. I have definite opinions there. Experience teaches one a lot.
DeleteMy friend Kate's husband Adam was on the Building Bridges podcast a few months ago and someone asked what he tells people who say they want to be involved but can't commit to x number of weekends per month: "Can you make macaroni and cheese?" Feeding the kiddos is just as much of a ministry as working with them!
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed Jen!!
DeleteThis is such a handy post! I don't work with teen youth ministry at the moment, but I have plenty of friends that do, so I wouldn't be surprised if I got roped into helping out sometime ;) How often does your parish do meals with the teens? Is it an every week occurrence, or more of an occasional thing? I'm a big fan of home cooking, and I agree with your statement that teens do, too. One of my more favorite activities that a group did when I was a young teen was a "progressive dinner" at Christmas. We drove in a big van (it was a pretty small group) to a few different houses, and ate a home-cooked course at each house. Thanks for this great post!
ReplyDeleteWe have YM every Sunday after the 5pm Mass, unless there is a school holiday.Home cooked means everything to these guys. They feel the love.
DeleteWow, that's awesome! Thanks!
DeleteSOO THANKFUL to the awesome people who supply their time and energy to make YUMMY meals for teens! Pizza gets old real quick! There was a time when I served in youth ministry where we would feed the teens Little Debbies. ;P
ReplyDeleteMMMmm sounds yummy! I have never considered starting a food ministry within out youth program at the parish I work at. It sound cool how making the food has become a special thing all on its own!
ReplyDelete