Serving food on Kingdom projects

[Shawnster]

So, I'm a bit of an uncoordinated nerd. Manual labor is not my thing. But I'm an OK cook.  I've volunteered enough for food service that I guess I've become the food brother in my congregation. 

 

Our Kingdom Hall was the first LDC/RBC projects when we opened up during the pandemic. I oversaw the securing of food supplies. At that time it was just pre-packaged breakfast supplies, pop, ice cream, snacks, etc... because we were still in the pandemic.

 

It's different now as the restrictions are over. In April I headed up feeding lunch for Elder's school.  We did a taco bar.  That was so successful we did it again this summer for Pioneer School. 

 

Now there is another LDC/RBC project in a neighboring congregation. We are serving 4 lunches.  Our first one was footlong hoagies, green beans, salad, cookies, brownies, popsicles and ice cream drumsticks. 

 

Our next assignment is next week. Pork chops, mashed potatoes, applesauce, carrots, rolls, dessert, salad. 

 

What food projects have you helped with? What did you serve? Do you have any tips on keeping hot food hot and cold food cold during transport and setup? 

[BLEmom]

Other than using crockpots to heat food on site, you can use those large temp control bags that are for groceries. They also have some more specifically sized for Tupperware sized dishes. 
 

of course once on site many use chaffing pans for keeping food hot. 

[Tortuga]

I wish I could help you but I have no food skills at all. I burn toast and lost the recipe to peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. 

Despite my obvious culinary handicap, I have also been involved in food service for several Pioneer Schools and one KMS for Elders. But only because my wife was there to tell me what to do. She has been involved in Food Service for over 20 years. She has coordinated several large events at the local AH. Before the Branch simplified the Food Service at the AH she did all of the food purchasing, developed the menus and coordinated the cooking teams. She still volunteers for food service at the AH and recently volunteered during the SKE class. 

 

I'll ask her if she has any suggestions for you. 

Edited October 16 by Tortuga

[Qapla]

We just completed an LDC major remodel of our KH ... it took 12 weeks to complete. During that project, it was emphasized that ALL workers were to bring their own lunch. There were microwaves available if you needed to heat something up.

 

We did have snacks, like cookies, small cakes, fruit, popsicles and dill pickles. There were some breakfast items provided like microwavable sausage/egg muffins.

 

There was to be no actual cooking on the site and meals were not to be provided. In fact, unless you were working on the project by invitation, there were to be NO visitors on the actual site - not even to bring food. If you did bring something, you had to drop it off at the gate ... and they did not accept anything hot or needing to be kept hot.

 

[Shawnster]

9 hours ago, Qapla said:

We just completed an LDC major remodel of our KH ... it took 12 weeks to complete. During that project, it was emphasized that ALL workers were to bring their own lunch. There were microwaves available if you needed to heat something up.

That's how our project was in 2022.  That's how I was expecting this project to work.  That's what assuming gets you. 

 

12 hours ago, Tortuga said:

I wish I could help you but I have no food skills at all. I burn toast and lost the recipe to peanut butter & jelly sandwiches

 

You sound like a brother in my congregation I asked to help.  He's led a sheltered life. He wants to be independent, yet isn't quite willing to make the effort.  I asked him to help serve and provide chips. Then, when the menu changed and we went to green beans instead, I asked if he could help make salad. He gave me the same comment you said about not being a good cook.  I said; "Michael, it's a salad. There is no cooking involved." still, nope. 

 

Oh well, I tried. 🤣

[Jwanon]

Apparently first century Christians were eating together after each meeting

 

"Acts 2:42:
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer"

[TheKid23]

When I worked on the assembly hall we had to bing our own lunches 🥲 Don’t know if it’s the same everywhere in the UK or just my local LDC but they don’t tend to provide hot meals anymore. Something to do with keeping things simple 🤷‍♀️ same with the pioneer school too. 

[fix it shop]

On 10/16/2024 at 6:07 AM, Shawnster said:

That's how our project was in 2022.  That's how I was expecting this project to work.  That's what assuming gets you. 

 

 

You sound like a brother in my congregation I asked to help.  He's led a sheltered life. He wants to be independent, yet isn't quite willing to make the effort.  I asked him to help serve and provide chips. Then, when the menu changed and we went to green beans instead, I asked if he could help make salad. He gave me the same comment you said about not being a good cook.  I said; "Michael, it's a salad. There is no cooking involved." still, nope. 

 

Oh well, I tried. 🤣

I just open a bag , put it in a bowl , toss it for 5 seconds and walla - salad  !!!

[Pabo]

6 hours ago, fix it shop said:

I just open a bag , put it in a bowl , toss it for 5 seconds and walla - salad  !!!

 

I just hope it was salad in the bag, otherwise you may be eating air.

[Pabo]

Haven' t done much in regards to LDC projects, but we have had prepared for congregation gatherings (either at KH or at home) and funeral wakes (we had about 160 people at our place for one them).

 

The main thing is to keep it simple. If you can make large quantities, even better. It all depends on how many people you are feeding, what facilities and equipment you have available on hand.

 

You cannot go wrong with a BBQ and salad. Cook up some burger patties, sausages, steaks, onions, lamb chops etc. 

 

Soups, casseroles, stews are good in winter, as you can use portable butane stovetops to reheat the pots, or use slow cookers and croc pots to keep them hot and also transporr them. And you  can use various types of breads as fillers.

 

If you need to keep food hot, you could use sealable polystyrene boxes, but line the bottoms with cardboard if the food recepticles are very hot. We used these when cooked meatpies at regional conventions when had food service.

 

Summertime, sandwiches with different fillings are good, as you can prepare these well in advance. 

 

Esky's, chilly bins, cooler tubs (depending where you live) are good to keep food cold when you have some ice bricks lined on the bottom. Portable coolers/fridge/freezers are also good for tansporting food. We have a 12V portable cooler/warmer that we fit into the boot of our car, but it also runs on normal electricity power from the wall socket too.

 

 

Edited October 19 by Pabo

[MullumMiss]

On 10/16/2024 at 11:38 AM, Shawnster said:

 

What food projects have you helped with? What did you serve? Do you have any tips on keeping hot food hot and cold food cold during transport and setup? 

Whenever my husband is asked to organise food for schools I do the menu.  For SKE we did middle eastern. We did a lot of food prep and cooking at our place the day before and then cooking and salad making on the day at the AH kitchen.  PSS we had different things made by the sisters but the last one we did I personally did a cold meat platter of corn beef(I cooked) boneless roast chicken (deboned, stuffed and I cooked) and sliced leg ham (whole leg bought from supermarket).  Along with decent salads this was a hit.  Nowadays we need to take into consideration all the intolerances/allergies so if you can form a menu that addresses all of these rather than separate dishes, you can’t go wrong.  So ensure main dishes are GF, dairy free with vegan/vegetarian options.  Any salads same.  Sweet options GF, sugar free and dairy free.  As mentioned often simple barbecue meats and salads is good.  

[chuck83]

If you guys need help let me know. I'm not a food expert. But I cook a lot from scratch meaning if I need tomato paste I don't go buy a 99 cent can of Del Monte. I take the 3-4 hours to make it and can it fresh. If you don't have worcestershire sauce but have soy sauce, vinegar, a dash of hot sauce, sugar, and maybe so cloves, you've got a suitable replacement thats like it with a twist. Less chemicals too. Another one is as simple as adding celery powder to replace sodium to provide a tang like salt in dishes.

 

I can support low sodium, vegan, vegetarian, keto, weight watchers, gluten-free, etc. I'm the person that believes in no chemicals in food and more of intaking the nutrients that Jehovah has provided for thousands of years fresh. But I can also help you with lesser evils. Think BobbyApproved! but on steroids. I'm only a message away.  👍

[Tortuga]

4 minutes ago, chuck83 said:

If you guys need help let me know. I'm not a food expert. But I cook a lot from scratch meaning if I need tomato paste I don't go buy a 99 cent can of Del Monte. I take the 3-4 hours to make it and can it fresh. If you don't have worcestershire sauce but have soy sauce, vinegar, a dash of hot sauce, sugar, and maybe so cloves, you've got a suitable replacement thats like it with a twist. Less chemicals too. Another one is as simple as adding celery powder to replace sodium to provide a tang like salt in dishes.

 

I can support low sodium, vegan, vegetarian, keto, weight watchers, gluten-free, etc. I'm the person that believes in no chemicals in food and more of intaking the nutrients that Jehovah has provided for thousands of years fresh. But I can also help you with lesser evils. Think BobbyApproved! but on steroids. I'm only a message away.  👍

I'm impressed. My cooking skills are limited to the 30-Second button on the microwave; however, I am becoming quite skilled in how many times to push it.

[chuck83]

25 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

I'm impressed. My cooking skills are limited to the 30-Second button on the microwave; however, I am becoming quite skilled in how many times to push it.

 

Hahaha, love it! 🤣 I don't own a microwave. Just stove/oven and grill. Recently a decent air fryer. I learned how to reheat in oven/stove and I guess now the air fryer.

 

Once my wife and I went clean with food, microwaved food started tasting weird. Especially microwaved ground beef and fries are awful. I learned to start taking the 8-10 minutes reheating in the oven and literally no taste difference because it's just dry indirect heat heating your food. Microwaves use the water molecules in your food to create steam to cook it. That process alters fat/oil flavor profiles as they really don't have water molecules. Microwave reheated fries taste so much more awful than oven reheated. Ground beef is no different.

Edited October 30 by chuck83

[-Chris-]

On 10/30/2024 at 8:25 AM, chuck83 said:

microwaved ground beef and fries

 

🤮