hmmm...cooking help?

[Sarlon]

so the guys in my gaming group have been complaining cause I haven't been cooking for them lately. Times have gotten tough for me and I said I'd cook more if they helped chip in funds for me to buy the groceries to cook for them.

so I'm throwing together a "cookbook" of sorts that has their favorite reciepes broken down at cost per person...divided 6 ways for the entire group.

one group has only ONE majorly deadly allergy and that is no mushrooms what so ever.

the other group has one person whos allergic to everything but air it seems like....but the major ones are gluten free, no dairy, no beef, no sweet potatos, and NO GINGER!

so I'm coming to my fellow cooks to ask for submissions.

outline is simple (beyond the allergies of course) needs to feed at least 6 or 7 people (leftovers not necessary), and average about $5 - $10 a person. They must also be semi healthy, and be able to be cooked in a crockpot or short time (30 minutes to an hour) in the oven.

Any ideas are welcome, I will not likely be publishing this, nore making a profit off of it (beyond a little extra thrown in on the per person price for my pocket).

Any submissions welcome.

[Akasa]

Chicken Soup

2 Chicken Breasts
1 yellow squash
1 onion
1 tomato
1 potato
1 bell pepper
1 container chicken broth
1 clove garlic
salt
pepper
3 tbsp rosemary
3 tbsp thyme

Warm up some tortillas and serve them with the soup and its yummy.

[Amusement Gal]

How about some veggie lasagna? Instead of noodles, use zucchini slices (the long way) and layer those. Instead of beef, you could use chicken sausage or lump up some more vegetables. Ditch the cheese, or use one of those 'soy-cheese' things, and you have a hearty and cheap meal. Use just plain tomato sauce, and you can also doctor it up however you want. The zucchini slices cook just as fast as noodles and are the same exact texture. It's a bit strange, but pretty nice for an alternative thing.

Also: potato salad. I usually use red potatoes, sliced black olives, diced dill pickles, and a bit of bacon (which you can omit if need be) with everything. Let it sit for a couple of hours and it's golden.

You can also throw together a nice pasta salad with some rice noodles instead of normal pasta, and toss a decent vinaigrette in there with some tomatoes. If you need to make sure that there's no dairy in the dressing, you could make one yourself. It's basically olive oil and vinegar anyway.

[ArcticChicken]

Just dinner, or desserts too? This cake is delicious (you can substitute margarine for the butter no problem, and I usually substitute hot water for the coffee)

Baked potatoes with stuff on. One to two potatoes per person, preheat the oven to 450, stab potatoes a bunch with a fork, stick 'em in the microwave for about five or ten minutes, rub them with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt (careful, they're hot now), stick 'em in the oven for a while to crisp, top with whatever. I like cottage cheese, sour cream and bacon are classics. I can't actually think of anything that doesn't have dairy, but I'm sure there's something tasty.

Spaghetti squash is called that for a reason, and it's delicious.

[Salted Grump]

From the 'five minutes of effort and bad jokes all night' plan there's the 'three cans of chili and sliced hotdogs/sausage mixed in' for the minimal-allergy group.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

lentils are amazing, and you can do all sorts of crazy stuff with them, like quinoa and rice too. There are amazing recipes all over the internet
... Potato chips are gluten and dairy free. (yaaaaaaaaay junk!)
Can-bean chili is awesome, explore your canned beans aisle and get what seems amazing-- dump it all in a pot and warm thru with tomato sauce/paste, chunk tomatoes (fresh or canned, whatever spices you want)... can he do sheep or goat? That'd be a kick! lentils are an amazing source of protien, vitamins and fibers! (yes I've been toting them, but they're yums!) Rice is a good expander, and can come in whole grain (brown).
All of this is really cheap. A pound of lentils in my area is about 80 cents. That's more than enough to feed 3 hungry hungry men. Beyond that idk. I feed myself. It makes about ... 8 cups of lentils? That's a lot.
Lentils can be cooked like rice-- 2:1 rough water: lentils ratio... I make mine in a rice cooker.
http://www.quinoa-recipes.com/
http://www.cookingquinoa.net/
http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/veget...sic-quinoa.php
these might help. ... mmmm I think I might try a few of these soonish!

[Seshat]

Rice paper rolls.

Rice paper sheets (obtain from a south-east asian store, or in my part of the world, your supermarket pasta-and-rice aisle)
Vermicelli-style rice noodles
Hoi Sin sauce, perhaps other Asian-style sauces if you wish
Goodies to stuff the rolls with.

Goodies I usually use:
julienned carrots & cucumber
cooked, thinly sliced chicken
mint leaves

Tofu and prawns are also popular, to replace the chicken.
Other veggies or meats are worth trying.

To prepare:
soak the vermicelli-style rice noodles until soft. IIRC, it's only ten minutes in boiling water, but check a recipe online or the instructions on the package.
Cook and/or chop and/or wash the 'goodies'
Put sauce in dipping bowls.

To serve:
Put out two flat slightly-oversized dinner plates, with water in each one.
Give people a damp teatowel to work on.

Each person soaks a sheet of rice paper until it's pliable but not mushy, then places it on the teatowel.
Grab a small amount of the soaked noodles, a couple of carrot sticks, a couple of cucumber sticks, two or three mint leaves and a bit of the chicken.
Arrange in the centre of the paper sheet.
Roll up the paper like a burrito.

Dip in sauce of your choice, and eat.

[Sarlon]

Here is what I've pulled from my interwebz searching...

Ignore the pricing thats running some basic numbers high but still dividing it between like 6 people...

BBQ ribs with coleslaw, potato salad and rolls: $13/person
pulled pork BBQ sandwiches with chips : $8/ person
Loaded baked potato cassarole : $3/person
shredded beef with gravy, mashed potatoes and rolls: $5/person
Beef Stew with corn bread : $5/person
Beef Lasagna with rolls : $5/person
Spaghetti and meatballs :
Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans :
Chicken Cacciatore over noodles :
Honey Mustard chicken with rice:
Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings:
Crockpot chicken and rice :
Creamy Crock pot potatoes :

That and I still haven't priced everything....been a while since I made some of these reciepes.

Also my friend with all the allergies, she can eat chicken and pork.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

The reason why I mentioned sheep/goat is because it responds beautifully (in my understanding) to long-time cook methods, like eight hours in a crockpot.
Why can't she have beef? I've never heard of a specific allergy to cow... suppose it was inevitable, tho... poor thing.

[Sarlon]

she reacts badly to all the growth hormones and other "stuff" they give commerical cattle these days....same reason she can't have dairy.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

ahhh.... so expensive super-organic stuff means just as well she can't have it... at least it's there if she craves it.
you can totally do like carnitas or something like that, taco night with choose-your-own-stuff... mmm Tex-mex.
EDIT: don't forget veggies and fruit! Salad is a good one... but also other cooked veggie dishes. Vegetables are important.
You can totally go in for a bag of grapefruit together. ... She's not allergic to citrus is she?
EDIT: almost all soy sauces have gluten in it. Please, please, check the labels...

[Seshat]

I'm allergic to citrus. Citrus allergy isn't that uncommon.

[Food Lady]

The reason why I mentioned sheep/goat is because it responds beautifully (in my understanding) to long-time cook methods, like eight hours in a crockpot. Why can't she have beef? I've never heard of a specific allergy to cow... suppose it was inevitable, tho... poor thing.

My BFF is highly allergic to beef, but can eat buffalo. She likes buffalo burgers.

[ArcticChicken]

EDIT: almost all soy sauces have gluten in it. Please, please, check the labels...

We get San J tamari. From a brief glance at their website, it looks like all their products are gluten free.

[Jester]

so the guys in my gaming group have been complaining cause I haven't been cooking for them lately. Times have gotten tough for me and I said I'd cook more if they helped chip in funds for me to buy the groceries to cook for them.

Okay, stop. Am I to understand that your fellow gamers expect you to cook for them, but until now have not been coughing up funds? If they have not been reciprocating by cooking in rotation, I say a hearty FUCK YOU to all of them. Shame on them. If you are the only one cooking, and this is a regular thing, they damn well better pony up some cash, or they can order some fucking pizza or Chinese.

That being said.....

Some ideas for crockpot/easy oven stuff:

Lasagne.
Beef Stew.
Shepherd's Pie.
Chili. (Mine takes me several hours, but mine is also one that has evolved over the years to its award-winning status, and frankly, you can make chili much easier than this. Speaking of which, I need to go stir my chili....making it for a couple's going away party....)
Okay, back...where was I?
Oh, yeah....
There are tons of soups and stew recipes out there for the crockpot.
Pasta, like spaghetti, is pretty easy.
As is homemade pizza, usually superior to store bought, if you're a decent cook.
Somewhere around here I have a recipe for spanokopizza, which is exactly what it sounds like....a pizza with spanokopita-type toppings.
If you have a grill, barbecue is usually pretty easy and also fun.
Beer Can Chicken.
Stir Fry, which opens up a million possibilities, and really is pretty easy. (And no, you don't need a wok, though a wok-shaped skillet does work better than a normal skillet for this purpose.)
Nachos! One of the easiest things ever to make, and even make well, and just pop it in the oven and put the cold toppings on after. Easy peasy!
Spaghetti Pie! After years of begging, I finally got my mom's recipe, but that is a family secret and I can't share it....you'll have to google your own. (But it's goooood.)
Casseroles.
Fondues.
Veggie platters.
Sushi, if you are so inclined.
Wings! (Okay, those can be a pain, but don't have to be.)

so I'm throwing together a "cookbook" of sorts that has their favorite reciepes broken down at cost per person...divided 6 ways for the entire group.

I'd say just have each person thrown in a set amount each gaming night, maybe a little more if it's a more expensive dish. And whatever you do, since you are the one cooking, feel free to round up the per/person cost, i.e., $12/person rather than $11.56. Hey, you're doing all the work, right? Not just the cooking, but the grocery shopping, prep work, and putting together the damn recipes. Not really ripping them off, just making things easier on you.

one group has only ONE majorly deadly allergy and that is no mushrooms what so ever.

Easy allergy to get around.

the other group has one person whos allergic to everything but air it seems like....but the major ones are gluten free, no dairy, no beef, no sweet potatos, and NO GINGER!

Not quite as easy. Depending upon their needs, you might want to consider making something for the group, and a special dish for this person. But that's your call.

We get San J tamari. From a brief glance at their website, it looks like all their products are gluten free.

LOVE San J Tamari! Superior to normal soy sauce (like La Choy or Kikkoman) in every way!