Feeding 7 quickly and cheaply!

[Fianceechickie]

Does anyone have any suggestions for quick and cheap meals for when my in laws come to visit? There's seven of us when they come (as its always when my DSCs are here, their grandkids) and I work as a teacher. They always come for 5 nights when they come cos they live in Ireland and recently they have been coming quite often (once a month!). We only have a three bed semi so when everyone's here its crazy and DH and I have to give them our room and sleep on the lilo! (whole new thread there) I end up totally exhausted by the end of their visit. I feel like I'm constantly cooking and preparing food. My father in law is huge and generally eats twice what a normal person would. I've been doing stuff like big lasagnes and big pies and stuff but they take ages to prepare and have to be done in two dishes. The shopping bill is huge and the planning onerous. I love cooking and thus far have been trying to impress them and be really welcoming cooking lovely food and being really welcoming as if its all no trouble. They left yesterday and will be back on the 8th December! Help!! Oh and also, they don't like 'foreign' food, shellfish or anything with mushrooms. And my DSCs are fussy eaters...DSS in particular has quite a narrow diet and DSD doesn't like fish.

[toffeeboffin]

Irish stew?

Chilli, jackets, sour cream, grated cheese. Garlic bread and salad if needed. Pad out chilli with lentils.

Chicken casserole, use thighs, lots of spuds, veg, carrots etc to stretch it. Serve with mash.

Pasta carbonara? Cheap and filling.

Sausage casserole, mash, carrots, gravy.

You could do syrup sponge/crumble and custard for pud.

Good luck op.

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

If you cook anything with mince like cottage pie, chilli etc bulk it out with lots of red lentils. Cheap, filling and tasty. The lentils sort of disappear and aren't at all obvious.

[ShowMeTheElf]

Spanish tortilla (basically a big omelette with sliced potato in) with whatever fillings you like.
Tomato soup and cheese toasties
Faggots and mash
stew and mash.
Baked potatoes with beans and cheese.
spag bol
meatloaf (mostly mince and oatmeal bound with a couple of eggs) with potatoes, gravy and veg.
home made burgers
pulled pork

[FawnDrench]

Have you got a slow cooker? Obviously you'll need quite a big one, but they're not expensive.
Loads of meals can be done using cheaper cuts, and it's just chuck in and go.

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

Big joint of gammon. Boil with treacle and cloves and black pepper. Serve with chip or baked potatoes and salad. Use the stock to make a thick ham and lentil, or pea and ham, soup for another night.

Big traybake of chicken pieces and chorizo, potatoes and veg. Toss in a bit of oil, sprinkle on some oregano. Eat with a couple of baguettes.