Visitors this weekend- menu plan help please (inc DF)

[Acunningruse]

Its too hot to think and due to various reasons I just don't have the headspace to lovingly craft a gastronomic feast right now.

Requirements- 4 adults, 5 kids one of whom is Dairy free.

Need- dinner on Friday night (ideally something I can put in slow cooker but Goodness knows what if it stays this warm) and dessert

Saturday lunches- probably a picnic

Saturday night- we will have been out all day so will need to be something quick. is it wrong Im thinking pizza.

Sunday lunch type meal - roast chicken but the thought of spending hours in kitchen on a hot day is not appealing to me) and dessert

TIA, my brain is fried from the heat.

oh and needs to be available from Aldi or Lidl though not sure what their dairy-free ranges are like.

Friday - chilli or bbq pulled pork? You could do it with tacos or wraps or rice, salad, side bits

Oh and Sunday - get a chicken in a bag from Aldi and make it easy on yourself! If it’s still hot they do frozen diced potatoes which are lovely (and air fry well), part baked bread rolls, corn on the cob, coleslaw… rather than a full roast?

You can have a roasted chicken with salad and potatoe salad for the Sunday

wgats wrong with pizza for the Saturday evening ( try. And get one that is just diary free not dairy and gluten free which is less nice ) . Or buy a load of bases and have a pizza making party with the kids

picnic again fine - sausage roll, veggie sticks and little tomatoes , a few rounds of butties ( ham or salad) . Aim for really retro with jam sandwiches and add bottles of squash /diluting juice . Fruit - grapes and strawberries for puddings and hope you can buy ice creams

friday doesn’t feel slow cooker weather does it? Would not burgers / mini BBQ work ? Keep it simple with just burgers and chicken kebabs ?

Do you think they’ll really want hot food?. I’d be super happy with salad/quiche/cold meat on repeat.

Dont torture yourself in the heat of your don’t have to.

Friday - chilli, rice, tortilla chips, sour cream, cheese and guacamole (recommend Jamie Oliver’s recipe for guacamole) make chilli ahead rest takes very little prep and guac can be made whilst rice is cooking. For Saturday I’d do stir fry, buy ready chopped veg, noodles make a simple sauce of soy, ginger, sugar, chilli and lime juice then cook teriyaki chicken wings or similar (sold in Lidl) check pack but think are dairy free.

for Sunday throw a couple of the roast in the bag chickens into the oven and serve with couscous, mixed leaves, other salads type bits

What about Fri evening a cheeseboard with different crackers and crusty bread. Saturday evening as already suggested Pizza and salad and pizza could be served cold. Breakfasts could be various pastries and croissants each morning. Sunday Chicken and salad and jacket potatoes. That is a trouble free menu possibly .Personally if the heat keeps up I would not want a full roast.

One day could be chicken & bacon in mustard mayo either on jacket spuds or in fresh part baked bagettes/ciabatta with salad.
Part baked baguettes could also be used to make individual "pizzas" - useful for the dairy free one.
Picnic spread could include sausage rolls, scotch eggs, mini sausages, baby bells/sliced cheese. Morrisons do some gorgeous bits including scotch eggs & huge sausage rolls. Really tasty. Get cherry tomatoes & coleslaw. Some nice crusty bread to go on the side.

Big pot of chilli in the slow cooker.

Ready done spit roast chickens with salad & new potatoes.

Oh and for dessert, ice cream including dairy free version and fruit, perhaps meringue dairy free chocolate sauce. Simple

BBQ on Friday kebabs etc, beer can chicken on Sunday. Nothing wrong with pizza, can the kids make their own, would the DF one be able to do their own?

actually Friday I would do charcuterie, cheese, asparagus wrapped in Parma ham, melon and strawberry skewers etc and then a
couple of tapas style things in the oven - braised mini sausages, chorizo in red wine etc.

desert - fancy ice cream and fruit

I agree a bbq sound great!

Agree with ideas above but also a gammon joint in the slow cooker is always nice, marinated in honey and served with potato salad/coleslaw/fries.

Fajitas are always popular.

Definitely not a roast in this weather, do cold chicken with baguettes/salad/corn cobs or something of that ilk.

Does it need to be planned now?

4 adults and a handful of kids….does it need to urgently be planned on Monday afternoon in 33 degree heat?

are they staying over?

Feel tired for you just thinking about it!

Friday Jacket spuds and chili.
Saturday Unless you have a massive oven get the pizza delivered rather than heating stuff up. Do oven chips and salad to go with.
Saturday picnic buy cooked chicken grated cheese etc and get them to make their own wraps? Fruit cake, crisps, grapes strawberries easy transported to pass round.
How about barbecue on Sunday? Make a new potato and a green salad or whatever, decent bread veg skewers and meat stuff leave the menfolk to cook? Puddings ice cream, jelly, ice lollies fruit salad, bought cheesecakes.

Sunday Lunch ~ forget the traditional roast dinner, instead serve Salad Niçoise, tinned tuna, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, cooked cold new potatoes, green beans, lettuce, anchovies and black olives, serve with mayonnaise. All dairy free and the cooked items can be done the previous night or early that morning. Everything available at Aldi or Lidle. It looks appealing and summery and is a very substantial meal.
Another idea is Chicken Caesar salad, use bought cooked chicken for convenience.

Don’t leave any notes out Op!!

I’m surprised a BBQ doesn’t feature!

Get Crosta Mollica pizzas for the adults and for the kids you could do DIY pizzas? So easy and fun for them to do.

On Sunday get a cook in the bag roast chicken, crusty bread and salady sides - my fave type of roast honestly.

Watermelon is a hit with everyone for desert in the heat

Buy a selection of ice creams and sorbets. And Ice lolly Type things so it’s easy. Kids can choose. Get some waffle ice cream cones. Just check there’s stuff for dairy free

For the Friday night I'd do all cold food, cheese board, charcuterie platter, side salads and naice bread. Fruit, sorbets and ice cream for puddings each day.

Swedish Glacé for the dairy free child.

Some great ideas on here.
Friday night - BBQ Pulled pork cooked in the slow cooker. Serve with rolls and salad and wedges.
saturday- breakfast - croissants and assorted pastries. Juices.
lunch - picnic, rolls easier than sandwiches, ham egg mayo/ tuna mayo, grated cheese. Cut up cucumber and cherry tomatoes, dip selection, crisps, mini cheddars, punnets of grapes and strawberries. Pork pies/sausage rolls/cocktail sausages.
dinner - pizza isn’t a bad idea actually. But I find it’s hard to cook 4/5 pizzas and all sit down together due to oven space. So could do kids eat first then adults. Don’t forget the dairy free pizza!
Alternatively do a chilli and serve with rice and tortilla chips or jacket potatoes.
Sunday - breakfast - leftover pastries (if there are any!!) and toast etc.
dinner/lunch - could you bbq? Or as pp have suggested, couple of roast chickens with various salads. Or a pasta dish?

Read the ingredients carefully - some sausage rolls and supermarket breads contain dairy.