Light lunch for 6 that takes little effort and money but looks like I've made effort please

[shoppingbagsundereyes]

I've invited 6 adults and their kids for the day next week. There will be about 15 kids and 7 women. I'm just going to do hot dogs ( with naice sausages) followed by ice cream in cones for kids. Will bake a cake for adult dessert. I need a low effort lunch. Would get lots of deli bits but in my experience it ends up costing £££ and we've hosted so many things lately I'm trying to keep a check on the shopping budget.
Am up for a make ahead thing that I could whip out of the oven or cheapish cold stuff.

You could slow roast a belly pork, that's really delicious and goes far. Do some salad and ciabatta with it perhaps?

Puff pastry sheets, covered in leftovers from the fridge (veg, cheese etc) and baked in the oven. Served with salad. Yum but easy peasy and cheap!

My failsafe for this is to make a quiche or 2, and then serve them straight from oven with salad. You can make them the previous day (or earlier and freeze) and then defrost if frozen before warming through in the oven. If you think you need it, you could also do baked potatoes. If you can't make quiche, don't panic, buy a couple of the posh supermarket range ones ie taste the difference/finest which will be fine if you warm them as per instructions on packet. Or buy ready rolled shortcrust pastry and just make the fillings yourself - could do one with cubed ham and on with tomato paste on pastry and then blanched broccoli florets in the other. HTH

I would do a quiche with salad and hot new potatoes.
Salad can be a couple of bags of bistro type leaves you can just open and shove in a bowl, with a bit of french dressing, new potatoes so you don't even have to peel, just open the pack and shove them in boiling water for 20 mins,(one biggish bag will do 7 adults), and quiche is cheap, can be made in advance and warmed through.

This should cost no more than six pounds for the lot if you are prepared to make the quiche yourself.

BBC Good food quiche Lorraine
and Goats cheese and watercress Quiche
Are both lovely!

x post with MN216- takes me ages to do links

We have similar tomorrow but vegetarians, so I have made a quiche, plus there will be a cheeseboard, salad, coleslaw, rice and pasta salad and nice bread. If I remember, I might throw some small baked spuds in the oven in the morning!

Cheeseboard with grapes always looks nice and doesn't need to be expensive.

Quiche is fairly cheap to make and can be done in advance.

Oh, and I have baked an enormous chocolate cake!

Do some roast potatoes in their skins with garlic, rock salt and rosemary. Roast veg. (to go with meat)

Or homemade soup. Minestrone type soup = Beef stock, tomato puree, 2tsp pesto, chopped onion, chopped pepper, chopped carrot, chopped courgette (or other similar veg), black or white pepper,handful small bits pasta. Bring to boil and simmer for half an hour (extra nice if put some shredded parma/serrano ham in.) Serve with some nice rolls or baguette.

Ha ha double cross post there!

Everyone loves quiche

Piece of shoulder of pork. Roast it on low heat for about6 hours. Decant some fancy apple ssauce into a posh bowl and some nice stuffing balls and serve hot pork and apple sandwiches.

Piece of beef brisket in slow cooker overnight with onions. Bowl of horseradish sauce. Serve roast beef sandwiches.

Both really cheap cuts of meat that are really tasty and smell like you've made loads of effort when all you haveddone is cook them slowly and made posh sarnies.

You could do some roast potatoes as a side to either.

Agree with slow roasting something. It's very little effort and can be very cheap. Maybe ask your butcher or look in the supermarket for something on offer. Pork shoulder and belly is cheap, or if chicken is on offer, a couple of roast chickens would be great.

Crown of turkey / gammon would be good too

MrGeres - that's my goto easy lunch! Can prepare in morning easily and then pop in hot oven for 5-10 mins when you're ready to serve.

An alternative is a nice hearty salad - loosely based on a 'nicoise' style - so usual lettuce/leaves, tomatoes, cucumber but add in lots of nice extras - olives, green beans, sundried tomatoes, crispy bacon, boiled eggs, anchovies, parmesan shavings (we have these often, so not an extra expense). When entertaining I'd do some seared fresh tuna (when its just us its out of a tin!) but you could use salmon to keep it cheaper. I'd marinate it in sweet chilli sauce so it has a nice sticky glaze on it.

I'd do either a big pan of homemade soup, with nice bread, cheese and salad, or (guess what?!) a couple of quiches with garlic roasted new potatoes and salad.

I'm more interested in what on earth you're going to do with 15 kids all day, and where you're going to put them!!!!!!

They will arrive at 11.30 ish and I'm hoping they will all leave by 3. If the weather is ok I think they will bum around the garden but it may be a nightmare if it rains. I'm going to leave the wii and tv on all day ( bad mother alert). Little girls will come up with some elaborate pretendy game, if dd has her own way. It usually involves a 'show', otherwise known as little girls dressed up in bizarre costumes, giggling a lot and being too embarrassed to actually do the ' show'.
Right, quiche is it I guess. I think a slow roast joint, lovely though it is, is too heavy for an August lunch. Soup too wintery. Was wondering about something like Delia's Harissa roasted veg cous cous but then I guess that needs to go with something?

Have fun.

Have just thought - could you not do 'posh' hotdogs for the adults too. My local deli does big chunks of baguette with sausages (I have veggie ones) and with onions that have been slowly fried in balsamic vinegar and grainy mustard. With a side salad and maybe some potato salad too?

Now there's an idea. Onions could be done in advance, could do sausages when I do the kids'. Do they slice the sausages or bung them in the baguette slices whole?

Bung em in whole, in a piece of baguette slightly bigger than the sausage.

I'd love a hot dog. Maybe with homemade wedges.

Pudding is ice creams for kids (like mini cakippos ) and posh vanilla with maple syrup for adults. And vodka.

Why why why 15?!

I know, I must be mental. We were invited to a similar thing at Easter so I owe that mum and her 3 kids a lunch date. Tbh I wanted to show off my new house and it seemed a good idea to kill lots of birds with one stone. The closer we get, the worse the idea seems. Am hoping a couple of the mums won't bring their older dcs. Will be 2 boys ( ds and another very sweet lad) who will be happy doing lego in ds' bedroom or watching lego vids on the iPad. Older girls will probably be bored but they are nice kids so I'm hoping they will just chill out and sit and chat. The 8 5 yr old girls will be the unknown. They will either play beautifully or it will be a mess.

Noticed the other day waitrose are doing frozen sweet potato wedges, I wonder if they are crispy and delicious or soggy like whenever I attempt them?

Hmm they have a sweet paprika coating. Probably will crisp up. Might try those with posh hot dogs and salad

Why don't you do the hot dogs for all and put a nice potato salad with it?

Nice onions, mustard, relish etc.

The McCain lightly spiced ones. Even A eats

Well if A will eat I might try. They sweet potato wedges or normal tato? Thought you were on hol still lady Milford?

Agree about sausages in baguettes for adults.

Homemade coleslaw (red cabbage, carrot, onion, celery and apple with mayo or mix of mayo and greek yogurt)

homemade potato salad (new potatoes dressed in vinaigrette with chopped herbs and spring onions)

would go well with that, as would the garnishes of caramelised onions.

Nigella's watermelon and feta salad is great too and makes a massive bowlful.

Would look like a generous spread but wouldn't be too ££ or faffy as can all be done in advance.