# Help! Need inexpensive breakfast ideas for 50-75 people!



## kf4qhk (May 9, 2011)

Hey guys,

My name is Jeremy, first time poster from South Alabama.  

Our church recently decided to have a breakfast before our weekly service, and, I have inherited the honor of being responsible for it for the next four weeks.  No sarcasm intended at all, I am VERY EXCITED about this.

We have just been having this for a month now, and, it is going pretty well.  While I was scared we would only have 30, we have had 50-70 each week, and, may continue to trend up.  

Up until now, the fare has been pretty standard, at least by "Southern" standards.  They have had eggs, grits, sausage, bacon, pancakes, biscuits, gravy, and the like.  Now, they have mixed it up a bit, and haven't had all of the stuff on any given Sunday, but, that's typical fare for down here in the South.  And, it's pretty popular.

However, for this next month, I am wanting to take it to "the next level."  I'd like to "fancify" (made up word) our fare, with the hopes of giving our people an above average experience.  

What are some examples of things we could prepare, with a minimum amount of talent/resources?  Most of my team, to the best of my knowledge, has a limited amount of cooking experience, but, I am hoping to practice some this week on the things we are going to cook.  

I need something that I can make "in bulk" at less than $3 a person, which is the cost for our breakfasts.  

I saw a recipe for Red Velvet Pancakes and Cheesecake Pancakes.  I may try those.

(I'd like to have one "fancy" dish and one "regular" dish, because not everyone is going to go for the fancier stuff.)

It is my goal that the food, along with some skits/dramas/extra touches from my team will cause breakfast attendance to increase.  We are trying to use these breakfasts, as a church, to build unity and friendship among our attendees.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Jeremy James


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## benway (May 24, 2009)

Does your church have a kitchen or equipment?  If so, what kind?


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## theslowcooker (Apr 18, 2011)

You can't go wrong with sausage, egg and cheese burritos with small cups of salsa. Throw in some donuts and you're set!


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

French toast casserole always goes down well.

How about various fritattas served by the slice pizza style?

Fruit salad.

Biscuits and gravy always goes down well in the south.

Breakfast pigs in blankets (sausage wrapped in pancake)

Crepes are super cheap too.

Huevos rancheros.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

Just as an aside, something that might help your planning: With no labor or overhead charges to worry about, three bucks is actually a fair amount to spend on breakfast. There aren't too many dishes I can think of that wouldn't fall well within that limit. F'rinstance, the average retail cost of an egg is only 9-11 cents.

The determining factors are going to be how much equipment and of what kind you have available, how trainable your team is, and how far afield you can go before the congregation members stop thinking "that's interesting" and start thinking "that's really strange."

Within that framework, I'd experiment with things that are almost familiar. Chicken hash on waffles, for example. Things that are different enough to be surprising, but familiar enough so as to not be a turn off.


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## scarletswitchit (Mar 30, 2011)

Casseroles and fritattas are easy to make, easy to assemble, easy to cook, carry and store... they're cheap and have a lot of flavor!

Take almost any breakfast dish you love, and with the ingredients you can create a casserole to capture the flavor in the end result.  Sure, they're nothing fancy at all, but you can have quite the variety at a very low cost.


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## benway (May 24, 2009)

IMO quiche is probably the tuxedo of breakfast foods.  It's also good for large numbers.


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## resqdoc (Apr 27, 2011)

Eggs benni.

Canidian bacon is dirt cheap, and you could use biscuits instead of English muffins.

Scarlet was right on with the fritatta idea.


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

I would agree with benway.  Men do eat quiche.

The best pie I ever had was in "the South", and I'm sure that you have several

of your church lady-friends who are known for their pie crust (I have a friend who's

Mom sells her crusts in tin-foil pans and frozen every Thanksgiving/Christmas-time).

Then, what ever is fresh and local,some eggs, milk/cream, a local cheese, some fresh veg and your ROCKIN' IT.


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## leeniek (Aug 21, 2009)

When I was on school council (PTA) we did a teacher appreciation breakfast every February and we had to keep it cheap as our parent account had limited funds for it. 

Some things we did were

baked Oatmeal

french toast

muffins

fruit salad

waffles with fruit 

Church Potatoes (one of the moms had a recipe for this and made it every time.. )

strata

If you want any recipes let me know and I will post them in the recipe section


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Great ideas - I'm stealing some for this weekend.

I reckon pancakes/pikelets are great as you can serve a choice of toppings that people can manufacture themselves.  You can even cook, stack them between sheets of baking paper, freeze, then use on the day.  Jam, honey, maple syrup, lemon, sugar....the list is endless.  Even bacon and ketchup if you wanted, or chippolatas and shredded cheddar cheese.  Big pan of scrambles eggs to fill/top them.

Oh no now I am hungry


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

What, please, is a pikelet?


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

A pickle on lettuce??


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Is a pikelet a pancake wrapped around a sausage????


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## benway (May 24, 2009)

A pikelet is a thick Austrailian pancake.  Its not considered a breakfast food but is to Australians what a crumpet is to the English I believe.  I will of course defer to the gentleman from Australia.

My question: should a pikelet be leavened?


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Dutch babies would work too.

Pastries.....sheets of puff (available at most grocery stores in the freezer section) for some weird reason people love chocolate-coconut in the morning..they are easy to work with and have an oooo aaaa factor.  Fruit filling is easy to make....Caramel nut....

cheesey biscuits and ham, or sweet potato biscuits

cheesey grits

poaches eggs can be premade and warmed prior to service

Creole tomatoes should be in season, serve um as a side 

tiny shrimp are inexpensive, makes a great sauce for eggs

candied bacon

let us know what you've come up with, pix if you can.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

benway said:


> A pikelet is a thick Austrailian pancake. Its not considered a breakfast food but is to Australians what a crumpet is to the English I believe. I will of course defer to the gentleman from Australia.
> 
> My question: should a pikelet be leavened?


Hi benway,

Being Australian, I beg to differ. Pikelets are generally a thick, small pancake item here that is used for either breakfast or desert, and can be either savoury or sweet. Various toppings can be applied depending on what result you are looking for. Sort of similar to a crumper, but no big holes in them. Not leavened.

They can be cooked, cooled, then bunged in the toaster for the next morning. I love 'em. They have a similar consistency to blinis (sp?) if that helps. Great with vegemite  ...This is for the savoury ones of course hehe


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

Jeremy  

Tell us what has happened at church, I would love to hear how every has gone so far


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