lunch foods to have on hand for houseguests

[Anonymous]

I know this has been posted before but my searches did not turn up on point threads.

My sister and mid-twenties nephew are visiting for a week. Can you please suggest some lunch foods to have on hand so they can make themselves lunches, and/or so that I can easily pull something together for 6 people (my family plus them).

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Sandwich/salad ingredients
fruit
Leftovers? Or if you don’t have leftovers, grab some rotisserie chicken from the supermarket deli, or whatever else looks good.
What do you usually feed your family? Do that, but make more.

Why don’t you ask what they like to eat? They’re adults and used to feeding themselves.

[Anonymous]

Whole rotisserie chicken and shred it
Bag or head of shredded lettuce
Shredded cheeses.
Tomatoes.
flour tortillas
salsa
bag of corn chips
I also sauté bell peppers and onions and place in a container in the fridge (my son likes this)

These are the staple Ingredients that my kids have this summer. They can make soft tacos, quesadillas or chips and salsa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whole rotisserie chicken and shred it
Bag or head of shredded lettuce
Shredded cheeses.
Tomatoes.
flour tortillas
salsa
bag of corn chips
I also sauté bell peppers and onions and place in a container in the fridge (my son likes this)

These are the staple Ingredients that my kids have this summer. They can make soft tacos, quesadillas or chips and salsa.

This exactly. Plus some fruit.

[Anonymous]

Sandwich stuff and chips, fruit, veggies.

[Anonymous]

Carrots, celery sticks, hummus
Pita pockets and sub rolls for Caesar chicken salad, tuna salad, egg salad sandwiches
Chilli
Tortellini salad
Cobb salad

[Anonymous]

NP - I often have this dilemma around guest lunches, too (in the winter I make a big pot of soup and corn muffins). We never eat sandwiches. What deli meats, breads, accompaniments are common/popular, and how much deli meat per person to estimate?

[Anonymous]

Things you can make and have in fridge for reheating:
Frittata (could do in a big casserole pan) or a couple of quiches.
Vegetable soup
Chili
Chicken tortilla soup

Plus tortillas and cheese for quesadillas
Bread (have extra in freezer, bread always goes really fast with houseguests)
Cold cuts
PBJ

cut veggies
Fruit you can eat without cutting up
Chips

20 something boys can eat a lot! So up your quantities of everything. And have boxes of pasta and jar sauce on hand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP - I often have this dilemma around guest lunches, too (in the winter I make a big pot of soup and corn muffins). We never eat sandwiches. What deli meats, breads, accompaniments are common/popular, and how much deli meat per person to estimate?

Turkey and ham (if you eat pork) are the main ones, you could also do roast beef, salami, etc. Maybe a tuna salad.
Cheeses (cheddar and swiss are good basics)
Mayo/miracle whip and mustard
lettuce, tomatoes
Have a variety of breads. For houseguests, I might have our regular hearty wheat bread, hawaiian rolls, and tortillas (for quesadillas). For a party, nobody’s making quesadillas, so you could skip those, or substitute another starch (maybe pitas)

You can add to this as you want. You could round it out with:
Chips/pretzels
additional veggies (pickles, onions, sprouts, olives, etc.)
additional cheeses
additional meats, maybe some pre-cooked bacon
fruit/fruit salad
salads (potato, pasta, etc.) or other sides
some type of dessert (cookies, brownie bites, etc.)

There are no hard and fast rules, just get what looks good to you because other people will probably like it too (and if they don’t, you’ll be eating the leftovers, and lean on the side of having more than you think you could need.

[Anonymous]

Lunch is DIY/self-serve in my house so I make sure to have plenty of sandwich fixings, chips, fruit, and cut veggies. I might make chicken salad or a pasta salad (vulgar!) if I have time.

I also like to have various dips (Trader Joe’s), cheese, crackers, etc. for those who’d rather graze. I don’t really eat lunch - maybe some cheese and an apple or something.

[Anonymous]

Summer is here. Nothing hot.

Chicken salad
Boars Head (or other quality) deli sliced turkey, ham, swiss/amer cheeses
Rolls
Bags of lettuce kits
Assorted salad dressing
mixed berries fruit salad
individual serve yogurts
jam
english muffins
greek pasta salad
corn salad
chips & salsa & guac

[Anonymous]

I want a big sandwich with wonder bread, mayo, mustard, turkey and cheese now

[Anonymous]

You got great ideas but you’re asking the wrong people.

Ask your sister for suggestions of what she / your nephew like since it’s them who’ll be eating the stuff (specific types / brands) and if you don’t find them, then you could substitute for what ever is close to what she suggested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP - I often have this dilemma around guest lunches, too (in the winter I make a big pot of soup and corn muffins). We never eat sandwiches. What deli meats, breads, accompaniments are common/popular, and how much deli meat per person to estimate?

Sourdough bread, rye bread, kaiser rolls, roast beef, pastrami, turkey, corn beef, brisket, salami - figure a third of a pound per person, and do egg salad, macaroni salad, pickles, then cut up salad stuff, and condiments like mustard, mayo, ketchup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP - I often have this dilemma around guest lunches, too (in the winter I make a big pot of soup and corn muffins). We never eat sandwiches. What deli meats, breads, accompaniments are common/popular, and how much deli meat per person to estimate?

You can always ask at the deli counter how much meat per person. They're helpful like that.