From R. Ashworth. Source Recipe

This should be prepared ahead and just warmed up at church.

Ingredients

• 8 C rolled old fashioned oats (Not all oats are GF, so check your package if you would like it to be GF)

• 2 C grated carrots

• 2 C canned crushed pineapple in juice (strain the juice)

• 1 C chopped walnuts

• 1 C Craisens

• 2 t cinnamon

• 4 t vanilla

• 4 T ground flaxseed

• 8 C almond milk (or other milk of choice)

• 1 C maple syrup

• 4 pinches sea salt

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375°F and line 2 9x13 baking dishes (or one of the large baking pans from church) with parchment paper or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

• Add all ingredients in a large bowl and stir until combined.

• Pour into prepared baking disband bake for 50-60 minutes. Check it around 45 minutes and if the top is getting too brown, cover with foil for the remaining time. The baked oatmeal will still be a little soft to the touch but should be cooked through and not jiggly in the middle.

• To reheat at church: cover with foil and put in the oven at 200°F for the length of liturgy.

From R. Ashworth. Source Recipe

This should be prepared ahead and just warmed up at church.

Ingredients

• 8 C rolled old fashioned oats (Not all oats are GF, so check your package if you would like it to be GF)

• 2 C chopped walnuts

• 1 C maple syrup

• 4 t baking powder

• 2 t sea salt

• 8 C almond milk (or other milk of choice)

• 4 T ground flaxseed

• 8 T coconut oil, melted

• 8 t pure vanilla extract

• 6 C grated zucchini

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375°F and line 2 9x13 baking dishes (or one of the large baking pans from church) with parchment paper or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

• Add half of the walnuts and other all ingredients in a large bowl and stir until combined.

• Pour into prepared baking dish.

• Scatter remaining walnuts across the top.

• Bake for 40 minutes, until nice and golden. The baked oatmeal will still be a little soft to the touch but should be cooked through and not jiggly in the middle.

• To reheat at church: cover with foil and put in the oven at 200°F for the length of liturgy.

From A. Rivera

• 5 2-lb bags of frozen hash browns, thawed

• 4 sticks butter, melted

• 5 10.4-oz cans cream of chicken soup

• 2 qts sour cream

• 10 c grated Colby cheese

• Salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients, reserving 2.5 cups of cheese. Spread into casserole dishes and top with reserved cheese. Spread across several large casserole dishes. Bake at 350° for 55-70 minutes or until heated through and bubbly on top.

From R. Ashworth

Prep ahead tips: Brown the beef and the onions the night before. Add the spices to the mixture. Bring everything to church the next morning, put everything into one of the large pots at church, bring to a boil and then let it simmer for the rest of the service.

Ingredients

• 6 lbs Ground Beef

• 5 28 ounce cans of diced tomatoes

• 4 large cans of Kidney beans, or 8 15 ounce cans

• 3 28 ounce cans of tomato sauce

• 3 large onions

• 1/4 C Cayenne pepper

• 3 T Garlic Powder

• 2 Bay Leaves

• 1 T Dried Basil

• 1/3 C Chili Powder

• 3 T Curry Powder

• 3 T Ground Cumin

Instructions

• In a large (28 quart or so) pot, brown the ground beef (this takes awhile)

• Add the rest of the ingredients

• Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for at least a half hour.

• Note: I don’t actually measure the spices when I put them in, so feel free to add more if you think this isn’t spicy enough.

(Source Recipe) From R. Ashworth

To make this recipe for coffee hour:

INGREDIENTS

• 5 dozen large eggs

• 2 large onions, diced

• 5 bell peppers (any color), diced

• 4-5 cup cherry tomatoes (or four large tomatoes, chopped)

• 4 cups roughly chopped kale

• 4-5 cup crumbled cheese (I use feta)

• 5 cups ham, bacon, or other meat (optional)

• 5 cup milk*

• salt + pepper, to taste

• olive oil or butter

INSTRUCTIONS

Prep ahead the night before:

1. Sauté onion until translucent (about 3 minutes)

2. Add the bell pepper and cook until soft

3. Chop up the kale and cherry tomatoes

4. Store in a sealed container overnight

5. If using meat, chop the meat into small pieces and store in a separate container

The next morning (arrive at church by 8 am to finish before liturgy starts)

6. Grease the two large (half sheet) pans with oil or butter.

7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

8. Divide the veggies (and meat if using) between the pans

9. Crack half of the eggs into a large mixing bowl. Whisk well.

10. Add in half of the milk and stir.

11. Pour the milk and egg mixture over the veggies in one of the pans

12. Repeat steps 8-11 for the second pan

13. Bake for 30 mins.

14. Turn the oven down to the “Keep warm” setting and leave in the oven through Liturgy

From C. Hines

Makes 84 sandwiches. Super easy!

Ingredients

• 4 foil 9x13 cake pans (note: I could not fit a full 2 packages of rolls in each cake pan - I could only fit 20. Therefore I’m suggesting buying 1 more 12 pack, because that will get you a 4th full pan.

• 7 12-packs King’s Hawaiian Rolls

• 3 lbs shaved Virginia ham

• 1.25 lbs lacy swiss cheese

Sauce:

• 4 sticks butter

• 2 T dijon mustard

• 2T worcestershire sauce

• 2T dried minced onion

• 2T poppy seeds

Instructions:

• Slice the rolls in half.

• Line the bottom of a 9x13 baking with the bottom halves of the roll.

• Spread half the ham over the rolls, and then layer half the swiss cheese on top. Repeat the ham and cheese layers.

• Place the other halves of the rolls on top; press them down gently. Set aside.

• In a sauce pan, combine the butter, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and dried onions. Over medium heat, stir until the butter has melted to create the sauce.

• Pour the sauce over top of the rolls (I used a gravy ladle) and then sprinkle the tops with the poppy seeds.

• Cover the pans tightly with aluminum foil and then refrigerate for at least three hours or overnight (better)

When you are ready to bake:

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

• Place the covered baking dishes in the oven for 20 minutes.

• Uncover and bake for an additional 5 minutes, or untill the cheese has finished melting.

• Slice between the rolls, cutting through the filling and the bottom.

• Serve.

From R. Ashworth

Ingredients:

10 lbs baby potatoes

6 lbs baby carrots

6 lbs Kielbasa

Olive Oil

Garlic Powder

Oregano

Salt

Pepper

Basil

Rosemary

Directions:

The night before:

1. Chop the baby potatoes into half or quarters (they should be bite-sized pieces), depending on the size of the potato.

2. Put potatoes into a large pot.

3. Add enough water to just barely cover the potatoes.

4. Bring to a boil and let boil until you can easily stick a fork into the potatoes, but they are not soft and mushy (this usually take 10-15 minutes once the potatoes start to boil).

5. While the potatoes are cooking, cut the baby carrots into thirds, dividing them between the two half sheet trays from church or 4 9x13 cake pans.

6. Cut the kielbasa into bite-sized slices, dividing them between the pans.

7. Drizzle oil over the top of the meat and carrots, enough to barely coat them.

8. Sprinkle the herbs evenly (and liberally) over the trays.

9. When the potatoes are done, drain them and split them between the trays.

10. Stir the trays so that everything is coated with herbs and oil. If necessary, add a bit of oil. (The oil is here to keep the vegetables from sticking to the trays during baking, but you don’t need a lot of oil because the kielbasa will also provide oil as it begins to cook.)

11. Tightly cover the pans with foil and refrigerate.

Note: you can make this recipe with any root vegetable. I have used parsnips, beets and sweet potatoes in it. Just keep the general amount of vegetables the same. Beets need to be parboiled just like the potatoes. Parsnips can be treated like carrots (peeled and sliced into coins). Sweet potatoes do not been to be cooked ahead of time.

The next morning:

1. Arrive in time for Matins (or an hour before the service starts)

2. Heat oven to 300°F

3. Add the foil-covered pans to the oven (this can be done before the oven reaches temperature)

4. At the end of liturgy, remove from oven and serve.

From A. Rivera

• 5 large yellow onions, peeled and halved

• ½ c minced garlic (you can use a jar)

• 3 lbs baby carrots, pulsed in a food processor until roughly chopped (optional)

• ½ c dried oregano

• ¼ c cumin

• 3 TBSP rosemary

• 2 TBSP crushed red peppers

• 10 bay leaves, tied together or in a small muslin bag, if possible

• 3 28-oz cans crushed tomatoes

• 3.5 gallons water, vegetable broth, or combination

• 8 lbs red lentils

• 3 c lemon juice

• Fresh Italian parsley for garnish (optional)

• Olive oil

• Salt

• pepper

Brush onions with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and place cut side down on a sheet pan. Roast at 350 for 30 minutes. Heat 1/3 c oil in a large soup pot. Add carrots, if using, and cook for 5-10 minutes, until soft. Add garlic, herbs, and spices, and cook for 30-60 seconds. Add crushed tomatoes, stock/water, lentils, and halved roasted onions. If using only water, add 1/2 c salt; if using a combination of vegetable broth and water, adjust accordingly. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until lentils are completely tender, 20-30 minutes. Remove bay leaves and onion halves. Add salt and pepper as needed. Pulse with an immersion blender or remove a few quarts to a blender and return to the pot, until desired consistency is reached. Top with drizzle of olive oil and/or chopped fresh parsley.

From R. Ashworth

Ingredients:

• 5 lbs brown lentils

• 16 oz. Better than Bullion (Vegetable during Lent, Chicken or Ham if using meat)

• 6 lbs of baby carrots

• 3 28-oz cans diced tomatoes

• 5 lbs of kielbasa (if not Lent)

• 1 jar ground cumin

• 1 jar curry powder

• 6 T oregano

• 4 T paprika

• 1 can chili in adobo sauce, chopped (optional)

• 2 T cayenne

• 1/4 C minced garlic

• 30 oz fresh spinach

Directions:

• Arrive at church at 8 AM

• Rinse lentils and put in large pot (mine is a 26 quart pot)

• Add tomatoes. Fill the cans with water and add the water to the soup pot, to rinse out the can and add liquid.

• Chop the baby carrots in thirds and add to pot.

• Fill the pot with water (about 2 gallons of water)

• Add all of the Better than Bullion.

• Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer

• Allow to simmer for all of liturgy

• After taking communion, come down and add spinach.

• Serve.

From M. Stripling

Ingredients (Mujudara)

• 8 C green lentils

• 8 C water

• 8 C rice

• 12 C water

• 9 lbs yellow onions, sliced thin

• 3 C of oil

• 1 T cinnamon

• 1 T turmeric

• 1 T coriander

• 1 T cardamom

• 1 T allspice

• Several smashed and peeled garlic cloves (6-8)

• A few bay leaves (3-4)

• Salt

Instructions

• I started cooking at church at 2 pm in order to have everything ready for a Wednesday night pre-sanctified liturgy.

• Slicing onions is the most intense part of this dish. Start that first.

• Reserve a cup of onions to fry in the lentil pan.

• Once you have a few cups of the remaining onions sliced, start frying them over medium-high heat in about 1 inch of oil in the BIG shiny silver shallow pot at church. Try getting the first batch very dark brown or even a little black. Then just keep adding onions until you’re done slicing. Add salt and pepper and stir until they have shrunk a bit. Turn heat down to low and let them slowly cook for about an hour, until they are all dark golden or brown.

• Dice the reserved onions and fry them in oil in a big pot until very dark brown or black.

• Add lentils, 8 cups water, bay leaves, several smashed garlic cloves, and a handful of salt. Bring to a boil and simmer 10-15 minutes. (It’s probably a point of pride to have nice intact lentils but mine basically turned into a mush and it was still good.) I did not have to drain any liquid but if you do, you may want to drain and save it in case you want more moisture later.

• Once the onions are fried down to a glorious golden oily mush, remove them and guard them with your life in another bowl. Heat up the pan that they were cooking in and add another 1/3 cup or so of oil. Take 1 or 2 cups of rice and fry them in this oil until they are dark brown.

• Add all the spices, the remainder of the rice, and 12 cups of water.

• Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat simmer until done.

• Combine the lentils and rice in the two large shallow rectangular pans that we use all the time at coffee hour, plus another large cake pan. Mix them up well. Spread the fried onions over the top.

• At this point, if the food will be sitting around for a few hours, the most food-safety- conscious thing to do is to cover the pans with foil and put them in the fridge once they are at room temperature. If it is close to time for church, just cover them and wait until church starts to warm the pans in the ovens at 275 for the entire liturgy.

We finished the two big pans and I sent lots of people home with bags of the rest.

I served this with a simple coleslaw made with about 10 lbs of simple cabbage/carrot slaw, vinegar, salt, sugar, pepper, and dill. I can’t tell you the amounts. I started this during the onion cooking time and kept it out all afternoon.

Ingredients (Za’tar Bread)

• 5 lb bag of flour

• 8 C water

• 1/3 C yeast

• Salt

• 1 C sugar

• Za’tar blend spices

Instructions

• Mix about 8 cups of warm water with about 1/3 cup of yeast, a few handfuls of salt, and 1 cup of sugar.

• Mix in flour a cup at a time and knead it until it is all incorporated.

• Let rise in a warm oven until doubled.

• Generously oil the two big sheet pans and divide the dough.

• Flip it around to cover dough with oil.

• Press out the dough to fill the pans. Use fingers to dimple dough.

• Have someone else help you by sprinkling a thick layer of za’atar blend and pouring oil over it while you mix it into a thick paste on the dough.

• Sprinkle with some salt too.

• Bake these at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

• I wish I had had three pans, and made it thinner.

From A. Rivera

• 5 lbs navy beans

• 3 gallons water, stock, or combination

• 2 large yellow onions

• 1/3 c minced garlic (you can use a jar)

• Olive oil

• 1-2 large bags chopped frozen spinach

• 2 ham hocks or meaty ham bones

• Salt

• Pepper

• Several stalks of rosemary (can also use thyme, oregano, or a combination)

Peel and halve onions. Brush with oil and place cut-side down on a roasting pan. Add hocks to the roasting pan. Roast ham hocks and onions in a 350 oven for about 30 minutes. Heat a few TBSP of olive oil in large soup pot. Briefly sauté garlic, about 30 seconds. Add beans, water, 1/2 c salt (less if you are using some stock instead of water), 2-3 TBSP fresh cracked black pepper, and rosemary stems tied together with a string. Add onion halves and ham hocks to the pot. Stir well and bring to a boil. Turn down heat, cover, and simmer for 3-4 hours or until beans are tender, stirring every 20-30 minutes or so. Remove ham bones and shred any large chunks of meat. Remove onion halves and rosemary bundle. Remove 1-2 qts of soup, puree, and return to the pot, or use an immersion blender, until desired thickness is reached. Add more water to thin if needed. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Add bag of spinach and stir until heated through.

Fasting version: omit ham; increase garlic, herbs, onions, and salt by about 1/3

From R. Ashworth

Easy fish option for Palm Sunday and Annunciation. Recipe based on “Macaroni and Tuna Salad recipe from “Food for Paradise: Revised and Expanded. A Meatless Cookbook compiled by the Orthodox Church of Saint John the Russian, Ipswich, Mass.” p. 115

Ingredients:

• 4 lbs of dried small pasta (ring, orzo, orecchiette)

• 8 stalks of celery, finally chopped

• 2 red onions, finely chopped

• 8 5-oz cans of tuna (can substitute shrimp or omit to make Lenten)

• 5 12-oz bags of frozen peas

• 4 tsp salt

• 2 tsp pepper

• 4 bottles of dairy free Italian dressing

Directions:

The day before:

1) Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Don’t drain before reading step 3.

2) While the pasta is cooking, chop the celery and onion.

3) Before draining the pasta, add the frozen peas to the colander.

4) Pour the cooked pasta over the peas in the colander, draining the pasta and warming up the peas.

5) Add all ingredients (pasta, veggies, tuna) to a large bowl.

6) Add salt and pepper.

7) Pour at least two bottles of Italian dressing over the bowl and mix everything together. If the pasta doesn’t seem to be coated with the dressing, then add more dressing until it is coated.

8) Refrigerate overnight.

The day of:

1) Just before serving (ie right after communion), remove from fridge.

2) Add another bottle of dressing and stir. This will help loosen up anything that is stuck together.

3) Serve!

From A. Rivera

• 10-20 lbs boneless pork shoulder

• Salt and pepper

• Oil

• Rub or marinade of choice (optional)

• BBQ sauce

• Burger buns (note: using slider rolls will make the meat stretch further)

If all one piece, cut shoulder into at least 4 fairly uniform pieces. Rub with oil and season very liberally with salt and pepper, and/or your rub/marinade of choice. Place on wire racks set over sheet pans and bake for 30 minutes at 450°. Turn down heat to 250° and roast for 8-10 hours, or until the middle of the roast reaches 180° and is almost fall-apart tender. Break apart and sprinkle with salt to serve.

From R. Ashworth

There are endless combinations to this recipe; some favorites are Spinach & Swiss or Ham & Cheddar.

To make for coffee hour, repeat this recipe 4 times, for a total of 8 quiche.

Ingredients for 2 quiche:

• 2 9-inch pie shells

• 4 beaten eggs

• 2 C milk

• 1/4 t salt

• 1/8 t pepper

• Dash of ground nutmeg

• 2 C meat (I usually used deli meat and then chop it into small pieces) (optional)

• 1 C shredded cheese (if not using meat or vegetables, I would recommend increasing the cheese to 1.5 C)

• 1/2 C vegetables (chopped to bite sized pieces) (optional)

• 2 T flour

Instructions:

• Pre-heat oven to 325ºF.

• In a bowl, stir (whisk) together eggs, milk and seasonings until everything is a nice homogeneous color

• Stir in meat and vegetables

• Toss the cheese and flour together (this is important—the flour makes the eggs set)

• Add to egg mixture and stir well

• Divide between the two pie shells. (They should be pretty full, but not higher than the bottom of the crimped part of the pie shell. If not full enough, add more cheese or other ingredients.)

• Bake 50-55 minutes, until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

• Cool 10 minutes to set the eggs, then refrigerate uncovered until cool

• Cover with foil.

• Bring the quiche to church.

• Slice into 8 or 12 pieces (this is much easier to do while cold)

• Place in 200ºF oven for the length of Liturgy to warm

From R. Ashworth

Original recipe, sized for a family.

Ingredients:

• 6 lbs of sweet potatoes

• 8 T olive oil

• 2 t salt

• 1 t black pepper

• 2 T ground cumin

• 6 C cooked quinoa

• 4 15-oz. can black beans (rinsed and drained)

• 4 15-oz cans whole kernel corn, rinsed and drained

• 2 small red onions, finely chopped

• Cilantro (chopped, served on the side, optional)

For the dressing:

• 1.5 C olive oil

• 1 1/4 C lime juice

• 2 T ground cumin

• 2 T kosher salt

• 2 T ground paprika

• 2 T chili pepper

• 3 T minced garlic

• 4 t Tajin (chili & lime) seasoning (optional)

Instructions:

The day before:

• Cook the quinoa according to the package directions.

• Preheat oven to 400° F.

• Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone pads

• Peel sweet potatoes.

• Slice into 1/2” thick disks and cut each into 4 or 6 pieces. All pieces should be similar in size to enable even cooking.

• Drizzle olive oil over potatoes.

• Sprinkle salt, pepper and cumin over the potatoes.

• Toss gently to coat.

• Roast for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.

• Remove from oven and allow to cool.

• In a large salad bowl, combine corn, black beans, chopped onion, quinoa and potatoes.

• Whisk together the salad ingredients (or put into a bowl that seals well and shake to combine).

• Pour dressing over salad and gently toss.

• Refrigerate until ready to serve.

• On day of, remove from fridge before liturgy and allow to come to room temperature.

• Serve with Tajin seasoning and chopped cilantro on the side.

From C. Sindall

This is from the package of Bob's Red Mill TVP (x4). It does take some time for preparation, but the results are good.

Ingredients:

• 8 c. boiling water

• 8 c. TVP

• 8 T. catsup

• 8 T. oil (optional)

• 4 large onions, chopped

• 4 green peppers, chopped

• 4 Jalapenos, chopped (optional)

• 8 cloves garlic, minced

• 8 T. chili powder

• 8 t. cumin (+ or - to taste)

• 8 t. oregano

• 2 t. cayenne pepper

• 8 (28 oz.) cans tomatoes, chopped

• 8 (16 oz.) cans red kidney beans with liquid

• 8 c. hot water

Directions:

• Pour boiling water over TVP and catsup.

• Set aside.

• Sauté onions, peppers and garlic.

• Add seasonings to mixture.

• Add TVP mixture.

• Cook for a few minutes.

• Stir in tomatoes, kidney beans and hot water.

• Cover and simmer 30-60 minutes.

• Add salt to taste (1 t. to start).

• Add 4 packages frozen corn.

• Heat 15 minutes.

• Serves 40-50.

From R. Ashworth

Note: This takes at least an hour to do. I usually start at 8 in the morning to make sure it is done before Liturgy starts.

Ingredients

• 4 large containers of Plain or Vanilla Greek Yogurt

• 1 large (warehouse store sized) package of frozen berries (strawberries are NOT recommended)

• Granola

• 50 5-oz Dixie Cups

Instructions

• Place the bag of fruit in a bowl in the fridge overnight so that it is mostly thawed when you prepare the parfaits

• Put a large spoonful of yogurt at the bottom of a Dixie cup

• Add a layer of fruit

• Add a layer of yogurt to almost fill the cup

• Top with a layer of granola

• Add a berry or two to the top (this lets people know what fruit is underneath)

• Store in fridge on trays until the end of the service

• If you use plain yogurt, put a bottle of honey or maple syrup out on the table so people can sweeten to their own taste

• Buy 3 “family” sized trays of lasagne.

• Bake according to package directions.

• When finished, turn oven down to “hold warm” or 170ºF until the service is over.

Buy 3 “family” size containers of Mac ‘n Cheese. Bake according to directions. Turn oven down to “hold warm” or 170ºF when done.

• Buy at least 18 lbs of prepared meatballs. Store in fridge overnight so they are starting to thaw.

• Place in the roaster oven at church at 300ºF at the beginning of Liturgy (make sure there is water in the space between the black liner and the outer shell)

• Add sauce and cover

• After the sermon, pop downstairs and stir, turn down to 200ºF if it seems like everything is warm, if not leave at 300ºF

• Sauce options:

  • 2 large jars Pasta sauce (can also provide hot dog rolls with this option so people can make mini meatball subs

  • 3 bottles of BBQ sauce

  • 3 bottles of Heinz Chili Sauce and 2 jars of medium grape jelly (should be a similar volume, but there will be more jelly than chili sauce. Just dump both things on top of the meatballs before cooking. No need to stir or combine. That will happen naturally when you stir the meatballs later.

  • Any other sweet and sour sauce (the pineapple habanero sauce from Costco is great if you like spicy!)

• Buy 8 pre-made quiches

• Slice into 8 or 12 pieces while cold

• Place in the oven at 200ºF at the beginning of the service

Order party trays of wraps from your favorite source. 48 individual pieces should be sufficient.