The church we attend has a carry in lunch every other week. Over the years, I have tried many recipes, but I finally hit on one that works every time. I rarely have any thing left in my crock pot to take home, which lets me know that everyone has really enjoyed what I bring. It’s hearty enough for the men, which I think is the key to it’s success.
You can make this recipe with totally homemade ingredients if you are a really good cook, or for a quick, lazy way, it can be made completely of store bought and canned ingredients. Either way seems to work equally well.
I simply layer tortillas, either flour or corn, pinto beans (for store bought, Ranch Style beans work best, juice and all) chili, and cheese. That’s it! Layer at least three times. Since it’s all cooked foods, put the crock pot on low, and it’s ready to eat in a couple of hours. Just make sure you have enough time to heat it throughly.
A few times, I have put taco meat in place of the chili. This works equally well. On the Sunday mornings where I have discovered I don’t have enough tortillas, I’ll switch a layer or two with corn chips to fill in. Don’t skimp on the cheese, that’s one of the things that makes this so good. You can bring along sour cream and salsa to put on top, but it gets eaten up without it, too!
In a real pinch, I have simply brought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to our church carry ins. In the midst of hot, fancier meals, these go very quickly with the children. Any kind of cookies or cake with sprinkles on top attract the little ones too.
It doesn’t take too much time to make a good crock pot meal that everyone enjoys for church fellowship meals. If I carry home an empty crockpot, I know I’ve found a successful recipe, and these ideas have always worked well.
