Go-to Recipe for Cooking for a Crowd

This actually cannot be my go-to recipe now, because we came home from the PHilippines to find our double wall ovens were not functioning and we can't afford to fix them, so we now cook in a toaster oven for the 3 of us still at home.  If I am going to cook for a crowd now, I need to use my crockpot, or the giant plug in roaster.  But back in the day when I did have two working ovens:

Easy Chicken Pot Pie(Serves 8-10)

Cook and shred four chicken breasts ahead of
time, but be careful not to let the chicken get dry.  An easy way to shred it is to put it in a deep bowl and use your electric mixer, although you may want to put waxed paper between the mixer whisks and mixer, large enough to protect from spatters.

. Place cut chicken in the bottom of a 13"x9" casserole dish.

In a bowl, mix
1 c. chicken broth with 1 can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup You can also make up a batch of about 3 cups of gravy. 

 Pour over chicken.

 Add 3 c. frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, corn, etc.). to the top of the gravy/cream soup.
 Salt and pepper all to taste. 

Now mix 1 1/2 c. milk, 3/4 c. butter, and 1 1/2 c. self-rising flour. Blend until smooth, then pour over chicken and veggies. 

Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.  Five large pans of this will serve 30 hungry college students.

Variations: 

To make gravy instead of using canned cream soup: boil your chicken just until barely done. Reserve the broth.

Usually I make one thick recipe of white gravy (2 T. butter; 2 generous T. flour; 2 scant cups of milk; seasoning to taste- melt the butter, stir in the flour, gradually stir in the 2 cups of milk while stirring continuously over high heat. Do not boil).

In a bowl, mix 1 cup of the reserved chicken broth with 1 batch of white gravy. Pour over chicken. There are other ways to make a substitute for cream of chicken soup as well.

Now mix 1 1/2 c. milk; 3/4 c. butter; 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour; 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder; 1/8 teaspoon salt [salt is optional] 

You can use melted lard instead of butter.

You can just buy whole chickens, simmer them or roast until done and pull the meat off the bones. (make soup later with the bones)