Feathers in Our Nest

a blog about faith, family, food, & more written by a wife and stay at home mom of five

Showing Hospitality When Money Is Tight

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This post is part of my ongoing series on hospitality.

For our family, sometimes the biggest challenge to showing hospitality is our limited budget.  I have to be creative in order to feed our family healthy meals each week, and sometimes I wonder how I could make a “company-worthy” meal without spending any additional money that week.

I have found time and time again that God meets our needs and allows us to give to others of our resources and time.

I love these verses in 2 Corinthians 9:

“God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.  As it is written, ‘He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’  He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.  You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God” (7b-11).

The point of these verses is that God will give us what we need and bless our generosity towards others.  Everything we have belongs to Him anyway, and cheerfulness in giving also applies to cheerfulness in showing hospitality.  Let’s give freely of the blessings God has given us!

The truth is, as we discussed briefly before, our guests don’t expect us to serve prime rib.  The best way to make our guests feel comfortable in our home is to treat them like family.  Lately as we have had friends and family over, I’ve tried to make “normal” meals that our family typically eats, not extravagant recipes that cost a fortune and have me cooking all day.

On a practical note, here are some things to keep in mind when showing hospitality on a tight budget.

  • Serve inexpensive foods, such as pasta or rice, but serve them in a delicious way (i.e. stuffed shells or a cheesy rice bake) and make plenty.  
  • Try making an easy bread recipe (this one is impossibly easy) and keep the bread basket filled throughout dinner.  Or buy French bread from the store and serve that.  
  • Make a big salad that is large enough for everyone to get seconds.  
  • Other inexpensive recipes are soups of various kinds, chili, and spaghetti.  Cooking any recipe from scratch (instead of using frozen or canned convenience foods) will help keep the cost down (i.e. homemade spaghetti sauce vs. jarred).  
  • Serve vegetables and fruits that are in season, or stick with canned/frozen veggies.  Canned green beans are inexpensive and taste great when cooked all day with a few pieces of ham.
  • Serve water instead of soda or tea.  I almost always serve guests water when they come (often with lemon or lime), and no one has walked out as a result.  😉  I always serve brewed coffee during dessert, but the cost of that is minimal.
  • Develop a repertoire of meals you like to make for company, and then shop for non-perishable ingredients for those meals when things go on sale.  
  • It’s okay to not serve dessert, if that isn’t something you can afford to do.  On the other hand, there are a lot of easy and inexpensive dessert recipes which are fun to serve company (homemade cookies or brownies are always popular).  Try not to go overboard on an extravagant (expensive) dessert.  A trifle made with angel food cake or pound cake, fresh berries, and whipped cream can be lovely yet frugal.
  • If your guests offer to bring something, say yes!  It’s okay to be specific and ask if they would like to bring garlic bread or a tossed salad.  

What are your best tips for showing hospitality on a budget?

Overnight Cranberry Orange French Toast Bake

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This post has also been posted on Baking Whole Grains, a site I write for which compensates me for sharing whole grain recipes.  While I receive compensation, this does not influence my opinions.  All photos and directions are my own. 

 I made this recipe for Easter weekend and I loved how it turned out!  It’s not a “quick” recipe, per se, since there are steps spanning a two days, but the hands-on time is minimal and the result is worth it.  I love being able to make a nice breakfast for overnight guests without spending much time in the kitchen that morning (read: more time with my guests!).

You start by making the cranberry orange bread, which Drea’s adaptation of my Foolproof Whole Wheat Bread recipe.  Then you cube the bread, add some milk & eggs, and leave it in the fridge overnight.  The next morning, bake it and enjoy a lovely warm breakfast!

This would be a great Mother’s Day breakfast.


Overnight Cranberry Orange French Toast Bake

For the bread:
3 1/2 cups freshly milled whole wheat flour (hard white)
1 cup warm water
2 tsp. yeast
2 Tbsp. honey or sucanat (both work well)
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt (I use Real Salt)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
zest from 1 orange
dried cranberries (I used around 1/2 cup, but it’s up to you)
For the French toast bake:
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract (I use homemade)
additional cranberries for sprinkling

(For photos of the bread-making process, see this post.)
Using your WonderMill, grind slightly more than 2 1/2 cups wheat berries to yield 3 1/2 cups of flour.  In the base of a stand mixer, combine warm water, yeast, honey, sea salt, olive oil, orange juice, and orange zest.  

 As always, with measuring flour, spoon flour into a measuring cup and level off the top using the flat side of a knife.  Dump the flour into the bowl of the mixer as well.  Set mixer to knead (on mine, “2”) and let it do it’s thing for a few minutes.  You’ll know it’s finished with this step when everything is thoroughly combined.  Dough may be sticky.

Cover with a towel and let rest for 45 minutes.

After the dough rests, sprinkle flour onto the counter and knead the dough until you can easily shape it into a loaf.  Add a little flour, since it may be sticky, but be careful not to add too much.

Add cranberries to the dough as you knead it, working them through the dough.  Shape dough into a loaf and place in a greased loaf pan.

Cover the loaf pan with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for a cold rise for 2 hours.  Remove the loaf from the fridge after 2 hours and let it sit on the stove while the oven preheats to 350 degrees.

Remove plastic wrap and bake loaf for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.  Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

When bread is cool, slice into thick (1″) slices, then cut each slice into 9 cubes.  

Place the bread cubes in a greased baking dish (I used a smaller baking dish and two little ramekins for “personal size” bakes, but a 9×9 would work great).  

In a mixing bowl, beat together 4 eggs.  Add 1 cup milk and 1 tsp. vanilla.  

Pour egg mixture over bread cubes in baking dish.  Sprinkle with additional cranberries. 

Cover with plastic wrap and leave in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Bake French toast for 25-35 minutes, or until set (check at 25 minutes) and golden brown.

Serve with 100% pure maple syrup.

Enjoy!

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For more of our family’s favorite recipes, click here.

This post contains an affiliate link to the grain mill I use and love!

Weeks Twenty/Twenty-One

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I missed posting for week twenty, so this will be my summary for both weeks.

Weeks 20-21 were really hard for some reason.  I’ve been extremely tired lately (like almost first trimester level), so I’m thinking that Baby Punkin’ is growing a LOT right now!

I’m having lots of back pain, and hence difficulty sleeping.  I’m trying to have a good attitude about it and just appreciate the rest I am able to get.  It’s also not been my “prettiest” week, with breakouts and facial puffiness.  🙂

All in all, though, I am SO thankful I can carry this baby boy.  I am thrilled to meet him… and I’m excited to be celebrating the halfway point!  He is honestly going to be here before we realize it.

Thanks for your prayers!  I have a routine appointment with my midwife tomorrow.

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