<p>Taco Night was a success! Thank you everyone for your thoughts and referrals to various websites.</p>
<p>I’m re-posting my final shopping list in case someone else gets to host a similar event for 70 high school kids (30 girls, 40 boy, 8 adults/coaches).</p>
<p>Here’s my final shopping list:</p>
<p>12 lbs lean ground beef (meat option 1)
1 large container of taco seasoning (Costco)
10 lbs chicken breast (meat option 2)
64 ounces of salsa (4 jars, Costco) to be used for cooking chicken in crock pot
2 6-lb cans black beans (vegetarian protein option)
2 32-oz containers of vegetable broth (box carton)
12 heads romaine lettuce, washed, sliced in thin strips
2 large bags of Mexican shredded cheese (Costco)
4-6 lbs of sour cream
6 small cans of sliced black olives (open as you need them)
12 chopped onions
1 3-pack guacamole (Costco has this)
6 16-ounce jars salsa (start w/ 3 in a bowl, open more as needed)
3 very large bags of tortilla chips (Costco) - used for taco salad
100 flour tortillas (can warm them if preferred)
(kids pack these with stuff, so they eat 1-2; girls tended to
pick taco salad with lettuce and tortilla chips as the base)
3-4 types of hot sauce </p>
<p>Beverages: Milk, Water, Lemonade in 6-gallon contain (may need to make more as evening progress)</p>
<p>Dessert: Costco cake, homemade cookies, brownies
(check w/ coaches on nut allergies)</p>
<p>The chicken was cooked in 2 different crock pots … 6-hours on low, layer the 32 ounces of salsa with the clean, rinsed, chicken. Stir every two hours to make sure chicken is cooked evenly. Before serving, use a fork to twist the chicken into shredded pieces.</p>
<p>The hamburger was cooked in several batches … brown the hamburger in a large pot 1-2 pounds at a time. Drain the fat, rinse with water if fat content is a concern. Add 1 cup of water with about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of taco seasoning, depending on your preference. Cook it 5-10 min. more than transfer to large roasting pan. Cook all the hamburger this way. If you cook it the day before, refrigerate the spiced browned meat overnight, and then about 3 hours prior to serving heat in 300 degree often in coverage roasting pan. Add more water or water/taco seasoning mixture to keep it moist. We served the meat in a 3rd crock pot, and refilled with as needed until the 12-lbs were gone. </p>
<p>For the black beans, open the can, drain and rinse the beans, then place in crock pot. Cover with 32-ounces of vegetable broth for each 6-lb can. Cook on low for about 6-hours, stirring gently with wooden spoon every two hours to redistribute heat.</p>
<p>We lined up the paper plates/napkins/plastic ware at the beginning of the buffet line, followed by flour tortillas, tortilla chips, Large lettuce bowl, chicken, beef, black beans, medium lettuce bowl, cheese, sour cream, salsa, olives, and last, hot sauces. We put the drinks in another area as most kids wanted to put their plates down at a table or chair, and then went to get their drink.</p>
<p>It was a big hit … we had some leftovers, but surprisingly, the proteins and the sweets went quickly, and so did the lemonade. Cleanup was a snap with several adults willing to pitch in we were done in 15 minutes. All in all a good event and I would definitely do something similar again.</p>