Today I'd like to post our special "guest menu" which we enjoyed Friday through Monday!

If you're looking for menu ideas for preparing meals for overnight or extended-stay (more than one meal!) guests, this should give you a bit of an idea of how I go about preparing and cooking for our guests!

We had a family of 6 visiting, and I wanted to serve nice meals, yet still be able to spend time visiting, playing with the children, or going out for walks or other activities. To meet this goal, I prepared as much of the meals in advance as possible (see notes after each meal's menu). I also wrote down my menu so I wouldn't forget my plan!

I was pleased with the results of my hard work. I spent minimal time on meals the entire weekend, and there weren't many dirty dishes. Now, we'll be eating leftovers all week... ;)

Friday

• Lunch: Tammy's Easy Pizza with cooked veggies (Guests had not yet arrived, so I needed something quick and easy since I was preparing meals for the next couple of days!)
• Dinner: Nacho Grande Casserole, cooked veggies, warmed homemade bread, chocolate-vanilla swirl cheesecake (I prepared the casserole earlier in the day and just had to bake it before dinner; the homemade bread was made earlier in the day also, and warmed in the oven while I was baking the casserole; Joshua made the cheesecake two days in advance, since cheesecake is best enjoyed after 24 hours!)

Sabbath

• Breakfast: French toast with jam and pumpkin butterscotch muffins (The muffins were already made.) 
• Lunch: Oven-Roasted Chickens, gourmet potatoes, cooked veggies, Chicken Pasta Salad, mixed fruit, and cranberry roll-up cookies (The chickens were already seasoned and in the roasting pan, ready to be baked; the gourmet potatoes were also completely made and just needed baked; the pasta salad and cookies were made on Thursday, so all I did was bake things and make mixed fruit!)
• Dinner: Incredibly Easy Taco Pie and two kinds of cooked vegetables (The taco pie wasn't already made, but the meat was already fried and seasoned, and the cheese was grated. I quickly assembled the casserole and baked it.)

Sunday

• Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with cheese, toast and bagels with jam, fresh apples (Our guests had brought homemade bread, jam, and fresh apples, which I easily incorporated into our breakfasts!)
• Lunch: Beef Barley soup, Beef Vegetable soup, Cornmeal Crescent rolls, pumpkin pie, and cherry cheesecake (My mom made this entire meal, and we went to my parents' house to eat lunch and spend the afternoon! It was a nice break from cooking.)
• Dinner: Cheesy Chicken Vermicelli, Italian Cheese Bread, and Chicken Pasta Salad, homemade Pumpkin Roll for dessert (Sunday morning after breakfast, I cooked some pasta. I used leftover chicken meat from the day before and some pre-shredded cheese and made a dish of chicken vermicelli that could be quickly baked that evening when we got back to our house. While the vermicelli was baking, I made the cheese bread, which went into the oven right after the vermicelli was finished baking. The pasta salad and pumpkin roll were already made. The pumpkin roll had been frozen, so I thawed and sliced it.)

Monday

• Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with cheese, toast with jam, pear-granola muffins, fresh apples (The muffins were already made and in the freezer, so I just thawed them.)