Yeah baby!
LOL! As a matter of fact I just got an offer for airfare and six nights hotel in Paris for $700pp 
I’ve never done tacos for that many people so I’m no pro on that.
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Smart and Final and/or Restaurant Depot is your friend for stuff like this. You can easily find chopped lettuce, chopped cabbage, shredded carrots, etc. You can pick up your large containers of sour cream, mayo, BBQ sauce, etc at the same time.
Sometimes it’s worth paying a little extra to have the work already done for you. 
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[quote=“catholiver, post:22, topic:4420”]
LOL! As a matter of fact I just got an offer for airfare and six nights hotel in Paris for $700pp
[/quote]Sweet!
See, that’s my problem. I always feel the need to get all Martha Stewart. When we did taco bar I just had to marinate my own meat & chicken, grill it, then chop it all up. Chopping that much meat was the worst. I made all the sauces, guacamole, grilled the spring onions, shredded the heads of lettuce… and on and on 
! That’s fine for a small party. But next time I’m doing it your way @boogiebaby. Like I advised President Mochi, at the end of the day it doesn’t matter one bit.
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I’ve done a taco/nacho bar for about 25 people and it wasn’t bad. I did carne asada and ground turkey for the meats. I marinaded the beef the night before and cooked the ground turkey the night before, chopped the meat and put them both in serving trays and reheated them in the oven in the evening when everyone got there. I used pre-shredded lettuce and cheese, canned nacho cheese sauce (because that’s what the birthday boy asked for) and made the pico de gallo and guacamole earlier in the day. I put all the toppings into the serving bowls and popped them into the fridge, so come dinner time, I just had to put them on the table. I used small slow cookers for the cheese sauce and for the refried beans. The only thing I did after the guests arrived was heat up the tortillas and put them into insulated pots to keep warm.
My mom used to do catering when I was younger, and I used to help her prep and cook, so it goes pretty quick for me.
Just a comment on the above, I usually buy the sides, precooked and already prepared, from a Mexican restaurant or supermarket. That’s what goes in my serving dishes.
I carefully hide any evidence that the food is not homemade in my neighbor’s trash.
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Don’t rub it in.
Seriously though, we do entertain a lot. I’m fine indoors. Nacho bar? No problem. But for some reason the outdoor BBQ thing sends me over the edge. I agree timing & preparation are everything. But I think it’s my set-up too. We have an old house and a 3 level backyard - it’s a lot of running up and down stairs. Plus I hinder myself by refusing to buy a gas grill. I stubbornly use my Weber barrel that requires coals and lots of tending.
But really it’s the shortcuts you employ that make a difference. Like cooking ground turkey instead of whole chicken breasts, shredded lettuce, storebought nacho cheese. I need to get with that program. The everything from scratch thing is good for small parties but…
See @President_Mochi. Your thread is a teaching experience for all. Thanks 
.
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What are you rebelling against?
Okay… I’m not a big item purchaser. I leave that to the men. You know, unnecessarily huge smart tv’s and such. Since mine is not into cooking… at all. Seriously… I had to teach him how to make a sandwich so he doesn’t starve when I’m not around. Anyway, I digress. Since he’s not into cooking, I can’t get him to take over the BBQing task. Which means no big convenient gas grill. Also, I kinda’ feel like it’s cheating. I like to challenge myself. But in reality it is a pain and I hardly use it. I do have a small, portable gas grill I cook carne asada on and that whole branzino I told you about. Boy is it simple 
.
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My dad always used charcoal or wood grills. My mom used gas, because for her it was just another way to get food on the table. In summer she used it more often than the stove.
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When we did an addition/remodel to our house about ten years ago, we ran a gas line to the (retrofitted) gas grill. We grill in snow storms or anything else. We both use the grill and we cook meats and vegetables on it. I wouldn’t be without it. We had one 24 hour power outage and it was nice to have that as the cooktop is induction and the oven electric.
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Exactly. I was discussing this BBQ thread with the husband. It was “Let’s be frank about the purist thing. We would grill/bbq more if we had gas.” We live in a tiny home with a ginormous backyard. It’s time to start utilizing it again as more living space. A gas grill would be like your mom says, an additional stove.
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Here’s a simple one @President_Mochi.
Broccoli slaw from Trader Joe’s. You can buy some bags and dress it however you like. I did this one with veganaise, hot sauce, wine vinegar, dried cherries & chives. But sometimes I just add veganaise or mayo and lots of tobasco. Peeps love it.
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And if you have leftovers, stir fry it with some soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and a bit of sugar. (Put it in a grilled tortilla for a nice post-party drunk-food snack.)
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Great idea. I have some in my fridge right now. May give it a lil test run.
And thanks for the stir fry tip @Bookwich!
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Hey there. It might not be the season for BBQ, but I can recommend you some solid recipes for Slow Cooker Meat. There are 6 awesom recipes that you can use. All of them are from solid sources.
Enjoy