meals for many: baked ham & cheese sandwiches with pasta salad

Whether it's for entertaining or making a hospitality meal to bring to a friend, it's hard not to make your typical casserole or lasagna dish (which are both perfectly fine, by the way!)  I thought I would share some recipes I have used lately to feed "many."  I made this meal for our bible study last week and they LOVED it.  I think it works well for summer because it's not too heavy and the ingredients are very easy to round up.  The complete recipe can be found HERE (also on my Pinterest board under "Party Ideas"). 

Very simple ingredients.  The recipe makes 24 sandwiches.  I used the smaller buns, so most people ate two mini sandwiches.

I cut up the cheese slices into smaller squares so that they would fit on the sandwiches.

Layering them up with ham and cheese.

The last step is to combine the melted butter, worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder.  You drizzle the mixture over the sandwiches and then top them with poppy seeds.  Let the sandwiches chill in the fridge for at least a few hours, and then pop them in the oven at 350ᴼ for 20 minutes.

This pasta salad paired well with the sandwiches.  Nothing fancy here, but fresh and tasty! 

Ingredients: cooked bow tie pasta and tortellini, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, red onion, green pepper, a dash of ground pepper, Light Italian Dressing

I just eye balled it with how much of each veggie to use.  Some other veggies that might be good to swap out or add in could be peas, cucumber, and/or carrots.

I made this in the morning, let it chill in the fridge, and then added Light Italian Dressing right before I served it.  To complete this "summery" meal I threw in some Ruffles, pop, and Publix Bakery chocolate chip cookies ;)

I made everything in the morning and then baked the sandwiches right before we had to leave.  I could see myself using this meal for a birthday party in the future too.  Enjoy!