Even if you live in the south like me, practicing hospitality, that is, having people in your home, it is not necessarily something that comes naturally. When you think about practicing hospitality, you may imagine what would be called a dinner, and the idea of doing that sounds stressful and complicated. But it doesn’t have to be! Here are 12 tips to help things work without problems for everyone.

12 easy tips to practice hospitality

Plan who will have more

The first advice is to be strategic about who you are going to have. Our family has one night a week that is generally a good night to try to have someone, but that means that there are only so many people we can have. In general, at the beginning of each season, my husband and I sat down and make a written list of people we would like to have. It can be a new family in our church, or someone from our little group, or a neighbor who would like to know better. We also ask people spontaneously, but having a list can help us be really intentional!

Ask on allergies or dietary restrictions

Once you have decided who to invite, be sure to ask them if they or anyone in their family have food allergies, dietary restrictions or simply any food they don’t like. For example, I once asked this and someone said that her husband really hated the onions. What he planned to do included onions, but it was easy to leave them out to accommodate that lack of particular food.

Cook simple recipes that are easy to multiply

Now he knows who he is having and who do not have particular dietary restrictions (if they do, consult some of our recipes of the Ceto Coming Plan or recipes of the Vegan Food Plan) that could also be adapted to be gluten, paleo or vegetarian). These are some of my favorite recipes that are easy to serve a larger crowd:

Albondigas subs: Use our easy meatball recipe and simply do enough for the crowd you are having. Serve with french fries and salad or other green vegetable.

Taco Bar: Ground meat of ground meat or sauteed chicken, then be sure to have all the fixations such as cheese, salsa, sour cream and lettuce. Serve with black beans or Mexican rice and corn in box.

CASSER PASTA: My favorite pasta casserole is this Three ziti baked cheese of a recipe blog now missing. I did it dozens of times and it is always a success! Serve with a salad and garlic bread.

Soup, salad and bread: Choose your favorite soup, collect a mixture of salads or two and a bread bar of the grocery store.

Homemade Brownies: If you do not have a brownie mixing box that picked up for sale the store, you can make really simple but delicious homemade brownies at home. I love this Imitator Betwer Brownies Betwer Brownies.

Ask your guests to bring something

Depending on who you are inviting, you may not want to ask your guests to bring something (for example, they may move to the city, or maybe you invite them because they are going through something difficult). But many people ask what they can bring and realize that they could make them more comfortable to bring something instead of coming empty. When someone offers, I usually ask if they prefer to bring salad or dessert and make it clear that they are totally well if they pick up something in the store on the road.

Run and empty the dishwasher before dinner

Although we have a large dishwasher, it is usually filled with only dishes of our only family. So, what I love to do is load everything that is dirty in the middle of the afternoon and execute the dishwasher, then empty it as soon as it is done. Then I have a completely empty dishwasher where I can load the things that dirty dinner, as well as all dinner dishes.

If they have children, place some toys in the living room

Although our children have overcome different toys, I try to hold on to some small toys containers that attract an age variety. For example, when a family with young children is approaching, I have a great Matchbox car container that I can get. If you have no children or an easy way to acquire these toys, but hospitality is important for you, see garage sales and see if you can stock up some fun toys at a low price!

We don’t dinner just when they come

While the image of their guests enter the table and all the established food may sound good, it can also be nice to leave some things without doing. Then, when your guests come and ask if there is something to do to help, you can make them feel useful stirring the soup or placing things on the table.

Light some background music

To create a warm and friendly mood, try to light some background music. We use our Bluetooth speaker or the Spotify application on our TV.

Offer coffee or tea after dinner

I like to place a small ‘hot drink’ station before we even quit, so I don’t have to think about it. I make sure that our Keurig is full of water, place coffee cups and then take out a small basket of coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Then the guests can do their own or I can go to a group at the same time.

Do not apologize for what is not your home

If you are comfortable and relaxed when you greet your guests, they will also be. They will probably not realize whether you have not had aspiration time or if there is dust in your sockets. What is attractive to them of their home is people in it, that means you!

Include your guests in your family’s rhythms

If your child is going to bed while your guests are there, ask if they would like to read their little book while washing. Or maybe they could play a short game with their eldest son while lining their youngest children. This does not mean that you should turn your guests into free labor, but if they seem willing, try to ask them! We often have single men and women of the Church, and they love to be included in our familiar routines of the afternoon.

Let them help you clean if they offer

In fact, I read an article recently that said you should always say that not if your guests offer to help clean, because it is rude and they probably do not. In fact I want to help you. I have never found that this is the case! That does not mean that everyone always offers, but they do it, I usually take them.

We really love having people, but it has definitely taken time to be more relaxed and comfortable about it. I hope these tips help you enjoy practicing the gift of hospitality!

Do you have any advice to practice hospitality? Let us know in the comments!