2 Day Softball Tournament w/tailgate with the team

[fabfive]

I need help. I am new to the whole softball tournament thing. The team is going out of town (driving distance) to a two day softball tournament. It is my understanding that each family brings food to share with everyone. I of the families brought a small propane grill I was told the last time. Having been told this, I don't think they mean chips and pretzels. Any ideas for items that would hold up in a cooler for 2 days without going bad or getting mushy? We live in Ohio and the heat in mid-July is hot with the humitity. On the field it can be 107 degrees. I know to bring lots of drink to keep everyone healthy but what else. They tell me that we could potentially eat all three meals at the car. I know they sometimes have a consession stand but I hate to eat hot dogs and nachos all they time and it gets expensive. We are already paying for a hotel and need to save money.

Here is the other problem. The other parents on the team are very well off. They all play other sports together i.e. soccer and basketball. I want to bring something kind of nice as well.

Please help me with ideas and recipes. Thanks.

 

[fabfive]

Bump

 

[fabfive]

I guess I am on my own. Thanks anyway

 

[CrazedDisFan]

We used to do the weekend softball thing with dh's team. Every year we went to northern Michigan to a softball tourney for the 4th of July weekend. It was so much fun. We had small children then and money was tight, when you threw in the hotel expense, it was much worse. So I know what you are going through. We did this trip for 8 years, until dh had a knee replaced.

All of the wives brought food and we tailgated for the day and generally only ate after the final game in the restaurant at the field.

These are some things I packed with us and they held up nicely in tupperware sitting on top of the ice.

* Get up a little bit earlier for breakfast in the hotel room. Take a 1/2 gallon of milk, some cereal, plastic spooms and bowls with you. It is simple, easy and cheap.

* Cold veggie pizza with broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, etc. http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1626,144170-248195,00.html

* Ramen noodle salad
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1843,155184-234199,00.html

* Premade sub sandwiches
I use deli sandwich buns from Meijer. They are up by the deli. I put whatever meat, cheese and veggies on it for each person in my family. I took small squeeze mayo and mustard with me. This worked great for when my family was hungry when everyone wasn't tailgating.

* I also stocked up on chips, fresh fruit, bottled water, juice, etc. I suggest you buy 1.5 times what you think you'll need. You can always take the left over water, juice, Gatorade, soda, etc. back home with you. Taking extra helps prevent the trips to the concession stand.


* Take 3 coolers. 2 big. Use on big one for food, the other for drinks. This will keep the ice from melting and your food from getting tossed around. Also, take a small, easy to carry cooler with you. You can fill it with ice from the hotel before you leave in the morning and stock it with drinks from your big cooler. Dd played at a field this spring that was a 10 minute walk from the parking lot each way , but the concession stand was right there. Lesson learned.

I'm on my way out to the grocery store, but I will try to come up with some more ideas for you later. Good luck!

 

[fabfive]

* Ramen noodle salad
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1843,155184-234199,00.html

* Premade sub sandwiches
I use deli sandwich buns from Meijer. They are up by the deli. I put whatever meat, cheese and veggies on it for each person in my family. I took small squeeze mayo and mustard with me. This worked great for when my family was hungry when everyone wasn't tailgating.

I love the Ramen noodle salad, I didn't even think of that. Did you put the lunch meat and cheese on the bread? Did it get soggey? How about deviled eggs? Kind of afraid of these, I don't want to get anyone sick.

 

[HappyTrouble]

I have 2 DD's who play w/ travel teams. I like doing sandwiches but that is mainly for us, not when we are sharing. As a team we usually grill hotdogs and hamburgers so I like to do coleslaw, fruit salads and pasta salads. Something else that keeps well are tortilla rollups. Cream cheese mixed with salsa and green onions spread on tortillas and roll them up. Cut in half these are great!! To keep things from getting soggy I just put the food, no matter what it is, in a plastic container-wrap in foil then put in a gallon (or bigger) ziploc bag. Works everytime!!!!

 

[fabfive]

What do you think about grilling the brats ahead?

 

[HappyTrouble]

I think that would be fine.......Not a bad idea at all!!! I am still trying to think of some other things. I have gotten into the habit of buying things that are already made at the deli and just packing chips and other snacks. Don't forget sugar cookies are always a hit and ball players can always use a little sugar pick me up after a few games.

 

[fabfive]

I think that would be fine.......Not a bad idea at all!!! I am still trying to think of some other things. I have gotten into the habit of buying things that are already made at the deli and just packing chips and other snacks. Don't forget sugar cookies are always a hit and ball players can always use a little sugar pick me up after a few games.

Great idea on the sugar cookie! I was trying to think of something sweet that would not make a mess.

Any ideas on breakfast foods? We will be spending all three meals that the game.

 

[HappyTrouble]

I always make blueberry muffins the night before we leave for a big tournament. They go over extremely well!!!! My girls love them as snacks so we never make it home w/ any leftover!!

 

[fabfive]

I love the blueberry muffin idea. I can do that. I can even make the mini muffins and share with the other little ones.

 

[sunnyday123]

I have no ideas but need some for an upcoming soccer tournament, so.....bump!

 

[fabfive]

Here are some possibilities I have right now:

Blueberry muffins
Ramen Noodle Salad
Corn & Black Bean Salsa
Green bean Tuna salad.
Pre-grilled Brats or sausages
Sub-sandwiches
Sugar cookies

Of course, drinks, chips paper plates, cups, plasticware and wet ones.

Next thing is how to pack all of this including softball equipment, chairs, clothes and into an HHR

 

[NeedaVacation03]

I think that the 3 coolers are a great idea. I dont know why I never thought of that.
These are great ideas. I have softball, soccer and soon volleyball tournments to deal with. This is a great post.

 

[fabfive]

I love the 3 cooler suggestion as well.

When I asked the other moms on the team, they say I don't know what I am going to bring yet. I don't know if that is because that are clueless about what to bring like me or they just don't want to give any ideas up yet because they haven't decided.

Thanks for the compliment. I am new at the softball stuff and my daughter really likes it. She seems to have a lot of talent according to her coaches. Maybe finally I have found her calling

 

[tammykva]

My daughter (15) is on a competitive softball team, and my son (12) is on a competitive baseball team so we have 2 day tournaments basically every weekend. We stay in hotels if they both have a tournament on the same weekend, but I go through Priceline and get it a day or so before we go it is much cheaper (about half price ) I think the best advice I can give you is to freeze the water bottles and or Gatorade and put them in your cooler. Get one of those rolling coolers; also bring a pop up canopy if you have one. For our food each individual family takes care of their selves, we usually make sandwiches ahead of time and have snack mix and fruit. The fruit (oranges, cherries, grapes...)is really refreshing between games without being really heavy. You can also freeze the gogurts. Oh yeah bring them some flip flops to put on between games, it makes their feet feel so much better for the next game especially when it is hot and don’t forget the baby wipes!

 

[HappyTrouble]

My DD's are 13 and 15. They both play softball. I always keep wet faceclothes and hand towels in individual ziploc baggies and keep those in the cooler as well. Those ice cold towels are great for keeping them cool!!! You get really good at packing a car...believe me!!!! Try picking up 3 players, with their gear, from a softball camp in a 4 door sedan. I live by the motto "Where there is a will-There is a way".

 

[fabfive]

What about games in the down times? I actually thought about water balloons.

 

[PolyHereWeCome]

We just finished a Father's Day weekend (Sat&Sun) soccer tournament but it was on our home field (thank gosh), so we didn't have to pack like OP is talking about. However, I want to second what another poster wrote about the frozen towels/washcloths. DS did have tons of gatorade in an ice-packed cooler, but it was VERY hot during these 4 games and some smart mom from our team brought water soaked freezing cold wash cloths and he and all of the boys LOVED that.

Have fun tailgating, OP. We saw lots of the other teams doing that under canopies they'd brought. Nice full-spread of foods from what we saw: tons of chips, drinks, and fruits and deli platters (no grills or anything flamable allowed). Watch the mayo items, yuck wouldn't want food poisoning. And, yes, lots of money spent on the hot dogs, nachos, burgers, even breakfast egg sandwiches from the concession stand.

 

[fabfive]

I love the idea of using tried and true methods. I will definately use these suggestions. What do you do in the down time?