Cooler Food Ideas

[bear74]

You can use a regular "cooler" as a warmer. Just heat up bricks wrapped in foil in the oven for about 30-45 min at ~400 or so.

Put the foil-bricks in the bottom of the cooler, cover with a dish towel and stack food containers in it. Then cover the whole thing in another dish towel.

It will stay warm for HOURS.

- a fellow sports mom AKA Ms. H

p.s. I know this sounds WEIRD but I got sick SICK SiCk of eating out/cold food while my DD was playing sports. I HAD to come up with something or go crazy.

wow i had never heard of that either. I will keep it in mind for future.

 

[Mom_Rides]

Something like a Pyrex Portables would work to transport food as well. I love mine when I need to transport hot dishes. I find if i take my dish right out of the oven with a pad right out of the microwave and I pack towels around the dish, my food stays hot for hours.

 

[Sunshineminnie]

Well, this is our first full week of full time basketball.

Here's the plan:

Monday - chicken fajitas
Tuesday - deli wraps
Wednesday - AT HOME YAY
Thursday - Roast in crockpot (early games so we should get home at a good time)
Friday - Honeykin (one of the kids' favorite casseroles)

I will have cut up fruit/veggies and drinks and either yogurt, pudding or cookies for a treat.

I will try the warm brick idea before I invest in an electric cooler/warmer. I'll keep you posted.

I'm still open to more ideas! It's going to be a long season!

 

[britfish]

Sounds like a good plan for the week, let us know how it goes!

BTW, what is Honeykin?

 

[Sunshineminnie]

Yay! Thanks for all of the creative ideas because my cooler food was awesome!

HOT chicken fajitas! I didn't have a warmer, or a brick, so I just made them really hot, wrapped them in tin foil, then a kitchen towel then but them in a small insulated lunch bag. They were nice and toasty warm.

Honeykin is one of my favorite casseroles growing up. It's a creamy, cheesy, chicken kind of thing. It's even better as leftovers. I'll post the recipe when I get a chance.

Thanks again for getting me thinking out of the box!

 

[scrapquitler]

How early do you have to leave? Can you just make something super simple in the crockpot and eat it quick before you leave home for the games? (I realize that this might not be possible because everyone might not be home before the games, but it might be a good option for at least some of the nights when some people will be home, even if 'dinner' ends up at 3:30 or 4:00)...then everyone can just have some kind of snack on the way home or once you get home.

A couple of other thoughts: Bowl of cereal and milk with fruit and yogurt (not really thrilling, but a good change from endless sandwiches)

Or how about picking up a rotisserie chicken and bringing that with you (we always eat that at room temperature/warm) with things like carrot/celery sticks, rolls and fruit.

During our dance recital week (we have rehersals from 4 to about 9 for the whole week prior to our shows because we do 4 shows...we rehearse one show each night), I've noticed that a lot of moms bring in their crock pot with a pre-cooked meal in it, and they plug it into one of the outlets in the lobby outside the auditorium or in the changing rooms. Is there a possibility of you doing something like that??

I have also noticed some of the Moms during recital week bringing in one of those very small portable grills (with the little 1 liter or so size gas tank on it) and using that out in the parking lot to grill up some hot foods. Again, perhaps not ideal depending on the weather, but your kids might think that 'tailgating' could be fun.

 

[scrapquitler]

How early do you have to leave? Can you just make something super simple in the crockpot and eat it quick before you leave home for the games? (I realize that this might not be possible because everyone might not be home before the games, but it might be a good option for at least some of the nights when some people will be home, even if 'dinner' ends up at 3:30 or 4:00)...then everyone can just have some kind of snack on the way home or once you get home.

A couple of other thoughts: Bowl of cereal and milk with fruit and yogurt (not really thrilling, but a good change from endless sandwiches)

Or how about picking up a rotisserie chicken and bringing that with you (we always eat that at room temperature/warm) with things like carrot/celery sticks, rolls and fruit.

During our dance recital week (we have rehersals from 4 to about 9 for the whole week prior to our shows because we do 4 shows...we rehearse one show each night), I've noticed that a lot of moms bring in their crock pot with a pre-cooked meal in it, and they plug it into one of the outlets in the lobby outside the auditorium or in the changing rooms. Is there a possibility of you doing something like that??

I have also noticed some of the Moms during recital week bringing in one of those very small portable grills (with the little 1 liter or so size gas tank on it) and using that out in the parking lot to grill up some hot foods. Again, perhaps not ideal depending on the weather, but your kids might think that 'tailgating' could be fun.