Need recipe help.....grab and go?

[Zoemakes5]

So, our biggest budget buster and my mommy hang her head issue is that we eat fast food way too often. But, this is my problem. I get home around 6:30ish, if I then make dinner we're typically looking at anywhere from 730-745 before we eat. My son is in boy scouts two days a week, and we typically have just enough time to get home and head out, and will grab fast food along the way. My other son is in traveling basketball, and we are frequently having meals on the run.

So, I need ideas (other than sandwiches) that are grab and go. All help appreciated. We do sandwiches sometimes, but it's not a fav of the fam, so hard to do frequently.

 

[lisaross]

CROCKPOT - if u don't have one buy one....tons of recipes on the internet

So, our biggest budget buster and my mommy hang her head issue is that we eat fast food way too often. But, this is my problem. I get home around 6:30ish, if I then make dinner we're typically looking at anywhere from 730-745 before we eat. My son is in boy scouts two days a week, and we typically have just enough time to get home and head out, and will grab fast food along the way. My other son is in traveling basketball, and we are frequently having meals on the run.

So, I need ideas (other than sandwiches) that are grab and go. All help appreciated. We do sandwiches sometimes, but it's not a fav of the fam, so hard to do frequently.

 

[ah1126]

I try to prep things as much as I can, so I am already ahead of the game when I go to cook.

One example is when I buy hamburger, I go ahead and brown it all, then freeze it in ziplock bags in 1lb portions. When I go to make dinner, I stick the bag in the microwave for about 1 min and it is thawed and ready to go!

I also like to make breakfast and regular burritos and freeze them. You can put what your family likes in them. I make one with taco seasoned hamburger, rice and cheese and a chicken and cheese one. I wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze. Then we can pull them out one at a time, microwave and have a super quick meal!

Hope this helps!

 

[puffkin]

Crock pot! Use ours a lot.

Another tips is to buy chicken breasts on sale and cube them up into small pieces. Then lightly brown them up in olive oil. Cool, then freeze in meal size packages (usually about 2 cups). I use these in TONS of dishes, usually saves about 15 minutes in a recipe I am trying to make. Quesadillas are super quick and easy with these too.

I usually make at least 1 or 2 meals ahead of time on the weekends so all we need to do is heat. I also try to double recipes whenever I do have time to cook so I can freeze meals.

We have found that the grill is super fast too for a quick meal.

 

[PudgetteD]

Crock pot! Use ours a lot.

I usually make at least 1 or 2 meals ahead of time on the weekends so all we need to do is heat. I also try to double recipes whenever I do have time to cook so I can freeze meals.

Ditto! I used to work 12 hour shifts, 7A-7P, and if not for our crock pot we would have lived on fast food that year. We aren't as busy now that DD18 will graduate this year . DS11 has Scouts on Monday and drum lessons on Tuesday. For those nights we eat from the freezer. I double cook on the weekends and use divided plates with lids and freeze. On Scout and music nights I just pull 3 or 4 (depending on if DD is eating at home or not) plates from the freezer and microwave. Another benefit to this is that DS and DH can eat early and I can eat after Scouts/music. (As a nurse I'm used to missing meals/eating late. . .LOL)

Using divided plates also allows me to send home-cooked meals to work with DH. He's a paramedic and works 24 hour shifts so we'd be spending A LOT of money on fast food if I didn't send meals with him.

 

[lunalibre]

Put your kids to work! I think your sig says they're 16 and 14. That's PLENTY old enough to start being able to cook simple things. I've made my DS14 start helping me cook this year. I have to leave shockingly explicit instructions (like stir the spaghetti as soon as it goes in the water and every 2 minutes thereafter), but he's starting to catch on. If I have everything ready, he can put together simple meals. If the food is ready the minute you walk in the door, would you have 10-15 minutes to eat at home? I bet you it takes at least 10 minutes to grab fast food.

Or, something else I've done is have the rest of the family eat at home, and then only have the one kid who has to eat in the car. My daughter does gymnastics 3 days a week, and her brother will have a basketball game that starts directly after her practice ends. DH, DS, and I will eat at home. I'll pack up a lunch box of her dinner (portions of what we had for dinner; it's still hot), and she'll eat that quickly at the gym. It takes her 10-15 minutes to eat, and I've timed it -- it doesn't take her any longer to eat the homemade dinner at the gym than it does for us to stop for fast food.

OP, write up a list of meals than can be prepared with minimal effort by your boys. Try having one of those on your desperation nights.

Of course, in order to eat as a family, we usually can't eat dinner until 7:45pm or 8pm most nights of the week. I hate it, but that's just the way it is because of DD's gym schedule. So, not having dinner ready until 7:30 or 7:45 is normal for us now. (ugh)

Good luck!

 

[MichelleinMaine]

Put your kids to work! I think your sig says they're 16 and 14. That's PLENTY old enough to start being able to cook simple things. I've made my DS14 start helping me cook this year. I have to leave shockingly explicit instructions (like stir the spaghetti as soon as it goes in the water and every 2 minutes thereafter), but he's starting to catch on. If I have everything ready, he can put together simple meals. If the food is ready the minute you walk in the door, would you have 10-15 minutes to eat at home? I bet you it takes at least 10 minutes to grab fast food.

Agreed! Not sure which is your boy scout, but by 14/16, either way, they should be cooking enough at camping to know what to do for supper. I "suggested" my son do cooking one night a week to fulfill one of his Family Life requirements as well. (Conveniently it was Tuesdays, so the day that DD had dance class so it was all ready when we got home.)