On-the-Go dinners

[kaddjr]

I will make one suggestion for 'eating out' but it's because I don't think the price can be beaten if a family likes multiple toppings on a pizza (all that stuff adds up quickly when purchased individually)-papa murphy's $10 Tuesdays. those large pizzas can feed several people, and if Tuesday isn't one of your nights running around you can always purchase one and bake it later in the week (they do fine sitting in the fridge till baked).

Or if you have the space, freeze it. I do this alot w/take and bakes. Just thaw it and bake as normal.

I remember those days, our family used to pack most of our food, too. Fast food or the concession stand adds up quick! During all stars, the team parents would all pitch in and do burgers and dogs on the grill (most parks had these available or someone brought one- us!). It was all split up- everyone brought something different and we always ended up with a decent picnic lunch/dinner.

Lots of great suggestions here! With a little advanced planning, it’s really easy to avoid eating out.

 

[Eureka]

Chicken subs. Cook the chicken the night before or on the weekend etc. Get everything ready (chicken, condiments, bacon, cheese, whatever) and then when you get home, pop them in the oven at 400 for 10 minutes. Or if you're eating them in the car, wrap them in foil and take them along. We used to do this and homemade "lunchables" a lot when the kids were small.

 

[Eureka]

Here is a possible solution for you https://onceamonthmeals.com/

Be warned, this is a pay site, but...
They give you a months worth of recipes that you can make ahead of time and store in your freezer. They give you a shopping list to buy all the ingredients. Somefood gets cooked in advance and you heat in the oven and some is prepped raw that just gets dumped into a frying pan and cooked up in 20 or 30 minutes. You spend a day pre-making all these meals and then zero time prepping when you get home.

I had the subscription for 3 months trying to get my wife to do it. She was having no part of spending all day making food.

Do *you* want to spend all day making food? Lol. (Sometimes I do freezer cooking actually, but not as a rule anymore).

 

[barkley]

Do *you* want to spend all day making food? Lol. (Sometimes I do freezer cooking actually, but not as a rule anymore).

I used to get the same question from coworkers when I 'power cooked' on weekends, but with some stuff it's not takeing any more time to make one batch vs. multiples so if it saved me time during the work week I was all for it. granted I don't do it as much anymore b/c we don't have afterschool/evening commitments but I still put it to use periodically for dd who with full time college and 2 p/t jobs is always on the run.

the easiest for her to have 'grab and go' food is-make up multiple meatloafs (I use disposable dollar store pans). cook them all at once, let cool, foil cover and freeze. make up batches of pre browned ground beef-drain, let cool, measure out into ziplock bags (for her 1 pound each) and freeze-she pulls them out and adds seasoning for tacos, burritos, adds to pasta sauce, sloppy joes, crockpot meals... make up batches of shredded beef/chicken/pork (crockpot method)-let cool and again premeasure to bag up for a variety of uses-bbq sauced, enchiladas, pasta, w/beans... our big one these cold winter days though is 'soup of the week' (happens to be today)-I make up a full crockpot of some type of soup that i give her half of. she heats some up in a microwavable travel mug and is ready to go.

i had coworkers who thought i was nuts when they heard i cooked a 20 odd pound turkey over the weekend-heck you just toss it in the oven to cook while doing other stuff around the house then reap the benefits of leftovers for days and days.

 

[la79al]

I'm a SAHM so I have more flexibility and less sports but I really try to have dinner ready by 3 everyday. The last thing my kids want to do when it gets nice out is wait around for dinner. Most things can be thrown into containers to be eaten in the car and/or wrapped up to eat elsewhere. Also if dinner is ready when the kids and I head out, it will be ready for DH when he gets home from work. The key here is having it ready early, the rest is easy.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Great ideas for the list everyone!

I am proud to say I am starting tonight!! I have chicken nuggets I cut from breast fillets in the fridge brining in pickle juice. I am about to batter them and toss in the air fryer. Will bring those and a side salad to hockey tonight. Yay!

 

[barkley]

Great ideas for the list everyone!

I am proud to say I am starting tonight!! I have chicken nuggets I cut from breast fillets in the fridge brining in pickle juice. I am about to batter them and toss in the air fryer. Will bring those and a side salad to hockey tonight. Yay!

PLEASE-tell me your opinion of the air fryer. I don't know a single person who has one and I've been SO tempted b/c I hate to pull out and use my traditional oil fryer unless I absolutely need to. does it realy get stuff as crispy as cooking in oil? how do battered items do?

 

[disneymagicgirl]

PLEASE-tell me your opinion of the air fryer. I don't know a single person who has one and I've been SO tempted b/c I hate to pull out and use my traditional oil fryer unless I absolutely need to. does it realy get stuff as crispy as cooking in oil? how do battered items do?

Shoot, I wish I had seen this before we gobbled down the nuggets so I could’ve sent you a pic. Yes it is great! I would never use a real fryer except outside on the porch maybe 2x a year. I use air fryer for any frozen type items, reheat pizza, fry chicken breasts for copy cat chick fil a, etc. I only scratch the surface because I haven’t had time to do a lot of research. There are online groups to share recipes and stuff like with instant pot. Oh we also make English muffin pizzas in it. Frozen fries are so much better. I haven’t tried fresh yet.
The battered chicken for sandwiches and nuggets like I just made comes out great. There are tricks like using potato starch or corn starch in with the batter that helps. Check out this ole gal website for lots of recipe ideas to see if you think you’d like it.

 

[wendow]

I'm a SAHM so I have more flexibility and less sports but I really try to have dinner ready by 3 everyday. The last thing my kids want to do when it gets nice out is wait around for dinner. Most things can be thrown into containers to be eaten in the car and/or wrapped up to eat elsewhere. Also if dinner is ready when the kids and I head out, it will be ready for DH when he gets home from work. The key here is having it ready early, the rest is easy.

I try to get dinner made early also. I use my crockpot a lot and get the meal on my 9 or 10am so it's usually just ready and in a keep warm mode (or turned off with lid on) until we are ready. Keeps my stress level nice & low if I just plan ahead and have it ready to go.

 

[wendow]

Shoot, I wish I had seen this before we gobbled down the nuggets so I could’ve sent you a pic. Yes it is great! I would never use a real fryer except outside on the porch maybe 2x a year. I use air fryer for any frozen type items, reheat pizza, fry chicken breasts for copy cat chick fil a, etc. I only scratch the surface because I haven’t had time to do a lot of research. There are online groups to share recipes and stuff like with instant pot. Oh we also make English muffin pizzas in it. Frozen fries are so much better. I haven’t tried fresh yet.
The battered chicken for sandwiches and nuggets like I just made comes out great. There are tricks like using potato starch or corn starch in with the batter that helps. Check out this ole gal website for lots of recipe ideas to see if you think you’d like it.

I don't have any kind of fryer. Hmm, now you are making me want to look into an air fryer. Which brand do you like?

 

[superme80]

I love my Air-Fryer.

 

[sk!mom]

We are out of control with our eating out. Besides costing a fortune it is not heathy.
With spring sports about to start up I need a plan. What are your favorite go-to meals to take on the go? We leave as soon as the bus gets home and return btwn 7-8pm each night. My kids are still elem so that is way too late to be just cooking dinner. Please give me some ideas to keep out of the chick fil a drive thru!

My DD21 danced ballet for years and our answer was to pick her up from school with a healthy snack and then we ate dinner at 7 or 7:30. I would have dinner started, or in the crockpot beforehand. When we walked in the door, DD would go straight to the shower while I put the finishing touches on dinner. Within 10 to 15 minutes we were sitting eating. Another factor, for us, was that we placed a high value on sitting at the table for even 20 minutes to eat and share the day. She's now been away at college for 4 years and DH and I still workout after work and eat at 7:30.

If it were me, I would pack sandwiches and such only on the latest nights. For me, that was her rehearsal periods where it was going to be 8 or later before we could eat. At those times, I would pack her a thermos with chicken veggie stir fry, a cheese quesadilla, mac and cheese. Then she'd have a baggie of carrot sticks and a baggie of grapes.

Eat on the go...in the car for the kid playing and at the field/ice rink for those of us watching.

Is it possible to drop off the kid who is playing while you and the others go home to fix dinner and maybe eat? For me it was, I would pick DD up from school, drop her off, and then go home to start dinner while she was there. Then DH or I would go back for her.

 

[Donna M]

You got a lot of great suggestions for decent meals for your situation.

One suggestion I have which will not be taken well is.....limit all those after school activities. I just retired from working in the school system and I have seen what it's like at school when the kids are busy every day. The first thing to go is studying because, "We were too busy." They get tired too, along with you with having life being so hectic. My kids are in their 20s. They did two activities a week because life didn't revolve around them, and they weren't burnt out from sports before they got to high school.

You've all heard how crazy kids' lives are these days. The amount of anxious kindergarteners we were getting is ridiculous. It's ok to say no. I sure wish more parents said that to their kids. There are tons of great parents out there wanting the best for their kids, but parents need to set limits.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I will make one suggestion for 'eating out' but it's because I don't think the price can be beaten if a family likes multiple toppings on a pizza (all that stuff adds up quickly when purchased individually)-papa murphy's $10 Tuesdays. those large pizzas can feed several people, and if Tuesday isn't one of your nights running around you can always purchase one and bake it later in the week (they do fine sitting in the fridge till baked).

We LOVE $10 Papa Murphy's nights! Now that my fiance is moving back to day shift, we're going to have to start doing this again! Thanks for the reminder.

 

[cel_disney]

You got a lot of great suggestions for decent meals for your situation.

One suggestion I have which will not be taken well is.....limit all those after school activities. I just retired from working in the school system and I have seen what it's like at school when the kids are busy every day. The first thing to go is studying because, "We were too busy." They get tired too, along with you with having life being so hectic. My kids are in their 20s. They did two activities a week because life didn't revolve around them, and they weren't burnt out from sports before they got to high school.

You've all heard how crazy kids' lives are these days. The amount of anxious kindergarteners we were getting is ridiculous. It's ok to say no. I sure wish more parents said that to their kids. There are tons of great parents out there wanting the best for their kids, but parents need to set limits.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox.

I swear by this rule - my DH and I both work so the kids stay at after-school program until almost 6 as is. I limit them to one activity per season (although they do sometimes have off-season prep work that overlaps with their in-season sport)...some of their friends are playing 2-3 things at a time and I just couldn’t handle it!

Of course - this still has us celebrating the random night we get to come straight home after we pick them up at 6, but it definitely helps. Atleast 3-4 nights we are out until 8:15, and usually atleast one night is until 9pm....Luckily my kids do almost all of their homework at their afterschool program and my son (the real athlete of the two) power naps really well to stay caught up on sleep! We are so lucky that he has adapted to being able to eat, sleep, and change into a uniform in the car!!


Appreciate all of the suggestions in this thread! Gonna take a look and see if we might be able to use them!

 

[avalovesminnie]

I made some chicken pot pie hand pies for swim meets last summer. Kind of like a Cornish pastie. i found traditional salads hard to eat on the go. Broccoli salad did well. I got my kids thermoses for school and they work great- I'm sure you could do most hot things in there. My kids love potstickers for lunch!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I don't have any kind of fryer. Hmm, now you are making me want to look into an air fryer. Which brand do you like?

I just picked up one at Home Depot on a whim at Christmastime when they have all those 'special buys' sitting on crates in the aisles. I can't think of the brand off the top of my head. It was around $60 I think. If I were to buy one now I'd just grab whatever I could find at Sams or Costco. I know the Philips is the Cadillac, but that was more than I was willing to spend.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Is it possible to drop off the kid who is playing while you and the others go home to fix dinner and maybe eat? For me it was, I would pick DD up from school, drop her off, and then go home to start dinner while she was there. Then DH or I would go back for her.

Unfortunately not. Hockey is in downtown Nashville. Plus he is only 8 and still needs help getting all the equipment on. My DH travels most of the time midweek for work so I am usually the only one around. Soccer is in our suburb, but going home in rush hour for a 90 min practice wouldn't really work out for that either. I do try to run an errand to two but I am paranoid I won't get back in time or he will get hurt or something.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

You got a lot of great suggestions for decent meals for your situation.

One suggestion I have which will not be taken well is.....limit all those after school activities. I just retired from working in the school system and I have seen what it's like at school when the kids are busy every day. The first thing to go is studying because, "We were too busy." They get tired too, along with you with having life being so hectic. My kids are in their 20s. They did two activities a week because life didn't revolve around them, and they weren't burnt out from sports before they got to high school.

You've all heard how crazy kids' lives are these days. The amount of anxious kindergarteners we were getting is ridiculous. It's ok to say no. I sure wish more parents said that to their kids. There are tons of great parents out there wanting the best for their kids, but parents need to set limits.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox.

I don't care about getting school work done in the evenings, if you want me to go on my soap box. haha. The way I see it, they are gone for school from 8-4. If they can't get done what needs learning during that time, too bad. I am tempted to homeschool but that is another topic.

So no, I won't limit activities for school work. I have one who has wanted to do nothing but play with balls since he could crawl. He loves it and thrives on it. He has a very natural ability in sports and excels at any that he tries. When he asks at the beginning of the week what we have each day he grins ear to ear if he has a lot of practices and games that week. It is just his thing. He doesn't video game or care about tv. If he has free time he heads to the garage to play street hockey and practice shots. That is his idea of relaxing. ha! We don't push him at all. He plays soccer and hockey, both on travel teams. He would run circles around a rec team. My husband is exactly the same and plays in several adult sports leagues. That is his stress release. They are peas in a pod.
Luckily, my other son is only into rec league flag football...short season, 1 practice a week, and 1 game a week. No big deal.
One daughter was in competitive cheer but only did it a few seasons. My youngest is 2 and does her activities in the mornings on weekdays.
But when you have 4 kids you are going to run the roads in the afternoons, just par for the course.

 

[wendow]

I I am tempted to homeschool but that is another topic.

Come to the dark side. It's wonderful! I can't even tell you how much I will NEVER regret the decision