Sport parents budget help please

[figment3258]

Hello all sports moms and dads!

I am new to this world of kids sports and need a little help my oldest dd will be playing fall ball Mondays Wednesday's Fridays and Saturday's and my middle dd will be playing soccer one day a week plus games on Saturdays and I don't know what I should do for dinner, also what snacks should I carry for the kids? I also have a 6 month old dd that will just go with the flow. I am doing this all myself as my dh works 7 day weeks, so any help and tips would be great! Thanks!,,

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I use my crockpot a lot when my kids are busy like that. We also do quick meals like homemade subs. Also when I am browning hamburger for something I will brown extra then separate it out and freeze it, then I can just thaw it out and season it and it's ready for quick meals like tacos, sloppy joe, and pasta.

As far as snacks I like to bring bags of grapes, granola bars, goldfish, just whatever we have on hand that I can throw in a container and a water bottle.

 

[4HOLIDAYS]

I used to cook reg meals during the day but to eat after practice. The kids were in ice hockey and mma -at one point it could be every day of the week,we droppd travel ice and mma,too hectic a sced- but they couldn't handle heavy stomachs for and hour or 2 of practice. So real dinner was late, home, shower, than dinner.

Before going I made sure they had a banana, granola,pbandj...lots of fluids.

 

[crisi]

When my kids were little (five and six) and it was the after work game or practice, it was sandwiches from a cooler in the car.

Now its some sort of snack, and then dinner late.

 

[TALB]

For double headers my kids like to eat a lunchable. I buy them when they are on sale for $1. They are small and easily fit into a cooler and are healthier then a lot of the snacks out there and cheaper then the concession stand.

 

[luv2sewtjr]

We used to do a late dinner but this past year I switched to a very early dinner. Like 4:30. After school they would do their homework and they are hungry anyway so they ate well. If they were hungry after practice, they would grab something then.

On practice/game nights, I make sure I can get dinner on the table in half an hour or less. I also do a lot of prep work on grocery day or in the afternoon. My goal during sports seasons is no fast food.

During ball season, I don't generally carry snacks because practice is at most 2 hours and we live close to the field. I always make sure to have drinks, though. During swim season, I'll have fruit or muffins or something available because the Y is not close and they are often famished.

I have a dh that works a lot and has almost an hour commute so this does fall on me. I set up car pools where I can but meal planning really saves me.

Have fun!

 

[emma'smom]

Croc pot meals are lifesavers for us. I work fulltime and then we have soccer or swim practice every evening...One good thing is that my kids are now 10 and 7. So i can drop them at practice and run home to get things ready--so by the time I run back top pick them up we can literally walk in and eat. We are a family that ends up with too many meals out just for convenience. This season, I'm determined to do this less. So I plan to use Croc Pots, simple meals (like grilled marinated meats and a salad or a quick steamed vegetable), and making double portions of meals so I can freeze meals to simply defrost later. The other thing that I have had success with is cutting/freezing veggies for soups in advance and freezing them.

 

[TyTysMommy]

As others have mentioned, the crock pot is your friend. I have a few cook books written exclusively for crock pot meals. You can cook just about anything in those, breakfast, lunch, dinner, even desserts. We use 2 crock pots at times.

Also, I do the majority of my cooking and prep work on Sundays (or whenever you have a down day) and freeze or refrigerate.

 

[justakrazymom]

Hello all sports moms and dads!

I am new to this world of kids sports and need a little help my oldest dd will be playing fall ball Mondays Wednesday's Fridays and Saturday's and my middle dd will be playing soccer one day a week plus games on Saturdays and I don't know what I should do for dinner, also what snacks should I carry for the kids? I also have a 6 month old dd that will just go with the flow. I am doing this all myself as my dh works 7 day weeks, so any help and tips would be great! Thanks!,,

Having 4 kids, 3 of whom play 3 sports, plus dance,gymnastics and cheer I so understand. I carry Fiber one bars,granola bars,dried fruit,slim jims and when I am able fresh fruit..go-gurts or drinkable yogurt's are good too. We live by our slow cooker from Sept-May...otherwise we would not be eating hot meals. We often have to be in 2-3 places overlapping so there is little time for cooking. I load the slow cooker up in the morning..teach.go to sports..come home and dinner is done!

 

[marykatmp]

Add us to the crockpot list. We live by ours during the school year with all our sports. There are some great sites dedicated to crockpot cooking. Check out Crockinngirls and crockpot365.

 

[mombrontrent]

I have three kids with after school activities that occupy many evernings as well. Between gymnastics and MMA some nights last year we were out of the house from 4:30 until after 8pm . On nights like that it was grilled cheese and soup, nachos, basically anything quick that could be eaten right after school. For my DH I keep a stash of freezer meals in portion size containers. When I make lasanga, stew, chili ect I'll portion out a few servings in containers and label and freeze them for him to eat on nights when I am not there to cook for him (him being a big baby finds heating up a meal after work a big enough challenge, I have to pull out the meal and put it in the fridge for him and tell him what and how to reheat ).

I don't do snacks, my kids eat before and then have a snack when we get home. Actaully my 13 year old eats a whole other meal. I keep stuff in the freezer for him as well. For example I'll make a HUGE batch of beef and bean burritos using a Coscto pack of ground beef (about 4.5 lbs) 2 pound bag of dried beans, cheese, and buy two 15 pack wraps at Costco. So I'll make 30 burritos, some will inevidebly get eaten as I am preparing them and about 25 will end up in the freezer. Things like this are perfect for my son. He has a huge appitite now and he can easily prepare himself a homemade meal in the toaster oven. He trains hard at MMA several days a week and always seems to be hungry.

We NEVER eat out or on the run, on Sunday I'll do a little prep for Mon or Tues or I'll us the crockpot, make extras for a leftover night ect. For example on Tuesday when I had more time I prepared the filling for quesidillas (corn, black beans, chopped onion, green pepper, jalepeno, tomatos, lime juice and cilantro) and grated the cheese. Last night (Wed) when I got home from work at 4:30 I quickly made the quesidillas since all the prep was done and we were out the door by 6:00 for MMA and didn't get home until 8:15. I still have quesidillas and butter chichen from Tues in the fridge so dinner tonight is a salad and leftovers since it's another night of MMA. Last night my son ate 3 quesidillas for dinner and than promptly threw two burritos in the toaster oven when we got home. While waiting for them to cook he ate a jar, yes a whole jar of applesauce.

 

[coastiewifern]

During the week our practice schedule:son 5-6:30, daughter 6:30-8. She prefers to eat dinner early like 5:15 so her stomach can rest. My son eats a snack prior and then eats dinner around 7. So it is staggered. On these nights my staples are tacos because they reheat easily. Last night spaghetti for her and son doesn't love that so his was converted into a meatball sub. Sometimes breakfast for dinner is a good option because it is quick. My kids are not big casserole lovers which is a same because they reheat so well. On game days I keep in our cooler and bag: frozen go gurts, applesauce cups, bananas, goldfish and peanuts