Healthy on the Run Meals?

Boy do I understand! I am a mom of four very active children. Some things I recommend are: having lots of fruit on hand at all times. Squeeze yogurts are awesome. If you put them in the freezer, they can eat them like a frozen treat OR you can put them in your insulated cooler and they stay fresh and cold all day. They won't be frozen anymore but they are a nice, cool healthy treat. I also recommend having water bottles in the freezer at all times. Again, they thaw as you go about your busy day and your kids will always have cold water to drink.

Let's see...what else? Well, you know that grocery stores carry bags of baby carrots....I recently found a bunch of single serve baby carrots, like 6 bags of them bound by the package wrapper. Those were awesome because we didn't have any waste. They have individual ranch tubs for dipping and/or Costco sells small tubs of hummus for dipping. You can use that for crackers, pretzels, veggies. Sabra brand is the only kind my kids will eat and I started buying it after an article in Parenting magazine recommended it above all other brands. It is wonderfully smooth and rich but not filled with funky flavors. We usually get plain or garlic (which has chunks of garlic right on top but is mildly flavored in the hummus).

Cheese sticks are great to have too. Get multi-grain tortilla chips or low-salt Lays (they are yummy and Lays doesn't have the bad preservatives most other chips have).

A friend also recommended this one to me: cook your hot dogs till they are nice and hot all the way through. Then put them on a bun and wrap in foil. Put the hot dogs in an insulated cooler and grab some ketchup packets. The hot dogs stay warm/fresh for a long time and even when they become room temp, the buns are still soft and wonderful. Top with ketchup as needed and voila...good to go.

If you are worried about nitrates that deli meats and hot dogs have, boar's head is a great brand of deli meat that doesn't have any of the bad stuff. Also, hebrew national are a great choice for hot dogs.

Lastly, tortilla wraps are cheap and you can buy them with Omega-3's (mission brand). Wrap the baked chicken left overs or turkey left overs and add cheese, whatever else your kids will eat and wrap them up like the hot dogs...all ready to eat when needed.

Good luck!

You might want to try the bento lunch boxes. They are these really neat lunch boxes with compartments that you can fill up with snacks and sandwiches. You can purchase them on line, I think that some Wegmans and Wholefood stores carry them also.

Pasta salad can be made up the night before and serve it out of plastic cups or bowls that can be thrown away when finished at the fields. I make it either with mayonasie (add hardboiled eggs, celery, carrots, tuna fish or chichen) or with italian dressing (add veggies like peppers, celery, carrots, raw brocolli etc., and sometimes I add cubbed cheese and either salami or peppperoni.) I also get roasted chicked from Sams Club or BJs on the weekend and make dishes out of it on the weekdays that doesn't take long, like nachos with chicken, sausa, tomatoes and cheese which only takes a few minutes to heat under the brolier. Good Luck, I know the feeling, always on the run. Crock pots are great too put everything in the morning and its done when you get home.

I love to make salad wraps when we are short on time(can be made the night before). On the weekend I cut up chicken breast or tenders in bite size pieces and marinate in italian dressing or a mix of lemon garlic salt pepper and any fresh herbs I have left over and a touch of olive oil, then I pan fry and refrigerate. I buy the whole grain wraps and pile on spring mix, cheese, olives, bacon, tomoatoes (whatever your kids would eat on a salad, top with croutons and your favorite salad dressing. If you make ahead do not add the croutons or dressing until they are ready to be eaten (soggy). My kids are almost 3 so I split 1 in 1/2 and pack apples or carrots and a string cheese, definately 1 of their favorites. Left over chicken can then be used for quesedillas by mixing salsa and using the tortillas and cheese again (takes 2 min to heat on stove. 2 meals very fast and very different. Hope your fam loves them as much as mine.

Some terrific ideas here already, and aren't moms always on the run??

Wow, 10 mins to change & grab a meal to eat in the car...

The crock pot should be on your counter every couple of days.

Try Tastefully Simple's Corn, Black Bean Salsa. Mild, kid-friendly, with corn, tomatoes, black beans & seasonings.

It's wonderful on boneless/skinless chicken thighs in the crock pot all day. You'll have to have time to shred the meat with forks, but then you'll have at least two meals out of it, most likely three cuz your kids are little.

Spread the meat w/some shredded cheddar on a tortilla & wrap. Some kids like it for breakfast, too...

The Vidalia Onion Dressing (another mild, kid-friendly flavor because of the sweetness) is great on a beef or pork roast all day in the crock pot, too... but again, you'll need the time to shred it with forks or to slice really thin. Good on rolls or over noodles or rice.

Maybe use the crock pot on the nites you don't have practice or game, then you'll just have to microwave on nites you do.

I like your idea of roasting a chicken on the weekends, so you can make different things with it during the week. The TS Seasoned Salt is great for that. Lower sodium and better to assimilate the minerals in the sea salt, plus great 'other' seasonings in there.

Another great idea: ANY of your favorite TS seasonings: garlic garlic, dried tomato & garlic pesto, onion onion, spinach & herb, everyday grillin' seasoning...

Buy boneless/skinless chicken breasts on sale or in bulk. When you get home, put one chicken breast in one of those "steamable" baggies, along with whatever frozen veggies each person likes,then a sprikle of his/her favorite seasoning, seal & freeze. When you get home to change & run, you can take it with you. Cut it up before freezing, so your kids can eat it out of a cup while in the car.

Example: my 10 y.o. likes just chicken & broccoli with a sprinkle of garlic garlic

I like all mixed veggies with dried tomato & garlic pesto

my husband likes snow peas, carrots and peas with garlic garlic and dried tomato & garlic pesto together...

If you need to order online, just enter my name at checkout as the host, for same-as-party shipping. Or, if you'd like to do an online party so you can get your order for free, I can set that up. Your family & friends would order online thru your name/link & you get your order free.

The seasonings are the best. Unique, flavorful and versatile, so they wind up being very economical.

I like being able to "jazz up" everyday meals by making them different, not the "same ole, same ole," you know?

There are thousands of free downloadable recipes on the website, too, and a link for Kid Friendly ideas, or you can type in "slow cooker" in the search bar to find all recipes for crock pot cooking, including desserts!

Best wishes to you & your kids in going thru the divorce. I know it's tough... been there w/my husband's kids thru their split.

~ M. Mazer, TS id# 15230

When my daughter was in marching band we had this problem regularly due to the sometimes grueling competition schedules. I would make a calzone for supper on thurs., then she'd get the left-overs for the weekend. I make homemade pizza dough, so I used that, then you spread some kind of meat and cheese, and fold the edges across the middle in zebra strips so some of the inside "stuff" shows thru. Bake it at 400 for 15 minutes to cook the dough, and cut it up (we use clean scissors). Put it in zip lock bags and it's a fun sandwich -- in fact our daughter brought enough to share with a friend who always brought the drinks and snacks in trade for the meal. I think she ate it so regularly because her friend absolutely LOVED it.