Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks all. I just need to up my planning game, dust off the old crockpot, etc. You all are right that reheating something i made earlier in the day is better than takeout or trying to cook something quickly at 8:15pm.

The 14 year old definitely doesn't wait for us, but unless I've pre made something she's likely to fix herself scrambled eggs or cereal.

The beauty of the crockpot is it allows people to eat in shifts. It also allows the kid on the sports team to decide that day if they want to eat some of the meal before.

Anonymous wrote:Anything in a crockpot:

White Turkey Chili
Chicken and cheese enchiladas
pulled pork bbq sandwiches
Braised short ribs with lettuce wraps and rice

This is similar to what we do. Would add:

Crockpot small ham, turkey, brisket., chicken
Make tacos
Crockpot a soup such as chicken noodle
Stir-fry veges/ meats/ noodles you pre-cooked
Sandwiches when all else fails

I have a baseball player, so I know that schedule!

If we can eat after 4:45, we eat dinner before we go. If we have to leave the house before 4:45 or so we do a heavy snack - smoothie, PB&J, cheese and apples and nuts, something like that. When we get home we’ll do another heavy snack plus dessert for the kid.

We are about to go into basketball season which is even worse food wise - my kid stays at school for practice and usually forgets to eat a snack. Then he works so hard during practice he comes home nauseated and unable to eat for an hour, by which time it is 9pm and he just wants to go to bed.