We’ve got our new dance schedule for the next year, and I’m going to have to be on my toes when it comes to dinner. Two nights a week, for sure, we’ll be eating our evening meal at the studio. With a microwave at our disposal, that makes packing something a little easier, but coming up with ideas… that’s the trouble! It’s entirely too convenient to pick something up on the way- or dash out for a quick bite, and I refuse to let our diets slip. Especially since we’re ramping up the dancing a little bit, and my girl needs the proper nutrition to be able to maintain such a high level of activity.
So this week, I dug out these divided storage containers that I found at the grocery store several months ago. I have three of them, there are three of us, so the next step was to figure out what to fill them with. For Andy’s dinner, I am able to make him a plate and just tuck it away in the fridge for him to re-heat when he gets home. I gave it some thought, and decided to try my luck with this Hoisin Beef Stir Fry that the kids went nuts over. This time though, I used the green beans called for, plus some beautiful baby bok choy that I grew in my garden. Here that is, sliced vertically and ready to be added to the stir fry.
I added a side of crunchy chow mein noodles to sprinkle on top, and a fortune cookie for dessert, and I had two pretty happy kids at meal time. The containers held far more food than either of them could eat, so I’ll have to remember that for the future. In the small side compartment, I put the chow mein noodles and fortune cookie in silicone baking cups so they could be removed before microwaving.
It was a good choice, and one I’ll repeat. As much as possible, I want to try and stay away from sandwiches for this away-from-home mealtime. Every once in a while is okay, but for the most part, I’m hoping to come up with enough meal ideas to pack up and make everyone happy. I’m already planning a ravioli dish for Monday night, and I’m thinking maybe a main-dish salad for next Thursday, but we’ll see where the weather takes us and how the garden is doing then. If any of my readers have some suggestions for fairly easy take-along dinners, I would love to hear them!