Eating in shifts

 The other day, I was talking with a friend* and she mentioned that her family was going to have to start eating in shifts soon.  Her two children are involved in activities, the times of which mean that the two parents are going to have to divide and conquer, and all the people will not be home at the same time to eat supper.  She said she would have to look up my blog post about eating in shifts to get some ideas.

Which means, I guess, that I have to write a blog post about meals that can be eaten in shifts**.  

So here we go: some meal ideas that can be eaten in shifts:

• Soup: This feels obvious.  Soup can be made in a slow cooker, then kept on warm, or made on the stove and transferred to a slow cooker to keep warm. Anyone can then eat it at any time.  Here are a few of my favorite soups.
• Taco bean soup
• Lasagna soup
• Sunday night stew
• Creamy chicken wild rice soup
• Zuppa Toscana

• Sandwiches: Another obvious choice.  Cold sandwiches can be made ahead of time, and hot sandwiches can be put together quickly.  Here are a few ideas:
• Crispy southwest chicken wraps
• Grilled cheese (put them together ahead of time, then grill or air fry just before eating) (these were so, so yummy!)
• French dip sandwiches (keep the beef and au jus warm in a slow cooker)
• Quesadillas (may I suggest these chicken fajita quesadillas?)
• Tacos (keep the meat warm in a slow cooker, or don't.  It's easy enough to reheat)
• BLTs
• Turkey ranch club wrap

• Crock pot meals: especially if your slow cooker has a warm setting, crock pot meals are a good choice.  Here are some that I like:
• Chicken chili verde (don't worry--no beans!  Serve this over rice or greens or in tortillas)
• Slow cooker Salisbury steak
• Slow cooker Olive Garden chicken pasta
• Bacon ranch meatloaf (or use your meatloaf recipe)

• Breakfast foods: make the batter ahead of time and store it, covered, in the fridge.  Or make the whole thing ahead of time, freeze, and heat it up when you want to eat it.  Some examples:
• Pancakes
• Waffles
• French toast 
• French toast sticks (I would probably make and freeze these, then heat them up in an air fryer, but you could certainly just get everything read and cook them as needed)
• Breakfast burritos (I would freeze these and heat them in the microwave, or, if you like them crispy, in an air fryer)
• Breakfast sandwiches

• Convenience foods that can be heated up quickly: these don't have to be preservative-laden foods from the freezer section--you can make your own version, then store it in the fridge or freezer to be heated up later.  A couple of my kiddos' favorites:
• Chicken nuggets (make them in the air fryer if you don't want to fry in oil)
• Corn dogs
• Pizza rolls
• Hot dogs (five minutes in the air fryer)

• Almost anything that you don't eat in shifts.  It's true.  You can make something for the first shift, and the second (and subsequent) shift(s) can heat it back up to eat it.  It won't kill them, I promise.

So there you have it, friends.  Hopefully these ideas will see you through your eating-in-shifts period, or if not, at least inspire you to come up with your own ideas.

* * * * * * *

* This is a gratuitous*** footnote.

** I have written about eating in shifts, but only to complain about how difficult it is to come up with menu ideas.  Although, now that I'm past that stage in my life, it feels so much less difficult than it felt at the time. 

*** Gratuitous (adjective): not necessary; with no reasonable cause****

**** In this case, there is a reasonable cause, but it's definitely not necessary.