Batch Cooking + Ohdeedoh

Before we left for Bethany this year, I engaged in some serious batch cooking and freezing to prepare.  I wrote about it over at Ohdeedoh.  In the days leading up to our trip, I made 2 batches of soup - one chicken, one short ribs.  After cooling, I ladled out individual-sized portiosn into thick freezer bags and froze them flat in the deep freezer.  I also cooked up large batches of curry beef and chicken and froze those in Bell freezer jars.  Oh, and don't forget homemade marinara sauce.  Another big batch shared between dinner that night and freezer bags.  The morning before we left, I packed our large cooler with the flat bags of frozen foods and then tucked in the Bell jars.  I also made a hearty chicken soup that I put into those Glad plastic containers but did not freeze.  That, I figured, would be for dinner when we arrived.

I don't like to feed the boys too much fast food or processed food.  And because they are allergic to dairy they can't eat things like grilled cheese sandwiches or mac and cheese off the kids menus at many restaurants.  Our recent trip to Dutch Wonderland was terrific save for the food situation.  Bad hot dogs and badder chicken nuggets and fries.  Even the boys couldn't eat them.  I brought a few containers of spaghetti and they ate that up for breakfast(!) they were so starved for homecooked food.  It almost ruined the trip for me because I was so worried that they were hungry.  Our next trip to Dutch Wonderland will be completely different - all homemade food with a few bites of funnel cake and that's it. 

The great thing about batch cooking is that it really doesn't require too much effort beyond your normal cooking routine.  I plan my weekly menu as I always do but instead of having leftovers, I freeze the extras.  After a week of doing this, you'll naturally have a week of frozen meals.  And because you individually package everything, defrosting and heating is super cook.  This meant I had more time on the beach with the family and less time worrying and prepping meals.  Now I did cook fresh vegetables every meal and I also made baked chicken and steaks for the boys for dinner on some nights.  They also took to cheeseless pizza for lunch on several occasions.

Unfortunately, this really only works if you're taking a road trip and if you're going to stay somewhere where you have a kitchen or kitchenette.  A plane trip or international travel requires other meal planning.  That's my next concern - how will the boys eat if we go abroad?