The third row of our van smells faintly of cumin from March to May. That's ballpark season. Wyatt's Little League team drew Tuesday and Thursday games this spring, first pitch at 6:00, plus Saturday mornings, and Tuesday and Thursday also happen to be my office days at the preschool. So twice a week I get home at three, and by 5:30 dinner has to be ready to ride in the van to a ballfield.
The Crock-Pot does most of that work. It goes on at 7:45 before Rosie and I leave, and by the time I'm home it has been cooking for seven hours and can sit on Warm while I pack. Here's last week, which started on Easter Sunday, with what each dinner cost and the grocery total.
What holds, and what doesn't
A dinner that has to wait, then ride across town, then get eaten on a bleacher between innings, has to get better with time, not worse. Shredded meat holds. Beans hold. Anything with a crisp crust or a delicate sauce does not.
- Pork carnitas, pulled chicken and shredded beef all hold beautifully on Warm.
- Chicken breast doesn't, which is why Crock-Pot chicken at our house is always bone-in thighs, $1.55 a pound at Aldi right now.
- Everything gets rolled or put on a bun at home: burritos, sandwiches, tacos folded and wrapped in foil, stacked in a towel-lined cooler bag. They hold their heat well into the game.
- Sauce rides separately in a jar. More on that below.
Our Crock-Pot's Warm setting keeps food well above 140 degrees (I've checked with the Thermapen), and whatever comes home from the field goes into the fridge within two hours. That's the USDA's guidance, and it's worth reading yourself rather than taking my word for it.
The week
- Sunday: Easter. Once the ham came off the pellet grill, Matt put on six pounds of bone-in chicken thighs. We ate half with potato salad that evening, and I shredded the rest for Tuesday. $11.80.
- Monday: hamburger steaks with onion gravy, mashed potatoes and green beans, at home, at the table, at 5:45 like civilized people. $14.60.
- Tuesday (office day, game night): barbecue chicken sandwiches. The smoked chicken went into the Crock-Pot at 7:45 with a cup of barbecue sauce and half a cup of broth, on low. At 5:00 I piled it on buns, wrapped each one in foil, and gave Eli's plain chicken its own packet. $9.40.
- Wednesday: red beans and rice with smoked sausage and the bone from our Easter ham, in the Instant Pot. A home night. $8.90.
- Thursday (office day, game night): carnitas burritos. A 4-pound pork shoulder went in at 7:45 with orange juice, garlic, cumin and oregano. At 4:45 I crisped it in the cast iron, fired the rice in the Instant Pot and rolled fifteen burritos with rice, beans and cheese. Eli got two cheese quesadillas in foil instead. $16.20.
- Friday: fend-for-yourself Friday, mostly red beans and leftover carnitas.
- Saturday: a 9 a.m. game, hot dogs on the kettle for lunch, and leftovers for supper.
That's $60.90 for five dinners, about $2.44 a serving, thanks to chicken thighs and beans.
Dinner in the van
Matt leaves with Wyatt at 5:15 in the F-150 for warmups. I follow at 5:40 with Eli, Rosie, the stroller and the cooler bag, and we eat around 6:30, in the bleachers or in the van if it's windy. The van kit lives in a laundry basket by the back door: a roll of paper towels, wipes, a grocery bag hooked over a headrest for trash, a gallon jug of ice water, cups, and a Sharpie for labeling the foil. Eli's packet always gets an E, because the one time I forgot, he unwrapped a burrito with beans in it and treated it like a crime scene. Rosie eats rice and cheese from a cup in the stroller and wears a third of it.
What went sideways
Tuesday's sandwiches. I sauced the chicken too heavily before I bunned it, and by the second inning the bottom buns had turned into wet sponges. Eli's plain chicken was the only dry dinner in the cooler, and he was very smug about it. From now on the sauce goes in a jar and gets spooned on at the field.
Thursday, a line of storms rolled in during the top of the second, and the umpires called a lightning delay. We sat in the van for forty minutes with the windows fogging, eating carnitas burritos while Wyatt explained why he would have gotten a hit. The game was called. The burritos were excellent.
The groceries for the week, which cover all three meals, lunches, snacks and the bleacher supplies:
- Aldi, Monday morning with Rosie in the cart: $161.37
- Kroger pickup, Tuesday on the way home, no fee thanks to a promo: $44.92
- Walmart+ delivery, Wednesday: $57.71, mostly a case of water, sports drinks, paper towels and a bag of sunflower seeds the size of a pillow
Receipt check: $264.00 for the week, one dollar under our $265 budget, and not a single concession stand hot dog on the grocery line (those go under restaurants, where they belong).
This week it's carnitas again on Thursday, by request. Wyatt points out that he's hitting better on carnitas nights. I've told him that's a coincidence, and I've made the burritos anyway.
