Farmers feed the world, but who feeds the farmer? Enter, the farmer’s wife. When feeding a farmer, there are some important factors to consider. First off, during the busy seasons, they won’t be able to eat at a table, but more than likely a seat in a tractor cab or the tailgate of a pickup truck. Meals need to be convenient, nutritious, filling, and most importantly, “farmer proof”.
On our farm, I share the joy of providing field dinners for the crew with my two sister-in-laws and my mother-in-law. So, I reached out to them to get their input on go-to field dinners and tips to make planning and prepping easier.
Every dinner we make has a main course, side, and a dessert. You can find some ideas for these items in the lists below. But first, here are some hacks to make prepping and delivering field dinners a bit easier!
Meal Hacks:
- Line the biggest compartment of a styrofoam tray with foil to keep the main dish warm longer. This also helps keep gravy and other liquids contained in the tray.
- Line the trays up in an assembly line fashion to fill multiple trays at once.
- Prep the items that don’t need to stay warm in the trays first, and add the warm items right before packing up.
- Make sure to add salt/pepper to anything that needs it.
- Use a spoon as the only utensil and put it right into the tray for delivery.
- Casseroles and crock pot meals are your best friends.
- There is power in prepping. If I’m making a casserole, I’ll often make two and freeze one. That way, I can easily pull it out of the freezer and pop it in the oven for a very quick main dish… and I don’t have to get my kitchen dirty twice prepping the casserole.
- Keep extra desserts in the freezer and pull them out for future dinners.
- Don’t overcomplicate it. If you pull old brownies out of the freezer that look rough, add some frosting on the top and call it a day!
Main Courses:
- Burrito Bowls-Josh’s Fav
- Sweet and Sour Chicken w/ Fried Rice (this is one of my favorite go-to’s!)
- Mini Corn Dogs & Chili (I make mini corndogs in mini muffin tins)
- Tator Tot Hot Dish
- Chicken, Broccoli & Rice Casserole
- Chicken Pot Pie
- Chicken Parmesan (instead of spaghetti, use a spoon friendly noodle-penne is my favorite)
- Honey Mustard Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breasts w/ Rice (much easier to make than it sounds, I promise)
- Ham in the Crockpot-can be used on sandwiches or with a side of potatoes (I like to do a honey mustard sauce with ham slices on a pretzel bun… yummmmmmy)
- Stroganoff
- Pulled pork with buns or biscuits
- Chicken Spaghetti
- Chicken and dumplings
- Crock-Pot Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin w/ Potatoes or Rice
- Honey Garlic Meatballs & Mashed Potatoes
- Crock Pot Beef or Pork Roast & Potatoes
- Baked Potato w/ Chili & Cheese on Top
- Crock Pot Beef Stew w/ Potatoes & Carrots
- Meatball Subs w/ Mozzarella Cheese
Sides:
- Mashed Potatoes
- Rice
- Mac N’ Cheese
- Roasted Veggies
- Sweet Potatoes
- French Fries
- Carrot Sticks
- Steamed Broccoli
- Cheese Cubes/Slices
- Olives
- Pickles
Fruits:
- Apple Slices
- Apple Sauce
- Cuties
- Grapes
Desserts:
- Dump Cake
- Apple Crisp
- Cookies
- Bars
- brownies
- Cakes/Cup Cakes
- Jello
- Pudding
- Banana Bread
- Puppy Chow
