Meal and Snack Ideas for Busy Evenings

I have this cookbook that is for school lunches, but definitely applies to nights on the go too: http://www.amazon.com/Lunch-Boxes-Snacks-delicious-sandwi.... Good luck!

For quick simple dinners - over the weekend, roast two whole chickens. Not only is it super inexpensive, it is so easy. Eat one for dinner and then use the other one for quick dinners during the week...For on the go meals - you can do chicken wraps...put in loads of vegies, chicken, and a tasty sauce(BBQ, thai, southwest,mayo,whatever), wrap it up in a whole wheat tortilla.
You can add the diced up chicken to salads for a good lean protein.
Make a chicken noodle soup in a crock pot and a loaf of crusty french bread. Put everything in the pot in the morning (or even the night before). Add the noodles when you get home and it will be ready in 30mins.
Make chicken and cheese enchiladas.

Another fav dinner of ours that I usually make on the weekend and then freeze the extras is Taco stuffed pasta shells. It sounds weird, but is pretty yummy. Brown 1lb of ground turkey, add 1 block of Neufatel cream cheese and 1 cup of salsa, heat until melted and well mixed. Boil large pasta shells. Once the pasta is cooked, stuff the shells with the meat mixture. Place shells in a baking dish, spoon extra salsa over each shell and top with cheese. Place in 350 oven for about 15mins. If you want to make them to freeze - don't do the extra salsa and cheese until you defrost and cook them.

One more super easy and kid friendly dinner - Pita pizza. Use greek flat bread (I think it is the best) or pita. Top with 1-2TBSP of jarred sauce, put on favorite toppings (we do lots of veggies and sometimes deli turkey or ham because it is easy to chop up and not heavy) then top with a little cheese. 425* oven for about 7 to 10 mins. Kids love it because they can make their own. This is my 3 year old's favorite thing to make.

Good snacks that pack a healthy punch - make a bunch of edaname (soybeans). They are fun to eat and so yummy.
Make a fun snack mix out of a healthy cereal like oatmeal squares, popcorn(kettle corn is good because it adds a bit of sweetness), almonds and dried cherries or blueberries.

Hope this helps.

i hear ya there. i have been packing a lunch in a cooler and i place in my backseat because my family is always on the go. it is hard to say who will be in the mood for what.
i usually bring a few different pieces of fresh fruit. that is whatever is in season. today is was apples, oranges, grapes and strawberries. i also had hummus and pretzles. my family aslo likes gauc dip with veggies and wheat things. i make sandwiches and pack string cheese because cheese always seems to fill us up. think pizza is usually a meal so why not bring cheese and whole wheat crackers with veggies and fruit on the side. that is basically pizza w/o the greese. u can bring a package of peperoni to put on the cheese and crackers too.
i bring healthy dry cereal in bags because that satisfies my sweet tooth.
i cut carrot sticks, celery and red peppers to dip in a dressing.
u can also make a crock pot dinner so u can come home to something warm.
for the cooler in the car i put a ziploc freezer bag full of ice and water in the freezer the night before and place it in the bottom of the cooler. the block of ice barely melt and keeps the cooler cold all day.
if we don't eat it during the day i save it in the fridge.

I am an owner of Dream Dinners, what you're doing is exactly what we do for our guests! Our meals are very healthy and work great for busy moms with active kids! They usually take about 20-30 minutes to prepare once thawed out of the freezer. Most of our meals are 280 calories or less per serving, and less than 10 grams of fat, and they taste great (they are even kid tested at the home office)!. Often people think this is an expensive option, but it really isn't. When you have to get all the ingredients for so many different meals, and then don't use up all of it, it becomes much more expensive. We buy in bulk, so we are able to save you money. Plus we do all the shopping and prep work for you so it only takes a little over an hour to do 12 meals. Of course we can assemble the meals for you too. There are 4 Dream Dinners stores in the Denver area (I don't know where you live). So feel free to check us out or contact me directly at ____@____.com

Not sure how healty it is, but it's certainly healthier than fast food:
On busy nights, I make Julienne potato casserole. It's yummy!
Get a box of Julienne potatoes and follow the directions on the box, but also throw in cooked hamburger meat and when it's done (in 20 minutes), I put shedded cheddar cheese and chopped chives on top and put it back in the oven for a few more minutes. It's so easy and good! Just make sure that you drain the meat well, otherwise it can be a little greasy.
Sometimes I add a salad or fruit salad to the side for added nutrients.
As far as snacks, I would do string cheese/go-gurts/almonds/granola bars/ bananas/ etc.

Someone gave me a cookbook called "More with Less." It's actually a Mennonite cookbook but it's just about how to cook simply and economically. Most of it is "from scratch" but they are really easy recipes and you can make them quickly and freeze them for later. There are some good meal ideas too like just putting out lettuce, pre-cut veggies, cheese, hardboiled eggs (they last forever in the fridge) for everyone to make their own salad. Then just add some bread and milk and it's a very balanced meal.

As far as meals, I would suggest a slow cooker. There are so many easy meals that can simply be dumped into the slow cooker in the morning and they will be waiting for you when you get home in the evening. Just dish them up and go.
Another suggestion is, if you have time, to cook ahead on the weekend and keep meals in the freezer ready to go when you need them on busy nights.
As far as snacks, keep veggies like carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, etc cut up and in little baggies and ready to go. Heck you can buy a lot of veggies already cut up at the grocery store. Also look at things like trail mix, nuts, even popcorn that isn't covered in butter and salt for healthy alternatives.
Hope that helps.

blueberries
apple bananas
apples
pretzels (whole grain kind)
Whole Foods has TONS of "healthy" snacks... non-perishable kind
Whole grain anything... even chips or pitas
nuts
string cheese or Babybel cheese

Seems like you need something for on the go, in transit, in the car or right after their sports activities. Thus my suggestions above and below for the cooler.

And I would keep a cooler in your trunk...thereby making it easy to stash the snacks and be on the go and keep it fresh/cool. It doesn't have to be a large cooler, just big enough to stash the snacks, some drinks/water/juice boxes and napkins and wipes.

Good luck,
Susan