What fun for all those kids!!

Pizza dough freezes great as does the pizza complete with sauce, cheese and toppings - think frozen pizza at the grocery.

Home made chicken nuggets freeze well too and bake fast - in under 30 minutes.

We also like fish sticks.

DH has the most amazing recipe for hot chocolate he got out of a runners magazine - VERY high cal. Let me see if I can find it.

Eileen - is that a rink in your backyard? My neoghbor is trying to build a sort of rink with a timber frame and lined with some huge sheet of plastic and filling it with water. It doen't seem to be working too well for them - their yard is on a little slant, they have lots of trees that drop branches and I think they poked a hole in the liner so it is draining when it isn't frozen.

If you have a way to make a large "skatable" area, I would love to hear it! I have a huge area in the back yard that would lend itself (flat, no trees)

Thnaks

Alexa

AM,

I keep pumpkin chocolate chip muffins in the freezer. In fact, my dh just grabbed a dozen to take to a men's skiing wknd at Stratton. Muffins are perfect. A lot of people have this recipe, but I tweaked it for convenience and taste. I also sprinkle the tops with wilson decorating sugar and mini chips.

Pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips
2 cups white sugar
1 150z can pumpkin pack
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tbs pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chocolate chips

For topping:
wilton decorating (chunky) sugar
mini chips

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 12 large muffins cups or 24 small. In a large bowl combine sugar, pumpkin, oil, water and eggs. Beat until smooth. In another bowl, blend flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Add to pumpkin mixture and blend well. Shake chocolate chips in a tbs of flour or so and add to mixture. Use an ice cream scooper to drop batter into cups. Sprinkle with sugar and mini chips. Bake about 40 min.

Jo

The first thing that comes to mind is refrigerator cookies, which have been around since the 1930's. You shape the dough into cylinders, wrap and freeze it. Then you just slice and bake. When our kids were younger, I always had a few rolls in the freezer ready for action. Here's one:

SLICE & BAKE LEMON CRISPS (6 1/2 dozen)

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 TBL grated lemon peel
1 1/2 cups flour
Sugar or powdered sugar

Combine butter & sugar in large mixer bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often until creamy (1-2 minutes.) Add egg & lemon peel; continue beating until well mixed (1-2 minutes.) Reduce speed to low; add flour. Beat until soft dough forms (2-3 minutes.)

Divide dough in 1/2. Shape each 1/2 into 8" log (1 1/2" diameter) on lightly floured surface. Wrap tightly in plastic food wrap. Refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 350°. Cut rolls into 1/8-1/4" slices with sharp knife. Place 1" apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8-12 minutes or until edges are very lightly browned. Let stand 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet. Roll cookies in sugar while still warm & again when cool. Variation: Stir 1/3 cup finely chopped almonds into dough after mixing in flour.~~

pumpkin muffins sound delicious! Thanks for the recipe.

Yes, loves2cook, I would appreciate the hot chocolate recipe if you can find it. These kids burn kcals like crazy! And thanks for the info - I'll make up some frozen pizzas to have on hand, those are always a big hit. And cheap.

Alexa, check out nicerink.com - that's where we got our original kit from a few years ago. Every year my DH tweaks it and makes it bigger and "better" (read: more work). It's now 40x80 with lights. Be warned, what you think is a flat area, may in fact be quite a slant. In our old house we thought the yard was relatively flat, but after the rink was up it was 3 inches on one side and close to 20 inches on the other. I'm sure there's a way to check before the rink goes up, just to see what you're in for. The surface we have it on now should be perfectly flat, but in fact there's a few inches difference from one side to another, but that's not so bad. Laws of physics still work so the top is always level!!

Here is a link that might be useful: nice rink link

Great photo AM!

I just made a triple batch of "calzones" pizza dough pockets filled with sauce, pepperoni, and cheese. Throw them in the freezer and Will gets one for lunch a couple times a week. They defrost in the morning in his lunch bag. You could leave out the pepperoni.

thanks, lemon cookies and calzones are both perfect and exactly what I'm looking for.

I'm going to get cooking to prepare for the afternoon rush.

AM

I wanted to add more, but we're hosting a team hockey party tomorrow night and I was busy with the lasagne.

Another thing I make and freeze are burritos. Mine have corn, chicken, black beans, tomaotes and taco cheese. My kids don't like them (beans, I suspect), but you could simply cook taco meat, put some on a flour tortilla that has been microwaved for flexibility, add a handful of taco cheese mix, and roll it up. Freeze on cookie sheets and then drop in ziploc bags. They could either be reheated in a 350 oven for about 25 min, or microwaved for 3.
If you want to do the other recipe, simply dump 1 can of corn, diced tomatoes and black beans in a colandar. Add cooked diced chicken. Add a bag of mixed taco cheese. Mix well and place about 1/2 cup of mixture on a tortilla that has been microwaved for 15 sec.
Roll up. Freeze on cookie sheet for hour. Stack in ziploc bags. Cook at 350 for 25 min. or so. Serve with salsa and sour cream. (or plain).

Btw, I am so jealous of your rink!

I was going to mention calzones, I fill them with everything from pizza stuff to chicken and broccoli, they freeze great. Kind of like a homemade hot pocket, the kids love them.

You have a tortilla maker (grin), how about breakfast type burritos, filled with egg, cheese, veggies if you can get away with that, protein from the egg, fat and calories from the cheese!

Beans are also high in protein and carbs, could you get away with a big vat of bean dip or hummus with bread or crackers to dip?

I used to make a lot of french fries, cut the potatoes and "par fry" them, then freeze them on baking sheets and put them into the freezer, Ashley would take out as many as she wanted and put them in the oven when she got home from school, so you could do a couple of baking sheets of those. You want extra fat and calories? Top with a veggie chili, cheese and sour cream and you have chili cheese fries.

Soups can be thick and filling and made by the vat full, but I'm sure you already thought of that.

I really like this hot chocolate recipe from Epicurious, but it's not cheap. You could make it a lot cheaper if you used cheaper chocolate, I think, and it makes a LOT:

Vanilla Hot Chocolate

4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split crosswise (see Cooks' note, below)
1 1/2 pounds high-quality semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
8 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch process

Calories: 333 kcal
Carbohydrates: 59 g
Dietary Fiber: 4 g
Fat: 12 g
Protein: 3 g
Sugars: 52 g

Place sugar in large bowl. Split half vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape seeds into sugar, and add pod. Work seeds in with your fingers. Cover snugly with plastic wrap and let stand overnight at room temperature.
In food processor fitted with metal blade, process semisweet chocolate and milk chocolate until finely ground, using 4-second pulses. (Process in two batches if necessary.)

Remove pod from sugar. Add ground chocolate and cocoa powder to sugar and whisk to blend.

Store mix airtight at room temperature for up to six months.

To serve: For each serving, heat 8 ounces milk in small saucepan over medium heat until scalded (or microwave 2 1/2 minutes at full power). Whisk in 1/4 to 1/3 cup mix. Serve with unsweetened softly whipped cream or marshmallows.
Yield: 24 servings

Hey, I have the backyard pool and when the girls were still home I always had a house full of kids. The only real problem was that we only had one bathroom. I made more pitchers of KoolAid than I ever want to think about, much easier than trying to serve hot food!

Annie

Oh, and BTW, hot chocolate stays hot nicely in a crockpot, ready for serving when the kids are!

I don't suppose you could get them to drink eggnog?

Annie

PB and J rolls....
Make a basic bread, if you are being health conciuos make that some whole wheat flour, then pat out the dough like for cinnamon rolls and spread with peanut butter and jelly, roll up and cut and bake like rolls....frost if you want.
And I would be thinking Cheese Cheese Cheese.
Toast slices of bread lay slices of cheese on the toast and line them up on a cookie sheet and put under the broiler until melted....or you can even nuke those slices if you are careful not to cook the toast into rubber.
My grands do that with bagels...toast it and cover with cheese then nuke about 30 seconds. Where I live I can buy bags of mini bagels and that works well as a snack.
Also don't forget that "dip"....spread 8 oz of cream cheese in the bottom or a glass pie plate, top with a can of hormel bean less chili and top with grated cheese....nuke until cheese melts...serve with a sturdy chip. I have never tasted the stuff....but it must be good as it disappears in about 1 minute after I make it!
Enjoy! they grow up too quickly!
Linda C

On Linda's cheese theme, I'd have the kids make Ginger's cheese puffs. They're like baked fondue, and so easy once frozen. The last I made were with rye bread and swiss cheese and pretty good! I think it's the perfect thing for your kids to help make, since it's fun. I would also freeze meatballs, and ditto the idea for slice and bake cookies. I made a warm batch just last night in 8 minutes which were so good!

FOUR CHEESE PUFFS (makes 50)
1 lb loaf unsliced white bread
1 stick butter
1/4 cup grated Mozzarella
1/4 grated sharp Cheddar
1/4 cup grated Swiss cheese
3 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp cayenne
Pinch of salt
2 egg whites
Trim & discard the crusts from the top, bottom & sides of the loaf. Cut the bread into 1" cubes. Set aside. In a saucepan, combine the butter & cheeses. Sitr over moderate heat until melted. Add the mustard, cayenne & salt. Remove from the heat. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold into the cheese mixture. Using a fondue fork or skewer, spear the bread cubes one at a time & dip into the mixture until well coated.
Arrange the cubes on a baking sheet & freeze immediately until firm, preferably overnight. Remove the puffs from the baking sheet & store in plastic bags in the freezer until ready to use. At serving time, place the frozen cubes on a baking sheet (I cover the sheet with parchment or foil) & bake in a preheated 400° oven for 10 minutes, until nicely browned.~~Gatherings
NOTE: I've varied the types of cheese with this recipe.

Great ideas - all of them!

Claire - those cheese balls sound genius! If the kids give them the thumbs up, you are my new hero. They are cheap with homemade bread, and stay in the freezer. Perfect!

Thanks so much everyone.

AM

When we used to do family ski vacations and our condo was the after ski gathering place, I made 2 loaves of bread every morning.....and often made an easy soup...like onion ( it appealed to teens as well as adults) or a vegetable soup.
Slices of cut your own bread, butter and a slab of cheese with or without the hot soup warmed cold kids.
And hot spiced cider.....actually more often apple juice with a bit of lemon added for tang simmered with cinnamon sticks, a few cloves and perhaps some orange juice.
I scrubbed out my buffet 24 cup coffee pot and kept it hot in there.
Linda C

I am the queen of cheap :-) I make seitan (wheat meat) for a good protein snack. Once the seitan is baked, I cut it in strips, fry them in a frying pan in just a couple tablespoons of BBQ sauce. Keep them in the fridge. When the boys come in from the cold, I just pan fry to reheat the seitan strips; my boys love it! Al

Lots of soups, chili and chowder freeze well. Cornbread, biscuits or rolls too!
Cook up a bunch of taco meat (soy sub for no meat version) and let them make their own soft tacos. Buy pre-shredded cheese and lettuce. Chop some tomatoes and olives. Serve with sour cream and salsa.

Nachos on a cookie sheet with cheese, beans, veggies.

Egg scrambles with cheese & veggies.

Bread loaves can be stuffed with any number of ingredients and baked whole, then sliced into portions.

Tortilla wraps. Deli meat (or not), cheese, lettuce, mayo, mustard. Serve with fresh veggies and hummus. Or pickles and chips.

Pasta salads can be made several days ahead and refrigerated.
Add beans, chunk cheese for extra protein.

Big bowl of rice with scrambled eggs, peas, green onion, and a Teriyaki sauce. Mix together and freeze.

They sure look like they're having fun!
Deanna

Sorry, skimmed right over the "no meat" part.
Jo

My step-daughter used to call this "Sledding Soup" because I'd often make it to warm her up when she came in from sledding. I've never frozen it but it only takes a short time to make from scratch.

POTATO CORN SOUP

2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/4 sweet red or green pepper, chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
1/2 to 3/4 cup water
14.5 oz. can cream sweet style corn
1/2 cup milk (can be 1%)
Salt and pepper

Put potatoes, chopped pepper and onion and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down, cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Add more water if necessary. Add the milk and can of corn and continue heating on low until the contents are hot, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

All great ideas thanks!

Deanna, I love the idea of nachos on a cookie sheet - I never would have thought of that, but it's terrific!

Linda, I thought of you at the grocery store when I picked up a huge package of sliced white American cheese - "dog cheese" I think you call it?!? Dog and visiting kid cheese, now! I've already started a few loaves of bread to keep in the freezer.

Potato soup sounds lovely. I'd like some tonight!

Al, how do you make seitan? I'll have to give it a test run on my kids. I made them "fakon" (fake bacon) the other day and it got a definite thumbs down. :(

AM

Yeah....dog cheese....but even the dog won't eat that now...but the grand kids will!
And how about a very large Spanish Tortilla.
Linda C

Here is a link that might be useful: Spanish tortilla

French Bread Pizza would be easy and probably pretty cheap, too. Slice some french bread loaves in half lengthwise, spread with some bottled pizza or pasta sauce, top with grated cheeses, veggies, or some crumbled veggie sausage patties or Boca Burgers, bake until hot through and cheese is melted.

Apple juice costs less than cider and can be kept hot in a crock pot - sweetened with brown sugar, add some cinnamon sticks and cloves tied up in cheesecloth. That will warm up those skaters very nicely!

Apple slices dipped in a warm caramel sauce would be different.

Taco Soup - you could use crumbled Boca Burgers instead of ground beef or add another can of beans or two. This makes a large quantity and freezes well

2 pounds ground round, or veggie burgers, crumbled
1 large onion, diced
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch original dry mix salad dressing
1 can kidney beans (with liquid)
1 can pinto beans with jalapeños (with liquid)
1 can yellow hominy, optional
1 can diced tomatoes and green chilies (Rotel)
2 cans stewed tomatoes (I use Mexican stewed tomatoes)
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup of water

Cook beef and onion until beef is browned, drain excess grease. Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.

Penzy's Spicy Cheese Bread

1 cup grated mozzarella, Jack or Swiss cheese
1 cup grated colby or cheddar cheese
l loaf french bread sliced in half lengthwise
2 TB butt, soft
1/2 small yellow or red onion minced
1 1/2 t. Italian herbs
1 t. garlic salt
1/2 t. crushed red pepper or sprinkled on cayenne pepper

Heat oven to broil. Cover baking sheet with foil. Toss cheeses in a bowl. Butter cut surface of bread and place on sheet. Sprinkle onion on both halves of bread. Sprinkle half of herbs and garlic. Mound cheese on top of bread. Top with rest of herbs and garlic and the red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper, if desired.

Boil 5-7 min. until the cheese melts and the bread is crusty. Slice in 3" slices.

AM, making seitan is pretty easy. But if you have never seen or tasted it before it may be a bit overwhelming because it's difficult to tell if it's "right".

If you give it a try, don't give up after the first attempt. The first time I tried it, hubby and little man were not impressed. I let it cool for a few months, tried it again. The second round was much better received. Now they beg for my BBQ seitan ribz.

There are two ways to make seitan/wheat meat: 1) using whole wheat flour 2)using vital wheat gluten.

I use vital wheat gluten because it's MUCH easier. The base of the seitan is VWG and water (or broth), a bit of oil/fat and seasoning. Once you have the wheat meat, you can use it to sub for different "meat" from chicken to ground beef. You can steam, boil, or bake the wheat meat. I like baking because it produces the kind of texture my family likes. Steaming tends to result in a softer texture while boiling makes the seitan almost spongy. My favorite seitan recipe is BBQ Seitan Ribz.

I got the BBQ seitan ribz recipe from "Fat Free Vegan Kitchen". Instead of grilling the baked seitan (what she recommended), I just cut into strips and pan fry them in a bit of BBQ sauce. I usually double the recipe, eat half then store the rest in the fridge. When the boys are hungry, I just pan fry to reheat some for a quick, high protein-low fat, snack. It's delicious!

Al

Here is a link that might be useful: BBQ Seitan Ribz

Al, I'm going to give it a try today - I think I have some VWG in the bantry. Thanks for the idea. The link is to a salad container, BTW...

Great ideas Teresa, thanks. I think apple juice instead of cider is perfect in the crock pot.

It gets to be really expensive constantly feeding all these kids. I would never accept an offer of money from any parent, but it would be nice if someone would bring a bag or two of chips or cookies over to help out!

AM

Okay, one more. I can't find my original recipe for granola bars made with bisquick, but this one looks remarkably similar. Instead of chocolate chips, I add the mini m&m baking chips.
Jo

Here is a link that might be useful: Easy, easy granola bar recipe

Oops, sorry AM! I must have saved the salad kits link and pasted it here by mistake. My apology! Let's try again. Al

Here is a link that might be useful: BBQ Seitan Ribz

Just a thought, somewhere near the ring or house could you put a fire pit of some sort? Old metal ring from a tire or stones in a circle. Some skewers, hot dogs, Chicken tenders, marsh mellows, somemores, staying by the fire and cooking their own will warm them and add to the fun.

She asked for recipes with no meat. And I imagine marshmallows are out as well.

AM, how about bierocks? They are great for eating out of hand! (of course you'll want to leave the cabbage out for the kids).

BIEROCKS
(Pronounced Beer-ox)

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups shredded cabbage (or pre-shredded coleslaw mix)
1/2 cup beer
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 Tblsp. flour
Hot roll dough for crust (**see note below**)

Brown meat and onions in nonstick pan or heavy skillet. Add cabbage, beer, flour and seasonings; simmer about 20 minutes, stirring frequently. If mixture appears dry, add a couple tablespoons water. When tender, remove from fire and cool slightly. When using fresh dough, let rise once. Roll thin and cut into 4-inch squares or 6-inch circles. Fill with heaping 1/4 cup meat mixture, then bring corners or edges together and pinch opening shut. Bake on cookie sheet at 375° F. for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. These also freeze well.

**Note** - Any uncooked bread dough may be used for the crust, such as hot roll mix, frozen rolls, freshly made hot roll dough. Canned biscuits may be also be used.

By all means, experiment with herbs... or other meats, such as chicken... or diced mushrooms, green bell peppers, thinly-sliced celery, bits of broccoli, or whatever is lurking inside your refrigerator... remember, go for a complete meal-in-your-hand.