Feeding Teenagers

[VioletElizabeth]

My team really likes garlic bread.

My mom often bakes a lasagna from Costco and makes a salad.

Another popular dish is macaroni and cheese.

The bread rolls from Costco, with ham and cheese is another thing my mom has made.

My team mostly has nut allergies—not sure which allergies you meant when wanted recipes good with allergies. Dessert is nut-free but is often cross-contaminated with nuts. We usually have some sort of nut-free snack food around, and not getting dessert is pretty normal for people with severe nut allergies. (In case it isn't clear, that includes me.)

We have parents bring dinner all through build season, with usually a vegetarian dish, a meat dish, and some sort of dessert sometimes. Usually three or so parents bring dinner per night, as we have a large team. Dessert is usually simple—some fruit, or a box of individually wrapped brownies.

[woudie]

My team had stuff like subs and barbecues sometimes not to mention way too much pizza ..........

[madhav]

Our team has a "Director of Food Director," and when we had build sessions he would go the the Vons across the street and buy as much as he could with $5. You would be surprised...

[RoboMom]

There was a NEMO meeting held yesterday at the Battle O' Baltimore and feeding the team was one of the topics of discussion.

I like the idea of a cookbook. We would be delighted to post anything you develop on http://www.firstnemo.org/resources.htm

[magnets]

I live right by our build spot, so sometimes I bring a few people over and we make dinner for everybody. It's kind of fun.

Our favorites are macaroni and cheese, spaghetti with meat sauce, lasagna, and cake. We also like taco kits, but they end up being more expensive.

We do every dinner with a pack of store brand oreo imitations that are somehow much better than oreos themselves, a loaf of bread, a salad, and milk/juice/water. We try to stick to healthy food as much as possible, not only for helping kids, but for making the school administration like us more.

Ordering Chinese food is fun, but really expensive.

If we don't do this, kids just end up stuffing themselves on unhealthy things.

[Oblarg]

449 does potluck lunches once per weekend, which take a fair amount of organization given the very large number of students we have. Other than that, pizza reigns supreme. It gets pretty expensive, but we feel it's important to sustain productivity and give new members more motivation.

[ElvisMom]

Winnovation parents are asked to provide 2 or 3 meals for the team during build season - meals are provided every day during build season.

We do get a lot of the typical pasta, hot dogs, pizza. However, there are a few stand-out meals that actually bring folks to the shop. One dad who loves to cook hand ground sirloin last year and grilled burgers at the shop for everyone; gourmet toppings too and fresh-made chocolate milk shakes! Another favorite is shepherd's pie - not something I've ever made, but the kids love it.

We use Sign Up Genius to let parents sign up for the day they want to bring food and they include what they will bring so we don't end up with pizza 5 days in a row. One mom always signs up for "liver and onions" but has yet to follow through on that, thank goodness.

[IronicDeadBird]

This is a lot more response then I would have expected. I will setup a way for all of us to stay in touch that doesn't involve flooding these forums. I will keep you all posted.
Cheers!

[Tim Koch]

The Roboteers also ask parents to provide at least two meals during the build season.
Some favorites have been chili and cornbread, taco soup, baked potato bar with lots of toppings, pulled pork, pulled chicken, Italian beef, meatball sandwiches, baked ham. Sides: mac and cheese, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, applesauce, fresh fruit , jello and we have some students who snack on baby carrots for the rest of the evening if they are left over. We will be posting additional ideas on our Facebook page in a few days.

[lpickett]

Our team has parents/mentors who provide meals during the season. There is almost always mac and cheese with some type of meat dish. We have had a large variety of food. We try to get the menu on our food calendar so there is not a repeat from one day to the next. If something happens, pizza is always a back-up. We keep leftovers in the fridge that usually get eaten the next day after school. We have a beverage fridge for juice, water, milk and soda. There are usually cookies and chips for snacks. Some of the mothers try to provide fresh fruit and items like Go-Gurt. We often have leftover pulled pork and hot dogs in the freezer from our off-season event. One of the parents will plan on using these if there is a day that does not get signed up for. We have been fortunate to have willing parents/mentors to provide this. We feel if we can keep the kids here, they will get more done. They can come to the build site after school, but priority is homework first.

[pyroslev]

Crock pot recipes are a must in that cook book.

1. A little prep, set it to cook and keep on building.
2. You can buy the ingredients in bulk.
3. Easy enough clean up if you have a pressure washer out back the shop.
4. The pots are less likely to trip breakers so they're friendly to old shops with older electrical.
5. Most everyone has one or two or you can buy them and keep them on hand.

By the last week of build season, Domino's is not a welcome site nor is most pizza. KFC Family meals are also overdone. So home meals, bring em on.

[SoulianPride]

I like this idea. During build season, unless it is a special circumstance, we do not have meals. Usually 2 parents sign up to make lunch on Saturday afternoons and then dinner for Mid-Winter Break. We, truthfully, did not have pizza last build season.

Usually we have these:
-Taco Bar
-Baked Potato Bar
-Subs
-Burgers
-Hot Dogs
-Spaghetti