Coaches Coaches - what kind of food would you like to see on your table?

[kayjaybe]

A friend and I are transitioning into taking over coaches food for our meets. (We will also be handling concession food.) We'd like to change things up a bit and I'd love to hear what you would like to have at meets as a coach. Most meets are Saturday lunch & dinner and Sunday breakfast, lunch and dinner.

For most of the food, the team parents make it, although this year we will be ordering some pre-made sandwiches (for one of the lunches) and a tray of pasta (for one of the dinners).

One big change is that in the past, they pretty much had fruit salad, donuts and bagels for breakfast. We plan to also have scrambled eggs, taylor ham & english muffins (to make a quick egg sandwich if they want) and those packets of instant oatmeal. Does that sound like a good addition?

Any other ideas would be appreciated. I'm happy to share the whole menu, if that would help.

 

[ginnymac]

Crockpot oatmeal goes over well for breakfast. Brown sugar, nuts and dried fruit available for them to add themselves.

Egg/potato casserole.

Wrap sandwiches, salad, pizza. Some of our local businesses even give us food for free or reduced charge.

Our local chipotle donated lots of food for our last meet!

Lots of fresh fruit.

 

[coachmolly]

I'm good with bagels for breakfast as long as they're good bagels (you know, not the packaged grocery store variety but from a good local bagel place- and if you are familiar with Taylor ham I assume you also know good bagels ). Fruit is great and breakfast sandwiches sound perfect as well definitely a good addition! And crockpot baked oatmeal or breakfast casseroles as ginnymac suggested would also be welcome additions if you have parents willing to help out with those kinds of things, though this is coming from a big breakfast kind of person.
For lunch/dinner I like just about anything substantial (not just a table with some chips and cookies). I love soup or chili in winter- especially homemade and bbq is another favorite of mine. Sandwiches (either pre-made or a make-your-own kind of situation with good rolls/bread, lunch meat, cheese, tuna/chicken salad) and pasta dishes are also good with fruit and veggies that are easy to grab.
And treats are always a welcome addition (or meal substitute ). But it sounds like you guys have a pretty good grip on the situation, I'd be pretty excited to attend your meet!

 

[CoachGoofy]

Protein. We crash if all we eat is a donut and coffee, same as the gymnasts. Your breakfast additions sound AMAZING.

Some meets I've been to, the parents bring in food for hospitality & sometimes that is amazing.

A suggestion: coaches can have dietary needs just as much as the kids do-so marking anything that has potential allergens/is vegetarian/gluten free/etc would be fantastic.

 

[kayjaybe]

Thanks for all the comments so far. So, here's our menu. Comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

Sat lunch:

• Soup
• 2 ft hoagies (you add your own tomato, onion, peppers & dressing). Italian, ham, and turkey
• Pasta salad
• Fruit salad
• Beef BBQ sandwiches
• Chips
• Sweet treats

Sat dinner:

• Baked ziti
• Tossed Salad
• Rolls & butter
• Sweet treats

Sun breakfast:

• Eggs, taylor ham, english muffins, cheese
• packets of oatmeal
• bagels & donuts & munchkins
• fruit salad

Sun lunch:

• Soup
• pizza
• meatball sandwiches
• chips
• fruit salad
• pasta salad
• sweet treats

Sun dinner:

• Crockpot chicken dish (chicken chili or chicken pot pie --- something hearty)
• Tossed salad
• Rolls & butter
• Sweet treats

For snacks throughout the day, we will also have bananas, apples, oranges, packets of trail mix, granola bars, veggie tray with dip, and cheese & ring bologna tray. And of course, water, soda, and coffee. Oh, and they can also pop up to concessions if they need anything.

Thoughts?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

anything that tastes good. i'm easy...

 

[JBS]

Thanks for all the comments so far. So, here's our menu. Comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

Sat lunch:

• Soup
• 2 ft hoagies (you add your own tomato, onion, peppers & dressing). Italian, ham, and turkey
• Pasta salad
• Fruit salad
• Beef BBQ sandwiches
• Chips
• Sweet treats

Sat dinner:

• Baked ziti
• Tossed Salad
• Rolls & butter
• Sweet treats

Sun breakfast:

• Eggs, taylor ham, english muffins, cheese
• packets of oatmeal
• bagels & donuts & munchkins
• fruit salad

Sun lunch:

• Soup
• pizza
• meatball sandwiches
• chips
• fruit salad
• pasta salad
• sweet treats

Sun dinner:

• Crockpot chicken dish (chicken chili or chicken pot pie --- something hearty)
• Tossed salad
• Rolls & butter
• Sweet treats

For snacks throughout the day, we will also have bananas, apples, oranges, packets of trail mix, granola bars, veggie tray with dip, and cheese & ring bologna tray. And of course, water, soda, and coffee. Oh, and they can also pop up to concessions if they need anything.

Thoughts?

Your menu looks great except for the ziti. Everyone has baked ziti and it is always dry, cold and awful.

Home cooked food is the way to go.

Quiche for breakfast!

If you really want the truth. Anytime I have a session off and we are by a nice restaurant...I go and get a steak!

 

[iwannacoach]

Pizza, with extra cheeze......it's the original superfood!!!!

 

[gymkat]

Vegetarian options with protein would be great. Also, as CoachGoofy suggested, it would be great if you could label things that are vegetarian, nut-free, gluten-free, etc.

I (personally) would also steer you away from the baked ziti, especially if it precedes a compulsory session. Lots of carbs lead to sleepy judges and coaches.

 

[kayjaybe]

Thanks for the feedback on the ziti. We'd be ordering a tray of it from the Italian restaurant across the street. Does that change your thoughts or should we still steer clear?

 

[CoachGoofy]

*I* would eat the ziti-but I look around the room & zero in on the highest protein/fat:carb ratio, & that's often the only option with anything BUT carbs.If other options are available I'd encourage them, bc everyone has it & it's never good (or has been good once. Ever. And everyone is trying to recreate that moment & falling short).

That breakfast, man, I want that for every meal ever.

 

[JBS]

Thanks for the feedback on the ziti. We'd be ordering a tray of it from the Italian restaurant across the street. Does that change your thoughts or should we still steer clear?

Steer clear....

 

[JBS]

Should have said....trays of lasagna or manicotti can be really good...just not ziti. They don't dry out and get cold like the ziti...and yes...ziti is always cold...even when it's on the little burners.

 

[kayjaybe]

Ok. We will steer clear of the ziti. Thanks for the feedback! Any ideas for a hearty, hot dish for one of the dinners? I'm trying to avoid anything that they need to sit and cut up because they generally seem to eat on the run.

 

[bionickoolaid]

This is a weird one but a meet I goto always has a box of aspirin and I always go back because of it.

 

[kayjaybe]

This is a weird one but a meet I goto always has a box of aspirin and I always go back because of it.

LOL. I asked our own coaches what they would want and they said "vodka."

 

[coachmolly]

Good coffee brewed throughout the day is also appreciated, especially for those of us that need a mid-afternoon boost and aren't into soda.

 

[BlairBob]

Vodka is important for the after meet dinner party.

Man, I need to go back to coaching. I miss meet food. As a poor coach, it was a great opportunity to eat well.

I really loved this one meet I went to that made pot roast and biscuits. One of my little guys begged me to sneak some out for him. He wanted them instead of any sweets.

Really though so long as the food back there is decent I'm ok. Sometimes I'm low carb and sometimes I'm Eat Everything On Sight. Ideally, it has to be better than the cheapo fan food unless they have good fan food. When they give you a pass to the concession stand where the best thing is a chili dog - that's gonna piss me off.

Burgers and dogs are ok, but meh. I'd prefer to see something for Breakfast that isn't just a bagel and yogurt and fruit. I hate when I arrive for an early session and there is nothing to eat really. Bagels and yogurt do not do much except make me more hungry. Fruit is alright but again does not satiate me.

While I may understand that a lot of coaches are females and thus with small appetites and under 140lbs, it really irks me if I as a coach have to ask a parent to go buy a meal from me or wait till after a meet to eat; especially after multiple sessions. Luckily, I bring snacks with me just in case but I do know I prefer real food when coaching.

Coffee and tea are both useful than soda for caffeine and probably a helluva lot more healthy.