Easy dinner for swim meets that the whole family will love

Thank you Ellio’s Pizza for sponsoring this post. Visit your local retailer to pick up your own Ellio’s Pizza for a pizza night in!

Ok, so what I am about to share with you may surprise you just a bit. Sometimes, I feed my family cold pizza for dinner.  Yes, you read that right…cold pizza for dinner.

Let me explain. Imagine it is Wednesday afternoon in the middle of June, in the middle of Virginia. The temperature is scorching and will be for the rest of the evening.  You spent the afternoon packing and checking off your lists of everything everyone in the family needs to be able to endure and enjoy this evening’s swim meet. Seriously even a chicken with its head cut off doesn’t run around as much as you have this afternoon. You packed the swim bag with towels, extra towels, sunscreen, bug spray, hats, swim caps, goggles (the exacts specific pair each child NEEDS to have),  sports drinks, waters, the shade canopy, the bag chairs, umbrellas  (just in case), board games, card games… you’ve got it all, you hope.

Now it is time to figure out what is for dinner and pack up the cooler. Acckkk! What are you going to feed everyone?

Dinner has to be easy to put together, keep well in the cooler, not be messy, and something everyone will eat. Not a short order. I have a hard time coming up with ideas for what to pack. In the past, we have had cold noodle salads, chicken Caesar salad wraps, and cheese and fruit trays. After my oldest son started eating leftover cold pizza for breakfast one day I got the idea to try it for dinner at a swim meet. Why not?

Easy dinner for swim meets that the whole family will love

The night before the swim meet, I baked several flavors of Ellio’s Pizzas – one for each family member and an extra. They bake quickly so don’t worry about having the oven on for very long. Have you seen these pizzas at your local store? They come in 6 different flavors so there is something for everyone.  Once they were done, I waited for the pizzas to cool. After they were cool enough, I cut them into strips. Ellio’s Pizzas are rectangles so you can cut them into perfectly sized strips for dipping in ranch dressing.

Ranch dressing is key, it takes cold pizza to a whole new level. I then packaged the slices of Ellio’s into individual containers and each container has its own cup of ranch dressing.

I cut up some watermelon and divided it into individual cups. At the swim meet, everyone can eat when they feel like and dinner is refreshing since it is chilled. Trust me, 6 hours on the pool deck in June and July in Virginia and no one wants to eat a hot meal.

Share your swim meet dinner ideas!

Swim moms need to stick together and help each other out, so please share your swim meet dinner ideas in the comments below. And, if you are looking for Ellio’s so your family can enjoy cold pizza for dinner at a hot swim meet or just a delicious easy meal any time, you can find stores near you that carry Ellio’s by using their their store locator.

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This is a sponsored post on behalf of Dr. Oetker USA LLC. I received compensation for this post, however all opinions stated are my own.