Top 5 Field Meals (According to my 18-Year-Old Brother)
Field meals, cooler bags and a Culver's run that saved the day.
This time last year, we were done. Planting was wrapped up the day after Mother’s Day, and we were already onto the next thing. This year, we’re hoping to be wrapped up by Memorial Day weekend, which is really soon.
Back in early April I was down in southern Indiana, and planters were already rolling through dry ground, kicking up dust. Meanwhile, back up north we had standing water sitting in the fields, “high water” signs on the roads, lakes that were locked down to idle speed or no motorized watercraft at all.
It has rained here for what feels like every single day, and the ground has stayed soaked and the temperatures have been on the cooler side. I never thought I would have my heat on in early May, but I had to turn it back on for a few days. But we’re in the fields now, the planters are rolling and now that we’re out there—let’s talk about what’s going on in that cooler bag.
I asked the most qualified food critic I have access to: my brother. He’s 18, loves to eat and somehow not gain any weight. He didn’t hesitate to rattle off his favorites—he just had a hard time stopping at five.
These are his top five field meals for planting season, and the same could be said for harvest too, but first we have to get the seed into the ground. And I’d trust his opinion with my life.
No. 1: Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 2/3 C. breadcrumbs
- 1 C. milk
- 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
- 2 beaten eggs
- 1 package of Lipton onion soup mix
- 1 package Hidden Valley Ranch reason
Sauce
- 3 T. brown sugar
- 1/4 C. ketchup
- 1/4 t. nutmeg
- 1 t. mustard
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Soak breadcrumbs in milk
3. Add meat, eggs, onions & seasoning and mix well
4. Form in loaf or a 9x13 pan works well too - we prefer a 9x13 pan
5. Bake in greased pan
6. Cover meat with sauce before baking
7. Cook for 1 hour
No. 2: Crockpot Meatball Subs
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. frozen Italian meatballs
- 2 jars of Marinara sauce (we prefer Rao’s)
- 14 sandwich-style sliced mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Meatballs
- Cook meatballs in marinara sauce on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours
Buns
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
- Open brat-style buns; place on baking sheet and toast for 5 minutes
- After 5 minutes, remove and add 2 slices of cheese
- Bake until cheese melts, approx. 5 minutes
- The remove, add meatballs with sauce to buns
No. 3: Crockpot Pork Chops & Gravy
Ingredients
- 1 oz packet onion soup mix
- 14 oz can chicken broth
- 10 1/2 ounce can cream of chicken
- 1 oz packet dry pork gravy mix
- 4 bone in pork chops
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 3 T. cornstarch
- 3 T. water
Instructions
- Spray crockpot with cooking spray
- Mix onion soup, chicken broth, cream of chicken soup and pork gravy mix
- Whisk well
- Season both sides of pork chop with garlic powder
- Place seasoned pork chops in crockpot - try to ensure chops are covered with mixture
- Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours
- NOTE: If you want the gravy, whisk together corn starch and water. Pour into crockpot and stir gently. Cover and cook for 30 minutes or until gravy has thickened.
No. 4: Jailhouse Pie
Ingredients
- Crescent rolls
- Taco-style cheese or mozzarella
- Taco flavored hamburger
- Optional: Rotel
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
- Brown hamburger, add taco seasoning; set aside
- 9x13 pan for big batch (requires 2 cans of crescent rolls) or smaller (8x8, 9x9) can be done using only 1 can of crescent rolls
- Spray pan
- Lay down enough crescent rolls to cover the bottom
- Place layer of taco meat
- Place a small layer of cheese and top with remaining meat
- Cover meat layer with cheese
- Cover with remaining crescent rolls
- Place in oven and cook until golden brown (approx. 15-20 minutes)
- Can be topped with sour cream and salsa when ready to serve
No. 5: Steak Alfredo
Ingredients
Steak
- We use the precooked, thinly sliced steak strips from the store
- 2 T. olive oil
- 2 tsp. paprika
- 2 tsp. oregano
- 2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. thyme
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 3/4 tsp. salt
Sauce
- 4 T. butter
- 2 T. minced onion
- 2 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 C. chicken broth
- 2 T. flour
- 3 C. heavy cream
- 8 oz. parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Cook pasta - set aside
- Warm up steak and mix steak seasoning; then remove from pan
- Using the same pan that you cooked the steak, melt butter, then add minced onion, Italian seasoning and garlic powder
- Add flour; whisk well
- Add chicken brother and heavy cream
- Add cheese
- Keep whisking
- Then add pasta and steak, then SERVE
When it comes to getting food out to the field, the system is pretty simple—cook, prepare the styrofoam containers, load into a big cooler bag(s) to keep everything warm. It’s not fancy, but it works and no one has complained… yet.
But sometimes the day has other plans. I got a call late one morning asking if I could grab lunch at Culver’s since I live less than 5 minutes from one of our Culver’s (don’t ask me why we need two in our town). That particular day meant four different stops. So, I drove through the drive-thru and asked if they could bag six meals individually. Not only did they get every single one right, but the food was exactly what you’d hope for especially on the first day of #plant2026.
When I explained I was delivering to farmers out in the field, their faces lit up. They were more than willing to help, and it meant more than they probably realized. So a massive shoutout to them. Whether it’s something homemade in a cooler bag or a Culver’s run that saves the day, the goal is the same—keep the people in those cabs fed and going because the field doesn’t stop, and neither do they.
