Favorite Meals to make in villa?

ADAMANDLISA

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 21, 2007
This will be our first time in a villa with a full-kitchen and I was hoping to get some meal suggestions. I definitely plan on bringing the crockpot and we plan on eating in almost every night to save some money!

If there is a previous thread, sorry...couldn't find it, but would really appreciate the link!:goodvibes
 
We just got back from a 1 bedroom villa at BW. We had breakfast in our room. We loved it. A great way to kick off the day, a hearty breakfast. We had eggs, bacon, toast, bagels, etc... I know it's not a crockpot meal, but it was a good choice for us. :thumbsup2
 
We definitely plan on doing breakfast in the room too! A nice big breakfast is a great way to start the day...especially at Disney!!!:thumbsup2
 
There are some of my favorite meals while on vacation in a villa (or a Residence Inn)

1. Spaghetti (box of noodles, jar of sauce, bag of meatballs)
2. Salad (Bag of lettuce, assorted pre-made toppings, dressing)
3. Chicken Sandwiches (Frozen chicken patties, hamburger buns, pickles)

There is always the old stand-by: Frozen Pizza

Not very creative, but the kids eat it.

Jen
 


I am assuming that you are driving. We haven't taken a crockpot to WDW, but when we used to vacation at Williamsburg, Va. and we drove we would take our crockpot. If your family likes pasta and sauce, it is a great crockpot meal. I would make my meatballs at home, fry them lightly and freeze them in a zip lock bag. I did the same with our favorite italian sausage. I would also take my spices for the sauce in a zip lock bag. The morning before we went to the park, I would put the meatballs, sausage and canned tomatoes, spices, etc. in the crockpot on the lowest setting. When we got back to the timeshare unit, it smelled wonderful. I would make a salad while the pasta was cooking. Great meal and it took very little time.

Enjoy your vacation
 
In the 12 years we have been vacationing...my thrify but popular options are American Chop Suey with 1/2 pound of pasta then use the other 1/2 pd of pasta for Macaroni salad with tuna for lunch the next day. My kids also like Mexican night with tacos (use part of the package of hamburg from Mac dinner) and a mex or spanish rice with lettuce and tomato.
:dance3:
 
We eat Dinner out mostly, but have most breakfasts as well as lunch/midday snack in the villa. We got our groceries from www.gardengrocer.com we bought a really good frozen Bertolli dinner last month. It was just the 3 of us... our DD was 20 months old. We try and keep it simple.
Bob
 


Good for you - we do this now and feel it saves us a lot of money. We do eat out probably twice for dinner, and then we hit our favorite fast food stops (Dole Whip in MK among other things).

We eat breakfast in the room everyday. Eggs, Toast, Cereal (bacon or sausage once), along with OJ and Coffee. It's a great way to start the day, and fairly cheap for groceries. We also buy Peanut Butter and Jelly and for sandwiches or snacks to bring to the pool. We dont go during the hottest times of the year, so PBJ can hold up in the park too.

For dinner we usually have spaghetti one night (another easy fix). We will buy a frozen pizza or two, lots of fruit (bananas, oranges, grapes). I will buy some ground beef and make burgers one night as well. So that is three nights for eating in (again fairly inexpensive stuff), and then two or three nights eating out.

I dont really get fancy (as you can tell), but we dont buy that much and it stretches a long way.

Good luck
 
We also eat most breakfasts in the room.
Generally, around the stroke of 11:00, we start looking through the room service menu. I usually make the call while my wife mixes up the mimosas.

MG
 
We have always done some meals in our unit. We plan to eat out only one or two meals a day. The food at WDW is expensive and not all that healthy, IMO. We always do breakfast in the room. Cereal, toast, yogurt, fruit, etc. We always take picnic lunches to the waterparks, which we visit alot (sandwiches, sodas, veggies, fruit in the cooler). For dinner, we have made burritos, tacos, baked chicken, hamburgers, spaghetti, sandwiches, and salads. We even baked a ham one time at Christmas. We don't really used packed or frozen foods, so most of the things we make are quick (about 30 minutes cooking time) and from scratch- no crockpot needed. We do eat whole wheat pasta and breads, and lots of fruits and veggies. We have found Publix to be the best choice for what we like to eat.
 
1. Spaghetti (box of noodles, jar of sauce, bag of meatballs)

Just convinced my mother-in-law to bring her homemade spaghetti sauce! We're going to be eating really good one night!:thumbsup2


I am assuming that you are driving. We haven't taken a crockpot to WDW, but when we used to vacation at Williamsburg, Va. and we drove we would take our crockpot. If your family likes pasta and sauce, it is a great crockpot meal. I would make my meatballs at home, fry them lightly and freeze them in a zip lock bag. I did the same with our favorite italian sausage. I would also take my spices for the sauce in a zip lock bag. The morning before we went to the park, I would put the meatballs, sausage and canned tomatoes, spices, etc. in the crockpot on the lowest setting. When we got back to the timeshare unit, it smelled wonderful. I would make a salad while the pasta was cooking. Great meal and it took very little time.

Enjoy your vacation

Thank you! We're thinking of cooking some Italian sausage in the crock pot to eat with the spaghetti!:goodvibes


In the 12 years we have been vacationing...my thrify but popular options are American Chop Suey with 1/2 pound of pasta then use the other 1/2 pd of pasta for Macaroni salad with tuna for lunch the next day. My kids also like Mexican night with tacos (use part of the package of hamburg from Mac dinner) and a mex or spanish rice with lettuce and tomato.
:dance3:

I love macaroni salad with tuna! So filling!:goodvibes

We eat Dinner out mostly, but have most breakfasts as well as lunch/midday snack in the villa. We got our groceries from www.gardengrocer.com we bought a really good frozen Bertolli dinner last month. It was just the 3 of us... our DD was 20 months old. We try and keep it simple.
Bob

I heard gardengrocer is really good. We're driving so DH and I will go to the grocery store while the in-laws watch the kids. That alone will feel like a vacation.:rotfl:

Good for you - we do this now and feel it saves us a lot of money. We do eat out probably twice for dinner, and then we hit our favorite fast food stops (Dole Whip in MK among other things).

We eat breakfast in the room everyday. Eggs, Toast, Cereal (bacon or sausage once), along with OJ and Coffee. It's a great way to start the day, and fairly cheap for groceries. We also buy Peanut Butter and Jelly and for sandwiches or snacks to bring to the pool. We dont go during the hottest times of the year, so PBJ can hold up in the park too.

For dinner we usually have spaghetti one night (another easy fix). We will buy a frozen pizza or two, lots of fruit (bananas, oranges, grapes). I will buy some ground beef and make burgers one night as well. So that is three nights for eating in (again fairly inexpensive stuff), and then two or three nights eating out.

I dont really get fancy (as you can tell), but we dont buy that much and it stretches a long way.

Good luck

That's what we'll be doing. Eating breakfast in the room, taking sandwiches and snacks to parks most days and dinner in the room most nights. I am so ready for some Dole Whip!!!:goodvibes

We also eat most breakfasts in the room.
Generally, around the stroke of 11:00, we start looking through the room service menu. I usually make the call while my wife mixes up the mimosas.

MG

Oh, it's been so long since I've had a mimosa! I would kill for one of those right now!:rotfl:

We have always done some meals in our unit. We plan to eat out only one or two meals a day. The food at WDW is expensive and not all that healthy, IMO. We always do breakfast in the room. Cereal, toast, yogurt, fruit, etc. We always take picnic lunches to the waterparks, which we visit alot (sandwiches, sodas, veggies, fruit in the cooler). For dinner, we have made burritos, tacos, baked chicken, hamburgers, spaghetti, sandwiches, and salads. We even baked a ham one time at Christmas. We don't really used packed or frozen foods, so most of the things we make are quick (about 30 minutes cooking time) and from scratch- no crockpot needed. We do eat whole wheat pasta and breads, and lots of fruits and veggies. We have found Publix to be the best choice for what we like to eat.

I'll have to get directions for that Publix.:thumbsup2

This is a tread I found on one of the dis forums :Crock pot crazy
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=275509

I have found recipes I now use at home as well:goodvibes

I've been checking that thread out too!;) I keep forgetting that I got a crock pot cookbook for Christmas last year. I really need to break that book out!:goodvibes
 
I often do pulled pork in a crock pot while we are on vacation. A pork shoulder, 1 onion chopped, and a can of beef broth in the crock pot for the day. The bring a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce and some buns. A bag of frozen fries or chips are easy to add to the meal too.

Another thing I really like for simplicity on vacation are those steam-in-the bag veggies.
 
The other night, I made stew - with a packet of the stew seasoning mix, a pound of stew beef, the leftover celery, carrots and broccoli from our veggie tray, the last cup of unused coffee from the pot, and the last half cup of salsa from the jar. it was YUMMY! And the room smelt heavenly when we got home from the parks, cold, damp and tired.
 
I often do pulled pork in a crock pot while we are on vacation. A pork shoulder, 1 onion chopped, and a can of beef broth in the crock pot for the day. The bring a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce and some buns. A bag of frozen fries or chips are easy to add to the meal too.

Another thing I really like for simplicity on vacation are those steam-in-the bag veggies.

That pulled pork sounds wonderful! We may have to try that! DMIL was just talking about the steam-in-the-bad veggies!!! We already put them on our list!:goodvibes


The other night, I made stew - with a packet of the stew seasoning mix, a pound of stew beef, the leftover celery, carrots and broccoli from our veggie tray, the last cup of unused coffee from the pot, and the last half cup of salsa from the jar. it was YUMMY! And the room smelt heavenly when we got home from the parks, cold, damp and tired.

That sounds really good! I'm sorry you had such cold weather while you were in FL! I hope you still had fun!:goodvibes
 
We typically only do breakfast in the villa. My family would stage a revolt if they had to do too many dishes on vacation! At Disney, our fridge is usually stocked with milk, juice boxes, fruit and yogurt. But, I do use the crock pot quite a bit at home. You can cook a whole chicken, just clean it and season how ever you like and cook it all day. You can put some onions and veggies in too. You can put a little bit of liquid, like chicken broth, in but you really don't even need that. Then you have chicken for one meal and maybe leftovers for a chicken salad or chicken quesadillas. My family also likes crock pot French Dip sandwiches:
* 1 lean beef roast (3 to 4 lbs.), rump, lean chuck, etc.
* 1/2 c. soy sauce
* 1 beef bouillon cube or equivalent beef base
* 1 bay leaf
* 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper or pepper blend, or to taste
* 1 tsp. dried crushed rosemary
* 1 tsp. dried thyme
* 1 tsp. garlic powder
* Hard rolls or French bread

Preparation:
Remove and discard all visible fat from roast. Place in a slow cooker. Combine soy sauce, bouillon and spices; pour over roast. Add water to almost cover roast. Cover and cook on LOW for 10 to 12 hours, or until meat is very tender. Remove meat from broth; reserve broth. Shred meat with a fork. Serve on hard rolls or french bread slices with broth.
Makes about 10 to 12 sandwiches.

We do eat in some when we go to Hilton Head or Panama City. Big salads/sub sandwiches are always a hit with my group.
 

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