A DVC studio it will be - what do you microwave for meals?

[pooh2001]

DVC studio - only a microwave and mini refrigerator.
So what do you buy/bring/ship with you to "cook" in the microwave for meals?
Do the 'grocery area' of the DVC resort carry items to be microwaved for a meal?

All I can think of is mac&cheese, soups, popcorn, pasta - what else comes microwaveable?
Maybe we can ship tuna, small mayo - buy some fruit and veggies with a car service food stop from MCO (we will not have a car)
Also buy Barilla pasta meals ?

What do you 'cook' in a microwave?

What to swap some recipes on this thread?

Microwave Baked Potato
one large potato cleaned - prick with a fork and place on a paper plate
Cook on full power in the microwave for 5 minutes. Turn over, and continue to cook for 5 more minutes. When the potato is soft, remove from the microwave, and cut in half lengthwise. Season with salt and pepper, and mash up the inside a little using a fork. Top the open sides with butter and 2 tablespoons of cheese. Return to the microwave, and cook for about 1 minute to melt the cheese.

 

[kim532]

I am thinking for my upcoming vacation to buy a freezer meatloaf meal. It will defrost in the fridge, but I think it will be OK as long as we eat it early in our trip.

Really other than the items you mentioned, we use ours a lot to reheat leftovers from our meals.

Kim

 

[MAO]

I brought some brown sugar with me and purchased hot dogs and a can of beans - either both at the Hess station across from Boardwalk or, perhaps, the beans there and the hot dogs from Disney (as well as a small ketchup and mustard, now that I think of it.) I think a lot will depend on how much space you have in your suitcase(s) and how many people you need to feed. I'm just one person and always travel with a small carry on (it always fits under the seat in front of me) so I can't bring a lot of food with me. But the 'grocery' stores do, indeed, contain a certain amount of microwaveable meals from soups to single serve mac 'n cheese to frozen meals. I have also brought a microwaveable egg cooker to make omelets in the room. The last time I was there, though, a loaf of bread and a small jar of peanut butter along with some chips were my main meals. It was boring, but cheap!

 

[graychef]

I'm big on popcorn as a snack but I can't see cooking meals from a microwave. Canned soup maybe. Baked potato or sweet potato.

 

[Dawn68PA]

We do a TV dinner maybe once on our trip. I bring a crock pot or a skillet for other days....

 

[daisyduck123]

Heck, I'm on vacation. No cooking, cleaning, or doing laundry for me.
After spending over 100 nights in WDW, we've never cooked a meal in our villa. Only thing we've used the microwave for is popcorn.

 

[pooh2001]

We like breakfast in our room. The DVC studios with the 2 showers will be a big help to get our family ready in the AM. Breakfast is an easy meal - milk, cereal, English muffins, PB&J, or even pop tarts & granola bars.

We do a TS lunch, our big meal of the day.

Then in the afternoon - come back to relax, use the pool, hang out (eat a quick light dinner) and then back our to a park for some evening fun.

We have 2 'adult' children and will have park hopping ability.

 

[graueMaus]

DVC studio - only a microwave and mini refrigerator.
So what do you buy/bring/ship with you to "cook" in the microwave for meals?
Do the 'grocery area' of the DVC resort carry items to be microwaved for a meal?

All I can think of is mac&cheese, soups, popcorn, pasta - what else comes microwaveable?
Maybe we can ship tuna, small mayo - buy some fruit and veggies with a car service food stop from MCO (we will not have a car)
Also buy Barilla pasta meals ?

What do you 'cook' in a microwave?

What to swap some recipes on this thread?

Microwave Baked Potato
one large potato cleaned - prick with a fork and place on a paper plate
Cook on full power in the microwave for 5 minutes. Turn over, and continue to cook for 5 more minutes. When the potato is soft, remove from the microwave, and cut in half lengthwise. Season with salt and pepper, and mash up the inside a little using a fork. Top the open sides with butter and 2 tablespoons of cheese. Return to the microwave, and cook for about 1 minute to melt the cheese.

Our leftovers from where we ate out

Besides the popcorn, instant oatmeal, breakfast sandwiches that is

 

[Wedgeh]

We took a trip last year which was on a strict budget (most of which went on flights from the UK) and so we did quite a lot of studio cooking. You'd be surprised about the number of things you can do, but we did have to bring a few extra bits with us (eg a pyrex bowl for heating up tinned veg). One of the things that was really helpful was a toaster bag which expanded the range of things we could cook without creating much in the way of extra washing up. We also brought a couple of plastic plates & a knife and fork each as a minor upgrade from the paper plates & plastic cutlery that DVC provide in the studios.

It wasn't the California Grill, but it meant we had 2 weeks at the world we couldn't have otherwise have done.

https://twitter.com/PinkPandaBeth/status/466712178079567873

 

[nkereina]

Do the studios have a toaster? I know I saw one in a pic of an AKV Studio but wasn't sure if that was standard. If so, that would provide some additional options like bagels, poptarts, etc.

 

[pooh2001]

Yes - I have seen pictures of toasters in every studio room.
I like the idea of bagels - very nice, and they store well for a few days.

I also thought of bringing plastic plates - Pyrex bowl would be good to heat up things in the microwave. I also thought of a sharp carving knife and a potato peeler.
I could ship in a box some items to the DVC.

What is a toaster bag ?
Never heard of it. Is is just a UK product or can you buy one in the USA?
Bed Bath & Beyond stores?

Thanks!

 

[pooh2001]

Does it pay to bring a toaster oven with you to make grilled cheese or tuna melts or small frozen pizza's. Then ditch the toaster oven when you leave the resort.
We stay for 10 days.
I have found new toaster ovens for $20 - $30

 

[Wedgeh]

What is a toaster bag ?
Never heard of it. Is is just a UK product or can you buy one in the USA?

Looks like you can get them on Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/S-2-Toast-It-Bags/dp/B0012XGM92 we found ours in a store locally, but I don't think they're that widely available - I guess most home kitchens are going to have a toaster and a full size oven too.

I should also note I'm a big fan of gardengrocer to get things delivered to the resort.

HTH

 

[MAO]

pooh - I think it pretty much is up to your budget. I've heard of people making a Walmart stop to buy a crock-pot and then leaving it behind. Certainly the folks who use the storage option - can't think of the name of the company, but you get a container to put your stuff in and they store it for you until your next visit - seem to leave a crock-pot and, possibly, a small toaster oven in them.

One thing I wish we could figure out how to implement would be a 'lending library' of this type of stuff for DVC members. I know I've had to leave unopened food items simply because I didn't know anyone there to give them to before I had to leave. And a small crock-pot or toaster oven would be a godsend to many folks who don't have the ability (or willingness) to buy one just for a trip.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I doubt a "lending library" would work. Even the Christmas tree swap has lots of problems and it's only for a few weeks out of the year. Disney shut down the refrigerator swaps in the value resorts, too.

 

[MAO]

Yeah. There'd be people who took stuff home, there'd be people that took two or three of something at the beginning of their trip and didn't use it again but didn't take it back .... I know that Housekeeping will bring you a hand mixer, if you need it and ask for it. Maybe we should start a petition for DVC to buy a few crock-pots and toaster ovens and keep them in inventory for those that know to ask for them?

eta: re: the two or three comment - I'm thinking of someone having a little party in the GV and using multiple crock-pots at the beginning of their trip in case anyone was wondering just why you'd want multiple toaster ovens in your studio. LOL

 

[Dean]

If you call and ask, they will bring you microwave cooking paraphenalia but they are not normally in the studios.

 

[mousehockey37]

Our last trip was our first DVC rental stay. We did a grocery stop and got things like lunchmeat, water, bread, snack foods, soda, chips, etc. The Publix our driver stopped at wasn't cheap (compared to other stores in the area), but we still wound up saving ourselves from having to buy park food the entire trip. Mostly we had our lunches in the room with the cold cuts and stuff.

As for the microwave, if we ate at a TS and had leftovers and got back to the room quick enough that nothing spoiled, we'd heat those up as a snack.

 

[ganban]

Our trip in January was 12 nights in studios, just dh and me. For a month or so before I froze leftovers in amounts just enough for the two of us. We had lasagna, tuna cassarole, and even turkey and gravy from thanksgiving. No extra work, saved us a lot of money, and we ate well. Brought oatmeal packets for breakfast, and got sandwich stuff for lunches and snacks. Also did eat out several times.

 

[Trip planner]

Cooking in a small microwave is tough but sometimes budget requires it. Did you try to Search pampered chef covered baker recipes? They have a lot of recipes that can be done in a microwave. Including roast chicken. The deep covered baker may be too big for the microwave but smaller stoneware with a lid may fit. You could order food from garden grocer and bring stoneware with you. The small fridge is also a challenge. We stayed in a studio at Hilton head and I filled the fridge with fruit I brought. At least it allowed for healthy snacks. We did breakfast in the room.