Cooking while on vacay

[tink20]

When you go on a vacation, where you are staying somewhere that has a kitchen and you are trying to save money on food expenses...what are some meals that your prepare. Maybe something special that you don't have all the time or thngs that are very easy, with little ingredients. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner) TIA

 

[shortbun]

We usually do a pasta/salad meal, a taco meal and a grilled chicken,boiled potatoes, veggie meal. Nothing major, I take a few condiments with us-salt, pepper, garlic, taco seasonings the pasta. Then we buy the rest at the local grocery. I never plan more than half meals in the house/condo because I don't want to drag all that stuff home if I decide to eat out. Keep it simple, food is fuel. Btw, we are usually in a house at the beach so the utensils we need are there. Sometimes, I get take out seafood-steamer buckets of shrimp and crab and make my own sides to save money. It IS my vacation too so breakfast is cereal with raisins or bananas, lunch is bagels and cream cheese with apples and carrots or grilleed cheese with sliced tomatoes with a small salad and fruit. I keep a salad going and fresh fruit is always available. Kids tend to fend for themselves often.

 

[worm761]

Personally, if I had to cook on vacation then I would bring (or buy a cheap) crockpot and use crockpot liners to make the clean up super easy. Then I would just make things that I know everyone loves. Prepare any seasonings you need in a ziploc baggie so all you have to do is dump it in and mix with whatever. Meatball subs would be super easy to do and you could throw in a salad with store bought mix. Breakfasts, I would do easy stuff like cereal, instant oatmeal/grits, or eggs. You could buy the breakfast sandwich things they sell in the store for convenience sake. You could also just buy some biscuits and sausage patties and make your own. Frozen waffles in a toaster. Lunches would depend on what you were doing for the day.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

If I were to cook on vacation, it wouldn't be a vacation , so if we're in a place with a kitchen, we'll do cereal, bagels and fruit for breakfast, sandwiches for the lunches that we're at "home" and still eat dinner out most nights.

If we do dinner in the house/condo, it's super easy, like spaghetti and meatballs, soup and salad, or if the house/condo has a grill, I might have dh grill one night and just make a salad or get some fresh local veggies to have with it.

We also look for casual, local BBQ joints or inexpensive diners to get a reasonably priced meal, rather than eating out in nice restaurants every night.

 

[HeatherC]

We always stay in a condo or villa when traveling. Some things we make are:

Rotisserie Chciken with a bag of ceasear salad.
Fajitas in the crockpot. Just cut up some peppers and onions, add chicken tenders and an envelope of fajita seasoning.

We also like to throw some nice steaks on the grill with some baked potatoes and salad.

Pulled pork in the crockpot with some cole slaw and rolls.

 

[NotUrsula]

Depends on if we were able to drive there or not. If we're driving we'll take an ice chest full of prepared one-dish meals that just have to be heated in the oven.

If we've flown, we do a lot of frozen entrees that we pick up at the store, jazzed up a bit from my mini-kit of spices that I take along. Also, usually a seafood boil and also some grilled chops if the condo has equipment for those. My biggest issue with condos is the tools available; they usually have a fair number of pots and pans, but knives, parers, strainers, etc. are a real issue that affects being able to make anything complex.

 

[Sorsha]

Ummm... well... we don't. I absolutely refuse to "cook" on vacation. Its my vacation too, and if I am cooking, I am not on vacation.

Last fall, we stayed at a condo on the beach on the East Coast of FL that had a full kitchen, and here's how we utilized it.

For breakfasts, we had coffee and juice, cold cereal or doughnuts and fruit, or yogurts and fruit, or bagels and cream cheese, or instant oatmeal, or some other combination of the above. We used the refrigerator, the toaster and the microwave, and the coffee pot.

For lunches, we made sandwiches from deli cold cuts, lettuce, tomato, mayo and mustard, etc, and fresh breads from the grocery store. We had chips, deli salads, etc. We also bought ramen cup-o-noodles, canned soups, etc, and once we made grilled cheese sandwiches. Several days we were away at lunch time and picked up drive-thru. We stored things in the fridge, used the microwave to heat water or soups, and used the stove once to make grilled cheese.

For dinners, we bought things that were either already prepared, like deli fried chicken meals (chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, etc), or we ate out or bought take out or ate with family (we have relatives in the area). We wanted nice, hot meals, and no one felt like cooking on vacation. That's just us though!

 

[PatsGirl]

While I don't do alot of cooking on vacation, I love having a kitchen, especially if its a beach vacation.

Breakfast is always "at home" and is usually coffee, juice, toast or bagels with peanut butter or cream cheese, fresh fruit, and lots of times I'll boil eggs for hard-boiled breakfast eggs and egg salad for lunch.

If its a beach vacation, we also eat lunch "at home" or better yet, on the beach I make up tuna, chicken, and/or egg salad for the week, grill up a couple #s of chicken to keep in the fridge to top bagged caesar salad, and boil shrimp for salads or for shrimp cocktail for...

Cocktail hour is crackers and cheese, shrimp cocktail, chips or veggie and dips, wine/beer/mai tais for the adults, and non-alcoholic "special" for those under 21.

That brings us to dinner...we almost always eat out. If, for whatever reason we ate lunch out, I might pick up ready-to-eat food at the grocery store for dinner or just pick up subs but most always we have a sit-down dinner someplace.

So, in reality, I don't do much cooking but maybe for an hour or two the first day and mid-way through the week as needed but we save a boatload by eating breakfast, lunch, and apps at a condo. If we are at WDW, we always eat lunch at quick service and dinner at table service places.

 

[bigbabyblues]

When we went to the beach last year, we made several things before we left and froze them to take with us. I know we did a pan of stuffed shells, a chicken tetrazini, some cheesy potatoes, and some enchiladas. When we got there, we went to the store and got veggies and things to have with them. It made dinner really easy, we just got one out of the freezer and stuck it in the oven, it didn't feel like we were cooking on vacation.

We'll do the same thing this year, it worked really well for us.

 

[ShootingStarMom2]

Staying at BLT we love cooking on vacation! I really feel terrible when we eat nothing but restaurant food and the kids want anything that comes with fries. We're doing it again this year and I've got our list started for what we really liked. We had our crockpot which saved time, as always. Just over a week was about $150 including beer and pop.

For breakfast we had cinnamon rolls, breakfast casserole, bagels, and cold cereal. We also bought lots of fresh fruit especially apples and bananas as they packed well in the day bag.

For lunch we would either have leftovers or simple sandwiches. A loaf of bread went really far with grilled cheese, grilled turkey sandwiches, and PBJ. We walked back for lunch or packed our lunch and shared ice cream or bakery treat.

For dinner we made baked ziti, pizza, creamed chicken over biscuits, bbq pulled pork sandwiches, chicken salsa tacos, meatloaf, and baked chicken. We bought some big baking potaotes which we had baked one night and the leftovers we mashed with cream cheese and a little milk. Steamed veggies and salad for sides.

We also bought some fun things like brownies and we made sugar cookies the one day it rained. We bought some frozen pizzas to ward off late night hunger, and made a few dips for chips or bread.

 

[mhsjax]

I would buy cereal for the kids,(I don't do cereal). Maybe bagels. Sub stuff for
lunch. I do not and will not cook for dinner, not even take out, then I have to clean it up or help clean it up. We go out, period end of discussion, but that is me.

 

[daisyduck123]

If I were to cook on vacation, it wouldn't be a vacation ,

Yep - that's right. No cooking here. We don't even keep food in the room. Thank goodness for the Disney Dining Plan & TIW!

We'll be in a 2BR villa at BCV this summer, & I can guarantee the only thing that will be in that fridge is DH's beer.

 

[kirstenb1]

We keep it very simple. Breakfast is cold cereal/milk or breakfast bars. Lunch is usually make your own deli sandwiches/chips/veggies. Sometimes for dinner we'll do fast food. Sometimes I cook tacos, spaghetti, or some other type of pasta, grilled burgers, etc.

For me the key is not to overthink. I don't mind preparing meals at all. But I think you can get frustrated trying to pack a bunch of spices/seasonings/extra ingredients.

 

[tink20]

I love the Disney Dining plan too. The more I read these responses, the more I am rethinking cooking everyday, and you guys are right, the more cooking..... the more cleaning. I do like the crockpot idea, though, that wouldn't be any clean up if I use the liners. Thanks for all the responses, you guys gave me some good ideas. I know I am over planning this beach trip, but its because I don't have a WDW trip to plan this year.

 

[JessicaR]

I love to cook and I cook often. I do not cook on vacation. The exception is camping and boating.

We rented a villa in Jamaica and I hired a cook.