Dinner in the trailer ideas

[marybrat]

We are going to the fort in August. In the past, we have eaten dinner in the parks or resorts. Typically we would enjoy a buffet late afternoon and be good the rest of the day. This time, however, we are avoiding buffets and such because I recently had the gastric sleeve surgery so I can only eat about 5 oz at a time. The cost of a buffet would be silly with as little as I can eat. Also we are bringing the dogs with us, so we will head back to the trailer around dinner time. Does anyone have any easy ideas for dinner? I'm hoping to avoid things like sandwiches and chips. We will most likely head back to the parks after dinner and a rest.

 

[bama_ed]

We are going to the fort in August. In the past, we have eaten dinner in the parks or resorts. Typically we would enjoy a buffet late afternoon and be good the rest of the day. This time, however, we are avoiding buffets and such because I recently had the gastric sleeve surgery so I can only eat about 5 oz at a time. The cost of a buffet would be silly with as little as I can eat. Also we are bringing the dogs with us, so we will head back to the trailer around dinner time. Does anyone have any easy ideas for dinner? I'm hoping to avoid things like sandwiches and chips. We will most likely head back to the parks after dinner and a rest.

Mary, Crock pot meals seem to be popular.

Some folks premake meals and home and freeze them in advance.

I grill one of the first nights there all the meat for the trip (since the charcoal is hot I figure I'll use it up for all its worth). I do burgers, hot dogs, steaks, and chicken breasts. The finished meat goes in gallon zip lock bags and we nuke some in the microwave each night. You said no sandwiches so that might count out the dogs and burgs.

I'm going to do this then buy some of the sides available at Trails End takeout to keep my end simple.

Bama Ed

 

[Jeepin Dad]

I do chili a lot when camping, usually make it the day before we leave and just let it simmer in the crockpot all day. Will bake a cornbread mix in the oven or make it beforehand.

Kebobs are easy pretty easy to grill up and include both meats and veggies.

 

[grumpyaggie]

Maybe BamaEd can help, as he knows everything. There was a thread on camp ground cooking. Glo and I did crock pot cooking for most of the two weeks.
From roast to soup to lasagna, anything that takes a few hours to cook. A site on the internet is all "recipes.com" .
Arnold

 

[BecsBunch]

I vote for crock pot meals as well. We will be staying at the Fort in December and plan to make many of our meals in the crock pot. It sure makes dinner quick and easy when you return from a day in the parks.

Enjoy your trip!!


-Rebecca

 

[5stljayhawks]

We do some food prep at at home - Spaghetti, gravy or soup, taco meet, bacon freeze and bring with us. You could even do pulled chicken(look for banna pepper & coke? slow cook recipes) or BBQ or buy the tubs of premade BBQ pull X. This helps keep cooler cold. More important it also keeps clean up to a minimum in camper, maximizing fun time . Tortilla shells are great with banana, granola and honey for breakfast or mid day park snack. Wrap in foil and away you go to the ferry... Also make quesodas with left over meat or burritoes...

Pasta salad is good for left overs pasta, veggs and Italian dressing, let sit over night and lunch is done for the next day.

 

[2goofycampers]

We buy prepackaged sides and grill out some meat. Easy and light cleanup.

 

[JETS70]

We camped at the Fort for the first time this past Thanksgiving. We only stayed for 4 days so the DW didn't want to spend a lot of time cooking and cleaning at the campsite. We will be going for 7 days in April and because we really liked the atmosphere of the Fort, we want to spend a little more time there both cooking and relaxing. We also do not want to eat sandwiches and chips everyday. We are already putting together a list of ideas for cooking. We like the crock pot idea. Good hot food with minimal clean up. Keep posting ideas

 

[tiggerdad]

Marybrat,

With your gastric sleeve you may have the limitations of quantity as well as types of foods you can eat. I believe they encourage white meat that is baked and broiled and "chew chew chew".

I cooked chicken meals in crockpot and they come out very tender. Specifically we did chicken and salsa and made fajitas, but you may or may not be able to tolerate the fajita wraps due to some having a bread restrictions.

Precooking may be your best bet. You know your food tolerances for your gastric sleeve so it might be easier to prepare your meals in advance and simply reheat. Ed discussed grilling the first day, which would probably fit your needs nicely as you can divide your portions up for each day, say in ziploc bags, and pull them from the fridge and reheat them individually.

Soups are another option that are good for gastric sleeves and can be made the day of or in advance and frozen.

Good luck on your trip and hopefully this helps.

 

[Merrymilklady]

Enjoying this thread!

Ed - you mentioned trails end. what sides do they have to go?

Many times when we camp I make taco soup or Brunswick stew ahead of time and freeze in ball mason jars. Keep in cooler or frig, nuke to finish thawing and you are ready to eat.

Thanks

 

[CampingDad]

Trails end has plenty of good choices for dinner. We usually stop after we get off the boat from MK or other parks. Grab the giddy up and go meal. Or a pizza. The giddy up and go meal is I think a 10 or 12 piece chicken meal with corn bread, Mac n cheese, and mashed potatoes or fries. I think it's around $25 so it's pretty cheap for our family of four to eat dinner. Pizza is about $15 I think and pretty big. We never finish it. Then we take a nap or a swim to cool off and back to the parks. There is a few more choices. And you can order the potatoes or fries or Mac n cheese as a side.

They also have a good selection of breakfast items in the morning. If we leave early we'll grab a breakfast sandwich or something and eat it on our way to the boat.

Beats cooking all together. I cook enough all summer when were camping locally. Breaking out the Dutch ovens and stoves at the fort takes away from relaxing and doing Disney stuff. Especially when you can eat relatively cheap at trails end.

 

[RandolphNY]

All the talk about using crock pots is interesting to me.

After reading all of these comments, I was explaining to the wife, about crock pots. I don't know why, but leaving a crock pot in the camper while at the parks scares me. We've used them at campgrounds when hanging, but leaving worries me.

Can you help giving me a comfort level?

46 days to go!

 

[bama_ed]

Enjoying this thread!

Ed - you mentioned trails end. what sides do they have to go?

Many times when we camp I make taco soup or Brunswick stew ahead of time and freeze in ball mason jars. Keep in cooler or frig, nuke to finish thawing and you are ready to eat.

Thanks

Merry,

We had a thread about the takeout sides last August:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3144305

The menu I posted at the end of that thread is the Trails End Take-Out menu and it lists the sides immediately after the "Chicken Meals" header. I plan to use them with some meat I grill and maybe a bag salad or fresh fruit/veg to make a quick low-cleanup meal.

I will report more details next month.

Bama Ed

 

[disneyterri]

To RandolphNY:

I love cooking with a crockpot. I use mine a lot at home. Set it up in morning, go to work, dinner ready when I get home. They're actually meant for that.

I have a pulled pork recipe that I found (probably on these boards) that I tried, it's amazing.

1 loin of pork (about 3 lbs), cover with root beer. Cook about 8 hours.
Drain, shred, add favorite bbq sauce.

I serve them on buns with melted cheddar cheese. Amazing. Big hit with my family.

Bringing crockpot to Ft Wilderness, even if I only make that.

I hope this makes you feel better about using one when away. I grew up with a NYC firefighter, I'm a bit paranoid about fire dangers. I love them and trust them.

 

[loislane]

For our trip last August, I premade and froze several dishes. Casserole, taco meat, meatballs for meatball subs, and pulled pork. They slow thawed in the fridge and were super easy to throw in the crock pot (use a crock pot liner!) on low in the morning. I also made lasagna in the crock pot one day. Made the sauce at home and brought along - layered with the uncooked noodles and cheeses and let it cook on low all day.

Other dinners included ham steak and kielbasa with easy sides like a tossed salad or some instant mashed potatoes or rice mix.

 

[marybrat]

Love all the ideas! Thanks!

 

[tina.tina]

Practice your crock pot meals at home so you're comfortable making them when you go. You may not want sandwiches but what about salads.

 

[kmccain]

We went one year on August. It was incredibly hot that year. I threw extra meals on the bar b que before we went and then froze them so they only needed to be heated up. We had chicken, a London broil, burgers. We would eat breakfast then go to the parks and come back early afternoon for lunch and to walk the dogs and then go back.

 

[rbork]

subscribing to this thread...

Crocking Dinners this week long stay too.
Where do you all find these crock liners? And do they come in the oval and round sizes?

Do you all leave your Crocks ON outside under cover or in your pop ups?
Not thrilled about the smell of lingering BBQ pork all night in the pup?

How far is the nearest grocery store for us to restock some produce as the week goes on?

Just landed a ressie for April...looking forward to a week at the Fort!

 

[jbrostek]

One evening on the grill, look up some crock pot recipes. I even found one for beef stroganoff where you dont have the boil the noodles seperately. I have found a couple of good one pot crockpot meals for dinner during summer camping trips.

As others said, you can also pre make and freeze some stuff as well.