Easy meal ideas for condo stay

[missingdisneymore]

I buy a giant bag of chicken breasts and divide into a few different bags of marinade flavors to grill whole, fry, and bake. They can be used on sandwiches, shredded for salads, etc. I also buy a ton of fresh fruit and make a huge fruit salad that can be eaten anytime as a snack, with yogurt for breakfast, tossed into a chicken salad. We always go through a giant tub of ice cream, OJ and milk with a big bag of frozen fruit for smoothies (instead of paying $6 each at the poolside stand). A big pan of lasagna or gourmet m&c (deli section or wholesale club) can be a great meal with sides or cut into smaller sections for quick serve lunches. Nachos are a hit for very little effort/time and you can be as simple or extravagant as you want with ingredients. Deli lunch meats...oh the possibilities! You can eat it cold on a quick sandwich or wrap, or fry to warm and crispy on toast or hoagie bun with melted cheese and veggies. Also, the Pillsbury crescent rings with cold cuts are a great, quick filling meal for a group.
For snacks, Chex mix, trail mix, snack sized chips/cookies so they travel well and minimize waste.
We have very busy schedules at home so I try to organize good, quick meals all the time. I really don’t find cooking simple meals on vacation a downer and actually enjoy it as we have time to “grill and chill”, eat on the balcony, etc. and just be together as at home, someone is off to football or track practice, an after school job, meeting at church, fundraiser for school...

 

[kokomos]

For 7 nights We have 4 couples and 4 kids going so each family gets 1 night to cook. I’m taking a crockpot.1st night go out to dinner 2nd night is pulled pork with corn casserole, baked beans. 3rd night Chicken, potatoes and salad. 4th night leftovers. 5th night spaghetti, garlic bread & salad 6th night taco soup 7th night leftovers. Breakfast will be grab and go, lunch will be in the parks. Well this is the plan. Hope it works out.

 

[sk8jdgca]

With older kids, we did a night of Guys Grocery Store. You know, go to grocery store, pick a letter and you can only buy stuff starting with that letter, budget battle, mystery item or only shop from odd aisles ( one item from each aisle)

 

[TamaraQT]

I'm ordering a HelloFresh box to be delivered to the condo. It comes with all the ingredients (minus butter/oil) and it's actually fun to cook!

Wow.....that sounds like something fun to do while on vacation. Especially with the kids.

I recommend a couple of Rotisserie chickens and a bagged salad and dressing. Like someone else suggested, a box of hot pockets. My kids will make a deli sandwich for breakfast and sit out on the balcony. Its one of the highlights of their vacation. So thats another suggestion, deli meats, cheese and bread. The kids dont care. They want quick easy and fun. When my 2 older teens/young adult sons were going with us, they lived off of sandwiches. They refused to give up vacation time to go sit in a restaurant. Myself DH and DD would go out for lunch and/or dinner and they would stay behind to participate in activities at the pool or just hang out with new friends. So chips, and sandwich supplies is all they required. Pizza delivery is another quick and easy option. However, I find that the price is over-inflated as they MAY NOT allow use of coupons or discount codes. But the convenience far outweighs that. Flippers pizza is a family favorite that it has become a tradition each year for us to have it for dinner on Check-In day. My kids use check-in day to move around and get acquainted with the resort. I've also picked up pre-made pizza in the grocery stores and just popped it into the oven. While we we ate one, another one was in the oven and done before they could ask for seconds. A bag of frozen chicken tenders is easy to throw on a cookie sheet and bake. Leftovers are also good to throw in a salad. Its nice to have a full kitchen but it doesnt mean you have to spend a lot of time cooking major meals. I get plenty of ideas reading the DisBoards too. For the past 2 years we have stayed in the Kissimmee area (Orange Lake Resort and Westgate Vacation Villas) so we are near a Super Target, Publix and now the NEW Walmart. So we have plenty of grocery options. Last year I used the Online Ordering for Walmart a week before I went on vacation. It was so super easy and convenient to drive up and pick up my grocery order. I felt like I was doing something wrong because it was so easy and convenient. My DH kept reminding me how much money we saved by not going into the store. When we go in the store, we get distracted at picking up EXTRA stuff besides whats on the list. Doing the online shopping and pickup makes us only get what we went for. I hate to admit it, but he is right.

 

[Meshell2002]

We bring premade costco casseroles for a longer trip. Also toast, bacon, eggs, and fruit if staying somewhere with a full kitchen. Also have done rotisserie chicken on salad kit, fruit, and sandwhich stuff with fancy bread. We try not to eat in the parks more than once a day, depending on the day may dictate which meal though. My family will eat breakfast for any meal of the day. I will make french toast on the last day with any leftover bread and eggs .

 

[pigletto]

We really like having access to a kitchen. We are Canadian and the exchange rate is so bad lately that eating out for all of our meals is out of budget. Plus, sometimes we just don’t want to go out to yet another restaurant. We try to stick to one meal a day out.
I have to admit, we also find shopping in the States fun. The stores / layout / products are different than a lot of what we have at home. It’s become part of vacation to wander the aisles on arrival day and look around.
We always go to a store with a deli/pre made meal section and grab fried chicken for Ds15. He will eat that a few times during the week. We will get pre cut fruits and veggies as well or things that don’t take much prep ( apples , cucumber). Like a previous poster mentioned, breakfast for dinner usually happens at least once and then we also make eggs and pancakes etc on a few late start mornings.
We end buying a variety of snacks, cereal or oatmeal, maybe some soups. I don’t want anything that requires much prep or clean up so I do end up buying way more convenience food than I normally would.