Easy, quick and inexpensive meals to make at offsite accommodations++

[Northernlites]

Looking for meal ideas to make for dinner/lunch and what ingredients to bring from home (so I don't have to buy it at the grocery store at Florida prices) that are cheap, quick and easy. I am hoping my house rental has a crockpot if not off to Walmart to buy one.

 

[HM]

There are so many premade packaged sauces available on the pasta and rice aisles, it's easy to choose a few of those. Most call for chicken pieces or some type of beef. You add in rice or pasta and you've got a main dish and then just add a salad or frozen veggies to make a meal. Do some exploring of your grocery before deciding on meals. I've tried some of the new things that have shown up in the soup section too.

 

[leebee]

The comment about Florida grocery prices makes me laugh. I love going to Publix when we are there because everything is so much cheaper than it is here at home! Are you driving or flying to Orlando? Obviously you can take a lot more from home if you are driving.

When we stay in a condo/villa/home, although we eat out a lot (I'm on vacation!), we have all breakfasts and some other meals in the villa. We fly, so we do a lot of the grocery shopping there, but I hate to buy stuff we won't use so that's the kind of stuff I bring from home. Some things I bring rather than buy there: jelly, peanut butter, coffee filters, baggies of different spices, ketchup, mustard (I'll buy small plastic bottles at Dollar Tree to bring with us, then leave the leftovers there- or do as a friend does, and collect the little packets from places all year long to bring), zip-top baggie of sugar, salt & pepper. Basically I try to bring condiments and spices, as well as spreads that I want to use up. (put anything that's been opened in a ziplock bag before packing into any suitcase!). OH- I also take gallon-sized and sandwich sized zip-top bags along, as these serve a multitude of purposes!

Meal prep has to be at a minimum, remembering that I, too, am on vacation! Usually breakfast is some variation on bagels, yogurt, and fruit, although DH likes cereal every morning. For suppers, I find cut-up chicken to be our best bet. I'll make a "fake" chicken cacciatore by putting chicken in a baking pan, put sliced peppers and onions around it, dump on a jar of spaghetti sauce, and throw it in the oven for about 45 mins. A bowl of salad, loaf of bread, and a pot of spaghetti round out the meal. I will make enough for 2 nights at once, putting leftovers in the ziplock bags. Makes for a quick and easy supper on another night! We also like breakfast casserole for dinner- one of those with english muffins for a crust, then mix chopped peppers and onions, diced ham, and shredded cheese in with the eggs and pour it on the muffins. This kind of thing keeps in the fridge, uncooked, for up to 24 hours, so I'll make it either late at night or before going to the park, then pop it in the oven as soon as we return from a park and it's ready in about 45mins (which has given me time to sit, with my feet up, and enjoy a pre-dinner glass of wine!). None of us enjoy food prepared in a crock-pot/slow cooker (except "party meatballs") so I can't help you there.

I buy more "ready to use" stuff while away than when I am at home. I am willing to pay a bit more to cut down on meal prep time when we are all hot, tired, and hungry. We'll buy bagged salad, for example, and get some "add-ons" from the salad bar (different sliced veggies for the salad, chick peas, sliced olives, etc.). There are only ever 2 or 3 of us when we go to WDW, and we probably eat out every other night, so it's not always cost-effective to buy full cans of salad stuff, or an entire bag of onions, etc. Yes, I pay more for pre-cut stuff, or individual items (potatoes, onions, etc) but in the long run I save myself money, time, and don't end up throwing as much stuff out.

 

[Marionnette]

Looking for meal ideas to make for dinner/lunch and what ingredients to bring from home (so I don't have to buy it at the grocery store at Florida prices) that are cheap, quick and easy. I am hoping my house rental has a crockpot if not off to Walmart to buy one.

What are your "go to" last minute meals at home? Just plan on making them.

 

[Narnia_girl]

I hope it's acceptable to link to a recipe here. I found CrockPot Chicken Tacos with Chipotle cream a few years ago and it is a huge hit in our house. I've also made it on vacation. (if you look in the comments, Sandi has commented twice. That's me) Seriously, it's easy and delicious, and the great part is, that leftovers can make another appearance as tortilla soup. It's also a flexible recipe as you can alter ingredients.

Chili Colorado Burritos are even easier, and use beef instead of chicken. They also have a second day option (quesadillas).

 

[HeatherC]

We like to grill....veggies..steaks...chicken...pork chops. I always make enough that we have some for lunch or dinner the next day. I buy a bag of frozen steak fries, a bagged salad, etc and dinner is done.

On vacation we also will use more convenience items...like fried chicken from Publix, a premade fruit and veggie platter, pre made mashed potatoes, small cold cut platter with some cole slaw or something. Easy and quick so I can enjoy my glass of wine poolside.

 

[havaneselover]

Rotisserie chicken is my go to lazy meal. I usually serve it with brown rice.

 

[Bkk40in2011]

Couple of easy recipes:

Tortilla soup is easy and fantastic - rotisserie chicken cut up, can of rotel, can of beans, can of corn and some water - put in cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder and onion powder to taste - heat up. Serve over tortilla chips and a scoop of sour cream, splash of lime and shredded cheese. I can make this in 10 minutes.

Easy chili - ranch style beans, rotel and hamburger meat season with whatever you like - onion powder, etc. We do this one night with fritos for frito pie topped with shredded cheese and then another night we do chili dogs.

Spaghetti can obviously be made ahead of time and then just thawed out from frozen. Noodles take no time to make.

Roast in crockpot - chuck roast, packet of ranch dressing mix, packet of brown dressing mix, packet of italian seasoning. Cut up carrots and potatoes. Put the roast on the bottom, sprinkle half of mixes on top, add chopped veggies and put rest of mix on top of those. Add a little water to just cover veggies. Put on low and cook all day while at the parks.

Chicken and rice - cook rice while you are getting ready in the morning. 1 cup rice to 2 cups water. Boil then turn off and put lid on till cooked. Butter bottom of a 9x13 pan. Mix rice with 1/2 can of chicken soup and 1/2 can of celery or mushroom soup. Put rice on bottom of pan. Add chicken thighs to top of rice. Put the remaining soup on top of the chicken. Add a little water and then put foil on and place in fridge. When you get home - place chicken in the oven and cook for 45 min at 350 degrees or until chicken juices run clear.

For morning - I make breakfast casserole. It sets up the night before. Very easy and you can find lots of recipes for this online. Also I do breakfast tacos - brown sausage and then in the same pan crack as many eggs to make it seem balanced (my family like equal amount eggs and sausage in their casserole if yours likes eggs better put more eggs). Then cook the eggs in the same pan with the already browned breakfast sausage. Place a serving on a warmed flour or corn tortilla. Put a little cheese and wrap in foil. Put in the fridge and you will be able to heat these up in the morning. Get up and put oven on warm or 200 degrees then place the refrigerated tacos in the oven on the rack. When you are done getting dressed everyone's tacos should be ready to eat.

I have also thought about english muffin breakfast sandwiches with sausage and egg and cheese frozen and thaw out the night before then put in the oven same way that morning while you are getting ready.


If I think of more I will let you know. I think the chili and spaghetti sauce would freeze and you could bring your frozen chicken with you to keep food cold in cooler. The breakfast tacos will freeze too. I would try it first before you leave to make sure you like the texture.

Have fun!

 

[kymom99]

Buy an unbaked pizza from Publix. Bake it in the oven in less than 15 minutes. Can't get any easier than that, and saves a bundle over ordering pizza. If you can find an Aldi, you will save even more!

Also, buy some cold cuts and make subs. Even if you get the Boar's Head from Publix, you will spend less than if you went somewhere for pre-made sandwiches. On vacation, I don't worry so much about saving every penny at the grocery, because it's enough for me that I am taking the time to put together some things to eat to save us from eating out every single meal.

Buy fruit and have it cut up and ready to eat along with any meal.

My husband makes amazing baked beans. He adds brown sugar, chopped onion, mustard, and ketchup and puts bacon on top. He bakes it for an hour. Everyone raves about his beans, and they are super cheap to make. You could have them with some pulled pork or burgers.

 

[nalajms]

The comment about Florida grocery prices makes me laugh. I love going to Publix when we are there because everything is so much cheaper than it is here at home!

It's ironic because when we lived in FL, Publix was considered the "high end" grocery store. That's before Whole Foods and Fresh Market exploded down there!

OP - If you're going to buy a crock pot at walmart, I'd just shop there. Most of the Walmarts down there are super walmarts.

 

[leebee]

It's ironic because when we lived in FL, Publix was considered the "high end" grocery store. That's before Whole Foods and Fresh Market exploded down there!

I know… but at least it's not Goodings, right? On our first trip, we didn't know better and were staying near a Goodings, so that's where we shopped. It wasn't too bad… On our way home from the parks, my Dsis and I would drop DH, BIL, and girls (DD was 5, niece was 1) at the Residence Inn where we were staying. They'd get the girls fed (pasta mostly, mac and cheese, raw veggies, etc) while my sister and I went to Goodings and bought us each a pre-made meal. It was convenient, cheaper than eating out, and tasted pretty good. Most importantly, we didn't have to cook! Looking back, it's hard to believe we did that, but at the time we didn't know where we were, what else was around, etc, and it worked for us on that trip!

 

[sheetz]

Buy an unbaked pizza from Publix. Bake it in the oven in less than 15 minutes.

I buy one of the supermarket cheese pizzas and add extra toppings of whatever we like to make it "semi-homemade."

 

[pjlla]

Check out "one pot meals" and "crockpot meals" on Pinterest.... HUGE amount of easy ideas there! I have an entire Pinterest board called "easy eats" that I use to pin super easy recipes. I don't use them often (we don't eat many carbs and lots of these recipes call for rice or pasta), but they are nice to have there in a pinch. If you are driving from home I would definitely suggest doing ALL of your prep ahead of time so that you can just DUMP the ingredients in to the pot/crockpot and GO!

Camping type meals (like individual foil packet meals) can be prepped and wrapped ahead of time and just tossed on the grill or in the oven.... and no pots to wash!

Here are just a few suggestions, if you are not into Pinterest....

beef stew..... dredge the beef in flour/salt/pepper and brown in a skillet. Deglace the skillet with a bit of red wine or stock. Put the browned beef and the stock into a freezer container and freeze until ready to make the stew. On the day of eating, dump the frozen or defrosted beef/liquid into the crockpot. Add carrots (baby carrots are the fastest), potatoes (diced whole potatoes or small new potatoes), quartered onion (could also add chopped celery, parsnips, mushrooms.... your choice). Add a little extra beef stock or a can of diced tomatoes. Put the lid on and let it cook for 6-8 hours. Serve with crusty bread... DONE!

Southwest chicken and black beans.... place 2-4 boneless chicken breasts into the crockpot. Top with a large jar of salsa and a can of drained/rinsed black beans. Sometimes I also add extra onions and peppers or an extra can of diced tomatoes. Cover and cook 6-8 hours. About 15 minutes before serving toss in some cream cheese. The original recipe calls for a whole brick, but I find that to be way too much. I usually use no more than half brick of light cream cheese. Allow it to melt a bit and stir it in, shredding the chicken as you stir. I serve this as a stew with brown rice, but you could serve it as a filling for tortillas (I would skip the extra canned tomatoes if you are planning to use this as tortilla filling).

Yogurt parfaits are good after a warm day in Florida! Put out a "buffet" of large containers of yogurt (we use plain, fat-free greek here), along with some diced fruit, mixed berries (defrosted frozen berries work great for this), granola, sliced almonds, cinnamon. Everyone makes their own dinner and there are no pots to wash! Serve with bagels or muffins if your family needs a carb with this.

Best of luck.....................P

 

[MommaBerd]

You can also pre-make and freeze sloppy joe & taco meat. (As info, we are a family if 6, so I add a can of black beans.)

I second the beef roast in crock pot! And if you're getting a crockpot, you can also easily do barbecue chicken. There are even breakfast casseroles that you can make in the crockpot, if you want to justify even more the cost of purchasing one!

 

[HeatherC]

Another thing we have done is order two takeout meals from a restaurant like Applebees, Carrabbas, etc. We pick it up on the way home and serve it with some bread and salad....usually more than enough for 4 people. Best of both worlds...I don't have to cook it and we can eat it right away!

 

[Thing 1]

We will often do deli food. A roasted chicken with a pasta salad and good bread, or deli meat/bread and potato salad. Salad bar raw veggies, take out pizza, a cold cut platter. We do cook at the beach condo but just not most other places. When we are at the beach, we drive and can take coolers so that helps too. Our go to meals there include grilling/baked potato, spaghetti, taco bar, breakfast foods, and pre-made casseroles.

 

[superchime]

We usually drive down and rent a house for the week. I always pack a box of spaghetti and a jar of sauce (and a bottle of wine ), just in case we get in late and people are starving before I can get to the store. This works for us because when we drive we usually arrive in the late afternoon unless we hit traffic or something else delays us.

Then I just meal plan for easy meals with similar ingredients for the rest of the week (like getting a rotisserie chicken and using it for chicken tacos one night and chicken wraps another or ground beef for tacos one night and burgers another). I always look for grocery stores near where we're staying and check out their weekly sales online before we leave, so I can also plan around what's on sale. If you plan it out ahead of time you can bring what you need (like taco shells or hamburger buns or whatever) and just buy the fresh stuff when you get there, assuming you're driving. If you're flying, things get a bit harder.

 

[jodifla]

We love Publix, but anyway: We tend to bring snack items like popcorn, crackers, lemonade mix, peanut butter; and breakfast items like cereal, pancake mix, powdered sugar, coffee, muffin mix, Bisquik, tea bags; and seasonings, olive oil, vinegar, rice, pasta, sauce and napkins.

Once there, I have a 20 item shopping list (well, I try to keep it to 20)

Butter
eggs
Milk
bagels
cream cheese
bread
sandwich meat
cheese
chips
potato salad
bagged salads
onions
squash
fruit tray (snacks or for breakfast)
veggie tray (for snacks, add to salads, cook for dinner)
Beer
Wine
Soda
Juice
Meat/seafood to grill


So breakfast might be coffee, juice, pancakes or bagels or cereal and fruit, or french toast or an omelet.

Lunch could be sandwiches, chops, potato salad.

Dinner could be grilled meat, grilled veggies, rice, salad. Or pasta, sauce, salad and rolls.

 

[mrsabbott]

I wouldn't want to do a lot of cooking if I didn't have to on vacation, so I would stick with easy meals.
Pasta, sauce, bagged salad w/ dressing, frozen garlic bread would be one meal.
Frozen stir fry bagged meals (add meat or tofu), rice, and frozen egg rolls could be another meal.
Precut veggies for the grill, some sort of steak or chicken, and baked potatoes could be another meal.
Frozen pizzas (or the take and bake, which aren't bad at all) and bagged salad could be another meal.
Burgers/hot dogs on the grill, frozen fries, pre-made coleslaw is yet another meal.
Desserts could be ice cream, a cake from the bakery, frozen pie.
I would also get some bread, cold cuts, cheese slices, small jar of pickles, maybe some PB and Jelly.. things to make sandwiches. Grilled cheese and soup is a good lunch or light dinner option!
A variety of breakfast items.. instant oatmeal, bagels, English muffins, cereal. Bag of apples, some oranges and bananas, some grapes.
And a few snacky foods as well.. chips and dip, veggie tray, popcorn, granola bars..

Make a menu plan for the week, and write up a grocery list.
I like the idea of saving up small packets.. we have a TON of leftover packets of soy sauce, taco sauce, ketchup..

Something to keep in mind.. when we stayed in the condo our last trip, there weren't paper towels, garbage bags, cleaning supplies, or coffee filters. We drove and I brought things with us, but we did have to stop at the store a few times. In the end, I think we threw away half a gallon of milk and some leftovers that we didn't get to eat. The non-perishables we just brought back with us.