Meals ideas while staying off-site?

[threeblessings]

Heading down to Disney in the fall, we will be staying with my parents, my two sisters and their families. I am trying to think of menu ideas for dinners in our rental home.

We will have 8 adults and 4 children 2-7 years old.

I believe our kitchen is fully stocked for cookware, we just need to go to the store and pick up groceries.

What have you found to work out best when cooking for a group on vacation?

 

[SunnieRN]

One thing easy for a large group is spagetti, french bread and salad. Easy to adjust amounts with number of people, how hungry everyone is and even meat vs no meat.

Also Taco salad or tacos are easy, as everyone can build their own. The fixens take a bit of prep, but they're yummy and easy.

 

[leight]

We rented a offsite executive pool home when we got married and had 9 adults and 5 kids-plus lots of visitors. The 3 grandparents stayed at the rental home so they lunched there. Breakfast was on the fly but for dinner I tried to make things in bulk the first nite so it was easier to plan/prepare on subsequent nights.

The first night I made a huge pot of pasta sauce with meatballs and sausage and we had this with spaghetti.

Later in the week (the wedding was the 2nd day so our meal was planned at the Swan) Another nite the sauce was used for baked ziti and yet another night I had chicken parmigiana for the adults and the kids had chicken cutlets with mac n cheese. The chicken cutlets were great for lunch sandwiches the next day for the grandparents that stayed at the pool at the rental home. We bought chopmeat in bulk at Sam's club so used it to make the meatballs, hamburgers and tacos. The chicken breasts were also from sam's and I thin cut them for cutlets but marinated them whole for the grill. I also sauted them one nite and mixed prepared alfredo sauce and frozen broccoli to put over spaghetti for a different taste while still using the bulk pasta we bought. One night was just heros- chicken parm, left over sausage that I mixed with some sauted peppers, and leftover meatballs. I bought several premade garlic breads and what publix considers italian bread and the guys had a field day with the heros. Steaks on the grill another night. Of course we had cold cuts, chicken nuggets, macncheese, burgers/hotdogs for anyone who didn't want to eat the main meal. It worked just fine!

 

[thenewgirl]

We always stay offsite (rent a pool home), and we always have a spaghetti (with bread and salad) night, a homemade pizza (or one from a grocery deli...not frozen!) night, and hamburgers/hot dogs on the grill (with baked beans, pickles, and fries). Sometimes we also fit in homemade sub sandwiches (toast sub rolls in the oven, load up turkey, ham, and/or roast beef with cheese and everyone's chosen veggies; serve it all with pickles and chips or homemade 'fries'). Just toasting the bread in the oven makes them feel a little fancier!

For an "adult" meal that is as good as the restaurants, if not better....skewer some jumbo shrimp (Food Lion has BOGO packs almost every week) and grill them. Squeeze a lemon over them while they cook (only takes a few minutes)....serve over rice with pineapple or papaya relish (pineapple or papaya, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, and a touch of honey - can be made a few days in advance). Now, that's some goooooooood stuff! (the kids can have their mac-n-cheese!).

 

[disneymarie]

I have to have my Whattaburger night

Would like to try CiCi's Its not about the ability, it is about the vacation.

 

[mrsklamc]

On a side note...what's an 'executive' pool home?

Giordano's Pizza!

 

[Darcy03231]

I went with a group of 9 a couple of years ago (5 adults, 2 teens, a tween and a toddler). Our rental home had a grill and we found what worked well for us was to make up pasta salad, potatoe salad, tossed salad (and make enough for a couple of meals) and then just grill hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, pork chops, steak, etc.

We also used the crock pot for a couple of meals. We did pulled pork and spaghetti sauce with meatballs. One night we had spaghetti with meatballs, salad and garlic bread and another night we used the left overs for meatball subs.

We bought a couple of foil casserolle pans and made some casserolles and put them in the freezer. We'd pull them out in the morning and they were thawed and ready to cook by the time we got home from the parks.

Since we were there for 16 days we ate most of our meals in, but we did order out for pizza and subs one night, and another night we got rottisserie chickens at the grocery store and had them with salad, pasta salad and tossed salad.

 

[dyna]

If driving I find it easier to do the bulk of my cooking before leaving home an freeze it put all the frozen foods in 1 cooler do not open till we get to our rental.

Look at all the things that can be done with browned hamburger, chicken breast, I made beef stews an froze them, meat loaf.

We have found that most times when we eat out we can get at least 2 meals off that meal....we usually do late lunch when we eat out but then it's only dh an I

We do a big breakfast before going to parks I cook the bacon or sausage ahead of time it doesn't take long to fry us some eggs heat the meat toast the toast sometimes I make homemade biscuits but then I can mix an cut out biscuits in the time it takes oven to heat.

We no longer rent rental property close to disney since we only live 45 mins away but I still apply lot of the same cooking methods etc on the days we go to the parks. Usually try to have something ready to eat when we get back an big breakfast before we go.

 

[mom2travel]

We do big groups at beach houses - so not exactly the same thing as at Disney and being out at the parks for most of the day, but hopefully some of this will help. Last summer we were cooking for 30 people and had no problems!

We all drive to the beach, and someone usually brings frozen lasagna or ziti, then we buy bread and bagged salad once we get there to go with it.

Hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill are relatively quick and easy w/ a few sides.

Mexican night - brown up some beef for tacos, heat some beans for burritos and the rest is mostly cold stuff that is fairly easy.

The most important thing is to plan less meals than you have days - we always have leftovers and do potluck night to get rid of them so we don't waste food (or $$). We figure we can always do take-out on our last night if we have no food left.

Have fun!

 

[swilshire]

We do a lot of heat and eat type stuff since everybody likes to eat on their own schedule. We hit Sams and load up on appetizer type things, big pans of frozen lasagna, salad fixins, etc. We also do a pot of chili and maybe some baked chicken.

Sheila

 

[Kay1]

I would hit Costco for their huge Caesar and Greek salads, fruit and veggie trays, snacks, pizzas, and frozen casseroles. That should be a start toward throwing something together every night. They also have those big packs of steaks and scalloped potatoes, if you want something more.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We hit Sam's Club too and get lots of frozen meals like lasagna, casseroles, cheese sticks, hot dogs, hamburgers, etc., as well as some of their already prepared fresh meals like salads, sushi, ribs, rotisserie chicken, sub sandwiches.

 

[threeblessings]

Wow, great ideas everyone! Thank you for sharing!

 

[3mickeymom]

make cooking for a group easier. Chicken chili is easy. Tortellini Alfredo with ham and peas. Meatballs cooked in a crockpot with sauce to make meatball subs. Bring a frozen lasagna if driving from home. Cook anything on the grill and add a salad or veggie. Buy roasted chickens from Walmart add a veggie and a baked potato. Broil frozen fish filets with lemon butter in foil. Marinated London Broil grilled and sliced thin, with mushrooms and carmelized onions served on a long loaf of bread. Plan some meals ahead of time along with a shopping list for each dinner to take the stress out of cooking for a big group. have a wonderful time!

 

[ShootingStarMom2]

For those that take frozen food from home (lasagna, etc) how do you keep it cold? We're most likely going to drive this year and with a 2 day drive I'm thinking some dry ice? Or just change the ice when we make our stops?

We have a cooler that plugs into the outlet but we've never used it longer than a day trip.

We usually make crock pot meals like chicken tacos, meatloaf, and pulled pork sandwiches. We also make a few easy meals like soup over rice, chipped beef over mashed potatoes, and sandwiches.

 

[smokeyblue]

In my experience about 90% of vacation rentals have terrible cookware. I don't know your mode of trasportation, but I would suggest at least bringing one big skillet or even two with the amount of people you're talking about.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

In my experience about 90% of vacation rentals have terrible cookware. I don't know your mode of trasportation, but I would suggest at least bringing one big skillet or even two with the amount of people you're talking about.

I second this suggestion.