Meals in your villa?

[chipper10]

We will be staying for 10 nights in a one bedroom at AKL soon. We would like to make some meals in the room just so we can relax some.
If you make meals in your villa, what kind do you do? We will have a car, so we plan on finding the nearest grocery store to do some shopping. Thanks for any help!

 

[SAT887]

We will be staying for 10 nights in a one bedroom at AKL soon. We would like to make some meals in the room just so we can relax some.
If you make meals in your villa, what kind do you do? We will have a car, so we plan on finding the nearest grocery store to do some shopping. Thanks for any help!

I try and plan them out ahead of time if we cook dinner- this way I can pack or ship spices. Also, the "tools" can be a lot different from home so I keep it simple. We for the most part cook breakfast, and often lunch in the villa- we did dinners one year and it was time consuming for our schedule. For lunches we will do sandwiches, chicken, salads etc....

 

[drakester]

Easy, easy, easy! Tacos, chicken wild rice casserole, spaghetti w/meat sauce. I saw a neat trick on Pinterest. Buy a pill organizer from the drug store and put a different spice in each day. You don't have to take or buy a whole container. Have fun.

 

[twinklebug]

I can make just about anything I can make at home in the full villa kitchens. That said, I am not even close to being a gourmet chef. We stick to simple meals, sandwiches, salads and casseroles.

Like drakester mentioned: The key to keeping the cost down is to try and bring spices and other items which are regional to you with you (example: my son insists he only likes Vermont Maid syrup... obviously not found in Florida LOL (I tried))

 

[KingRichard]

We bought a cheap $15 crock pot and the plastic liners and had hot meals waiting for us when we got back and no clean up. Just throw the bag away when done.

 

[pkb24824]

We are at AKL Kidani now and today we made a beef roast in the crock post with potatoes and carrots. The last two nights we did chilli and taco salad. We have cold cuts and cheeses to make sandwiches. We also have a Hickory Farms beef stick and cut up cheddar cheese to snack on. Next week we will move to BWV and plan on making a pork roast in the crock pot with barbecue sauce for pulled pork sandwiches, hamburger pie, etc. As long as you plan your meals before you leave for WDW, it is easy to do your grocery stop for food.

Enjoy!!!

 

[gojoe]

We hit Publix, we'll load up on a roasted chicken or 2, the fried chicken is great, roasted potatoes, mashed, coleslaw, potato salad is good. Of course burgers and dogs. Hams are good to heat and eat. The chicken and ham make great sandwiches for lunch. It's all easy stuff to heat and serve.

 

[traceyg]

We just became dvc'ers so this is our first trip in a villa with a real kitchen.
Our menu is sausage taquitos for breakfast, tacos and quesadillas for dinner, pigs in a blanket, crockpot lasagna, home made breakfast mc muffins, crockpot lemon pepper chicken, bacon and eggs, roast with carrots and potatoes, breakfast bowls, crockpot creamy chicken and potatoes and then for lunches we'll be stocked with sandwich fixings and hot dogs. The meats for breakfast will go in the crockpot the night before then when we get up we'll cook up eggs or biscuits or whatever to finish out the meal. We'll put the dinner fixings in as soon as the breakfast meat gets removed. I am a crock pot bag affectionado as well!
We are taking our 22 DS, 20 DD, 18 DD, 14 DD, my 20 yo's bf, my mom and dad and the baby- 23 months.
I figure that I'll cook stuff and then it goes buffet style or aka serve yourself. I know the older kids are not going to want to hang out with us all the time nor do I want to keep shelling out money for 5 'kids' for meals everyday. I'll let them know what's on the menu for the day and then they can come and go as they wish and not have to rely on me or need money to eat. So like taco night- the taco meat will be in the crockpot. The lettuce and tomatoes will be cut up and ready in the frig. They just have to assemble it all. I'm going with easy to throw in a crockpot meals that are easy to put together. Everyone is in charge of either using a throw away plate or putting their plate in the dishwasher.
We have a couple of ADR's too. And we plan on going to earl of sandwich and pizza delivery too.

 

[DizBub]

We stayed in a 1br last trip and got so hooked on proper breakfasts with the full kitchen that we just bought a small electric skillet to use in the studios we will be staying at next month. Eggs, pancakes/french toast, hash browns, (no...not all at once ). The one thing I really missed and will bring with me next time is a rubber spatula.

We really don't want to fix dinners because we will be out and about but it's nice to have the option. Love the crock pot idea.

 

[bltpoppins]

I have a soft-sided cooler that I put in our checked luggage. Meals I have prepared and brought frozen in the cooler include sloppy joes, chili (for Super Bowl weekend), spaghetti sauce, and lasagne. So easy and so great to come back to our unit and warm dinner up quickly.

Hope that helps.

 

[ksu93]

We are DVClubbers and always stay in the villas. We eat 1-2 meals/day at "home" The most important thing I discovered is that there are a couple of grocers that deliver to WDW for little to no extra charge. This is totally worth it! Just google grocery delivery orlando. You order your groceries a few weeks before you go, tell them your eta, and they will have it there at that time. If your schedule gets changed, the staff at the resort will usually put perishables in the fridge.

 

[Longhairbear]

We get cereal, milk, cans of tuna, mayo, bagged salad, salad dressing bread, S&P. I have also gotten frozen stuff like Tator Tots to go with a dinner. Packs of microwave rice, jars of tomato sauce, ground beef to make meatballs. Usually anything that can be put together in a half hour.
However I once did a full roast turkey dinner in our VGC the first year it was open. We are in driving distance, so we had the right pans etc.
One year I browsed through all my Disney cookbooks, and preordered groceries that I needed for those meals, such as Jambalaya, and Walt's chili.

 

[bumbershoot]

I saw a neat trick on Pinterest. Buy a pill organizer from the drug store and put a different spice in each day. You don't have to take or buy a whole container. Have fun.

Love that!

We will have a car, so we plan on finding the nearest grocery store to do some shopping. Thanks for any help!

We like Publix. And if you're willing to go further afield and have interest, there's also a Whole Foods up closer to Universal.



We stick with mainly breakfast and snacks. And desserts, since there are ingredient issues with most of the desserts at WDW.

 

[poohspals]

We stayed in Kidani Village and SSR in November. We only really ate breakfast in our villa. My daughter has a wheat intolerance and I found the parks catered for her fantastically well. Here in the UK I know exactly what brands I need to get her but was slightly overwhelmed by the thought of looking for it in USA. I will do a little more research before our next trip as eating meals in the villa will certainly help with our costs

 

[akl-fan]

We stayed in Kidani Village and SSR in November. We only really ate breakfast in our villa. My daughter has a wheat intolerance and I found the parks catered for her fantastically well. Here in the UK I know exactly what brands I need to get her but was slightly overwhelmed by the thought of looking for it in USA. I will do a little more research before our next trip as eating meals in the villa will certainly help with our costs

Hi Poohspals - We are from the UK too and always go to Publix to do our shopping for Disney- The one near AKL is full of UK labels in small sizes and totally caters for British tastes. You will find Nescafe gold blend - pg tips -weetabix - activia and loads of others. It has a great meat and fish counter and does whole roasted chickens. We cater for ourselves about 50% of the time.

 

[BlazerFan]

I have a soft-sided cooler that I put in our checked luggage. Meals I have prepared and brought frozen in the cooler include sloppy joes, chili (for Super Bowl weekend), spaghetti sauce, and lasagne. So easy and so great to come back to our unit and warm dinner up quickly.

Hope that helps.

I love this idea!

 

[dianeschlicht]

We usually make nearly identical meals to what we make at home. Since AKL is very close to several grocery stores, we do tend to cook there a bit more than we do when we are at other resorts. We buy some of our things at the super Target, and some at Publix. LOVE the bakery at Publix!

 

[dvcterry]

I have to agree with the lasagna idea. Fellow DVCers from home have been bringing their frozen lasagna for years and this is such a nice meal.

Last night we had meatloaf, gravy, potatoes and carrots. Easy to prepare and it was good comfort food.

We always make breakfast in the room, anywhere from cereal to eggs, pancakes, waffles. Make a fruit bowl.

We've used both slow cookers and the pressure cooker. The pressure cooker fits into the suitcase and meals are prepared quickly but delicious. We've seen inexpensive smaller slow cookers and they work like a charm.

If we make a roast, and there are some leftovers, I use the leftover to make some tender hot open steak sandwiches with au jus.

With chicken I cook some pasta, broccoli and make an alfredo sauce.

Whatever you usually prepare for dinner at home, you can make in the villa. If there is something you may need don't hesitate to call housekeeping as they may be able to provide it. They've been pretty accommodating in the past.

 

[chipper10]

Thanks for all the great ideas! Keep 'em coming!

We do plan on going shopping. We have done Garden Grocer in the past, but this time we will also need to pick up diapers/wipes for younger DS. I didn't think about the crockpot. Since we are driving , I think this would be a great idea. I am definately looking for simple easy meals.
DH and I love to do TS meals, but with the kiddos it has just become too much to do one every day. DS(6) has autism, so the big meals can be a bit overwhelming for him. I think that having the one bedroom and cooking some meals in the villa will be a much better option for our family.

Is there a Publix near AKL? Is that comparable to a Wal-Mart (would they have diapers, etc)?

Thanks again for all the help! I am making lists now.

 

[poohspals]

Hi Poohspals - We are from the UK too and always go to Publix to do our shopping for Disney- The one near AKL is full of UK labels in small sizes and totally caters for British tastes. You will find Nescafe gold blend - pg tips -weetabix - activia and loads of others. It has a great meat and fish counter and does whole roasted chickens. We cater for ourselves about 50% of the time.

Thanks - we spent 4 weeks in Orlando (prior to Intolerance diagnosis) and I loved the supermarkets. It's just knowing what is best with the intolerance. Other than my Yorkshire Tea I'm not bothered what brand we buy - just have to make sure no wheat in the ingredients.