Packed Lunches, Snacks, Recipes and Such...

[MichaelaF]

Hey All...

So for our next trip (November), we decided we are going to go super-frugal and only do a few special meals "out" (breakfast at Trails End, dinner at Hoop Dee Doo, lunch at 50s Prime Time, etc) and mostly pack our meals and snacks. We have access to a vehicle this time (we usually don't) and a full kitchen (thanks to our family RV), so we are going to hit up the grocery store when we get there and prep meals.

For those who have done this before, what are some of your favorite packed-meal recipes/tips/tricks? I'm sure we'll do some sandwiches, but I get tired of sandwiches pretty quick (and we try and keep bread to a minimum....vacations are always an exception though!). Already planning on meat/cheese/crackers, Lara bars, beef jerky, and fruit. Crock-pot oatmeal will be had as well!

Hit me with your best packed foodie tips!

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We like to do sandwich wraps on burrito sized flour tortillas. Just be sure to hold the mayo/dressing until you're ready to eat or they get a bit soggy. My kids love Nutella and peanut butter on crackers or sandwich thins. They also like sandwiches made on bagels which seem to hold up better than bread. We also bring lots of fresh fruit and yogurt tubes (that we freeze the night before).

 

[MSSANDRA]

I would use the crock-pot for dinner as well. A beef or pork roast can cook all day, with or with out veggies or sauce. Chicken can also cook in these too. Mac& Cheese done in a crock pot is also yummy. Also consider deli foods that you pick up when you get groceries. MUCH cheaper than eating meals at WDW, yet, little or no work....chicken, salads, etc.

 

[puffkin]

We use the sandwich thins in the parks for our sandwiches. They don't get soggy or smooshed.

I try to buy things that I don't normally buy at home to make it more fun, even though it is a packed lunch. Like Capri Suns for the kids, the apple sauce pouches, individual packages of cookies...that type of stuff. It is more convenient and a little more fun for the kids, and it still saves us tons and tons of money from buying food in the parks.

For dinners, I stick to quick and easy. Spaghetti (we don't ever eat it at home because I don't like it), chicken patties, grilled cheese, prepared soup/salads from the deli section, etc. Since we are packing more lunches we aren't getting tired of these types of foods from counterservice and we interchange these nights with special nights out at ADR's. I go for fast/easy and not gourmet on vacation. Plus, I try to limit what extra ingredients I need to buy at the store.

 

[MichaelaF]

Good thoughts on deli/crockpot dinners! I was thinking how I probably wouldn't want to cook a whole dinner when we got back in the evenings....problem solved!

 

[pjlla]

Will you be driving down or flying? If you are driving down, how about prepping some stuff ahead of time and freezing it? Taco meat, meatloaf, shredded chicken/beef/pork come to mind. Or a lasagna or other casserole that would freeze and reheat well.

Definitely stick with one pot meals (primarily the Crockpot) if you can.... because who wants to be stuck with a sink full of dishes at Disney??

Lasagna in a throw-away aluminum pan, bagged greens for a salad, and a loaf of crusty bread sounds delicious, easy, and actually sounds pretty special to my family! Or meatloaf in the crockpot with baked potatoes (cooked in the microwave to make things faster??) and a side of steamed green beans.... I rarely advocate those "steam bags" from the freezer section (I abhore plastic and never cook in it), but it could be considered in order to eliminate a pot!

There is a great crockpot chicken recipe that has been posted on here a few times, but essentially you put chicken breast and/or thighs (boneless/skinless), a jar of salsa, frozen corn, and a can of drained black beans in a crockpot and let it cook all day. At the end of the day, in the last 30 minutes, shred up the chicken and stir in a block of cream cheese (my family only uses 1/4 - 1/2 block actually) and let it melt. Serve it over rice (in your case I would suggest precooked rice from the freezer section) or in tortillas (also an easy choice). I actually throw in some sliced onions at the start of the cooking too. Maybe a salad or steamed broccoli for a nice healthy green side dish.

For packed lunches in the park..... bagels hold up well to being packed and squished, as do wraps. But if your family isn't used to eating a lot of bread, maybe you should skip the sandwich route.... no reason to get everyone's digestive system in disarray! Turkey (and other sliced meats) and cheese roll ups are easy enough to pack and eat on the go, pickles and olives, veggie sticks and hummus, cheese sticks and other individual cheese portions, squeezy applesauce packets (and they make other fruit blends that are yummy too!), apple slices and peanut butter, ants on a log (celery and pb with raisins), raisins, Craisins, and other dried fruits, nuts (although be aware of those around you who could have a nut allergy and be sure to wipe your hands and face thoroughly before getting on rides), trail mix and other granola/nut type mixes (Planters makes some that are labeled for breakfast, but make a great snack/treat/mini-meal any time).

Breakfast.... usually something fast and easy and universally loved goes well on vacation. You mentioned crockpot oatmeal, how about crockpot french toast or crockpot egg casserole? Cooks overnight and it is ready to eat as soon as you get up!! The only hassle with that would be needing to empty and wash the crockpot right away in order to re-load it for dinner!

Make it easy on yourself with disposable pans, paper plates and cups (PAPER, not plastic.... please be kind to the environment as well!), and be sure to save some room for Disney treats!

Have a great trip.................P

 

[MichaelaF]

Oh, so many great ideas! We are flying down, but we are meeting my parents who are taking their RV down. They regularly smoke a lot of meat (ribs, brisket) and freeze it before we take trips, so we should have some of that to look forward to as well.

Never thought of crockpot french toast...! I think I should be able to work out a good crockpot breakfast/dinner schedule. We are going for 10 days but only going to the parks for 5 of those days (those days we'll probably get back pretty late and a couple of them have planned ADR dinners in the parks), plus we have some ADRs scheduled, so it should be easy to set up a rotation. My family actually likes making dinner together in the RV sometimes too, so we'll probably do that a few times.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I make up a huge batch of the classic pasta from suddenly salad. I add ranch dressing, lemon juice, spinach, grape tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers. You can add cubed ham or chicken to it too. The recipe is right on the box.

Any kind of cold pasta salad would be good.

And burgers and dogs are always an easy RV meal. Do you have a portable grill for the RV? We have a table top one, I think it's Master Forge, we got it at Lowes. It just uses the small green Coleman canisters for fuel.

 

[wgeo]

I asked this question a few weeks ago and got some great advice. We took a lot of our meals into the park last week and ate at the condo, and it worked great!

We stopped at Costco, and got a rotiserie chicken, which was great for dinner and then for leftovers. We also boiled eggs, which were very easy to bring into the parks for lunch. We really like breakfast foods, so another thought is to do breakfast for dinner, omelets or breakfast burritoes are quick and easy to make. We also bought a pre cut fruit sampler from Costco, which we would never do normally, but it was fun and easy to have a variety of precut fruit to pick from.

Since we were on vacation, I also indulged the kids and bought frozen pizza and cooked it just so they would have cold pizza to take with them for lunch - they thought it was awesome.