Quick & easy meals in the villa?

[LoveToDisney]

I have never cooked in the villas except for snacks or breakfast, but I'm actually "thinking" about doing it a little on this upcoming trip. I tried to do a search and found very little regarding quick and easy meal ideas to fix in the villa kitchen. If there's an existing thread, can someone point me to it? (I found Rich's pigs feet thread so I don't need a link to that!)

Would anyone want to suggest their family's quick and easy meal ideas? THANKS!

 

[HookdonWDW]

Originally posted by LoveToDisney
Would anyone want to suggest their family's quick and easy meal ideas? THANKS!

Our favorite would be room service. It's fairly quick, and so easy, that my 9 yo can prepare it all by himself - even after a full day in the parks!!

 

[kweaver]

These posts have some good ideas:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=497698&highlight=+studio++meals

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=508320&highlight=+studio++meals

These are specific to ideas for cooking in studios:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=481461&highlight=+studio++meal

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=427929&highlight=+studio++meal

 

[Macnjac87]

Some meals we like to make in the villa include:

Pasta Puttanesca- Real simple to put together and have with salad and bread.

Chicken and cheese quesadillas- I have an oven recipe that is wonderful and you can just have some rice and beans on the side, my kids love this dish, even the picky one! You can buy the pre-cooked chicken breasts, they work fine.


Taco salad- (I know, more Mexican food, we can't get enough) My sister gave me this recipe and its super easy and pretty good- made with chop meat, lettuce, taco seasoning, grated cheddar cheese and salsa.

PM me if you are interested in any of the recipes!

 

[Doug Wolfe]

We purchased several frozen pizza's. You take them out of a box and pop them in an oven. A few minutes later you have dinner, lunch or a snack. Yummy!

 

[InstImpres]

We have done spaghetti and meatballs (frozen bag of).

Ready in no time, just stir!

 

[dianeschlicht]

We do lasagne and salad sometimes. We have also done pork chops on the grill by the pool and a quick salad and mashed potatos to go with it. A baked potato bar is also a quick fun lunch when you come back to the villa to rest. Put the potatos in the oven and set the timer. Have the "fixins" ready, and everyone can put what they want on their potato and pp it in the microwave to melt the cheese. That is very fast and very filling.

 

[kathleena]

Tacos!

 

[Michelemouse]

We've done tacos, spaghetti and even the occasional box of Hamburger or Tuna Helper. Add some veggies or a nice salad and you're good to go. We also like to get the chicken (pieces) that Publix offers in its delis. It is already cooked and can be served warm or cold, which makes it convenient.

 

[Pa@okw95]

I am a member at OKW. They do not have any thing in the one or two bedrooms that you can cook with, the stove, etc are just movie props. The micro-wave works so you can cook pop-corn, but that is all it will allow you to cook.

 

[Mic]

I second the lasagna suggestion. We buy the Stouffer's brand, and usually take it with us in the cooler(frozen). It helps keep our drinks cold on the way down, and is slightly thawed when we arrive. I pop it in the oven, and head to the pool. By the time the kids are ready to go back to the room, the lasagna is done, and I add a bag salad and fruit for a complete meal. We've done spaghetti(with jar sauce) and a salad and fruit, too. Last October we tried something different...the Campbell's supper bakes we enjoy at home on nights we are really busy taste just as good on vacation. Like the lasagna, we pop it in the oven on our way to the pool. Add a vegetable and fruit, and you have a complete meal. After trying several different things, we have hit upon a routine that works for us. On arrival day, I head to the Winn Dixie a few stoplights from the Crossroads while DH takes the kids to DQ or the pool. I buy most of the perishables there, including the bacon/sausage and eggs for breakfast, and the chicken breast for the supper bake meal, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables. I also pick up some deli meat(the kids will eat ham and turkey breast right out of the fridge without bread!) cheese, and bread for sandwiches. Be sure to plan your menus before you get to WDW and take a list to the grocery store to save time once you get there. This also cuts down on leftover stuff at the end of the week. After getting the groceries, I stop at the Pizza Hut and order 2 medium pizzas($15), and go to the Olive Garden across the street for a large salad(@$13). By the time I get the salad, the pizzas are usually ready, and I make the 5-10 minute drive back to BWV with dinner for the evening and groceries for the rest of the week's breakfasts and a few dinners. As the kids got older, they wanted to do fewer character meals in favor of eating dinner in the room a few nights and hanging out at the pool or DQ. They also like bringing friends with them now, so I make sure we have plenty of quick snack-like things in the room and bottled water to take to the pool. I hope this helps a little!

 

[ripleysmom]

Spaghetti, Frozen Pizza, Hamburger Helper.

 

[Claudia Kellenberger]

Last December I was in a one bedroom BWV SOLO for only 3 nights. Two of those nights, I walked over to
" The Screen Door ", and bought myself a frozen chicken dinner. It was quick, easy, and tasted good.

 

[GrammieMame]

I love Olive Garden salads & didn't know you could get one for takeout. Where is it located relative coming off Hotel Blvd.?

 

[JVL1018]

I have yet to cook dinner in the villa, but how about chicken fajitas-some tortillas, prepackaged southwestern style Perdue Shortcuts, some shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa..
Frozen raviolis or tortellini with sauce..

 

[all4fun]

We usually do some of our meals at "home" while in WDW. Since we usually arrive in the late afternoon early evening, we spend our first evening at the grocery story. On different trips, we've been to Publix, Winn Dixie, and the Super Walmart. Our favorite is Publix. They had a good produce section and we usually end up buying some pre-packaged entrees from the the refrigerated deli area and some entrees from the freezer section. (The same kinds of things you would see at your grocery store at home). Usually when we're at home we skip this aisle in preference for fresh food, but while on vacation we just want everything to be quick and easy and so far it has worked for us. We usually buy stuff for breakfast as well as a packaged salad mix and some bread and veggies for side dishes. Having a shopping list is a good idea. In the past when we just "winged it" we usually ended up with leftovers that we had to toss. Overall, we still ended up saving money though and found that sometimes we enjoy the change of pace that "eating in" allows us.

HTH!

 

[Mic]

GrammieMame-
If you take a left at the light at the Crossroads(you can only go left or right, because straight ahead takes you into the Crossroads shopping center), Olive Garden will be on your right at the next light(or is it 2 lights?). Anyway, I think the street is Palm Parkway. Once you turn onto Palm Parkway, you will make a right into the Olive Garden parking lot. The salad is huge, and comes with their famous dressing and 12 breadsticks(make sure these are in the bag...I once got all the way "home" before I realized I didn't have any breadsticks!) We live 45 minutes from the nearest Olive Garden here, so we've made it a tradition to have this salad while on vacation. We picked up an extra bottle of dressing on one trip when we brought relatives and friends with us, and we used it during the week on bag salads purchased at Winn Dixie.

 

[gopherit]

We drive down to WDW, which affords a few more liberties (we have our car for grocery trips, and also I can lug ye olde crock pot!) THe crock is great -- whether it's a ham or taco meat or roast beef for french dip sandwiches or pork for barbeque -- oh you name it -- you set it, forget it -- and come back to dinner ready and waiting! I usually plan the menu meticulously so that there's very little left to waste. Only time this nearly backfired was when my sister and her crew decided to join us at last minute -- had to race out for more stuff, bought too much in my panic, and had left-overs. TOld sis and her fam they had to eat lunch with us before they left to help get rid of the excess chow!

We have done chef salads, spaghetti, french dips, and have done a ham a couple times (hams and roasts make GREAT lunches the next day!) Sister made a pork roast once that was to die for. When we had our fam reunion over xmas (18 folks, four families plus my mom) we rotated which family did "dinner". I recall meals of chicken casseroles, spaghetti, roasts, Mexican. My favorite meal to remember, however, was our "worst". We had planned to be at the parks for xmas day but ended up with 50% casualties to a stomach flu. Stuck in the OKW villa tending the ill, no one felt like going to store, but 50% of us were fairly hungry. Mom convinced us all that there was "PLENTY" of food left. Our xmas day meal consisted of a chicken nugget (that's intentionally SINGULAR), salsa (no chips), Kraft Mac-N-C, and lest I forget, a nice sized glass o' wine.

 

[Disney Doll]

Caesar salad with checken breast, lasagna, frozen pizzas, supper bakes, spaghetti and meatballs, subways (or hoagies ro whatever you call them!)