Saving $ By Bringing Food

[tamlav]

Ok. So I'm planning on eating every meal at our hotel. It might be unrealistic but I'm going to try. I'll have a microwave and small fridge. I'm driving so getting food isn't a problem. What food do you bring on vacation?

 

[dizzi]

Fruit and Fresh vegies

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Cereal

Breakfast Bars

Take a toaster and get Toaster Strudels or eggos

Syrup

You could also take crockpot or electric skillet.

For hamburgers

Hotdogs

Variety of snacks

Take brown bags to carry your lunch in to the parks dont take too much that will crush or melt. You can decorate the bags with stickers etc and put in a small prize.....piece of gum,or stickers etc like your own homemade happy meal.

We are going in OCtober and plan to do all of our meals as well, but we are in a resort with a Full Kitchen and there are 12 of us.

BUT we are going to do the Brown Bag Lunch thing.

 

[MonkersMama]

I'm taking alot of the stuff listed above (not toaster or crockpot), but I promised DS that I'd make him a Fluffernutter sandwich while we're there, so I'm taking a jar of marshmallow Fluff also. This is a HUGE treat at our house.

I'm baking this weekend and taking homemade cookies, rice krispy treats.

Also take granola, raisins.

I'm taking a case of water, pop, capri suns.

When we get there, I'll go buy milk, yogurt.

Since you have a microwave, take some micro popcorn for snacks at night.

 

[love2teach]

More great ideas! I hadn't thought about toasters...I could bring bread and little packets of jelly. My advice, though, monkersmama, is to buy your yogurt and milk as far outside of the "Disney area" as you can--prices can be a bit outrageous, as I found out a few years ago.

 

[riley2008]

Think about some things you can freeze, thaw and heat too - like chicken and spaghetti, meatloaf, lasagna, enchiladas, etc. If your fridge is little, certainly these things would be good for three or four days packed tightly in an icechest. (You could even start out with some dry ice for the trip.)

 

[jam217]

Stay away from Goodings....their prices are outrageous. When I was there last week, I stopped at Walgreens for a few things....a gallon of spring water, 2-liters of coke and gatorades. Their sale prices were pretty good.

 

[Katie Dawn]

Toaster is a great idea!

I'll be making things like chicken casserole in advance, freezing it in a freezer Ziploc bag, and then re-heating it.

I'm also going to buy some of the Steam Fresh packets for instant steamed veggies. And I think they have "main course" meals like that too...like pasta with chicken & veggies in it, that you can just microwave in the bag. It's an expensive way to eat at home, but it's much cheaper than eating out while on vacation.

 

[Dax]

For those looking to get good prices on food, there is a relatively new Super Target on 192. The prices are good to, and its about 10 min out of Disney Property, just near Orange Lake Resort. You can stock up on everything you need without breaking the budget.

As locals, we shop there regularly..lol

 

[S. C.]

There is also a walmart right down the rd. Go to the disney entrance/exit near DTD and turn right. It's not very far at all on the right side of the road.

 

[Dax]

Yes that is close by...but it is plagued with 2 problems...

Crowds, and HORRID traffic getting there..535 is a nightmare...granted 192 can be too, but you are not in as many lights going to the Target. Also the Target is not half as busy as the Walmart can be...You can end up waiting forever to check out on some days.

 

[S. C.]

Yes that is close by...but it is plagued with 2 problems...

Crowds, and HORRID traffic getting there..535 is a nightmare...granted 192 can be too, but you are not in as many lights going to the Target. Also the Target is not half as busy as the Walmart can be...You can end up waiting forever to check out on some days.

We never had a problem with crowds or traffic when we went to that one. Of course it was 3 or 4 yrs ago. I guess we were lucky in the times of day/night that we went.

 

[tamlav]

Dizzi- I love the lunch bags idea.

Katie Dawn- The steamfresh vegetable meals is a great idea. Nice way to add something heathly.

My list is mostly snacks, I'm having trouble thinking of actual food. LOL
Slim Jims
Pop Tarts
Pretzels
Apple's
Muffins
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Rice Crispy Treats

 

[dizzi]

Tyson chicken patties cook up great in the microvave when cooked inside 2 small plastic/paperbowls!

Unfortunatley i know this because our local grocery store had a great sale on them and i had about 20 coupons. So that has been our dinner in sooooo many ways this week

 

[dizzi]

Kraft mac and cheese has the single serves and the cups to make in micro.

Baked Potatoes in the microwave with bacon bits and cheese and maybe even add some canned chili on top.

Precook and freeze ground up hamburger....when you heat it in the microwave add a bit of salsa and taco mix....add shredded cheese and what ever else you like and serve in single serve Frito bags.

 

[bear74]

lots of good ideas here

 

[pommfrites]

my suggestion is to collect a bunch of honey and jelly packets from the local fast food joints and make peanut butter sandwiches w/o the jelly....wrap them up and add the jelly when you are ready and your bread does not get soggy!

 

[pommfrites]

my suggestion is to collect a bunch of honey and jelly packets from the local fast food joints and make peanut butter sandwiches w/o the jelly....wrap them up and add the jelly when you are ready and your bread does not get soggy!

 

[Hazy]

For those looking to get good prices on food, there is a relatively new Super Target on 192. The prices are good to, and its about 10 min out of Disney Property, just near Orange Lake Resort. You can stock up on everything you need without breaking the budget.

As locals, we shop there regularly..lol

Hi Dax-
Is the Target near Pop Century? If so, can you please tell me how to get there?
Thanks!!!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Instant oatmeal packets are great for breakfast. Depending on how much freezer space you'll have, all kinds of frozen patties are good (chicken, Boca Burgers, Garden Burgers, etc.). Those are easy to microwave and put on a bun and everyone can choose what kind they want. There are a lot of shelf-stable meals on the market now. The Healthy Choice pasta meals are pretty good. You just add water and microwave them.

 

[stitchlovestink]

Toaster is a great idea!

I'll be making things like chicken casserole in advance, freezing it in a freezer Ziploc bag, and then re-heating it.

I'm also going to buy some of the Steam Fresh packets for instant steamed veggies. And I think they have "main course" meals like that too...like pasta with chicken & veggies in it, that you can just microwave in the bag. It's an expensive way to eat at home, but it's much cheaper than eating out while on vacation.

there's a couple of different brands out there of these. I have gotten the Birdseye fresh express (I believe that's what they're called) in the 4 cheese chicken and the beef and broccoli. They both were awesome. I had good coupons and combined it w/ a sale to snag them for a pretty good price.
Also, Lloyd's makes pulled pork BBQ in a tub that just needs refrigeration (not freezing) and you can heat it in the micro in it's own container. And Hormel makes some really good micro entrees in the refrigerated section. I just tried them for the first time as was quite pleased. I got the meatloaf, the beef tips, and 1 other. They can be microwaved too. It's not going to be super cheap to buy these types of things, but if you can use some coupons, it'll still be WAY CHEAPER than eating in the parks. Good Luck w/ your plans and have a great trip!