Staying at Windsor Hills, what do you get from the grocery store

[cwnhokie]

We are trying to make this a more relaxed trip. I'm planning to do grocery pick up from Walmart and/or Publix before we check in to the house. We are trying to not eat out for every meal but realistically know that we will eat out a lot. I only have two table service meals booked right now. We are going to do some early park days and some later days so that we can relax some at the house. Looking for suggestions for some meals you have when you rent a house and what we will realistically use and not just buy and have to throw away. Thanks!

 

[EscalatorKid]

I usually do sandwiches when I can. I like as little work as possible on vacation. I love to cook and bake, but not when I'm on vacation.

If it were me, I'd probably get bread or rolls, peanut butter, jelly, sandwich meat and cheese, bananas, carrot sticks, bottled drinks, etc.

Or if you've got a full kitchen, get one of those prefabbed frozen family-size Stouffer's Lasagnas or other similar meals and some frozen veggies as a side dish.

If you have transportation, it isn't like you couldn't swing by a grocery store if you run out of items. It might be inconvenient, but I'd almost rather have to stop to restock than buy too much and throw it out later.

I'm planning a trip to Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach, and my sister and I plan to get frozen breakfast sandwiches (me) and cereal/milk (her), and stuff to make sandwiches for most of our time and having a meal or two out while we're there.

 

[mjhtvchick]

I have learned from past mistakes not to plan for eating many dinners in - have ended up throwing out food or feeling obligated when I just felt like eating out.

Now I focus my grocery shopping on breakfast, snacks and beverages, with a few lunch items - sandwiches, hot dogs. If we feel like grilling or eating in, we just run out and grab what we need that day.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We stop at the store every couple of days to pick something up after we know what our plans are. Chicken, bottle of buffalo sauce and some ranch dip mix to go in the crockpot for buffalo chicken, along with stuff to make mac and cheese. Frozen lasagna, garlic bread and stuff to make a salad. Carrots, broccoli, watermelon, grapes, etc. We drive down and bring chicken salad and stuff for sandwiches.

We don't stock up on snacks because we don't eat them. We did get a box of microwave popcorn the last time and that worked well.

 

[Woodview]

You are within a mile orso of Walmart and about 2 miles from Publix .... you have a car so a 5 min drive.

Also .... many fine eating places + or - $ 30 per person are within a 10 min drive on Hwy 192 going West towards Hwy 27

 

[Mikey15]

We've done enough trips where we've really narrowed down what works for us:

-English muffins and/or thin bagels
-Eggs (12 or 18 pack if just the two of us, more for a group)
-Cheese slices
-Butter
-Possibly PB and jam
-If with others, some milk and cereal
and
-Granola bars or nuts for to-go snacking

We've really found there's no sense planning full meals. There's too many eating places nearby on 192 and too many cravings to satisfy. It is vacation after all. Keep enough breakfast/snack foods around that you won't go hungry until you're ready to leave, but not so much that you'd have to throw a bunch out.

 

[TamaraQT]

I also stay at a condo/timeshare with a full kitchen so I do a combo of eating in and out while on vacation. As my DD12 got older she prefers to make herself a quick sandwich or so for lunch or dinner so I keep deli meat and cheese on hand. Even DH likes to come back and make himself a quick sandwich and enjoy it out on the balcony. Cans of microwaveable pasta meals for the kids (raviloli, beefaroni) for lunch is a hit too. Our favorite quick meal, sloppy joe (ground beef or turkey) along with mac and cheese. Also chicken tenders are quick to throw in the oven. I keep lots of snacks and drinks on hand. MICROWAVE POPCORN is one of her favorites snacks at night while watching TV. For the packs she doesn't eat, they easily travel back home with us. Because like others have said, if you buy food you will feel obligated to prepare it. Nobody wants to stand over a stove or oven while on vacation, so find things that dont require much time. Pick up a couple of Walmart Pizza in the case right near the deli. The hot food bar at Walmart offers some options too. We love their wings !! I think a 3lb bucket of their cooked wings are like $12. Because of the large tourist volume, the wings are always freshly cooked in my experience. Grab bags of salad and 2 choices of dressing to use as a side dish. PUBLIX also has a nice hot food bar and meal kits. I would focus more on meal kits than worrying about having to shop for a bunch of ingredients to make meals. Keep it simple. Even hot dogs are a quick option. Stuff like that.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

One thing I learned is not to over buy. I figured out half way through that I don't really like to cook on vacation so we ended up eating out more than expected and threw a lot away (I really HATE wasting food). Now we keep it to the basics and maybe one or two "meals" (simple things like spaghetti, hamburgers to throw on the grill, etc).

Breakfast items like cereal and milk, granola bars, bananas, frozen waffles, bagels and cream cheese
Snack foods, microwave popcorn, chips
Bottled water, pop, coffee, and gatorade
Basic paper products like paper plates, napkins, toilet paper (if not supplied), coffee filters, etc.

 

[DumboDash2006]

We do not like to cook on vacation. But we do like condos for the space. For the last several years, we stay at condos instead of hotels for vacation. Usually at Hilton Head. We've stayed at WH once before and will again next month.

We do breakfast in the condo. Snacks and maybe sandwiches. A few times we've bought steaks for the grill and pre-made potato salad/coleslaw type thing for sides.

Our list looks something like this.

Cereal
Milk
Bagels
Cream Cheese
Frozen Breakfast Sandwiches
Fruit
Chips
Juice
Bread
Condiments
Lunch Meat
Cheese
Deli Salads
Bottled Water
Pop, Beer, Wine etc
Cleaning supplies and health/beauty items

 

[cwnhokie]

Thanks for all the responses. Sounds like a plan. We're just gonna get snacks and drinks, some quick breakfast stuff and if we decide to do a meal we'll pick up what we need then. I'll get a couple of quick frozen things that teens like to heat up like mac n cheese. And we'll go from there. I don't cook as much as I think I will at home, why would I start on vacation?

 

[Mikey15]

And we'll go from there. I don't cook as much as I think I will at home, why would I start on vacation?

Exactly. If you're there give-or-take a week, you're probably doing lunch and maybe dinner in a park for a good chunk of that. Other days maybe you're hitting up Bahama Breeze or Chuy's or wherever. Our check-in day "tradition" is an Olive Garden lunch before grocery shopping. By the time you knock off your "must visit" dining preferences, there's only so many full meals you're realistically going to have at your rental anyway.

 

[NiceOneSimba]

The last condo we stayed in had NOTHING but a roll of toilet paper in each bathroom. And we were supposed to take the garbage out every day, but no trash can bags were provided. So our grocery trip included things like kitchen garbage bags, toilet paper, laundry soap....that sort of thing.

In addition to that stuff, we pretty much just get easy breakfast stuff, some portable snacks, pop, coffee, and bottled water. We're in the parks almost all the time, anyway, so we do lunch and dinner there most days.

I'm a huge fan of the Walmart grocery pick up service. You can fill out your order before you even leave home and select a pickup time. So convenient!

 

[bigbabyblues]

The last condo we stayed in had NOTHING but a roll of toilet paper in each bathroom. And we were supposed to take the garbage out every day, but no trash can bags were provided. So our grocery trip included things like kitchen garbage bags, toilet paper, laundry soap....that sort of thing.

Our condo a Windsor Palms was the same way, as are the houses we rent at the beach every year, but it was made clear in the rental information.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

Here's our Windsor Hills grocery list. We do breakfast in the condo, take a few snacks into the parks and keep sandwich fixings and on hand for those lunchtime naps/swim breaks. I learned the hard way that we really aren't going to cook full meals while we're there and ended up wasting a lot of food on our first trip. Eating at offsite restaurants still saves a ton of money over eating in the parks.

Groceries to bring (we're driving):
Breakfast Bars
Pop tarts
Syrup
Fruit Snacks
Granola bars
Single serve juices
Soda
Water bottles
Chips
Cookies
Sandwich rolls
Mayo & Mustard
Coffee

To Buy in Florida:
Milk
Coffee creamer
Frozen Pancakes
Frozen breakfast sandwiches
Bananas
Apples
Turkey
Cheese
Ice cream bars

We use Vacation Central Florida and have never had an issue with the condo being stocked. I bring a couple rolls of toilet paper just in case and will bring some Tide pods for laundry but that's it. We also bring beach towels just so we have extras for the pool. I'm also planning to do grocery pick-up this time. Whenever we go into the Target or Walmart in Kissimmee we just go nuts and buy way to much.

 

[Disneyliscious]

Whatever you do, do NOT go to buy any food items on site from the little shop at Windsor Hills lol. HOLY CRAP they are expensive. I expected it to be higher but $5 for a dozen eggs and $8 for a gallon of milk? Nope.

 

[disneysteve]

We always eat breakfast in our condo so cold cereal, juice, milk, oatmeal, eggs, veggie bacon - the same stuff we eat at home.

We keep drinks and snacks on hand like fruit, cheese, yogurt, granola/protein bars, hummus, etc.

We make the occasional simple meal like pasta and veggies, maybe a pizza.