Well, my semester is winding down and I'm starting to have a bit more free time.
So, I spent a little time working on our menu for the trip. For a month or so there, I was really hoping to manage saving for our meals and just eating at inexpensive restaurants during the trip. But, with Em's eye springing a leak, the need to put up new siding, and all that fun life stuff, I decided to just go with the cheaper option and make our own food on the trip.
That said, I don't want to do a lot of work, or at least I don't want to feel like half our trip is spent in food prep. I also don't want a completely boring menu of deli sandwiches and chips.
So, here's what I've got so far.
And if anyone has any other suggestions that I can make work, please, please share them.
For now, I'm focusing on the Disney part of the trip. Since we will have the grill and our portable stove. I'm not yet sure what I'll do on our last couple days at Universal. I really don't want to live on sandwiches for three days. lol. I've gotta put some thought into that. Maybe we'll make another
Walmart run on the day we move and get some "new" cold items like tuna salad.
Anyway, here goes:
We'll be at Disney from early Saturday to early Thursday. That's six breakfasts, five lunches and five dinners.
Dinners:
Skyline Chili Spaghetti
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This is a local favorite. And if you've never had Skyline, well you haven't lived. It's pretty much the only place in town we eat at. lol. So, even though we get it often enough, I know the family will enjoy it on vacation.
I plan to buy the chili sauce, bag it in a large Ziploc and freeze it.
I'm also going to precook the spaghetti noodles and bag them and keep them cool in the cooler.
We'll pick up the cheddar cheese when we do our shopping in Orlando.
And I may also get some Texas Toast during our shopping trip.
Pure evil on a plate. And all I'll have to do to prep the food the fort is boil a pan of water to warm through the bags of sauce and noodles. And toast the Texas Toast on our griddle. Barely any mess or cleanup with this one.
I'll probably reserve this for one of the water park days since it's very filling and swimming always makes my crew hungry.
Hamburgers
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That's sort of a gimme on a camping trip, right?
All I need are some frozen hamburger patties to cook up on the grill.
Obviously buns and some condiments. I'm trying to find a way to get the small packets of ketchup and mustard, mayo, etc. before our trip, so I don't have to deal with large bottles of the stuff. We won't need much and the less we have to carry/store, the better.
I've got some frozen garden corn, already in Ziploc freezer bags which I'll bring for a side. Easy peasy. Boil in the bag and done.
We'll use the grill for the burgers. So, again, very little mess or cleanup required.
Brats.
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Another camping tradition. We never eat these at home, so it's a nice change of pace when camping.
We'll probably have baked beans or potato salad and some yummy watermelon, purchased in Orlando, on the side. Another no muss, no fuss dinner. This is really the only other meal where I need ketchup/mustard. So, you can see why I don't want to bring an entire bottle of these. I've got to come up with a solution to this little issue somehow.
Walking Tacos
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Simple enough. Corn chips I can pick up in Orlando, and precooked and frozen taco meat, which I can warm through in boiling water. Another simple and easy meal.
But, this is one meal I'm less than excited about. The kids love it, but it just feels like a snack to me, not a meal. Probably because it's what people get at football games around here. lol. And seriously, it's based on chips.
I know I can doll it up with lettuce and tomatoes and sour creme for more of a taco salad type dinner. But, I'm just not sold on this one yet. So, if you've got any other ideas or ways to make it feel more like a meal, I'd love to hear it.
Barbecue Beef Sandwiches.
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This is Matt's FAVORITE. I make it at home whenever we can find a good roast on sale. So, I know he'll love this. And, again, it' will be pretty easy to just warm through in boiling water.
It would be really nice to have diced baked potatoes (cooked in foil over the grill) for this meal. So, I'm considering that also.
This will probably be another heavy meal for a water park day since it's much more filling.
And, if anyone is wondering, I did as much research as I could on cooking in ziplocs. As long as I stick with name brand there doesn't seem to be any concerns (chemicals leaching into foods, etc).
I've never used this method before, but read about it on a lot of camping boards, and it will save all the dish washing we've done on other camping trips. So, we'll see how it goes.
So, that will cover our five dinners at Ft. Wilderness.
I can't wait to see Garren's reaction. 
. He told her "it's only because your the oldest." lol.
All I've got left is two tests, one short speech, and a presentation that is finished and ready to go. COOL!
) Weeding sucks. 
Drives me crazy. 
I didn't mean to torture anyone. 
They are really good through, aren't they?? 
They should give me a free 5-way for drumming up business. 
Okay, time to go to sleep. 
