tips for cooking dinners in a studio?

[DVCajun]

I'm afraid I can relate to the good intentions of a poster above. We usually bring a ton of groceries and end up bringing most of it home with us. Something that never disappoints us is the bags of juice-- they freeze very well in the small freezer and serve the dual function of keeping our unfrozen drinks cool for a refreshing morning drink and then are still nice and cold for a later sip. Something else that we enjoy is some crusty bread and good cheese-- let me tell you, that's a GREAT dinner while you're waiting for Illuminations to start! We usually get enough lunch meat and bread to give us several lunches, and it also makes a nice picnic while waiting for Fantasmic.

Can you tell we enjoy these two shows??? We actually plan our grocery list around them!

 

[Margie J]

I buy many more convenience foods when I'm staying in a Studio (like last week). What I did bring along this time were three microwave safe containers in which I could cook/store rice mixes, vegetables and such. Plus, I had the usual supply of Ziploc bags and coffee filters.

I bought lunch meats for sandwiches. Pre-cooked chicken is great too. I found that you can even cook ravioli in the microwave (check the package of the frozen ones). You just add a bit of water and the sauce and nuke it. Get some salad mix and you have a good dinner.

Ask for a toaster if you don't find one in the unit. One other thing, the Resorts have BBQ grills. If one is near your unit that gives you another cooking option.

 

[Mic]

This thread is incredible! You guys are so resourceful(you know you are smart, because you purchased DVC to begin with). Now, aside from the fact that I am a DVC member, too, I don't have a lot going for me in the brain dept., because I have a slow cooker like FTWFAN described(had it for years) and did not know the base doubled as a griddle! This slow cooker gets used more than anything in my kitchen, mainly because it is rectangularly shaped, and lots of things fit in there well. I once cooked spaghetti noodles in it(it took exactly 35 minutes for the the water to boil, if half full)just to see how long it would take, because I plan to take it to BWV at the end of the month. It is lightweight, with a plastic lid, and I have an old tupperware colander that is rectangular that fits inside the slow cooker(I will need to drain my noodles)for the trip down. If I had to, I think I could pack this thing for air travel, but we are driving down this time. We love Olive Garden salad and breadsticks, and we sometimes purchase this to go from the OG at Crossroads and fix spaghetti and Ragu sauce in our room for dinner after swimming or before we head back out for the evening. Soup and sandwiches sound good for a quick dinner as well, so I will be on a mission to use some of the tips I have learned here. Thanks all!

 

[Wes]

bump

 

[Lesley]

At home for a really quick meal we'll often toss a bunch of tortilla chips on a plate, cover them with shredded cheese, melt the cheese and eat them with salsa.

I like the idea of keeping hot dogs and bagged salad.....and crusty bread is a must! And a real simple one for the kids...yogurt.

One thing I'd like to know is which store has the best produce? We always like to have fresh fruits and veggies to snack on, but some supermarkets just aren't very good with produce. When we go to the shore we usually stop at a farm stand on the way, but we don't pass any of these on the way into Orlando!

I had thought of the frozen home cooked stuff myself too.....chili, paella, meat sauce...all my crock pot meals could be frozen in Gladware and brought that way. Less to prep while on vacation and probably not much more to bring along than the crockpot itself. I still think DVC should keep crockpots available on request! And Gladware holds up so well that I generally reuse it, but it wouldn't take much space to nest it all to bring home. (As they call it at WDW- Environmentality)

 

[SimbaSue]

When we were at OKW in early May, there was a toaster and a corkscrew. Neither was in the Studio at Vero during the first part of our stay. I guess it just depends on the resort, but it certainly is a nice touch. Even for those of us who don't cook at home, much less on vacation! LOL Sus