Vacation rental meal planning

[tcufrog]

Cook on vacation? NO WAY! I cook practically 365 days a year plus wash dishes by hand. I do not cook on vacation. Not cooking is almost my favorite thing about going on vacation. 40 years of cooking the same boring meals for my picky husband. I’m so over it! Have fun though!

We rented a remote beach house during Covid. It was a treat to get out of the house and we had no interest in going to restaurants.

 

[leebee]

I'm currently sitting in a beach house, wondering where the last 11 days went and not looking forward to going home on Saturday! The first year we did the 2-week rental, I cooked and prepped and froze food ahead of time- NO WAY was I cooking on vacation. Know what? I was freaking EXHAUSTED from the planning, pre-cooking, packing (including griddle, slow cooker, etc), and said never again. We rent on the southern Maine seacoast so there are plenty of full-scale grocery stores nearby. I do one pre-vacation trip to Dollar Tree where I pick up basic spices, condiments, oil, small laundry detergent/softener, etc rather than spend the time portioning out things from home or schlepping all my spices, etc., with us. Meals are very simple. Last night we had grilled chicken breasts marinaded in teriyaki sauce (sauce courtesy of Dollar Tree), corn on the cob, and a bag of salad mix (Thai-cashew-salad?). Not too expensive, easy to prep and clean up, not too time or energy consuming. One morning last week I made potato salad (OK, it's cooking, but I left the skins on the spuds so no peeling, hahaha) and that was a side dish for several nights. We've had pork ribs (wrap in heavy duty foil, "bake" on the BBQ at 350 for several hours, brush with BBQ sauce and grill for about 10 mins to finish them), sub sandwiches, steak, turkey burgers from Trader Joe's, etc. Breakfast is pretty much cereal, yogurt, fruit, bagels, and lunch is usually last night's leftovers or grazing (big fan of cheese and crackers here). We also eat out sometimes. Mostly I just throw stuff on the grill, open a bag of salad, maybe boil up some corn on the cob (because I LOVE fresh corn), and call it a meal.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I'm another one who doesn't mind some cooking on vacation. BUT--I'm not going to be a slave to the kitchen! Simple things, shortcuts I wouldn't take at home (break and bake cookies, store-bought potato salad, bagged greens, etc.) Our family just prefers to hang out and eat Mom's cooking, versus sitting through a restaurant meal. We also do things like grill plenty of chicken breasts, and the the leftovers for future quick meals.

I also don't mind doing a load of laundry or two--you can get away with packing less, and it's nice, not having piles to do on return day. Plus, I always seem to have a kid who makes an epic mess on an item of clothing during vacation--every time. Even now, when my "baby" is 16--someone spills something impressive!

I can respect people who don't want to touch the stove or washer during vacation. Totally an individual choice. Moms deserve a break, too!

 

[Mysterian]

Call me hoity-toity, but when I'm on vacation, I buy my meals, and never rent them. I simply refuse to return used food, but to each their own.

 

[Deb1993]

We've done a few family gatherings where we had three 3-bedroom units at a timeshare in Orlando and I planned out menus because the kids were little and going back to the condo after a day in the parks was the better thing to do. Our menus looked like this:

Baked chicken breast (brought the seasonings in a ziploc bag from home) / 2 bags of salad / roasted asparagus / 3 packages of crescent rolls / baked potatoes / dessert-special cake
Pizza night - Frozen pizzas with pepperoni and hard salami / 2 bags of salad, ranch dressing / dessert-cookies
Pancakes (brought bisquick from home) / bacon / strawberries, blueberries / scrambled eggs / toast / any leftovers / leftover desserts
Macaroni with red sauce, bagged salad, bread
Macaroni and cheese, frozen broccoli
French Toast, waffles, bacon, eggs, fruit, coffee, grilled cheese / leftovers

 

[Frozen Canuck]

I'm going to toss one more idea out there. I'm not sure if this has been mentioned or not, as I haven't read through every single response, but do you have a Costco membership and is there a Costco nearby or on the way? If you are looking for decent meals, but don't want to go through the effort of pre-making a bunch of stuff, I would take a look at what Costco has to offer in their ready-made sections. They carry items that are pre-made, that you need to cook (chicken pot pie or ravioli lasagna with beef and pork Bolognese for dinner), as well as items that are pretty much ready to serve (turkey and provolone croissants with Caesar salad for lunch). There is a good article that lists some of the suggestions here: 26 Prepared Meals at Costco to Feed Your Family. Costco would also provide you with plenty of bagged salads, corn on the cob, cookies, cakes, and pies, muffins, fresh fruit, bottled drinks, milk, eggs, rotisserie chickens, pre-seasoned pork ribs for grilling, pizza, hummus and other snack foods, frozen burgers and buns, etc. It would be more expensive than making things yourself, but it would keep you from having to devote all of your time to being in the kitchen, even if you picked a short-cut like this for just a few of your meals. I often look through Costco's ready-made section just to get dinner ideas for my family, so maybe you can find some easy inspiration there.

 

[nw6675]

Call me hoity-toity, but when I'm on vacation, I buy my meals, and never rent them. I simply refuse to return used food, but to each their own.

Hey hey now! I do whatever it takes to get the family fed