What meals do you make when in the cabins?

[mollyjean99]

We are going to the cabins in Feb. and I am trying to think of some meals I plan on making when there. What meals do you make when in the cabins? What do you pack food-wise? Do you pre-cook anything and just warm it up later? Thanks in advance-mj

 

[mouseketeer_mom]

We don't do the cabins but I love camping food planning.

I pre-cook anything I can. Browned ground beef, browned sausage, bacon etc. I'm a big crock pot lover because I always have more energy in the morning to put it together than I do in the evening after a long day playing. You can also make a lasagna and freeze it. I also have recipe for a mexican chicken lasagna that freezes pretty well.

I guess it depends on how your family eats and how many meals you plan to do in the cabins... also the space you have for food traveling to WDW. We bring our travel trailer and plan only two or three meals "out" while we are there.

We do meatball subs in the crockpot one night. Burgers and dogs on the grill one night. Steak on the grill... frozen lasagna etc. I usually bring a spiral sliced ham for samiches. We try to grill enough chicken one evening to have chicken salad the next day.

If I brown sausage before hand, we do breakfast burritos one morning, pancakes and bacon another. One or two mornings with a big breakfast is about all try to do. I bring fruit, yogurt, muffins, cereal etc...

There is a great camping reciped thread around here somewhere.

Good luck!

 

[Readerbug]

I think you're going to get a bunch of people using crockpots for simple stuff- or just hotdogs and hamburgers or sandwhiches if they do eat in. I do.
But also lots, like me, like using the World resturants on vacation, requardless of having a kitchen!
I remember wheedling my DH on our first couple-only trip to WDW (young and poor)- with "I could go home to the tent and grill..but it's raining! We'll get so wet getting home. Let's just grab a chicken plate at Cosmic and people watch..."

Or, "(Big sigh!) Yes, honey, we should go home to FW and eat, but it would be such a better investment of our hard earned vacation money to check out Morroco. It's not like we will ever go there in real life, and look, they're taking walk ins!"

I think if you are organized, freezer cooking works great in the RVs and cabins, assuming if anyone doesn't already cook that way at home from time to time, you practice at least one trial meals run at home with a good guide.

If you are driving and carrying a good icechest, it makes it so simple to pre-cook and freeze stuff like mouseketeer mom said- taco meat, stirfry veggies, sliced chicken, hamburgers, sloppy joe mix, whatever, "freezer cooking style", packed in 1 or 2 gal ziploc bags, frozen in thin hard slabs and stacked in your cooler, then transfered to the cabin freezer.

Iv'e used meals from these cookbooks at the Fort and camping other places, too: Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer: Great Tasting Meals you can Make Ahead. and Fix, Freeae, Feast.

And in the book, Not Your Mother's Make-Ahed and Freeze Cookbook, the author has a sidebar called "taking freezer meals on the road" that just seems like she is talking about a trip to Disney.

But ultimately, cook what you'll not begrudge the time and effort for, and I think most families like thier favorite comfort foods, even on vacation. You know best!

 

[sbtw13]

we did pretty simple stuff. Breakfast every day-- some of the time this was just bagels, but some eggs and bacon (warning- the frying pans are NOT non-stick!).
Sandwiches for lunch- but not every day- some days we ate in the parks.
For dinners I did things like macaroni and cheese and onepot meals. But most dinners we ate out. My family probably would have liked one more meal in then I had stuff for. This is a personal/ budgetary preference about how much your family wants to eat out.
Also- we were flying so I wasn't bringing anything with us, rather I was doing a garden grocer order-- so I didnt' want to do things that would need a lot of ingredients.

 

[CamperMomma]

We always grilled out one night (ahh...I can almost smell the grills going while sitting on the deck surrounded by pine trees ). Steaks on the grill with some seasoned potatoes and a veggie..yum!

Tacos were easy, and if you snag some extra sauce packets from a fast food restaurant, don't have to worry about buying/hauling a bottle that could go to waste.

When I was traveling with my mom years back, she would even buy a thing of cookie dough and make 'fresh' baked cookies! Cheaper than the packaged kind and much better!

Other than that, we almost always did breakfast in the cabin (other than the morning for the castle breakfast) and either lunch or dinner (eating in the parks or DTD the other meal). It's a great way to save some $$ by not having to eat out every meal, but you still get to enjoy one meal out a day.

 

[mollyjean99]

Thanks to everyone. I love these ideas! We are staying in the cabins for the first half of the trip and then switching to Art of Animation for the second half. When we switch places we have the meal plan so we are saving our restaurants until then (although we are going to T-Rex cafe the first night we are there). Keep the ideas coming and thanks again!

 

[mollyjean99]

We are driving so packing food is not an issue for us since we will have the space. I just want to pre-make as much as possible so I am not spending time cooking. I don't mind warming things up but I do not think I want to make a whole meal after being at the parks all day.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) We cook inside the cabin only in bad weather.
2) Otherwise, we "picnic".
3) We have a "Ascot Picnic Cooler" on wheels (rolling picnic basket)
. . . complete with place settings for four
. . . room for hot and cold food
. . . room for wine bottle or soda bottle
. . . on wheels, so easily moved anywhere
4) We fill it with food and golf-cart drive to a spot for a picnic.
. . . for cooking, we use the pre-loaded "EZ Grill" charcoal tins
. . . we start the "fire"
. . . we cook our food
. . . we picnic
5) We do this picnic for every meal we eat inside Fort Wilderness
6) As for types of food for each meal,
. . . breakfast: eggs, bacon, pancakes, sausage, potatoes
. . . lunch: burgers, hot dogs, home fries, fried onions, salad
. . . dinner: steaks, pork chops, potatoes, salad, beans, veggies

NOTE: The EZ-Grill is about $8 each. It takes about 30-minutes to
heat to white-hot briquettes. It is good for a large steak or about
4-6 burgers at one time. Stays lit for about 2-hrs, or so. We keep
one or two in the back of the SUV at all times. Frequently, we buy
burgers or steaks at the market and stop in a local park to "grill" our
meal. A nice impromptu romantic meal.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

one of my favorite camping meals is using a crock pot. size based on number of people a rump or bottom round beef roast, 3 or 4 cans of either cream of mushroom or celery soup straight out of can. put there in crock pot in morning before leaving for park cook on low. when returning for dinner while cutting meat put minute rice in gravy in pot on low. either mix meat in with the rice or serve separately. and dinner is served. just did this meal for Christmas Dinner for 20, just added more meat and soup.

 

[Disneyaddictz]

We have stayed at the cabins several times. I always do the menu far in advance and run to Walmart At check in to grab the groceries. We used the crock pot a lot and the grill! Crock pot is great cause you set it in the morn and leave it! Shredded chicken tacos is sooooooo easy. Boneless chicken and a package of taco seasoning iu can even add more like onion or peppers. I would also prep the next days meal at night before bed and make it that much easier!

 

[lodge]

We vacuum pack a few meals, pop 'em in the microwave, and there it is- a really quick and easy meal!

 

[BeBeCee]

We brought way too much food with us the last time and are now thinking more strategically. Love the crock pot idea as I have camped all my life and have never done a crock pot al fresco. Just to add a recipe for a small roast. 16 oz. coca-cola, lipton onion soup mix and a can of cream of mushroom. Low for 8 hour. Yummo.

Just FYI-We used the pre-cooked bacon for quick breakfasts for us (sometimes) and our 4YO daughter. It microwaves very quickly and helped to provide some protein in the AM without having to fry bacon when hitting the parks early.

 

[mollyjean99]

Thanks to everyone. I have made breakfast burritos and muffins and plan on making some taco meat and vacuum sealing the bags. I was also thinking of making and freezing some panini and home made pb&j's sandwiches -what do you think?

This is our first time staying in the cabins (and first time for the kids ever) and with a car. How far is the Wal-mart from the property? Is it hard to get there? Also, I heard that there is a store somewhere off property that sells Disney stuff for cheaper than in the parks. Does anyone know what I am talking about or where it is located?

 

[Disneyaddictz]

Although I hate leaving property while at the cabins.... Feels like going back to reality it's a very quick trip to Walmart, we try to plan the grocery list to a T to prevent multiple trips... Ft wilderness does have a small selection of grocers and odd ends if you forget something but you will pay for it.

 

[sharadoc]

Chicken, burgers and dogs on the grill, pre-cooked bacon is good for breakfast or BLTs for lunch or dinner, hard boiled or fried eggs, mac & cheese. Plus cereal and bagels for breakfast.

We used wegoshop.com. We could pick exactly what we wanted and what store to shop at, so we looked at the weekly ads for Winn-Dixie and Publix before deciding.

Wal-Mart is always a zoo and we hate it there. If you want to shop for food when you're there, I'd recommend driving a little further to a supermarket.

 

[LindaBabe]

Actually, there's a publix closer than the walmart - I go to the one at Regency Square (corner of I drive), beyond the Premium outlets on Little Lake Byron Road off 536

 

[mollyjean99]

Thanks for the info about where the Publix is located. This is my first time driving to Disney so about how long will it take to get there? Also, is it open 24 hours?