what ya cookin'?

[Miniefan]

Hi Everyone I am going to be staying at the Ft. Wilderness cabins for the first time in October and I'm interested in finding out from everyone, what kind of meals do you cook while there??? I need some ideas of what to have for meals so I thought I'd ask.
Thanks,
Kim

 

[sweet maxine]

Hey Miniefan!

I think you've already read my post about my cheesy luau, so that will give you an idea of some of my plans. We are also planning a Mexican theme night at the cabin. I am planning an enchilada casserole and we will buy some taquitos at Costco and probably make some cheese dip. I always like to have a fruit tray for our special nights, and we have planned on Ozymoe's caramel flan with our Mexican night. We plan on also having a pot of vegetable soup cooking one night to serve with sandwiches.

I love the Dinner Doctor cookbook. It has all kinds of ideas for things to make from convenience foods. We also plan on getting some rotisserie chicken from Costco and serving our own vegetables with it. We decided one night to have an ice cream treat like the Kitchen Sink at Beaches and Cream, but we will make our own. I'm taking a large plastic bowl, chocolate syrup, and sprinkles, and cherries. Then we'll fill the bowl up with scoops of ice cream, cover it in syrup, sprinkles, and cherries and whipped cream..... then dig in with a spoon for everybody!!

My family is getting excited about having meals in the cabin and we actually prefer to eat that way most of the time. The campground is so peaceful and relaxing, and it will really help us to enjoy our meal and not feel hurried.

Just try to think of all those recipes you've been wanting to try, and use this as an opportunity. I try to think of things that are similar to what is served in the parks or restaurants so that my kids won't feel that they're missing out on anything.



Have fun!!

 

[blestmom]

This is a GREAT question! I'm staying at the cabins for 2 weeks in December, and I was wondering the same thing. Someone mentioned that they bring down their crock pot so the meal is basically cooked by the time you get back from the parks. I haven't done it myself, though. My hubby really wants me to keep the costs down while we are there. I love your idea of making your own "Kitchen Sink!"
Deb

 

[sweet maxine]

I forgot about this when I posted earlier, but we will be having Mickey waffles, too. I ordered a Mickey waffle iron from Amazon a few weeks ago, and it makes the cutest waffles! I was going to take my regular waffle iron too, so that we can have all kinds of different waffles (chocolate chip, pecan, blueberry, etc...). Don't forget the whipped cream for the topping. We're doing this in place of the character breakfast, since my grandson won't eat much at those things, and I can make the waffles for him at the cabin. I hope this thread keeps bringing on some more ideas. I love your idea!

 

[Miniefan]

Here are some of my ideas, mostly revolving around the use of my crockpot that I'll be bringing.
Chili
Pot Roast w/mushroom gravy
BBQ Beef (for lunch)
Hamburgers on the grill maybe some Hotdogs as well
Steak
Chicken and Dumplings
Soup/sandwich night
One Night at LTT on our MNSSHP night
What do you guys think?? Or does anyone else have any suggestions?? I will be happy to provide some recipes if anyone needs them.
Kim

 

[lorin]

A favorite of our family is Chili. The first night we have chili over spaghetti and then the next day for lunch (because I always make a big pot of chili) we have chili dogs or chili with chese and crackers. This makes an easy lunch or dinner to make for the next day after spending a day in the parks.

Enjoy the cabins! I loved being able to cook at the cabins and not eat the same thing every day at the parks.

 

[Miniefan]

what a good idea, we can have chili dogs one of the days for lunch. I am so thrilled at the idea of not really having to worry about going out to eat at every meal, I'm not sure about what everyone else thinks, but we were just in WDW in March, and their food is not that good to me or my family. Well, we mostly ate counter service in the parks, and ate off property at dinner, we didn't really enjoy most of what we did get in WDW. I am thrilled at the idea of being able to make whatever we want, the money we save on food will probably make up for the extra expense of staying at Ft. Wilderness.
Thanks, Kim

 

[sweet maxine]

You'll have so much fun at the cabins! I just looked at the movie list for June, and I'm already excited! We just love this place, and can't wait for our vacation to start. I love the laid-back atmosphere at FW, and just the outdoorsy thing in general. We cooked on our grill last summer, and used our kitchen everyday. It's so nice to have a full size refrigerator with an ice maker. I'm packing a box full of groceries to take and will get my perishables at the Super Wal Mart when we get there. I hope you enjoy FW as much as we do.

Something else I thought about is how nice it is to make a late night snack in your cabin when everyone comes back from the parks. You can't really do that in the other hotel rooms.

Don't forget to check for any AAA discounts on the cabins if you have AAA. Maybe there will be some room only codes for the fall. I bought my AP, and have a very nice rate for June for the cabins.

 

[Miniefan]

Thanks for all your wonderful ideas sweet maxine, I truly hope you have a magical trip. I already used my AAA and the rate is still at $269.00, but we are Fl residents and when the rates for us come out I do expect them to be considerably cheaper, I hope!! Enjoy your trip and have lots of fun!!
BTW, both mine and my Dh's families and from Mississippi, what part are you from?

Kim

 

[Rhonda]

Don't forget to bring charcoal & lighter fluid for your grill! We like to use our grill a lot - so we bring steaks, chicken breasts, hot dogs, and pre-made burgers. We also like to wrap up veggies in tinfoil and put them on the grill too.

 

[Miniefan]

Does anyone out there ever have any problems having lots of leftovers and not knowing what to do with them? I love to cook but I always tend to cook too much and then there's tons left over, I guess I'm just afraid that when it's time to go home I'm going to have a fridge full of left over food. I am going to bring down most of the non-perishable foods and probably visit the Walmart for the rest of it when we get there. Thanks for the reminder about the charcoal and lighter fluid, we have a gas grill at home, so I probably would have forgotten it!
Kim

 

[PenskeSth1]

I like to cook ribs in the crock pot on low. Put them in before you go to the parks and when you get back to FW add Barbecue sauce and let cook on low for another 1/2 hour. drain the extra juice off first though. They are soo good!

 

[warf]

Try Bubba Burgers - Onion flavored. Yummy on the charcoal grill.

 

[blestmom]

I'm going to have to plan out my meals carefully. I won't have access to a car, so I am going to use WeGoShop.com. I don't want to end up with too many left-overs, either, because I'll have to toss what we don't use.

 

[dtum]

We made tacos, mex. rice and refried beans one night and used the left overs for mexican pizza another night (along with traditional pizza). We also took Pasta Bake because it's quick to make. We had a lot of left overs, but with my husband, son and son-in-law leftovers always meant breakfast for the morning. We always had our "big" meal at lunchtime during the hot part of the day so we could get a break and then go back after 3. One lunch was at the Trail's End. Gotta have that buffet! It truly is nice being able to cook your own meals.

 

[loriandmatt]

When camping in general (as well as at FW) i rely heavily on my crock pot and our small gas grill.

Some of our favoites:

freeze chic breasts in zip lock bags along with ital dressing. As they thaw they marinate themselves. Grill them for dinner one night. Chop left overs to make next meal.

Mexican Chicken: used chopped left over chicken from above and place in crock pot with frozen mixture to follow: (mixture is made at home and frozen in old cool whip container - can just toss container rather than clean and bring back home)
- mixture of: can of black beans or any beans you like, large jar of salsa, can of cheddar cheese soup or can of cream of chicken soup, as much hot peppers or chilli powder as your family will like.

serve this over rice, noodles, or our favorite - in bowls covered with cheese and use corn chips like a heary dip.

The old standby - meatballs in sauce. Good for sandwiches one day and left overs can be served over pasta within the next day or two.


- lori

 

[sweet maxine]

Yummy!

I'm going to make that Mexican Chicken recipe for sure!

 

[blestmom]

Thanks for the chicken recipe! I made it last night for dinner, since we had ballet recitals going on. I think it will be a good one for the cabin. Any more good ideas? Any more 'special' ideas like the ice cream feast one night? I want the meals to be kind of 'special.' Any other 'Disney' ideas, like the Mickey waffles? Great ideas so far!
Deb

 

[sweet maxine]

Well, I have an entire thread on the budget board about my "Not Really at 'Ohana" cheesy luau night at the cabins. We just can't justify spending quite so much to eat out, so we're doing our own luau at the cabin with potstickers from Costco, and making our own teriyaki. I'm taking caramel sauce to dip some grilled pineapple in, and of course, all the cheesy decorations for the luau. We're planning on having a lot of fun that night, and I'm sure you could change the theme for anything Disney related. I'm just trying to do my best to keep everyone happy so we don't miss eating out too much.

We plan on having treats in the parks, but not any sit down dinners for 6 people. I'm also planning a Pirates of the Caribbean night complete with a treasure chest cake! Just use your imagination, and go from there. I look at what the restaurants offer, and try to recreate it for our dinners. You could really do some cute things with the Animal Kingdom theme.

If you have time, look for that thread on the budget board. I'm sorry, but I don't know how to post the link. Quite a few people had some good ideas for parties or whatever, and something may get you inspired.

Good luck and have fun!!

 

[blestmom]

Thanks! I checked out the other thread...sounds like a wonderful idea! Now I've got some inspiration to think up some other 'themes.' Thanks so much...I never would have come up with these.
Deb