What's in your 'park cooler'??

[kaa1187]

Hey all! Going to Disney in Sept with hubby & 2.5 year old son, and am planning on bringing a soft-sided cooler. We will most likely stop for something to eat in the parks, but would like to have some snacks on hand, and maybe some lunch things in case we arent in a 'restaurant mood'. What are some things that you pack in your cooler!? Any thoughts/suggestions are appreciated

 

[MSSANDRA]

Do you want to save money on meals or just have healthy, quick snacks? September is going to be hot so you might want to add some bottled water and certainly some healthy drinks for the little one. Also at least for the little guy, maybe some yogurt or if you have a place to freeze them some gogurts that will thaw part way and be easier to eat, some cheese sticks, grapes (frozen is also great) and maybe some other fresh fruits like melon or strawberries. We don't take a cooler anymore but with a stroller its easy and can be helpful

 

[kaa1187]

great suggestions-thank you! Updated my post to answer your question

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Bottled water
Bottled soda
Juice pouches
Sommer sausage & cheese
Chips
$5 footlongs

We freeze the juice pouches and water so they not only stay cold longer, they also function as "ice" for the other items.

 

[pkelly6]

Chocolate yogurt covered raisins and cereal bars.

 

[mrsp1030]

Yogurt, apple slice, cheese sticks, granola bars, water/juice, cucumbers/carrots. We usually eat breakfast in the room, snack on this and grab some popcorn and then have dinner around 4:30-5:00. Depends also which park we are in as well.

 

[BrownMomma7]

My kiddos do a yogurt & chocolate milk as soon as they pop out of bed. DH, DD15 & myself grab a power bar and coffee or water and hit the parks running. Usually we enjoy DP but the wee ones don't eat much at meals so our cooler is frozen waters to thaw, grapes, carrot sticks, fruit snacks & raisins(they love them cold), and some applesauce squeezes.

 

[lovemy4sweeties]

I love this topic! We have 6 kids so we like to save money by having a cooler of snacks for the kids to snack on throughout the day. We always try to pack 2 containers of fruit. We'll buy smuckers uncrustables from Target and put some of those in. Hummus and pita bread. Cold fried chicken (I haven't done this yet, but saw someone else do it). Veggies and dip. Crackers and cheese. Water bottle. Juice boxes. Fruit cups. Yogurt. Tin of Pringles.....I'll try to think of more. Looking forward to other ideas .

 

[kaa1187]

You guys are awesome-so many good ideas! I've seen alot of people suggest $5 footlongs from Subway-I wouldnt have thought of that! We are staying at Shades of Green and will be doing a quick shopping trip before our transportation brings us to our hotel, so I will be able to stock up on what we need

 

[rimomma66]

Frozen water bottles
Dt Mt Dew (for me)
string cheese
Go Go Squeeze Applesauce pouches
Gogurt (frozen)
Baggies of berries

I also take baggies of Pirate's Booty, Goldfish, and pretzels.

 

[lovemy4sweeties]

I've never thought of the $5 footlongs either. What do you put on them so they don't go soggy? Maybe I should ask what you don't put on them? I'm assuming tomatoes? Anything else?

 

[Crystal824]

We always bring a soft sided cooler that we hang on the stroller. Our cooler always has bottled water (we usually freeze one to keep everything colder), soft drinks, and juice boxes. We usually have snacks, which vary but typically include some of the following: , Gogurt, squeezable fruit pouches, cheese sticks, goldfish, chips, pretzels, apples, oranges, granola bars, cookies, animal crackers, pop tarts, candy like twizzlers, jelly beans (anything but chocolate), etc. We try to balance it out with some healthy options (fresh fruit) and fun options we don' t usually have at home (poptarts, cookies, candy). It will be a sad sad day when we no longer require a stroller making carrying our cooler much less convenient, but since we have a 3 year old and a baby on the way, it will be a while.

 

[robndani]

PB&J sandwiches, frozen yogurt tubes, carrots, grapes, nuts, raisins, corn muffins

 

[lovemy4sweeties]

We always bring a soft sided cooler that we hang on the stroller. Our cooler always has bottled water (we usually freeze one to keep everything colder), soft drinks, and juice boxes. We usually have snacks, which vary but typically include some of the following: , Gogurt, squeezable fruit pouches, cheese sticks, goldfish, chips, pretzels, apples, oranges, granola bars, cookies, animal crackers, pop tarts, candy like twizzlers, jelly beans (anything but chocolate), etc. We try to balance it out with some healthy options (fresh fruit) and fun options we don' t usually have at home (poptarts, cookies, candy). It will be a sad sad day when we no longer require a stroller making carrying our cooler much less inconvenient, but since we have a 3 year old and a baby on the way, it will be a while.

Is there a "like" button? I feel the same way about our stroller. Great snack ideas too!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I've never thought of the $5 footlongs either. What do you put on them so they don't go soggy? Maybe I should ask what you don't put on them? I'm assuming tomatoes? Anything else?

We leave off the wet ingredients we would otherwise get, especially the vinegar and oil. We don't normally get tomatoes anyway. But, we did still put on pickles and banana peppers. And no lettuce as it sometimes gets yucky.

A lot of grocery stores sell similar pre-made sandwiches as well.

 

[kaa1187]

I'm definitely thankful that we have a stroller too! Bought one of those 'mommy hooks' for the trip and am hoping that will hold our cooler just fine-if not, under the stroller it goes
Thank you so much for all of your suggestions!!

 

[BrownMomma7]

I've never thought of the $5 footlongs either. What do you put on them so they don't go soggy? Maybe I should ask what you don't put on them? I'm assuming tomatoes? Anything else?

We like ours toasted to keep them from going soggy. Pickles, lettuce & tomatoes go in a Baggie in the cooler to add later and don't forget the condiment packs. Num num!!!

 

[CiCiBee]

We love to carry frozen pineapple into the parks with us to eat when we are standing in line. Makes others in line drool . We also get those prepackaged things of carrots/ranch and apples/caramel. They are already sealed so no water leaking in. Same with lunchables, they are nice for a quick snack to tide us over.

 

[worm761]

I bought these for use in our picnic lunches. I found them at World Market for $3. http://www.amazon.com/MINI-Condimen...rds=mini+ketchup,+mustard,+and+mayo+container

We hike a lot so I have an extensive list:

crackers, cheese, pepperoni/lunch meat
fruit (grapes, berries, banana, pineapple, strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, oranges,)
apple sauce
yogurt
veggie wraps
veggies and dip (ranch, caesar, hummus)
grape tomatoes, cucumber, baby carrots, celery, broccoli, bell pepper, snap peas,
pizza wrap: cheese, pepperoni w/ sauce to dip
pasta salad
egg salad
tuna salad
mini subs
chicken salad
macaroni salad (ranch and bacon!)
broccoli salad
apples and peanut butter
olives
cheese
nuts (almonds, peanuts)
cheesesticks
frozen juice boxes/bags
raisins and craisins
mini bagels
chips
pretzels
salsa and Scoops
goldfish fishy crackers
grilled chicken and sauce
couscous salad
animal cookies
graham crackers
cottage cheese
Silver dollar pancakes (or use Mickey cutter to make Mickey ones!)
homemade gummy bears/ fruit roll ups
roasted pumpkin seeds
sunflower seeds
jello/pudding
Pepperoni lunchable w/ sandwich round, pepperoni, cheese, sauce
marinated mushrooms
hard boiled eggs

 

[kaa1187]

worm761, what a great list!

Does anyone know if the mini-fridges will keep waters cold enough to use as sort of an ice pack for a cooler?