What kinds of food should I bring on my trip? I will be spending two nights at a hotel and will need about 7 meals total. I need some food ideas (besides tuna and bagels) that I could bring with me so that I don't have to spend money eating out. Thanks!
By Bella Swan from Forks, WA
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Lots of motel/hotels offer microwaves so why not make some casseroles and use the disposable containers to pack it in. tuna noodle, Mexican rice with beans and meat, left overs, etc. another easy one is fried chicken. Pack it in a doubled up gallon storage bag, or some type of tight container. If it reaches the water in a cooler, gross! Cans of soup, and some sandwiches.
The easiest is peanut butter (Jelly optional) and a loaf of bread. Breakfast can be cereal and milk. Many hotels provide a little fridge and microwave.
My family drives down to Florida each year. I always pack enough food for two days. One thing that I always pack is a calzone. I just take some pizza dough stretch it out, put ham (or any other meat) and then cheese. Roll it up and bake it at 400 degrees for about 20-30 minutes. This travels really well and it tastes better than a sandwich. You can put any type of meat and vegetables in the calzone.
Another thing I pack is oven fried chicken. I just bake the chicken before we leave and put it in a container. My family likes cold chicken, so this is a good meal for us.
Also in a cooler we put: drinks, snacks, salad, homemade cookies, quick bread and fruit.
For breakfasts we pack Sweet Bread, Banana Bread, Muffins. I also pack coffee or tea in a thermos. Sometimes you can get hot water for the thermos at a hotel or rest stop. I hope this helps!
My son plays paintball so he & I find ourselves in a hotel for a couple of nights on a regular basis. I try to find hotels that have breakfast but a couple suggestions I can think of: sausage biscuits (bake biscuits before you go and cook sausage patties as well), heat in microwave & include a piece of fruit. Flavored instant oatmeal packet, cereal & milk. Bagel & cream cheese or peanut butter.
Lunch is pretty easy for us. We take pepperoni or summer sausage (cut at home), cheese (also cut) & crackers. If you are taking bagels, take some pizza sauce, cheese & meat to make a pizza bagel in the microwave. Individual servings of soup are good. You could take salads.
Dinner - I like the previous idea of casseroles. Tater tot casserole reheats great and it is one of my son's favorite. Spaghetti, chili.
If the hotel for sure has a microwave, you could also buy frozen meals that would be compact & travel well.
As said before, I pack a cooler and take a thermos of hot water with me. I take a 2-liter of pop to drink in the hotel. It is much cheaper than cans or bottles. I take hot cocoa mix & tea bags for the hot water. If I find them on sale, I will also buy Capri Sun for the car. I take 2 travel mugs with lids that can be used for hot or cold drinks.
I also take some fruit snacks, home baked cookies and a few other things for snacks. As my son is 15, he is always hungry.
Well my input would be: don't count on a microwave being available. And take stuff easy to eat in a car.
Peanuts (preferably not salted so you don't get dry mouth)
Granola bars
Cheese crackers
Apples
Bananas
Lunch meat in a cooler with an ice pack, put some mayo or mustard in a ziplock bag and pack some bread to spread it all on. A nifty trick, I once packed more lunchmeat than I had bread for. I stopped at McyD's and purchased a McChicken for a buck. Asked for some BBQ sause. I took the chicken out of the sandwich and ait it like a oversized McNugget and then used the bun with the lettuce and mayo left over from the McChicken for a turkey sandwich (my leftover lunch meat).
Take some gum. Helps divert the urge to munch while you drive. I don't like gum, I pack Bit O Honey.
Look for some coupons for places you like to stop and eat just incase you HAVE to stop and eat. Hardees has coupons on line; Burger King might. If all else fails McDonalds has the dollar menu.
Pack a jar of ice. It will help your cooler stay cold and you can either use the ice for drinks or let it melt and drink it.
If you're driving, it may be easiest to just find a grocery when you reach your destination. Also, I'd definitely phone the hotel beforehand and find out if a microwave is available.
Personally if it was me and all I was going to be gone is two days I would not worry about taking enough food. You can find restaurants that have specials that don't cost much. Most motels/hotels serve breakfast. Call and see if the hotel you will be staying at does,if it does then all you have to worry about is lunch and supper. If you don't want to do this then I suggest you wait until you get there and go to the grocery store then you don't have to worry about keeping ice in you ice chest for the food.
I have a plug in hotpot meant to heat water for instant coffee.
In such a pot you can heat all kinds of canned soups and you don't need a microwave.
We always take dry granola and fresh fruit for breakfast and snacks. Water and juices for drinks. Canned meat: small hams (if you have a larger family), canned tuna, canned chicken, a small package of pepperoni, and some cheese with bread or crackers. I'll bring along a couple of tomatoes, a small jar of olives and pickles. Maybe peanut butter. I take a roll of paper towels and some paper plates and glasses--think, PICNIC. We often look for a store rather than eat out, and if we need to pick something up, we look for a pizza, since we can all eat it and it's cheap.
When we go to Walt Disney World, we always stop at SuperWalmart to pick up food to eat while we are there.
For you, I'd go to a grocery store at my destination and pick up the food. In the deli section, there will be already prepared foods you can take back to the room to eat. My grocery store has pizza, soup, salad, roasted chickens, subs, etc already prepared and ready to eat. Its much cheaper than eating at a restaurant and the food is freshly made. Plus you dont need to worry about keeping things cold or hot.
Tortilla spread cream cheese lay a layer of budding meat then slice a pickle up length wise roll around your pickle. Wrap in plastic wrap. I used sweet pickle, hubby likes dill. If you have a lunch bag pack in there with a small cooling item.
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