Vacation Cooking
We are vacationing in Florida in a rental condo. What are some good meals that I can cook that will please two elderly people, two children under 3 and my husband (who by the way is very easy to please)?
There is no grill, but an oven (no sheet pans though), a stove-top and a microwave. We're not really a good group to go out eating and have so far eaten out too much already. I made burgers tonight and club sandwiches yesterday. Any other ideas?
Thanks so much!
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22 Comments:
It really depends on everyone's tastes and how picky they are. My fallback dinner is usually pasta. Comfort food dishes (lasagna, mac and cheese, spaghetti with meatballs, spaghetti bolognese, fettucini alfredo, etc) are usually crowd-pleasers. Or you can cook on the healthier side and whip up a primavera or marinara sauce, or go with a red or olive oil based seafood sauce.
Alternately, I can't see anyone complaining about a dish like sloppy joes. Or you could put together a burrito bar (easier than you'd think...tortillas, can of beans, chopped veggies, jar of salsa, sour cream and/or guac, shredded cheese, maybe some meat if you feel like prepping it, and let everyone put together exactly what they want).
cycorider at 11:19PM on 03/17/09
Go simple but special. Are you near the coast? Check out a local seafood/meat market and do a nice surf and turf dinner, say tenderloin with lobster or shrimp, baked potatoes and roasted or steamed vegetables.
Other comfort-style meals might be nice, too. Chicken and dumplings, stews, etc. could be a good, satisfying anchor to a nice family vacation.
hungryinhouston at 12:13AM on 03/18/09
Since I'm in England forgive me for not knowing what the weather is like right now but salad is screaming out to me. If you're on vacation you don't want to spend loads of time preparing- I'd chop it all into separate bowls and let everyone serve themselves, with some fresh seafood if it is available. Enjoy your holiday!
paynter at 4:47AM on 03/18/09
Slow cooked anything - do you by chance have a crock pot with you? What comes to mind is chili w/ cheese and rice. Local seafood which should be good, can be turned into a nice gumbo. A good pot roast. Also one of our favorites and you can do this in the oven is Big Twice Baked Stuffed potatoes.
On vacations - I like to keep in simple. Have a good time.
Ribster at 5:17AM on 03/18/09
Pasta salad, orzo salads, Potato salads, omeletes, fish. You can buy rotisseri chicken and make sandwiches. I'd just use a lot of fresh produce.
orchidgirl at 10:43AM on 03/18/09
How about a shrimp/crab boil?? Go to a local fishmonger and get some good local shrimp and crab...throw it all in a pot with some Old Bay. In another pot, melt a whole mess of butter with some chopped garlic and creole seasoning. Serve with french fries or roasted potatoes and a good salad. Enjoy Florida!
juliebugsmama at 10:48AM on 03/18/09
I would try salad using fresh florida produce, good loaf of garlic/Italian bread and insert protein
pan fried steaks, grouper, salmon, chicken piccata.
Pasta bakes are great too, if you don' t have pans, oick up the aluminum ones hefy an glad make, this will allow you to make suffed shells, lasagna, baked ziti, mac and cheese, tuna noodle casserole and roast meats and veggies.
Also a breakfast for dinner may be fun eggs/omlettes, pancakes french toast. Have fun
KtMc24 at 10:48AM on 03/18/09
Just got back from a week on the gulf coast with 6 friends. we did simple and fairly quick meals like shrimp scampi, roasted chicken and potatoes, sandwiches, pancakes and waffles (breakfast for dinner was a huge hit), etc. Since I was the main cook I tried to find things that would leave me with minimal clean up... after all you're on vacation!
vanillapudding99 at 10:54AM on 03/18/09
Do you have a casserole dish? I bet you could make a nice lasagna that will please everyone!
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 11:52AM on 03/18/09
Chicken 'n' dumplings. Boil a chicken, bone, it back in the broth. Buy a box of Bisquick and a half gallon of milk. 2 cups Bisquick, 2/3 cup milk. Kids love it, old folks love it.
1stmakearoux at 12:33PM on 03/18/09
I'm always a fan of oven-braising a giant pork shoulder roast in some water and cider vinegar, shredding it, and serving it (with our without BBQ sauce) as sandwiches w/coleslaw, or an entree with some mac n' cheese and a salad (or both on seprarate days). It's old school, so the elderly folks love it, and kids go gaga for it.
erancili at 1:05PM on 03/18/09
Oh! And you can marinate a flank steak overnight w/some simple ingredients and then broil it--serve it as an entree or over salads.
erancili at 1:07PM on 03/18/09
We always had a ham at the beach. Hot one night and then sanwiches and potato salad. To simplify the potato salad you could cook the potatos in the microwave. I've done it before in a pinch.
NO_Pam at 2:21PM on 03/18/09
Mac and Cheese!! Easy, budget friendly, and ALWAYS the top of everyone's list.
rockinTACO at 2:48PM on 03/18/09
I was just in Florida last month renting a house with some friends. We had a grill though, that helped a lot.
As someone who once lived in Fl, I would suggest that you check the local Publix supermarket for some deals. Most of the prepared deli food is exceptional, breads and pastries are always fresh, I dont know if all of the stores have fried chicken, but I remember the fried chicken being cheaper and tastier than KFC. Also don't hesitate to buy any items that are Publix brand over brand name, there were a few items we got, frozen food, snacks, canned good, etc. and we all thought they were just as good as the name brand products.
From our experience just make easy meals, your on vacation, no one cares what they are eating as long as there is a meal being served. If your kids have sandwiches for lunch every day at school they really wont care, they are used to it. Stock sandwich bread, meats, and cheeses. Buy lettuce, tomatoes, and whatever else your family normally puts on their sandwiches, but make sure to cut everything up right away, so when someone wants a sandwich it will be very easy to put together. Also buy snacks and leave them out if possible, if everyone has access to snacks all day, they wont be so hungry at every meal.
Our main thing was that we didn't want to spend more than 30 minutes in the kitchen making any meal. All meat that we brought was very thinly pounded so it cooked fast, if you want to do fish just buy one long fillet and bake up with lemon and some seasoning. 1 day we peeled and cut enough potatoes for 2 breakfasts, we put the portion for day 2 in a bowl with water and put in the fridge for day 2, that worked really well. Bagels are great for breakfast because you can just put everything on the table and everyone helps themselves. Even though we had a grill one night, we just boiled up some hot dogs and ate them at the table outside (were just all to lazy to fire up the grill), just having the opportunity to eat the hot dogs outside was nice. Rice is good too, we made one big pot, had it with beans one night, and with some sauted veggies second night.
Hope you can enjoy the rest of your vacation!
allakarasik at 3:14PM on 03/18/09
spring for a $5 sheet pan at the local discount store. make foil dinner packets, everything sliced thin, seasoned well and wrapped up in a foil pouch -- in the oven 20 minutes, or until it seems like everything would be cooked through. Or you could buy those microwave steam bags and do something similar (I think there are recipes inside the box). do look for the simple store-prepared foods, some can be really tasty without all the weird stuff you find in the boxed prepared foods.
susanova at 4:23PM on 03/18/09
We always make different pastas when we stay at a condo when we go skiing... these are a few of my nieces favorites:
Shrek's "Spaghetti"
Shrek's Pasta 2
Mac and Cheese
Pita Pizzas with Arugula Salad - the salad pasrt was more for the adults
Fettuccini Alfredo
Madelyn
KarmaFreeCooking
MadelynRodriguez at 6:55PM on 03/18/09
Thanks everyone! The mac and cheese was a hit, and tomorrow I'm going to do fish. The sandwich idea is working out great for lunches, especially having everything ready to go so people can help themselves.
Peony at 8:45PM on 03/18/09
Hot dogs or Italian sausage w/ peppers & onion?
beano at 11:31PM on 03/18/09
Taco buffet!
Brown up some ground beef, add the little bit of water and the (cheap) pre-packaged beef taco seasoning.
Set out the taco shells, shredded cheese, chopped/shredded lettuce, reheated canned beans, salsa and/or chopped tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole, etc.
Easy, cheap, and sure to please children and adults alike! Have a great vacation, Florida is a great place to be right now! :)
eriikkaa at 11:47PM on 03/18/09
This likely won't help now but I thought I'd tell you about it. When I travel I take "The Ultimate RV Cookbook, Recipes for the Traveling Chef" with me. The book is sectioned into three days worth of meals with shopping lists. It makes creating meals much easier when I'm traveling by RV or in a hotel with a mini kitchen.
Laura Flowers at 11:01AM on 03/19/09
We always do pancake night.
CATERPILLARGIRL at 5:39PM on 03/19/09