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I'm traveling with a small group next month (3 or 4 people) and we're trying to remain on a budget. Due to that, we will not be eating out and will be sticking to hotel cooking. We'd like to not do Ramen or grilled cheese every night.
We have access to microwaves, mini fridges, and coffee pots in our hotel rooms.
I have an electric kettle/steamer/multi cooker (that $15 Presto one) and mini Nu Wave oven, but would rather just take one rather than both. I also have a rather large cooler I could possibly take, depending on luggage.
We did this once before, but weren't health conscious then. We ate pasta and mac & cheese just about every night of that trip and packed some bread and made PB&Js for lunch. We'd like to eat food that won't make us feel sluggish so we can enjoy the trip.
What healthy (or at least, semi-healthy) easy-to-prep meals do you suggest? Do you have any hotel cooking stories?
I would buy a rice steamer/cooker-makes rice and you can steam fish/chicken/vegetables in it. You can also use it to reheat foods as well. It's a versatile piece cookery.
If you like bacon, get a bacon tray. If you want eggs, they have a nifty egg omelet pan that makes decent eggs.
All the above would cost at most $30 if you bought all three.
I stayed in Texas and hotel once for almost 5 months for a job training trip. And I grew weary of eating out three times a day and bought the above items I mentioned. Some were failures but for the most part, I was able to make basic foods that I normally make on the stove.
The kettle would be handy for hot water but you can use the hotel coffee maker to heat up water. (brew without a filter/coffe) I would take the oven so you can do toast, steaks, hot sandwiches etc. Oh and an iron makes a good panini. Buy foil, cover the sandwich in foil and press on both sides with the iron for a few minutes per side. Video on it...lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-gTyUeenog
I always pack a hot plate and some camping cookware in my checked bag if I'm flying and staying somewhere with no kitchen. They're fairly light, don't take up much space and I can make soup, pasta, oatmeal, hot sandwiches, rice, etc.
I'm traveling with a small group next month (3 or 4 people) and we're trying to remain on a budget. Due to that, we will not be eating out and will be sticking to hotel cooking. We'd like to not do Ramen or grilled cheese every night.
We have access to microwaves, mini fridges, and coffee pots in our hotel rooms.
I have an electric kettle/steamer/multi cooker (that $15 Presto one) and mini Nu Wave oven, but would rather just take one rather than both. I also have a rather large cooler I could possibly take, depending on luggage.
We did this once before, but weren't health conscious then. We ate pasta and mac & cheese just about every night of that trip and packed some bread and made PB&Js for lunch. We'd like to eat food that won't make us feel sluggish so we can enjoy the trip.
What healthy (or at least, semi-healthy) easy-to-prep meals do you suggest? Do you have any hotel cooking stories?
Assuming that you're in North America on this trip ... I'm not even sure you need the cookers, if you'll have access to a microwave.
Buy pouches of prepared foods, like rice, noodles, Tasty Bites (I've bought them at Trader Joe's and at Safeway) is a brand I've used and they have things like curries, and some other Asian foods. I presume you'll have access to groceries. Buy precut vegetables in bags. Either steam or micro the veggies, add in the curry, and serve it with rice. The pouch "serves 2" but if you add more veggies, it'll be lighter, and stretch to 4. Or add canned chicken.
Do take a cooler. Fill it from home with some perishable, frozen zip-locked bags of things you like to eat (chili, spaghetti, cooked meat or fish, lasagne, jambalaya), but can dump out and reheat in the microwave. Plan to eat those the early days, and save the non-perishable ingredients for down the road. On the road, at a grocery store, there are all kinds of "meal in a bag" in the frozen section. Replenish your cooler once your home-made stuff runs out.
Buy salad bags. And take a zip-lock bag of hard boiled eggs. Take cans of tuna or chicken. Add those to bagged salad (I always think protein makes it a better "meal") with a bottled dressing. Buy cooked chickens or meatloaf at the supermarket deli counter, and heat it up or eat it cold.
Make sandwiches with the tuna, eggs, chicken, an avocado (and greens from the salad bag) and it'll be lighter than the pb&j.
Bake potatoes in the microwave and top with steamed/micro'd veggies, or with a curry pouch. Or a can of baked beans. Or chili.
Add canned tuna or chicken to a can of mushroom soup, and use it as a topping for rice, or potatoes.
But most of all, make sure you have a "universally sized" microwavable receptacle of some sort. Like a pyrex baking dish or something. And take some disposable storage dishes (like Saran Wrap ones) for leftovers, etc. Don't want to waste.
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Generally speaking, it's been my experience that doing your own cooking on a small journey is more expensive and much more troublesome than going out to eat at a cheap place, or food cart. Remember you have to buy the equipment, buy junky foods that will cook easily, store all that and lug it around, and clean up after eating. Hopefully the food odors won't attract cockroaches.
We used to put meals in plastic sandwich bags and freeze them, then when we got to our destination we'd just drop the bags in boiling water for 5 minutes and presto chili in a bag. homemade beans worked, various bags of vegetables,different types of fish, even some custard desserts. be creative.
putting food directly into a kettle with out being in a bag will make for some funny tasting coffee next morning.
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