Vacation in Motel room...help with meal ideas please (freezer, coffee, peanut butter)
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Sounds fun - my girls and I loved road trips, and now my grandsons do as well. If you don't have to take all of your food with you and can pick up at local markets or keep in cooler(s) it's easier. We usually had smallish meals in the summer, just not big eaters when it is hot out. Here are some of my family's faves.
Tortilla rolls - these last several days so you can make them up to a week ahead as long as they stay cold - the basic is equal parts cream cheese & cheddar with enough salsa to get to a nice spreading consistency- optional add ins that we usually don't bother with are chopped black olives, green chilis, jalapenos, taco seasoning, diced red or green peppers, green onions. Refrigerate for at least an hour - we usually eat them like this, but for parties we might cut into pinwheels.
Those Star Kist tuna pouches - the kids liked anything that they could "make" themselves to their own taste, and it's a decent protein for them and they have flavors for pretty much any taste. My middle especially loves the thai one.
Hard boiled eggs will also last a few days if kept cold.
Fruit, cheese and nut platters - it always seems a little special to my family. Sometimes we would add pepperoni or summer sausage and crackers.
You can put pretty much anything in a muffin - the girls and grandsons prefer mini muffins, and call it good- ham and cheese and cheesy corn dogs (dice up the hot dogs & shredded colby jack w/honey in the Jiffy muffins) are the faves here, and can be eaten nuked or room temp.
String cheese, grapes and crackers - they also loved those peanut butter & cheese crackers, or even cheaper would be to buy a pack of crackers and a jar of pb or almond butter or whatever.
We also usually ate at least one special meal out and asked around to find a good/affordable pizza place, and took pre-marinated frozen chicken and pre-seasoned burgers to grill, a lot of parks/campsites have grills you can use but we had a little portable tabletop/stand deal. We packed these frozen next to the ice so they were still good for at least a couple of days even after we put them in the fridge.
Oh, and we always stopped at roadside stands to get the freshest, tastiest local produce - nothing quite like a fresh picked peach dribbling down your chin and arms.
I remembered another fave of theirs - at a local store pick up a crusty loaf - I like pumpernickel or sourdough from the bakery and some spinach dip at the deli and it's a feast my family goes nuts for.
I just skimmed a few replies, so sorry if there are repeats. You can choose the healthy options, gluten free, whatever you need so I won't put all of the various options, but you will get the idea.
Grandma:
here is what we do {we have no children, jsut us adults, often 3 of us}:
~I make about 6 sandwiches for the road in a small cooler with the jell-ice-packs. This is easy to grab one for eating on the way without stopping and spending $7-8 each on a meal at a fast food place.
~ I also take mayo, mustard, large loaf of bread, and a favorite deli meat along to make sandwiches for the way back. It also is there for a quick pick-me-up, or after hours snack, with little fuss IF NEED BE... I know you don't want to sandwich them to death.
~I take fruit breakfast bars, and fruit along. Self explanatory and healthy.
~Take a couple of DOle {or other brand} "premade" salad mix bags and a bottle of the most favored dressing. Self explanatory and healthy.
~I take a couple lean cuisine type microwaveable meals..let the kids pick out what they'd like in advance. then there will be no fights. Remember, they will thaw if kept only int the fridge, so heat at fewer minutes than the package says!!
~We eat out dinner once if not twice depending on the number of days/nights we are there. Since I do all the cooking home, A REAL TREAT for me!!! Pick a Friendly's or Denny's or the like if possible, they are fairly cheap!
~I would second the Mountain House meals...a 2.5 serving requires only 2 cups boiling water, heats/cooks in the bag it comes in, each bag serves two {or one REALLY hungry 14 yr/old! They are DELICIOUS!! available in single or 2-serving packs,and can be found in the camping section of walmart! Mountain House
~I second the powdered milk if you take cereal. get the mini single-serve packages. OR the hotel may have cereal.
~If the hotel has a free breakfast, you are ok there, but have the fruit to supplement...some hotel "breakfast" is "not so hot".
~I take a 4-cup coffee maker {for YOU} and our favorite coffee, and filers, as hte garbage the hotel serves usually "sucks".IF they provide one it usually is "not cleaned well" for our tastes.
~Take advantage of the BBQ grill!
~I pack a large cloth shopping-type bag with plastic silverware, and paper plates {microwaveable}, {styro or} other cups, microwaveable bowls, and EXTRA ZIPLOC bags of varying sizes...paper towels, a wet washcloth {in ziplock} {for in the car cleanup}, a kitchen washcloth ad towels, just in case-the ziplocs always come in handy! everything one might need in such a case in the hotel room, or camping trip
~ we have an "electric cooler" that is ac/dc. It comes in handy for keeping the cold cold until we get there, plugs in the cigarette lighter and then the wall at the hotel.Not everyone can have one though...: Igloo Iceless 40 Quart Thermoelectric Cooler wit... : Target
If you take a little time and plan out meals in advance,you will do well!
LASTLY..ASK the kids what they would want!!!!!
HAve fun and DON'T forget the SUNSCREEN and beach towels!!
This sounds more like a nightmare than a vacation. Are you planning on ever leaving the motel room?
If you don't like pre-made meals, you should have found a motel room with a stove. Unless they like Ramen and hot dogs, of course.
I am sure they are. I would bet that OP just chose less expensive accommodations in the resort area that she and grandkids are visiting, and she is also trying to save on food. Feeding the kids before they enter the theme park so they can enjoy the rides more and spend less on food while there, and finding a cheap motel near Disneyworld or Universal Studios or the other theme parks (Is this the Orlando area OP is visiting?)
After all, the Disneyworld Hotel is not cheap, nor is the food inside the amusement theme park.
I will be vacationing in a motel room with my 4 grandchildren. Ages ranging from 9-14 years old.
There is a fridge and microwave in the room.
The stay length is 3 nights.
I'm looking for ideas for meals.
Don't want to deed them sandwiches all the time.
Bring ziplock bags and order pizza. You can't fit the boxes in a mini-fridge but you can when it's re-bagged.
I am sure they are. I would bet that OP just chose less expensive accommodations in the resort area that she and grandkids are visiting, and she is also trying to save on food. Feeding the kids before they enter the theme park so they can enjoy the rides more and spend less on food while there, and finding a cheap motel near Disneyworld or Universal Studios or the other theme parks (Is this the Orlando area OP is visiting?)
After all, the Disneyworld Hotel is not cheap, nor is the food inside the amusement theme park.
No. She made reservations rather last minute and was lucky to get a room. There's no option to upgrade. She doesn't want to spend a small fortune on restaurant food and take out. No one said anything about Disney.
Atalanta, if you're stuck with a crummy microwave, you can get some hot water from a drip coffee maker if your room has one. You can make condensed soup and keep wet foods warm in the carafe. I wouldn't bother doing that while on vacation, but you never know when those coffee makers are going to come in handy.
We use the George Foreman grill in the room - you can put about 6, possibly 8, hotdogs on it at one time - you can have them w/ potato chips and a can of baked beans and/or applesauce would be another quick meal - I like the pizza idea or even KFC - grilled cheese sandwiches if you have a grill (you can make pancakes or Fr toast too if the motel doesnt come w/ a free bkfst) - bring paper plates and paper towels and glasses which help (we stayed in an extended-stay america motel a while back and assumed those things w/b provided and they werent). Maybe microwave popcorn w/b a nice snack or even a bag of popcorn at nite while you're playing a game or watching tv w/ the kids. Enjoy!
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