Cooking on vacation

[eegulz]

We are taking an extended family vacation of ten people ranging in age from 1 to 88. Staying in a villa. I'm thinking we will be eating in the room for a lot of meals. Does anyone have any ideas for easy to put together dinners to feed a crowd?

 

[Tigerlulu]

What about a meal delivery service like home fresh or something? I’ve never done them but they ship all the groceries, recipe and disposable cooking pans or whatever to you and supposed to be good and easy. I’ve seen people say they schedule them for vacations and such. Could be something to look into.

 

[olwyngdh]

Taco bar is a standard at our family reunions.

 

[usnuzuloose]

If you have a crockpot, that will help keep from cooking . Even a second one would help

 

[Bamaclan4]

Are you flying or driving?

 

[TwoMisfits]

We are taking an extended family vacation of ten people ranging in age from 1 to 88. Staying in a villa. I'm thinking we will be eating in the room for a lot of meals. Does anyone have any ideas for easy to put together dinners to feed a crowd?

Does your group have any dietary needs (allergies or preferences), other than it needs to be both senior and kid friendly, and everything in between? Any desires on budget?

 

[Grand Koalafornian]

For breakfast: fruit, yogurt & granola bar; scromelette (scrambled omelette - easy to cook); bagels & cream cheese.

For lunch/dinner: I love @olwyngdh's idea for the taco bar; slow-cooker chili (with add-ons like onions, cheese, sour cream, etc.); sandwich bar (meats, cheese, veggies, condiments); baked potato bar; pasta bar (you can have meats, veggies, tomato sauce, cream sauce, parmesan, and butter for the kids that just like plain pasta with butter)

 

[DisneyHardin]

Spaghetti is always an easy thing to fix for a big group. Add some salad and garlic bread and you will have a complete meal.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

I often do pulled pork in a crockpot. I get a pork loin or boston butt roast and cook it on low all day. I don't cook it in barbeque sauce, though - I pour in a can of regular Coke and some chicken broth and some onion powder, garlic powder and seasoned salt. When it's cooked and falling apart, I remove the meat from the crockpot and pour off almost all of the liquid, then shred it. I usually let everyone add their own barbeque sauce to taste, then I can use the leftovers to make Cuban sandwiches with ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard.

 

[tasha99]

We do spaghetti (really simple sauce using premade Ragu/Prego type sauce and adding meat and onions etc--not a long slow cooked home type), rotisserie chicken, take and bake type pizza, and tacos (often with chicken leftovers). Sandwiches for lunch. I make breakfasts (egg mcmuffin type sandwiches, bagels and lox, bacon and eggs etc.) On our last trip, I did a little less cooking and a little more meal delivery (El Pollo Loco, Thai food etc.)

 

[eegulz]

Thank you all so much for the great ideas. This will help a lot for menu planning!

 

[eegulz]

Does your group have any dietary needs (allergies or preferences), other than it needs to be both senior and kid friendly, and everything in between? Any desires on budget?

One diabetic and one vegetarian just to make it fun. I will forego budget concerns for convenience.

 

[TwoMisfits]

One diabetic and one vegetarian just to make it fun. I will forego budget concerns for convenience.

Okay, that helps - so you always need a meatless "substantial" option...and you can't be carb heavy, but need a balance of carb/protein/fat as much as possible (or at least some way the diabetic can make it happen)...

My ideas in the next post...

 

[MrsPete]

We are taking an extended family vacation of ten people ranging in age from 1 to 88. Staying in a villa. I'm thinking we will be eating in the room for a lot of meals. Does anyone have any ideas for easy to put together dinners to feed a crowd?

I'd start by assigning each family a couple meals for the week: I'm responsible for breakfast on Monday and dinner on Wednesday ... you're doing lunch on Tuesday and dinner on Friday. This divides the responsibility between all the adults, which is fair.

Set aside a couple days for eating out.

If I were making meals for a big group, I'd do all my prep work in my own kitchen (with my own knives, etc.) and I'd bring it to the vacation spot frozen. Assuming, of course, I were driving.

What about a meal delivery service like home fresh or something? I’ve never done them but they ship all the groceries, recipe and disposable cooking pans or whatever to you and supposed to be good and easy. I’ve seen people say they schedule them for vacations and such. Could be something to look into.

That'd be an easy choice, but it's just as expensive as eating out.

If you're going that way, look into what you can pick up /bring to the house -- bringing food home saves the cost of drinks and tips:
- Buy a couple pounds of BBQ from a local restaurant, provide your own buns and sides (from the grocery deli counter). That's a nice half-and-half that gets you a good meal AND keeps the cost reasonable.
- Olive Garden and Pizza Hut both sell family-sized trays. Consider a "sub tray" from Subway or another sandwich joint -- you add your own chips and sides. Lots of other restaurants sell "family meals".
- Look into Publix or other grocery stores' delis. You can pick up a chicken-and-sides dinner for a reasonable price.

Taco bar is a standard at our family reunions.

Taco bar is a winner with just about everyone.

A good last-night-of-vacation meal: Make a baked potato for everyone. Pull out EVERYTHING left in the 'fridge and chop it up small /top the potatoes. You'd need some cheese too.

 

[TwoMisfits]

1. Grilled "Burger" night - buy one pack of veg burgers (the one the vegetarian likes) and then just plain hamburger patties and take to a grill at the resort - if they don't have a grill, pull out the pan and do it in the room (that's worse, though, b/c you can't make everyone's at once). For the diabetic, have lettuce that can act as a wrap (romaine?), and then regular buns for everyone else. Have cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, (avocado - makes a veg burger great, and diabetic may want it), ketchup, mustard, mayo. Serve the burgers with sliced strawberries, and for those who want them, some potato chips.

2. Chili meets all-beef hot dogs night - https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/vegetarian-black-bean-chili-230632 You can doctor this by adding whatever extra veg or bean you like, and even extra spices, but it's a good "base" and a fast and cheap cook. Have some sour cream and avocado for anyone having it as a bowl of chili, and have some cheese and onion for anyone putting it on a hot dog (you can microwave or boil the dogs tonight, b/c I'm having them for the kids, and they won't care)...serve this with sliced watermelon and be done.

3. Deconstructed to Reconstructed Cobb or Whatever Salad night (with the kids eating the components) - Buy some rotisserie chickens, cook or buy hardboiled eggs, have some cheese, some nuts for topping (whatever non-sweetened type the adults like) and tons of vegetables and lettuces. Buy carrots shredded, buy celery diced, buy jarred roasted peppers, buy grape tomatoes, and a bag of croutons for those who love them. Rather than buying 10 different dressings, buy a single low sugar balsamic vinaigrette, and then, if someone doesn't like it, make a sweetened mustard dressing with your condo sweetener, your condo oil, and your hot dog mustard. Serve with some sliced apples, which could also go on the salad.

I've got more, but these are my top 3 that are cheap, work for 1-88, and meet everyone's needs. I would also do a baked salmon night (with a baked portbello mushroom cap for the veg), but that gets pricier...

 

[eegulz]

Thank you all for the great ideas!

 

[eegulz]

I'd start by assigning each family a couple meals for the week: I'm responsible for breakfast on Monday and dinner on Wednesday ... you're doing lunch on Tuesday and dinner on Friday. This divides the responsibility between all the adults, which is fair.

Set aside a couple days for eating out.

If I were making meals for a big group, I'd do all my prep work in my own kitchen (with my own knives, etc.) and I'd bring it to the vacation spot frozen. Assuming, of course, I were driving.
That'd be an easy choice, but it's just as expensive as eating out.

If you're going that way, look into what you can pick up /bring to the house -- bringing food home saves the cost of drinks and tips:
- Buy a couple pounds of BBQ from a local restaurant, provide your own buns and sides (from the grocery deli counter). That's a nice half-and-half that gets you a good meal AND keeps the cost reasonable.
- Olive Garden and Pizza Hut both sell family-sized trays. Consider a "sub tray" from Subway or another sandwich joint -- you add your own chips and sides. Lots of other restaurants sell "family meals".
- Look into Publix or other grocery stores' delis. You can pick up a chicken-and-sides dinner for a reasonable price.
Taco bar is a winner with just about everyone.

A good last-night-of-vacation meal: Make a baked potato for everyone. Pull out EVERYTHING left in the 'fridge and chop it up small /top the potatoes. You'd need some cheese too.

Great idea! I hate wasting food!

 

[Sun_soakin]

Not exciting, but to avoid spending a lot of time in the kitchen, I’d do a Costco run and buy things that are already prepared, like their lasagna + a salad and baguette, bagels, fruit, etc. whatever they have.

 

[Raemama]

I think the biggest questions are if you’re driving or flying, and if you’ll be in charge of the kitchen. Assuming you’re driving and will be the one with the responsibility for meals, I’d consider making a couple of casseroles (one of them a meatless breakfast casserole) ahead of time and freeze them to bring with you. You could also prep the taco bar ingredients to have on the first night, that way you’re not scrambling. And @Sun_soakin’s idea to go to costco or Sam’s is a great idea.

 

[mjkacmom]

I often do pulled pork in a crockpot. I get a pork loin or boston butt roast and cook it on low all day. I don't cook it in barbeque sauce, though - I pour in a can of regular Coke and some chicken broth and some onion powder, garlic powder and seasoned salt. When it's cooked and falling apart, I remove the meat from the crockpot and pour off almost all of the liquid, then shred it. I usually let everyone add their own barbeque sauce to taste, then I can use the leftovers to make Cuban sandwiches with ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard.

That‘s our pork rota too, pork loin with spices in the slow cooker, Cuban sandwiches or pork tacos the next day. Now that there are only 4 of us, sometimes all 3. If there is a Costco nearby, you can instacart large trays of food that just needs to be heated up, plus cold trays like sandwiches.