My family and I are getting ready to take a road trip (be on the road for about 6 - 7 hours one way) with our two boys ages 3 1/2 and 22 months and then will stay at a hotel, it will not have a kitchen but will have a microwave, frig and a little table. We are taking a cooler with us with sandwich stuff to stop on the way and have lunch and also plan on making pasta salad and putting that in the cooler to have for dinner that night - this is all to save some money while on our trip. I am trying to come up with other food suggestions we could have for lunch and or dinner where we could put some stuff in the cooler or buy when we get to our destination and would be easy to fix while at the hotel. Any suggestions? thanks
Bagels and cream cheese are easy ones to take for breakfast since bagels don't have to be toasted. I usually cook up a pan of lasanga and freeze it then just heat in the microwave for dinner along with salad.
Your post brings back memories for me :) My mom was the queen of the road trip lunch. Here are the things I remember from our trips.
Hard boiled eggs for breakfast and/or lunch
Carrot sticks
Home made cookies (oatmeal raisin are good for kids and travel well)
Mom always made a home made pizza before we left, froze it, and we ate it at the hotel our first night. She was a health nut (and very frugal) so she packed our electric griddle thing and she warmed it up for us on that (coved with tin foil to keep heat in).
Other dinner ideas for hotel could be:
Rotissery (sp?) chicken from the deli at a local grocery store (most kids like that) and a bag of salad (they come with dressing and everything). That would be much less than going out - your pasta salad would go well too.
Soup is easy, if your kids like it and would be easy to warm in the hotel.
Kids are pretty easy and would probably be happy with sandwiches or mac and cheese...
Fresh fruit is always good.
Good luck!
I fried a bunch of chicken before our last trip! Its good cold or warm. You could even put it over a salad for a bigger meal! I just bought some fruit and chips and we stopped at a rest stop to eat. It worked out great and my kids loved it!
We did a mini vacation in February and had similar accomodations. I made a few quiches to bring along. Quiches can be eaten cold or warmed in the microwave and make a good breakfast or lunch. I also brought some homemade vegetable soup, and heated in the microwave.
I purchased a hot pot (one that you plug in and it boils water in 2 minutes), which is great for road trips. I bring along instant oatmeal, tea bags, and hot chocolate mix.
Other suggestions...
cheese and crackers
peanut butter (I like to dip apple slices in it), good for sandwiches too
yogurt
apples, oranges, dried fruit (note: bananas do not travel well)
chicken breast (slice for sandwiches, heat up as a main meal)
chilli - pick up a loaf of fresh bread and you have a hot meal
Have a great trip!
Dinner for boys - "instant mac n' cheese" - single servings plus a microwavable vegetable and a fruit that they will enjoy (bananas, apples, citrus all travel well and don't need to be refrigerated).
Also, plan to have breakfast in your room if not included in hotel price - you only need some parmalat milk and cereal - if you want to give them a treat, pick up donuts or coffee cake.
Lots of the pizza chains have the $10 large pizzas these days - Pizza Hut and Papa Johns come to mind.
With a fridge and microwave you can be pretty much covered. I survived 4 years of college this way:) Oh, also pasta can be cooked in a microwave or bought fresh, then heated with sauce - add some meatballs and there you go!
You could cook some of the things you really like, espcially things like caseroles, if your boys will eat those and freeze just enough for 4 in one of those throw away containers and then put the frozen meals in the cooler. They may stay frozen until you get there, or could take a day or more to thaw out and you could eat them the second or third day. It would cut down on how much ice you needed in your cooler too!
You could premake pancakes, freeze them in ziplocks, and heat them in the microwave for breakfast. Add hard boild eggs, and pre cooked bacon and sausage links, and a box of cereal and you would never have to leave the room for breakfast.
I saw once that angel hair pasta does not take much to cook in a hotel room, so you could bring a box of that, and a bowl, then heat the water in the microwave, bring a glass bottle of pasta sauce and some frozen meat balls.
This brings back memories for me too! Not just of my mother doing it with us, but of me doing it when my kids were little and we had no money! It is fun!
My mother had one of those electric skillets, a toaster, and a coffee pot that she traveled with when we were kids. We had eggs, bacon, toast, and my parents had coffee every morning when we were on vacation- long before there were coffee pots in every room! Grapefruit was another one, we had a lot, and I so remember, if we were really good, she would make texas toast- I thought that was like the best thing in the world!
Have a great time!
M.
Trader Joe's has great meals that you can heat and serve. Many are frozen and others such as various types of rice and noodle dishes are on the shelf.
Hummus, with carrots, miso soup, polenta, all types of beans are great choices. Bananas, apples, pears, potatoes, avocadoes, plus other fruits and veggies are great to bring on this type of adventure.
Best of luck,
L. M
You can buy those Hormel ready meals if you want, but I'd totally suggest Thai Village noodles. They don't need to be refridgerated and are yummy with several varieties.
Check to see if your grocery has long life milk in the juice box size. It is usually near the condensed/powdered milk. Those are great for trips. This way the kids can still have cereal in the mornings or milk during the car ride. :)
