If you bring food on vacation to be eaten in the room, what do you pack and bring?

[Anonymous]

I’ve seen people mention this in person and on here.

What food do you bring to eat in your hotel room? What has worked well or has not?

[Anonymous]

Granola bars
Dried mango
Jerky for DH
Bag of dark chocolate chips for me

[Anonymous]

If we're bringing food, we're bringing a cooler, so sandwiches, salads, chips, drinks. fruit, yogurt, deviled eggs -- pretty much anything.

[Anonymous]

I always bring canned seltzer water. Microwaveable oatmeal. Squish applesauce, bananas, granola bars.

[Anonymous]

What kind of vacation?

Some bananas, nuts, candies, PB pretzels and tea bags. Seltzer and water if not flying. Just enough to have a quick bite of breakfast and sweet something after dinner if I want to.

[Anonymous]

Bottled water, seltzer, a few cold beers, fresh fruit, crackers, chips, something with protein like a bag of trail mix or nuts. Our kids are teens and young adults at this point. We always stay at hotels that serve breakfast in the lobby. Spouse and/or I will swoop in and grab a few things.

[Anonymous]

Reasonably shelf-stable perishables:
- I often make a bunch of pbj sandwiches because my family doesn't mind if they've been in a mini fridge for a few days.
- cheese sticks or babybell cheese
- baby carrots
- clementines, apples, other fruit less likely to get squished

dry goods: oatmeal, granola bars, salted almonds, beef jerky, sugar packets (for oatmeal), pretzels/chips

- parmalot milk (for the oatmeal) and ginger ale cans for DH, wine for the adults if we're sharing a room with the kids but have a balcony.

We like going out for meals but also really like being able to tide the kids (or ourselves) over if we're on slightly different schedules, before going out for a meal. It's also really helpful to have when traveling by car/plane. We rarely go somewhere where we can't buy this stuff, but I'd much rather pack it at home -- especially if we're driving -- than to have to think about where to buy basics upon arrival.

[Anonymous]

Easy packaged snacks like granola bars, some fruit (apples, grapes), and bottled water.

[Anonymous]

When we stay at a resort, we usually stop by a grocery store and buy snacks to eat by the pool or after the pool in the room and water/sparkling water at a minimum. If breakfast isn't included, DH and I are also fine with eating bananas and yogurt or protein bars for breakfast which helps to save money, especially at pricier places. Some trips we also buy those cereals in a cup and a small milk for DS.

If we fly somewhere where we won't have a car or where things are pricey, I pack snacks and protein bars in our suitcase. If I'm staying at a Hyatt, I bring my own k cups as they always have keurigs and I like my own coffee better.

[Anonymous]

We eat all meals out, but will bring granola bars, nuts, dried fruit, and beef jerky sticks because DS tends to get hungry between meals. We also bring bottled water and sometimes beer or wine.

[Anonymous]

Target sells these incredibly ugly, yet super functional plastic plates for 50 cents. They are huge, very lightweight, and have this rim around the edge that makes them surprisingly functional. Perfect for plating sandwiches, dumping out a bag of salad, washing and serving fruit like cherries and strawberries, cutting cheese, eating messy-ish foods like pasta with sauce, etc.

https://www.target.com/p/10-5-plastic-dinner-plate-room-essentials/-/A-80138159

they also sell these equally hideous "meal bowls" that are incredibly useful for like, microwaving oatmeal, storing fruit, mixing tuna salad, eating cold cereal and pasta, etc.

https://www.target.com/p/37oz-plastic-cereal-bowl-polypro-jet-gray-room-essentials-8482/-/A-85443068

For 50 cents a piece, they are cheaper, and sturdier, than disposable plates, although they eventually (after a few weeks of daily use) get a kind of yucky residue.

[Anonymous]

We pack apples, bananas, protein bars, dry cereal, maybe some homemade muffins to eat the first 1-2 days. We don’t use it as a full meal replacement, just a light breakfast to get out and start our day without wasting an hour in a restaurant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We pack apples, bananas, protein bars, dry cereal, maybe some homemade muffins to eat the first 1-2 days. We don’t use it as a full meal replacement, just a light breakfast to get out and start our day without wasting an hour in a restaurant.

We don’t usually pack it - we tend to swing by a local grocery story and stay at suite hotels with a mini fridge. My kids get tired of restaurants fast and by night 3 or 4 of a week long trip, we usually have one night we make PB&J and veggies with dip.

[Anonymous]

I confess this has never occurred to me.

[Anonymous]

Larabars, oatmeal, apples, various nuts, jerky for everyone to share. Applesauce pouches for the kids.