Stay in a hotel that provides breakfast. Grab a bagel and cream cheese or PBJ for lunch from the buffet. Get some fruit for the hotel fridge.

Those hotel mini fridges are tiny - are you really planning to go grocery shopping every day on vacation? We eat out on vacation - I understand not everyone wants to or can afford to - but if we wanted to cook meals we’d get an Airbnb with an actual kitchen. Or can you at least get a hotel with an included breakfast?

Anonymous wrote:Are you flying or driving?

If driving, make a bunch of casseroles, quiche, pot pie, chili and pack in a cooler for the trip. You could also bring a crockpot or Instantpot.

If flying, check out the frozen food section. The one-skillet frozen pasta meals (sold in a bag) are not bad. Same with Birds Eye pasta and veggie mixes. Fish tacos with frozen fish fingers are easy. Stouffers frozen lasagna isn’t the greatest, but the effort required (basically none) is on point. There are other ready to bake family size frozen entrees these days as well.

Cooking all those meals and cleaning up the messes is not something I’d want to add to my list of things to do before a trip!

My advice is you bring stuff that doesn’t require prep. We eat out when we vacation but I always have things on hand to feed our young children while we are in our hotel room.

cheese/salami/cracker individual packages
Grape leaves
fruits that don’t need cutting or peeling (berries, grapes, apples, bananas)
Microwaveable oatmeal
Milk
Individual cereal cups/boxes
String cheese
Go-go squeeze yogurt or apple sauce
Dry snacks: goldfish, pretzels, veggie sticks

And when we stay in hotels that have breakfast buffets I always make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at breakfast that we keep for later in the day.

rotisserie chicken
pre-cooked, pre-sliced ham
Supermarket delis usually have an assortment of prepared foods that you can either eat cold or reheat.
Freezer sections have a plethora of items to choose. Also, it doesn’t have to be one meal for the entire family. You can each pick a few individual meals to cater to individual preferences.
chili with corn chips, grated cheese/sour cream, etc.
pre-packaged items like Knorr Rice and Sauce or Zatarain’s makes a convenient base, and you can add canned meats/beans and vegetables

Anonymous wrote:We'll have access to a refrigerator and microwave for one week. Yes there's food locally, but it's so over priced. We can grocery shop. Access to the usual foods/pantry items. Yes we will eat some of our meals out, but we're not the "typical" DCUM adults. Not high browed. Don't need 5 star restaurants for every meal lol.

Who says it has to be 5 star restaurants? Find a basic diner for breakfast. Or eat cereal in your room and pick up deli sandwiches for lunch. Order a pizza for dinner.

Cancel your hotel and find a VRBO with a kitchen. If you’re going to do this and trying to save $ on meals while vacationing, you can get food at the grocery store for beach picnics, pick up an pizza, deli sandwiches with precut veggies as sides, and yes certain things like milk and cereal and yogurt can be “prepared” in your room but not much else with a hotel mini fridge, limited silverware, etc.

Anonymous wrote:Are you flying or driving?

If driving, make a bunch of casseroles, quiche, pot pie, chili and pack in a cooler for the trip. You could also bring a crockpot or Instantpot.

If flying, check out the frozen food section. The one-skillet frozen pasta meals (sold in a bag) are not bad. Same with Birds Eye pasta and veggie mixes. Fish tacos with frozen fish fingers are easy. Stouffers frozen lasagna isn’t the greatest, but the effort required (basically none) is on point. There are other ready to bake family size frozen entrees these days as well.

Sorry, I thought you had an oven. Just a microwave is hard. Easy Mac? Rice and beans? Buy a rotisserie chicken and a bag of Caesar salad. I haven’t tried them, but Rao’s bottled soups look pretty good.

Are you flying or driving?

If driving, make a bunch of casseroles, quiche, pot pie, chili and pack in a cooler for the trip. You could also bring a crockpot or Instantpot.

If flying, check out the frozen food section. The one-skillet frozen pasta meals (sold in a bag) are not bad. Same with Birds Eye pasta and veggie mixes. Fish tacos with frozen fish fingers are easy. Stouffers frozen lasagna isn’t the greatest, but the effort required (basically none) is on point. There are other ready to bake family size frozen entrees these days as well.

My DD has this in her dorm room. She eats microwave oatmeal, cereal, fruit, yogurt, tortillas with cheese and salsa. You can add pre-cooked boxed bacon or a can of black beans.

Sounds grim.

Anonymous wrote:So easy, no-cook stuff for breakfast and lunch. Cereal and milk, fruit, yogurt and granola. PBJ. Deli meats and sliced cheeses, chips. Plan to go out for real food for dinners.

This. Or depending on where you are and what you will be doing flip lunch and dinner. Go out for lunch - when things are cheaper and do deli meats for dinner.

Can you bring one of those small portable electric skillets? That will open up options

OP Here - Egg allergy and we don't like tuna, so no worries there. Yes hotel room so no hot plate. Will have access to a grill. I found a gadget on Amazon that looks like you can make grilled cheeses in the microwave. But having a grill I could probably wrap them in foil and heat them there as well.

Breakfast and lunch are the easiest meals if you’re just working with a fridge and microwave. You want things you can eat right out of the package so you don’t have to bring dishes, cooking utensils, etc. with you. Plus you’ll have a tiny garbage can.

- bagels
- muffins
- oatmeal
- fresh fruit
- pre-cut veggies & dip
- pita & hummus
- sandwiches
- cup ‘o noodles type things

Anonymous wrote:So easy, no-cook stuff for breakfast and lunch. Cereal and milk, fruit, yogurt and granola. PBJ. Deli meats and sliced cheeses, chips. Plan to go out for real food for dinners.

This is what we would do