Vacation Menu Plan

**BeachFun** · 06-17-2011, 10:45 PM

Each summer we rent an apartment, condo or house at the beach. I try to make most meals to keep cost down. I plan a tentative menu and shopping list. I take whatever I can from home to keep cost down and make a list to shop from when we get there.

Here's this year's menu:

Saturday:
Breakfast: Cereal, Fruit
Lunch: on the road
Dinner: Rigatoni with sauce, Salad

Sunday:
Breakfast: Egg McMuffin, Hash Browns, Fruit
Lunch: Sandwiches or Salad or Leftovers
Dinner: Roast Beef (save approx. 2 cups), Baked Potatoes (save 2 large), Salad (saved portions will be used at Monday Breakfast)

Monday:
Breakfast: Roast Beef Hash, Eggs and Toast
Lunch: Sandwiches or Salad or Leftovers
Dinner:Cheeseburgers, Mac-n-Cheese, Salad

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Pancakes w/Syrup, Fruit
Lunch: Sandwiches or Salad or Leftovers
Dinner:Southern Style BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches, French Fries, Cole Slaw

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Cereal or muffins, Fruit
Lunch: Taco's or Taco Salad (using leftover pork bbq)
Dinner: Rotiserrie-style Chicken, Pasta Salad, Green Beans

Thursday:
Breakfast: Eggs, Bacon or Sausage, Home Fries, Toast
Lunch: Sandwiches or Salad or Leftovers
Dinner: Shrimp Scampi with Angel Hair Pasta, Salad

Friday:
Breakfast: Finish up what's left for Breakfast
Lunch: Sandwiches or Salad or Leftovers
Dinner: Eat out

**Palooka** · 06-17-2011, 11:18 PM

Thanks for sharing and very organized. I get the screen name.

Enjoy your time!

**mauimagic** · 06-17-2011, 11:45 PM

Sounds like a great plan!! Do you have snacks ready also - and water? Have fun at the beach!

**BeachFun** · 06-18-2011, 05:44 AM

I will have snacks available for everyone to grab as they want. Usually its fruit, chips, cookies and ice cream. I will also have stuff to make PB & J or fluffer nutter sandwiches whenever they want. Lunch and the snacks(except ice cream) are made portable so they can be eaten at the beach. The ice cream they will eat in the evening. I will make iced tea and will have water available for drinks.

**KimZ** · 06-18-2011, 07:47 AM

Thanks for posting this! We are going to Orlando on the 30th for 4 days.... We rented a cabin at Fort Wildreness which has a FULL Kitchen. My DD is competiting at a National Gymnastics Comp and we want to keep the food cost down! We will do only 1 park..... and 1 day of competing( Sunday) so we have 3 days we will stay at the pool and eat in the cabin! This gives me some ideas... We have a grill so we will BBQ Hotdogs/Hamburgers 1 night...

**Debbie-cat** · 06-18-2011, 02:46 PM

Great menu plan! Have a fun time at the beach.

**Spirit Deer** · 06-18-2011, 09:39 PM

Thanks for sharing!

I do the same when we travel. I also do a lot of pre-prep work to help make less work at camp or on the road. It really does make a difference.

I bring a detailed grocery list for shopping when the time comes while we're gone, although I'll flex on that if I find a good sale or some local foods we can't get here, or if there's an ingredient that's available here but not wherever we are.

Planning our menus is half the fun of a trip for me!

**BeachFun** · 06-21-2011, 08:57 PM

I agree. I do a lot of the prep work ahead of time. I do a lot of the shopping in the weeks prior since the prices at home beat the prices in a resort town. I even purchase some of the meats, season and freeze them. This keeps me from needing to take a bunch of seasoning with us and it also saves time once we're there. We will transport them in a cooler with plenty of ice to keep them frozen.
I also have a detailed shopping list of items that I will need to purchase at the grocery store once we arrive. This usually isn't too much so the trip is fairly quick.

**happymomof4** · 06-22-2011, 01:32 PM

I do the same thing when we do our week camping trip. I take lots of snacks and drinks. I always plan a menu and take as much as I can from the house before I go shopping. I do my shopping at home. But we have a camper and I stock it up before we leave. Then when camping season is over. I bring everything back in to the house and add it to my stock pile.

**mh3rdwheel** · 06-22-2011, 04:01 PM

Beach Fun that is a good idea, we are going to rent a cabin with my son and a friend, we will be taking food and drink to eat on the way, and then go grocery shopping at the nearest store, or just stock up before we go.

**Libby** · 06-22-2011, 04:39 PM

Originally Posted by BeachFun

I agree. I do a lot of the prep work ahead of time. I do a lot of the shopping in the weeks prior since the prices at home beat the prices in a resort town. I even purchase some of the meats, season and freeze them. This keeps me from needing to take a bunch of seasoning with us and it also saves time once we're there. We will transport them in a cooler with plenty of ice to keep them frozen.
I also have a detailed shopping list of items that I will need to purchase at the grocery store once we arrive. This usually isn't too much so the trip is fairly quick.

Was going to ask about seasonings & condiments. Can you bring them from home vs having to buy smaller and higher priced ones there? This may sound kooky but since you're preseasoning as much as you can beforehand - can you make your sauces ahead of time and freeze? And a tip? Stock up on the free condiments from the fast food places: ketchup, mustard, relish, mayo, vinegars, bbq sauces, salt & pepper, wet naps etc - I find those perfect for travel, use and throw away. Just be sure to store them in a hard plastic container so they dont get squished and explode.

**Spirit Deer** · 06-23-2011, 12:19 AM

Taking condiments you don't intend to eat with your order from fast food places is stealing, but you can buy them in grocery stores. We get catsup and mustard packets for a nickel each, and I think mayo packets are a little more, maybe eight cents. I haven't bought any lately.

Some sauces will freeze just fine. Experiment with something beforehand to see how it reacts. You'd only need to freeze a couple tablespoons to see if it was okay once it thawed.

I set up a system using small jars that hold a couple tablespoons each for a variety of spices, plus a few larger ones for things like rubs. It all fits into a flat cloth bag that goes into our pantry basket, so we have the flavorings we need when we travel. The small jars are, of course, filled from larger jars that were filled from seasonings bought in bulk or homemade. I saved the smallest soy sauce bottle I could find and use that for travel, plus some other liquid goodies like Tabasco sauce.

I also bring along stuff like pickles and olives in small plastic containers that hold about a half cup, but of course you'd need more for a family.

I bought squeeze bottles with caps for long trips where we need more mayo, catsup, or whatever. Those can be put into small plastic tubs too, then use a knife to spread them on whatever food you're serving. The squeeze bottles are more convenient and neater, of course.

**BeachFun** · 06-23-2011, 05:41 AM

I take along the smallest containers of condiments that I can. I have a small jar of mayo that I only paid $.99 and salt & pepper $.99. I will also take along some ketchup and mustard (I'll probably pack these is a small container and throw them in the cooler. As for other sauces, I won't need any since the meats will make their on juices when I cook them in the crockpot. I have a small bottle of pancake syrup $.79 and will pack a couple of small bottles of salad dressing. I'll pack some sugar and coffee in a small container. We do not eat out at restaurants that have those little packets too often so I do not have any of those.

A couple of non-food items that I also pack: some laundry and dishwasher detergent from my supply at the house so I won't need to purchase these items either.

**LynnLC** · 06-23-2011, 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by Spirit Deer

Taking condiments you don't intend to eat with your order from fast food places is stealing, but you can buy them in grocery stores. We get catsup and mustard packets for a nickel each, and I think mayo packets are a little more, maybe eight cents. I haven't bought any lately.

I agree. I see people stocking up all the time though...

**Libby** · 06-23-2011, 01:38 PM

I guess I was unclear in my post earlier - let me clarify by what I meant from 'stocking up'. When condiments are offered I accept them. Its not like I'm standing there with a huge shopping bag dumping the containers into them. That I don't agree with but if you're offered or they're available, why yes, I'll pick up a few extra.

But what do you do with the unused condiment packets you grabbed? Put them back? (I'm talking like 2) I personally find that icky...I know its 'wrapped' but think about napkins - people who pull out too many, take them to their table while they eat and then put them back for someone else to use? ICK! I throw unused condiments out...like I said, I may have grabbed an extra packet or two but the napkins come with me in my purse.

Beachfun - glad to see you've got things figured out!

For those prices, I'd prob leave them there or toss em when we're leaving.