When our family goes on vacation, I always make a meal plan. We love to eat out, but it isn’t very relaxing with little ones. Plus it gets expensive!
In 2011, I pulled together a fast and easy vacation meal plan. Last summer when we went on a beach vacation, I decided to document our meals so I could share them with you all again. I hope it inspires you as you plan for your next vacation.
What We (2 adults, a preschooler, and a toddler) Ate On Vacation
Day One:
- Breakfast – peanut butter toast at home
- Lunch – chicken salad sandwiches, chips, and yogurt in the car
- Supper – chicken tenders, green beans, grapes – This meal was suppose to have rice, but I forgot it at home. I made the chicken tenders with an Italian Parmesan cheese and breadcrumb mix you can find in the refrigerator section of the grocery store.
Day Two:
- Breakfast – baked oatmeal – I made (and froze ahead of time) one large pan of baked oatmeal and we ate it all week.
- Lunch – chicken salad, chips, carrots & dip, and apples – I bought a few easy pre-made things for easy lunches all week.
- Supper – pizza tot casserole, peas – I made the casserole ahead of time and froze it. It is nearly impossible to take an appetizing picture of pizza tot casserole, so this is one isn’t from vacation.
Day Three:
- Breakfast – baked oatmeal
- Lunch – chicken salad, macaroni salad, peaches / kids – peanut butter sandwiches, chips, peaches
- Supper – chef salads with homemade dressing – Normally I add hard boiled eggs to my chef salads, but I skipped them to simplify the meal. The dressing I made ahead of time.
Day Four:
- Breakfast – pancakes, eggs, bacon – We like to go out to eat for breakfast even more than we like doing it for supper. It is cheaper, less busy, and the kids are usually better behaved first thing in the morning.
- Lunch – cheese sticks, granola bars, bananas – This was a simple, snacky type lunch because of our big breakfast.
- Supper – enchiladas, spanish rice, peas – The enchiladas were made ahead of time and frozen.
Day Five:
- Breakfast – peanut butter toast
- Lunch – On a last minute whim, we grabbed lunch on the boardwalk.
- Supper – leftovers
Snacks for the week included: fruit, cheese sticks, energy bites, granola bars, and this heavenly chocolate butterscotch chex mix.
My biggest tips for fast and easy vacation meal planning:
- Figure out how many meals you’ll eat in and how many you’ll eat out.
- Make as many meals ahead of time as you can and freeze them.
- Don’t forget about fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Keep breakfast and lunch simple.
- Make food you are excited to eat. It is vacation after all! If you are excited about the food you are making, you’ll be less likely to skip it and eat out.
- Plan at least one meal for leftovers.
For more vacation meal planning inspiration, check out what we ate on vacation in 2011.
What are your favorite dishes to make on vacation? Do you make freezer meals ahead of time?
This is great advice and ideas! I am terrible about meal planning for vacation, but am trying to do better this time around! One question: how do you travel with frozen casseroles? Do you take them in a cooler and then it’s okay if they defrost because you’re going to use them that week anyway? Thanks!
Yes, I travel with them already frozen and in a cooler. Usually they stay pretty well frozen in our 4 hour or less journey to the beach. If they thaw out a little bit I still throw them back into the freezer when we arrive. I like to live on the edge I guess. 🙂
I’m a touch different with vacation meals. Instead of traveling with prepared food (which is difficult on a flight from Rochester NY, to Orlando), I travel with a menu, my electric roaster, my sandwich maker and the location closest to my hotel of my favorite grocery stores. On our last vacation, I picked up jiffy muffin mixes, eggs, box cereal, bacon, beans, baby carrots, stuffing mix, frozen corn, a turkey, bread, mayo, mustard, pb & j, cottage cheese, chips, cheese, crackers, fruits. We used the base of the roaster if we wanted bacon for breakfast. I made muffins and poachedeggs in the ssandwich maker. We would eat lunch out often and supper at home cause those are the cheaper options. I made bean and bacon soup in the roaster one day. A full turkey dinner another. The leftover turkey was used for turkey sandwiches. Add cream of mushroom soup to extra leftover shredded turkey and serve over uncle Bens ready rice pouches. My parents were vacationing with us in the same hotel. They tend to eat out more and we were able to so we did. If we needed to plan even more meals, I am the crock pot queen.
That is fantastic! I am so impressed that you were able to do all of that from a hotel room!
I take breakfast casserole, baked spaghetti casserole, both made ahead and frozen. Enough for left overs for second meals. Cans of tuna and chicken for making salads. Instant oatmeal, boxed cereal, fresh fruit and chips. Usually make some kind of dessert at condo.
Mary, these are all fantastic ideas! Thank you for sharing them.