Cooking in a hotel room

I completely agree with you, umabharti... everyone needs some rest and relaxation once in awhile! I don't have an extensive budget for traveling so restaurant meals are limited to just a few. The rest of the time, I try to plan and prepare some fairly healthy options to eat in the room It works out nicely and ensures that I have some extra in the budget for activities at the destination too

No, I haven't changed my username... in the five years or so that I've been on myLot, I've only had this one name and the same profile pic too, if you can imagine that

may i ask u one thing ,did u change ur username ,its looking new "thinkingoutloud" yes not always eating in hotels and foodout doors is healthy way of living,when there is facility of preparing and do know cooking delisious dishes then its waste to go to a hotel.

Pasta is always a great idea! You're right that it's very easy and you also don't need a whole bunch of "extra" stuff to have a complete dish. I'm sending one pasta meal with my daughters this time... I already had some of my own homemade sauce in the freezer so I'm going to pack that frozen so it helps to keep other food cold on the way. Toss in a bag of fusili and they have a nice dinner I love to do nothing on vacation too, to be honest... and, if I have a choice, I love to dine out. But, when it's a family trip, it's more expensive to go to nice restaurants so I'm hoping to make sure they eat healthy and not only have hamburgers and fries

Some hotels also have a common room where they offer a free continental (or other) breakfast. This helps reduce food expenses but, much of the time, you can use the appliances even outside of breakfast service. There may be kettles for boiling water, microwaves, etc., that can be of great help if you don't have these items in the room If I am traveling to a place where the cuisine is very different from my own, then eating out is definitely part of the overall experience so I factor that into the budget. But, if I'm staying somewhere that has the same food, same restaurants and same fast food as where I live, I don't feel the desire to have that stuff - I'd rather use the money for exploration and activities

I've stayed in a few hotels that have had excellent breakfasts... belgian waffles or pancakes, eggs, bacon or ham, bagels, etc., on a buffet. Other times, it's little single-serving boxes of cereal or toast LOL It depends on the hotel property you stay at really but sometimes it's excellent value!

They say hotel packages really come with free breakfast but I haven't really avail of something like that. ^^ But most of the hotels I've stayed in have either electric kettles or a thermos so hot water was not a problem. Yes, I agree. If the food is just the same as in the place you're living in, why eat out? I'd rather spend my money on other things, too.

I also enjoy a break from the cooking so a couple of meals out are always in the plan ;)) My daughters are traveling at the end of this week and I'm actually working on preparing some easy meals for them now I'll be making sandwich fillings (so there aren't so many condiments to lug along) and they will have some deli ham (which is pretty versatile not only for sandwiches). There will be one pasta meal (fusili with meat sauce). The frozen sauce is great for keeping other stuff cool until they get to the hotel. I'm cooking a pork roast that will be sliced up and served with potatoes or noodles and frozen or canned veggies. Leftover pork can be used for sandwiches or another quick meal. I'm also going to make a container of those Pillsbury weiner wraps (baked at home to reheat there). Again, easier that having to take hotdogs, buns and condiments. With the wraps, they just need something to dip them in. Still working on other things but it's coming together nicely!

Eggs are an excellent suggestion actually... you can do a lot with them. You can bring them along, already hard-boiled, and they serve well for use in a salad or you can make sandwich filling with them. My grandmother actually used to make a dish where it was a white sauce, with curry added, and you sliced up hard-boiled eggs into the sauce. It was then spooned over toast or pastry shells... it was delicious!

That's a good point, deucegroup... it's ideal to plan meals so that leftovers can be used in another meal. For example, I precooked a pork roast for my daughters and made homemade gravy which I've put in a jar. For their main meal, they'll have the roast with a starch and veggies and, then, the leftover meat and gravy can be used up in hot sandwiches, if they want. The other thing I always remind myself about is to bring plastic wrap or ziploc-type storage bags so they can pack lunches in the room to take along on their day trips. No monetary savings, really, if food gets wasted.

That sounds great! I hope you have a fabulous time! It's good to know in advance that you'll have access to healthy food... that's my concern for my girls and why I'm making sure that they don't end up with four straight days of junk food, three times a day. I know they are a lot like me -- and if I eat junky stuff pretty much every meal, for multiple days, I really don't feel well. I made them some sandwich fillings (egg salad, tuna salad), for example, that don't require additional condiments, so it'll be easy for them to take along lunches for their walking tours/day-time activities, without having to grab hot dogs or burgers or something. We already have all the ice packs and lunch bags on hand from when they're in school so there's no inconvenience

I agree! Bypassing more expensive restaurant food means more activities and museums and such, which they really want to do I have often done what you suggest and it works well -- breakfast and lunch in the room, dinner out. This time, I've prepared dinners for them too. Where they are going, there are night activities like a light show, busker festival and haunted walk that they want to do, so eating in the room will be fine. They will be filled up and then they'll be good to go until late-night

A crockpot or grill would be a great way to crank out a lot of meals without too much hassle! I was reading a website yesterday that was talking about how to make food in a room where there's no kitchen... they were recommending using the coffee maker for everything from soft-boiled eggs to instant oatmeal and Ramen type soups / noodles. I think those are creative and would be good in a pinch - but not something I'd want to eat for multiple days!

I agree JenInTN... you can just blaze through a pile of money on what amounts to pretty lousy meals... I mean $25-30 or so for a few people to have fast food? It just doesn't seem worth it when there are so many fun things to see and do while on vacation. I really find the advance prep time and effort is worth it. But, you're right... there has to be some relaxation and a break from chores or it's not a vacation for everyone