Spill the beans... self-catering on holiday tips

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  • greatscot
    greatscot Posts: 9
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    edited 30 May 2012 at 10:03AM
    :rotfl:Camp Pizzas
    My kids and husband love these. all you need is one ring burner and a frying pan.
    Tortillas, Grated Cheese, Cheap Pasta Sauce, a little oil
    Method: Heat a little oil in the frying pan
    Add the tortilla, spread the pasta sauce over the tortilla and sprinkle grated cheese on top. Gently cook till the cheese melts and serve. You can also fold in half to make folded pizza
    Optionally you can add pre cooked mushrooms, peppers ham etc.

    Egg fried rice
    Ready made rice, 2 eggs, soy sauce, chopped spring onion, Chinese oxo
    scramble and cook eggs in the frying pan add the spring onion, sprinkle the Chinese oxo, add rice then soy sauce to colour and taste. This is great on its own or add meat, fish or veg.

    xxx
  • mann-banks
    mann-banks Posts: 15 Forumite
    We have just come back from a week in a villa in Menorca, which is a holiday we do most years. I always take ice cube bags,foil, sandwich bags, thin flexible chopping boards and cereal for the kids and a new edition is empty fruit shoot bottles so we can buy squash and top up the bottles. We always go to the big Euoski supermarkets and buy lots of own brand food. The quality is really good and to be honest the price difference compared to food here has almost gone. We found buying products from a large supermarket compared to the local resort supermarkets were on average cheaper by at least 50 cent per item. In pounds that approx 41p per item.
  • loupegaroue
    loupegaroue Posts: 11 Forumite
    A sharp knife, sharpener (Amazon do a good mini steel), pallette knife / fish slice, tin opener, corkscrew and some tupperware.

    I've found all the above are poor quality / abused / missing (and vital to my cooking). Some tupperware is handy for picnics and storage of left overs.
  • Someone else has already recommended getting a supermarket delivery to your holiday home (if you are in the UK).

    If you are going to Europe, it's worth remembering that most shops are closed on Sundays and often on Mondays aswell - more of a problem if you are not in a resort area - so you need to take enough food with you to cover that eventuality. We once had to survive on cream cakes for a day, because the local pasticceria was the only place open on Sunday.

    Even if you are staying in a hotel, my wife and I have often been known to have a picnic in our room. Go to a supermarket and stock up from the deli counter: it saves a fortune on restaurant prices.
  • angieplus4
    angieplus4 Posts: 16 Forumite
    when ever we are on holiday always self catering as we are a family of 6 always buy a pack of icecreams or lollies from supermarket cost £1-£3 instead of up to £12 for 6 ice creams. i do say they normaly come in packs of 4 or 6 but even if you could not eat 2 and just threw them in the bin u are still saving money the little stalls or ice cream vans are so expensive just wanted to share this tip its just getting the kids to decide which pack they want x
  • tenuissent
    tenuissent Posts: 342
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    I always take a full picnic kit (including sharp knife, corkscrew and all the sensible things noted above) and thick tablecloth for mass family hotel stays. Restaurants can be a nightmare with bored children, fussy eaters, endless explanations of foreign menus, and people who don't like their food when it finally arrives. Do it once or twice for the experience and the training, then:

    Encourage everyone to buy various things during the day that they are prepared to eat in the evening. Spread the thick table cloth over bed in the biggest room to protect it, and display all the food attractively. Eat in relaxed way, plenty of wine and juices. Clear up very thoroughly.

    Hotels understandably do not like people to eat in the bedrooms; the food and drink has to be smuggled in tactfully inside opaque bags that might contain swimming things, not the local supermarket bags. I have always cleared up meticulously and disposed of rubbish and bottles in street recycling bins.

    The most we have had eating in a small room is 16, and although we have enjoyed mass restaurant meals, paying for them and waiting for the food and amusing little children soon palls.......
  • totallybored
    totallybored Posts: 1,141
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    If you're staying in a nice hotel you won't be able to use the mini bar as a fridge as it'll have sensors when things are lifted up. Ask if they can provide a mini fridge to store your medication in or ask for the mini bar to be emptied (might be easier if you have kids with you but you could always say you're a recovering alcoholic).

    I have taken McDonald's back into 5 star hotels before. Never tried ordering a pizza though!

    If breakfast is included in a hotel take a few bits of fruit and some yogurts with you. If you have no shame take a tubberware box and take rolls, ham, pastries etc too (I don't do this myself as I rarely make it out of bed in time for breakfast but I've seen others do it).
  • Doshwaster
    Doshwaster Posts: 6,130
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    tenuissent wrote: »
    Hotels understandably do not like people to eat in the bedrooms; the food and drink has to be smuggled in tactfully inside opaque bags that might contain swimming things, not the local supermarket bags. I have always cleared up meticulously and disposed of rubbish and bottles in street recycling bins.

    It really depends on the type of hotel. Top end 4* and 5*, I would agree with you but I've never had any problem in budget/mid-range hotels in the US. In fact many will provide you with the delivery menus from the local restaurants and takeaways.
  • GlynD
    GlynD Posts: 10,883 Forumite
    Tarry wrote: »
    I self cater when I go over to Ireland, I tend to get some bits and bobs before I leave, ie, coffee, cereal, kitchen roll, that type of thing, and get a few things before we catch the ferry, like milk etc (one of these days it will be churned when we get over there but anyway) as by the time we get over there, it will be late and most things will be closed. And we get things as and when we need them. We tend to use the local supermarkets like supervalu.

    You've raised a very good point there about SuperValu and other local supermarkets, especially the ones with filling stations attached. I found whilst living in GB that these were the most expensive places to shop but in Ireland they're the cheapest! Centra is another brand name which spings to mind for Ireland.
  • GlynD
    GlynD Posts: 10,883 Forumite
    Bougainvillea Beach Hotel in Barbados actually has a little galley kitchen with a full sized fridge and a little local shop about 50 yards from the front door. Easy to stock up on basics and use the beach restauraunt only when you want to.
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