To start out, Real food eating takes time and preparation. Usually people don’t want to do that when they are on vacation. However, our family is not used to eating out and I don’t want to spend $30 or more for mediocre restaurants, wait in long lines or deal with hungry kids. I would much rather eat in our room, so my family can eat Real food. I am here to show you that real food (for the most part) is easy and can be done on vacation.
We went on a 9 hour trip to the Smokeys.
- First make sure you get a room with a kitchen (mine was not any bigger than a small bathroom) with an oven and fridge.
- Bring your crock pot!
- Make a list of dinners and second meals
- Stock your coolers and bags with real food and snacks
- If needed, stop at store before getting to location and get fresh fruit, and more snacks.
Here is what we did. Keep in mind that I needed quick foods, but also healthy and something kids would eat.
Before I left, I packed one package of organic no sulfates hotdogs(my kids only get these on vacation), 1 whole Frozen chicken, 1 package of ground beef, 1 gallon raw milk, 1/2 gallon raw chocolate milk, bag organic coffee, organic boxed mac and cheese, 1 loaf of sprouted bread, 2 sticks of butter, jar of organic pasta sauce, 1/2 pound bacon, 1 1/2 dozen eggs, 5 potatoes, carrots, rice, 1 lemon,organic pasta noodles, raisins, applesauce, organic ketchup, organic cheese sticks, almond butter and jelly, tuna, organic crackers, cheddar bunnies. It sound like a lot, but we came back with very little! We stopped before the condo and got a large bag of organic apples, and 3 bags of pre-cut organic broccoli and cauliflower and a box of gluten free cereal, organic salsa and organic blue corn chips.
We brought 2 coolers, 1 small one for frozen things and larger one for other items.
The first night I made quick and easy roasted hot dogs, boxed organic mac and cheese, and steamed veggies. Had a few left-over hotdogs, that are saved for later.
Day One:
Breakfast - Each day was the same-Eggs with bacon and sprouted toast.
Lunch - tuna fish, cheese, apples, crackers etc...
Dinner - in the crockpot was partially thawed chicken, sea salt, lemon juice and rind, little water...cooked on low all day. Ate chicken, french fries(from potatoes), veggies.
Day Two:
Lunch - leftover chicken, cheese, crackers, apples etc..
Dinner - (spaghetti) browned meat, added sauce and simmered in crockpot all day. Cooked noodles.
Day Three:
Lunch - Pb and jelly crackers, chicken and cheese, apples, etc..
Dinner - cooked chicken, stock from previous cooking, carrots, rice, little extra water-chicken and rice bake in crock-pot. Served with veggies.
I used empty glass jars from salsa, spaghetti sauce and ziplock bags that brought up cheese etc. and stored left over extra sauce back in spaghetti jar, chicken and rice in salsa jar, chicken bones went back in freezer so I can make more stock later.
We ate out breakfast one morning and paid $30 (and it was not that good) I literally spent $30 to make 3 days of breakfasts, 3 days of lunches and at least one dinner (with left overs). Just for comparison. Eating out in general, but ‘vacation’ foods in general are one of the most expensive things you can cut out easily! If we were to eat out on average 2 times a day (even breakfast and lunch) on average of $20-$30 a meal for our family...We would spend $160-$240 on restaurant food on the low end. Think about all the good things you can get with that kind of money. This is a very basic list of what I did on our last trip and eating real food. We did have treats (fudge and apple cobbler) out a few times as well. I think my entire food budget for the whole trip (Thursday - Tuesday night) was $100 - that breaks down to around $5.50 A DAY per person........
Take away message - You can go on vacation and eat Real food and save money, time and still enjoy your vacation and not be stressed out.
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