If you use your crock pot regularly, take it with you. That will give you so many more choice's take mine when we go anywhere I know I will have a kitchen.
*FAFA* 6/1/08 12:15 A
The majority of my meals I cook in a non stick electric fry pan or the oven so just because you will be limited don't let that stop you, you just have to think how to accomplish it sometimes.
My favorite easy breakfast is yogurt with fruit and special k or yogurt with cottage cheese in it.
lunch, sandwiches are great. I like soup too but it will probably be too hot for that.
Dinner this is where I love to be creative. For a side I love roasted veggies. Broccali, cauliflower, asparagus, squash to name a few. Simply done in a 450 degree oven on a baking sheet. I cover it with parchement paper first. Place the cleaned and cut veggies on there and spray with pam. season with salt and pepper. Roast about 15 min. When done if you want a little more flavor you can add garlic powder and a pinch of parmesan cheese. But not necessary. I also love I can't believe it's not butter spray.
Roasted rattatoullie take a ton of different veggies like, eggplant, zucchini, onion, mushroom, bell peppers, garlic and cherry Tomatoes and roast at 450 on a baking sheet lined with parchement paper. Spray and season with salt and pepper. Roast about 25 min. While that is cooking boil your pasta. When finished add the veggies to the drained pasta. I like to add fresh basil as well but that may not be available to you.
I love just plain zucchini sauted with cooking spray on a non stick skillet and seasoned with salt and pepper. It has amazing flavor.
I have cooked chicken or beef on bamboo skewers that you can easily get in the grocery store, in a non stick skillet. But you could also broil them. season with salt pepper and garlic. You could make kabobs out of them but I would broil rather than use a fry pan for that. Too hard to get the meat sufficiently done with the veggies in the way.
I enjoy a sub sandwich for dinner in the summer time
How about home made pizza. You can make them to fit any taste and calorie budget. Use tortillas for the crust. I love ragu's chunky garden vegetable sauce for the pizza sauce.
Cold slaw is easy to make with few ingredients. You can buy pre mixed dressing and just a bag of mix.
How about chili and cornbread Chef salad
Hope that gives you some ideas to spark your thoughts too. Hope you have a great time.
LILSHINEYFISH 5/29/08 7:41 P
I'm not sure where you're going but here are some suggestions... Since you'll be shopping for food, buy some fresh herbs to add some extra flavor to dishes since you may not have spices handy. And ask about local food stands as you can often find yummy local fare there like good bread or premade local food options. Fruit salad is good at breakfast, lunch or dinner, cut up fruits and add some lemon juice and honey and toss- make a big batch so you have left overs and hopefully where you're going will have some good fruit options. I also like a bit of fresh mint tossed in, tear the leaves up. Pasta salads are good too for lunch or dinner - cook pasta (bow tie or some fun shape) and let cool then toss with cherry Tomatoes cut in half, diced cucumber, some slice black olives, some diced red pepper and toss with chopped basil and parsley and a low fat italian dressing. If you like feta cheese, that's good sprinkled on top. If you end up having a BBQ, you can grill veggies as well as meat. Just cut zucchini in half lengthwise and brush with olive oil and grill until just soft when poked but not mushy. Mushrooms and other veggies are good too but you may need skewers. Broiling chicken is fast and easy - get boneless skinless thighs and breast and marinate in a low fat italian dressing then place on a broiling pan (ideally one that has the slits in it so the juice drains into the under pan) about 4-5 inches from the broiler and cook 8-10 minutes then flip. Watch to make sure don't burn - if looks like they're cooking fast, move further down from the broiler. These can be served for dinner and if you make a bunch and have left overs you can cut them up and serve in a salad for lunch or make chicken sandwiches. Pasta is pretty easy to make a big batch of. You can get store bought pesto and mix cooked pasta and pesto with cooked broccoli and peas for a good summer pasta. Or just good old marinara usually pleases a crowd. You can add some sliced zucchini or mushrooms (saute mushrooms first then add to sauce) if you want to get some veggies in there. And simple things are nice too for family pot lucks, like if you can get really good tomatoes, slice them and top with fresh basil, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. If you want to get fancy and are ok with the fat, add some slices of fresh mozzarrella cheese (has to be the good soft kind, usually comes in water). If you have corn in the area, you can not only grill it or boil it but if you boil it and cut it from the cob and mix with black beans and diced red peppers and a bit of oil, lemon juice and cilanto you have a good mexican side salad dish. Add avocado if you like it. Great with beef, chicken or fish. Ok, that's all I've got off the top of my head. Hope that gives you some inspiration. Have a great trip!!
PUSHWAIT 5/29/08 7:26 A
Good Morning to all!!!
(I also posted this on the recipe request board but surprisingly, only rec'd 2 responses. I thought perhaps someone here may be able to help. Thanks!)
We will be going away on vacation soon. Staying in a place with a kitchen. Our whole family is going as a surprise for my mom's 80th birthday (should be approx. 25 people or so - obviously staying in separate units. We decided that for dinners, for most of the evenings, we would do a pot luck style dinner to try to save costs.
Here's the tricky part. I'm sure that cooking devices will be basic (frying pan, dutch oven, microwave, possibly a casserole dish, (but would't count on that for sure)etc.)We also won't have a stocked pantry with spices either - we're flying to the location, so it's not like we can bring the basics with us.
What I'd like is good, tasty recipes that require only a few ingredients, not slow cooker recipes because I doubt they'll have one there available. They don't have to be low fat, just real tasty and healthy, would be great. If they happen to be low-fat or low-cal, that's just an added bonus!!!
