Studio Cookin'

[Spacemonkaay]

I have seen threads about cooking in one bedrooms, but we are new owners and want to stretch our points as far as possible, so we're sticking with studios until we come into great riches someday. ;o)

Does anyone have any tips on cooking in the studios? Something other than eating cereal or opening up a can of something, preferably. How could you cook for a week with just a microwave and the little fridge?

 

[MinnieLee]

We stay in a studio all the time. It's just the two of us and for the amount of time we spend in the room we don't need much more. As far as cooking - in a studio you can be inventive as far as your choices you can put in the microwave (but remember the micros are the small ones). There are alot of fairly decent choices out now that you can microwave or one night get cold cuts and make heros. The fridge freezer is tiny (ice cube trays tiny). We usually have one "big meal" during the day and something smaller later on. Did you look into the DDP?

 

[Spacemonkaay]

Sorry for the multiple posts -- I don't know what happened. Oops.

We prefer to eat out all the time, but since we're paying for DVC, we can't warrant more than one meal out per week (we share food cause neither of us eat a ton). We're both in school, so DVC is already a stretch. Saving on food is our trade-off for having awesome rooms and pools! It was just a choice we had to make.

I guess there's not many options if the nukers are the tiny kind. I wasn't aware of that. Maybe we'll resort to sandwiches, yogurt, and other such standard fare. But I get the itch for a hot meal once a day and can't fathom eating Chef Boyardee every day while visiting the Mouse! Oh well. Other suggestions?

 

[cdmickey]

Since we are within driving distance, we bring frozen (leftovers of dinner entrees) from home, chili, hearty soaps, meatloaf, etc. and use the microwave for thawing/heating. And again, since we have the car, we make a grocery stop (at Publix) before we checkin so we have 'staples' for the week.

 

[Spacemonkaay]

So how tiny is the tiny microwave? What's the largest container you can fit in the thing?

 

[waltfan1957]

I have seen threads about cooking in one bedrooms, but we are new owners and want to stretch our points as far as possible, so we're sticking with studios until we come into great riches someday. ;o)

Does anyone have any tips on cooking in the studios? Something other than eating cereal or opening up a can of something, preferably. How could you cook for a week with just a microwave and the little fridge?

we bought an owners locker as we are from the uk we leave a george forman grill in it also a microwave pasta/rice cooker the microwave eggpoachers, we go for 3 weeks and have no problems

 

[CarolMN]

FYI - I merged the duplicate threads and deleted the duplicate posts.

 

[ohtarabell]

Pack or buy a small crock pot and cook while you are in the parks. Small one can be bought for under $20. You can pack one by rolling it up inside some soft shirts. Takes up very little room and you can do chili, sloppy joes, chicken, stew etc

 

[baj0505]

Near the small pool at BCV there is a small grill and picnic table setup--not sure which resort your staying at but several of them have grills. We noticed it last year at spring break and in June we went with family members and stopped and bought a bag of charcoal (oops! forgot that) but remembered to bring some frozen steaks, hotdogs and ground beef with us to make hamburgers. We had a cook out 2 nights we were there--one night steaks and the other hamburgers and hotdogs. We brought canned baked beans and fixed those in the microwave. The kids loved it, they were in the pool while we cooked everything. Since we ate at peak dinner time there was no one but us out there! We did the same thing at the Poly in December. It was a nice change of pace.

They do have a toaster and we brought Eggo waffles and the boys had them almost every morning. We saved a set of the kids black mickey ear plastic plates you get with alot of the kids meals to serve the waffles in--they thought that was pretty cool, plus it worked better than syrup all over paper plates. We ran out of frozen waffles by the 3rd day and were pleasantly surprised that the BCV market sells them as well as the syrup.

 

[DISNEYFOURME]

We are leaving soon and have already placed an order at garden grocer. I ordered eggs. Has anyone ever tried to make scrambled eggs in a micro? Guess I should try at home first. We bought some precooked bacon and some english muffins and had hoped to add a scrambled egg to it all. We bought mostly bfast items because we move slowly in the morning and 1/2 of us can be eating while the other half is getting ready.

 

[Caskbill]

So how tiny is the tiny microwave? What's the largest container you can fit in the thing?

Maybe a photo will help. This is BWV but the small kitchen area in all the DVC studios is similar. The main difference is the decor.

 

[Sandisw]

We are leaving soon and have already placed an order at garden grocer. I ordered eggs. Has anyone ever tried to make scrambled eggs in a micro? Guess I should try at home first. We bought some precooked bacon and some english muffins and had hoped to add a scrambled egg to it all. We bought mostly bfast items because we move slowly in the morning and 1/2 of us can be eating while the other half is getting ready.

Yes, I cook scrambled eggs all the time. I have those little white Corning Ware bowls and they work great. I beat up the egg and add a LITTLE milk, salt and pepper. For my micro, 1 minute is enough. You may have to play around with time.

It comes up in a nice round circle which is perfect for my DD's in the AM before school to put into a bagel.

 

[Sandisw]

We are leaving soon and have already placed an order at garden grocer. I ordered eggs. Has anyone ever tried to make scrambled eggs in a micro? Guess I should try at home first. We bought some precooked bacon and some english muffins and had hoped to add a scrambled egg to it all. We bought mostly bfast items because we move slowly in the morning and 1/2 of us can be eating while the other half is getting ready.

Yes, I cook scrambled eggs all the time. I have those little white Corning Ware bowls and they work great. I beat up the egg and add a LITTLE milk, salt and pepper. For my micro, 1 minute is enough. You may have to play around with time.

It comes up in a nice round circle which is perfect for my DD's in the AM before school to put into a bagel.

 

[Disney Princess]

We are leaving soon and have already placed an order at garden grocer. I ordered eggs. Has anyone ever tried to make scrambled eggs in a micro? Guess I should try at home first. We bought some precooked bacon and some english muffins and had hoped to add a scrambled egg to it all. We bought mostly bfast items because we move slowly in the morning and 1/2 of us can be eating while the other half is getting ready.

We do this every morning here at home! It works great and is MUCH quicker than using the stove. We use egg whites, but at home we microwave for about 40-ish seconds. We bought precooked turkey sausage and add that to the mix. We toast up an English muffin and Voila! breakfast at a VERY cheap cost. And the protein sticks with you a LONG time. Enjoy!!!

 

[Joy]

I saw a thread last year and a couple spent a month at OKW in a studio. They had lots of good ideas. (I can't find it now of course.) I think they took an electric skillet with them or maybe an indoor grill.

Some of the things I thought of are:

You can get precooked chicken- (or grill one if you have access to a grill at your resort) have that one night with frozen rice mix and a salad. The next night you can make chicken salad wraps with the left overs.

Nachos are easy in the microwave, so are burritos. BLT's are always good. You can microwave hot dogs or chicken nugget things.

I looked at on walmart's web site and a crock pot is $20, a toaster oven is $40 and an electric skillet was $20. I think if you could afford one of those, it would really expand your options.

We always stay in a studio and I hate to spend $1000 on food for the week, but my DH doesn't want to cook on vacation.

 

[Alice_on_WONDERland]

These are all such GREAT ideas! Keep 'em coming!

 

[Spacemonkaay]

Yes -- thanks for the great ideas! And thanks for fixing the mess-up, CarolMN.

 

[Alice_on_WONDERland]

A good friend of mine just sent me this recipe and I thought I'd share it with all of you. It seems like a GREAT recipe for us "room cookers." Start this in the morning and let it cook on low while you're out and about in the parks, then it's good and yummy when you come back home. Just toss a salad, pick up a pre-made dessert and a loaf of bread and you're set!

Here you go:

What you will need:
uncooked Lasagna noodles
1 pound ground beef or sausage
1tsp of Italian Seasoning
1 28ounce spagetti sauce of your choice
1/3 cup water
1 15ounce container of cottage cheese or ricotta chesse
optional - a hand full of diced mushrooms or a hand full of diced pepperoni
2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

Brown your meat and right before it's done add your Italian seasoning (you could do this ahead of time and freeze it)
Break your noodles in half and place them on the bottom of your crock pot (you can make your noodle layer as thick as you like)
Put half of your meat over the noodles.
Add half my pepperoni &/or mushrooms if using at this point
Spread half sauce and half water over the meat
Spread half your cottage/ricotta cheese
Add half your Mozzarella cheese.
Repeat your layers starting with the noodles again.
Cook on low for atleast 5 hours.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

We did a split stay last year. We started in a 2-bedroom with some friends, then moved to a studio with just the two of us for a second week. On the last morning in the 2-bedroom, I cooked 2 boxes of spaghetti noodles and put them in a ziplock bag to take with us to the studio. I had no idea how versatile those noodles would prove to be for the next week.

On one night, we got a small can of spaghetti sauce from the marketplace and heated up a nice plate of spaghetti. On other nights, we'd stop at Artist's Pallet on the way back from the parks and get a cup of soup. We'd then pour the soup over the noodles as a sauce and it made for a great midnight snack or meal.

At BJ's last night, I noticed a plastic pasta cooker for the microwave. I didn't buy it because I couldn't think of how we'd use it. However, you've got me thinking now that I may get one to keep in our Owner's Locker.

 

[DISNEYFOURME]

Yes, I cook scrambled eggs all the time. I have those little white Corning Ware bowls and they work great. I beat up the egg and add a LITTLE milk, salt and pepper. For my micro, 1 minute is enough. You may have to play around with time.

It comes up in a nice round circle which is perfect for my DD's in the AM before school to put into a bagel.

Cool.. thanks. Glad I won't have to waste the dozen eggs! Now I realize I didn't think about salt and pepper. I dont suppose SSR studios have salt and pepper? Guess we can "borrow" some from the counter service places.