Hotel living...meal ideas

[Lees3rwe]

Hey everyone!

My family (myself, my husband and our 14 year old son) are living in a hotel for at least a month while our house undergoes major repairs on the foundation.
We are staying at a Residence Inn, so our room has a partial kitchen: Full sized fridge, dishwasher, pots/pans, plates, etc., microwave and a two burner stove top. We also have access to the grill on the patio.
The hotel has breakfast every morning, which is great and they actually have a manager's reception 3 nights a week (including beer and wine!).

We ate out A LOT the first week, mainly because we were exhausted and trying to get into a routine, but now we are sick of everything and it is getting expensive.

I am making spaghetti, salad and bread tonight, picked up pork chops (to grill), microwave baked potatoes, and salad for tomorrow night, and we will probably eat the manager's reception meal 2 nights.

I am thinking of making a pot of chili or soup just to have in the fridge and maybe some chicken and rice.

I should have brought my crockpot!!!

Anyway, it has been kind of funny because I have read this message board for years with people talking about hotel room meal ideas. I just wanted to say thanks!

 

[RitaE]

A couple of years ago, our central air went kaput and I was trying to find things to make without turning the oven on and overheating the whole house. I discovered a whole world of cookbooks meant for kids in dorm rooms and people who live out of hotel mini kitchens.

This one is my favorite.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/15..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1T3D35XJ7Z60T04J17SK

I have to tell you though, there is nothing wrong with not having hot food every night. Salads, fruit, cheese and crackers. Search for no cook meals.

 

[Lees3rwe]

Thanks for the link... and you are right... I am fine with having salads every night...

 

[Shagley]

I like to get a rotisserie chicken, a container of Bob Evans mashed potatoes (in the refrigerator section), some frozen veggies to toss in the microwave and some rolls. That makes a great cheap, fast and easy meal. Then the next day I use the leftover rolls and chicken to make sandwiches. Sometimes I even get a container of the Bob Evans Macaroni and Cheese to eat the 2nd day with the sandwiches. All of those ingredients combined are usually cheaper than one meal out for one person.

 

[goingtowdwwithkiddos]

you could buy a crockpot craigslist maybe ?
we stayed in a hotel for 3 weeks when we were adopting my DD. We ate out a lot but we did cook some meat frozen mashed potatoes in a bag and steam in bag veggies. chilli dogs and potato chips. those bbq in tub meats with coleslaw. mac n cheese and some meat .

Good luck..........we got cabin fever 5 people in a room with snow (we are from southern California) it was a long 3 weeks but totally worth it

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

On Friday nights we have bar food night at home. I use the Reynolds non stick foil on my baking pan for easy clean up. I bake chicken tenders, onion rings, pizza rolls or potato skins. Spread everything out on the foil pan to bake. Then add the condiments of choice.


Salad topped with chuck chicken from a can. YOu can get a bag of almonds with dried cranberry's to toss in it and dress with raspberry vinaigrette and croutons.


If you have a Boston Market you can get a complete family meal to go.

 

[cel_disney]

I think we would have grilled chicken (most likely teriyaki marinated) tossed over Caesar salad once a week...

We also do the rotisserie chicken meal and make chicken noodle soup the next night with the left overs. (Make the soup with tortellini if you need it to be more filling)

Good luck in the hotel! We would also eat a lot of sandwiches! Cold cuts or peanut butter and jelly would likely be popular too!

 

[Lees3rwe]

Thanks for the tips... I am sure we will be doing the rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes!!!

The last time we had the repair done, it took 10 weeks. We didn't have any kind of kitchen at all and I gained 20 lbs with all of the eating out!

 

[powellrj]

While I have never had them, my kids get the bob evans carry out meal from the restaurant and seem to really like it.

I would run to a target and get a crock-pot. They are pretty cheap and it will make meals much easier to prepare. If you want to spend the money, the new electric pressure cookers are dandy and will also give you more meal ideas.

Some easy meals are loaded baked potatoes. Get some large bakers and then you can add canned chili and shredded cheese to make them a meal.

Frozen stouffers lasagna, chicken quesadillas made from meat dept ready made chicken with some tortillas and cheese, pulled pork sandwiches, chicken and noodles and mashed potatoes.

 

[kymom99]

How about grilled sandwiches? I made my son a grilled cheese with some ham and bacon and he about licked the plate.

 

[Lees3rwe]

We actually had grilled cheese with tomato soup today! (That is one of my favorite meals ever).

We don't have an oven, just a stove top and microwave. good suggestions everyone!

 

[justlook3]

If you have a Target nearby they have a couple of kinds of slow cookers on sale, all under $30 (the 8 q is $24, the 4.5 q is $18). This would be great for making things that you would ordinarily do in an oven, such as roasts, chickens, even lasagna! There's also less risk of fire like you might have if you bought a toaster oven or the like. You have a full size fridge so that's a big help for groceries. You could make pizzas on the grill too since you don't have an oven to make them in.
Another suggestion is taco night, you can microwave the shells to warm them. Not quite the same as the oven, but needs must.
Also right now Target has a $5 off of $25 in frozen food coupon in their ad. You can also text FROZEN to 827438 to get it. Might help to stock up on a few items such as vegetables, microwave entrees, rice, even stuff like shrimp.

 

[Bell30012]

Target has the Crock-Pot® Cook ‘N Carry® 5-Quart Manual French Bull Slow Cooker for under $30. Then here's some great, easy meals. There is no reason to have to eat out and go broke. I travel some times for work where I'm gone for days. One of the hotels that I visit quite frequently, joke about "What's for dinner?" when I'm leaving in the mornings. They all laugh about my meals. But they are dinner one night and lunch the next day.

 

[alohamom]

I have been in your shoes and lived in a Residence Inn while construction happened for us too so I feel you, it can be really hard to not have your own home and things! I found it was hard to not go all carbs and sodium!
Couple of meals that come to mind that we did were:

Take out chicken soft tacos
shredded take out chicken mixed with a bit of salsa and warmed in the micro with soft flour tortillas and then toppings as you like them-shredded cheese, lettuce, avocado, sour cream, whatever

Take out chicken pasta with rose sauce
take out chicken cut into bite sizes tossed into cooked pasta and rose sauce (or alfredo but not a big av of my kids) with salad

Cheesy hamburger skillet from the Campbells Soup Can
This one is my son's all time favorite meal
brown ground beef and cook pasta. Mix beef into the pasta, put in a can of campells cheddar cheese soup, a can of salsa and 1/2 cup beef broth (I think-I have made it just with water and it was fine) Mix till warm and serve-super easy and my kids love this

Maybe you could do a greek meal with rice, grilled chicken, salad, pita and tzaiki

What I missed most was my stocked pantry!

 

[Lees3rwe]

Nice! I think I am going to go out and grab one of the smaller crockpots today. I have the big one packed up at home (We had to pack up our ENTIRE house), so a smaller one would be great to have anyway!

Those crockpot starters look delicious!

Our spaghetti turned out great last night. Tonight is one of the manager reception nights, they are having a "Sub Sandwich" bar. We will eat that for dinner.

Thanks for all of your kind suggestions!

 

[andiraye]

There are lots of things that can be made on a couple of burners. We have family members living in China where they don't have ovens in homes at all.

Try stir fry anything, with or without veggies mixed in - chicken, shrimp, beef, fish - in one pan, and a pot of rice next to it, or boiled potatoes. Or bread fish or chicken cutlets and pan fry them. Or a quick tomato sauce made from a can of chopped tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and seasonings - serve over pasta and mix in cubed mozzarella. Or braised meatballs - make meatballs, sear them in the pan and then add the sauce of your choice and simmer until cooked through.

 

[dcfromva]

I love this recipe which is very easy to make and delicious:
black bean quesadillas by Beth M.

 

[scrapquitler]

My parents lived in a Residence Inn for 8 months after a fire at their condo. Mom bought a toaster oven, a crock pot and an electric skillet to supplement the microwave and two burner stove.

They ate out about 2 nights a week, they ate at the manager reception a couple times a week, and the rest of the meals she cooked. She did a lot of meals in the crock pot: chili, roasts, stews, soups, chicken cacciatore, pasta sauce, turkey breast, etc. She cooked a lot of skillet dinners (similar to hambuger/chicken helper but more home made) in the electric skillet, and she baked a lot of things (including meatloaf, small lasagna, pork chops, etc) in the toaster oven. They ate almost as well as if they were home, with some minimal changes (she came to my house to do her normal baking -- she used to bake lots of cakes for local events like spaghetti dinners, bingo at the Elks Club, etc).

 

[Deb & Bill]

Nice! I think I am going to go out and grab one of the smaller crockpots today. I have the big one packed up at home (We had to pack up our ENTIRE house), so a smaller one would be great to have anyway!

Those crockpot starters look delicious!

Our spaghetti turned out great last night. Tonight is one of the manager reception nights, they are having a "Sub Sandwich" bar. We will eat that for dinner.

Thanks for all of your kind suggestions!

Don't they have dinner most weekday nights? I've only stayed at them on the weekend and there were no free meals at night. But there was always a calendar on the refrigerator that showed several meals per week.

Oh, those Slow Cooker sauces are horrible. Lots of vinegar in the pot roast one. We seldom have leftovers when I make pot roast in the slow cooker, but with that stuff, I threw a bunch away.

 

[TLuvsD]

I do eggplant parm in the crockpot (just layer it up like usual, I use the frozen breaded eggplant cutlets from Trader Joe's), It cooks in about 4 to 6 hours.
The Bear Creek soup mixes are pretty good, lots of flavors and easy to fix on the stove top...maybe with different sandwiches.
I do a poached chicken breast with vegetables that you could do on the stove top.
Take 4 or 5 green onions (whites and light green), dice them, toss them in a frying pan with some olive oil. Add 4 to 5 carrots (sliced) and a zucchini (sliced). Cook for 4 or 5 minutes, add 4 cups chicken broth, bring to a boil and 3 or 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (if then won't fit whole, just slice them up--they will cook faster anyway. Simmer it for about 12 minutes, serve over rice. I thicken the broth with cornstarch, sometimes add an egg and lemon juice at the end...just to change it up. My DH prefers it if I add the zucchini about half way through cooking the chicken, whatever you prefer will work.