Are you traveling soon?
Today, I'm pleased to share something I've been working on and enjoying for quite some time: healthy cooking for families on vacation!
How can you keep your family nourished and satisfied no matter where your adventures take you - simply and on a budget?
I'll share with you what I'm using successfully with my family, and even give you my printable meal plan as a gift!
When taking trips, I want to take a little break from cooking, too.
However, many factors contribute to us needing and wanting to cook most of our meal at our accommodations.
In our family, we have a few specific dietary needs and allergies that simply can't be skipped, and make eating at a restaurant almost an impossibility.
We also notice that we feel much better when eating home-cooked meals, and its easy save money and have a comforting, warm meal in whatever pretty place we've landed for the trip.
Many times we have gone to a restaurant, only to find the wait is an hour, to then drive to our second choice and again wait. So two hours and many grumpy moments later we are finally paying a premium to eat not our favorite things and are too tired to enjoy it.
Has that ever happened to you?
But I have solved this completely for my family, and it's been an absolute game-changer when traveling.
We save time, money, and energy...and get to enjoy beyond delicious meals with ease!
It's so fabulous to open the door of our vacation rental and smell the warm spices of Ropa Vieja inviting us to sit and enjoy a comforting meal after a long day of adventures- and I didn't even cook it!
My children love being able to dip into the slow cooker after swimming and fix themselves a quick taco of melt in your mouth shredded Pork Verde anytime they want.
And I so enjoy the brain break of figuring out what's for dinner to truly relax while on vacation!
Over the years I've tried many different methods.
Everything from bringing freezer meals to ordering meal-prep kits to restaurant delivery (most expensive and a pain honestly with our dietary restrictions) and even making a meal plan when I get there and going to the store.
An issue I ran into often with the last option is that recipes aren't written for traveling, and there ends up being lots of waste and leftover stuff.
For example, maybe a recipe for chicken casserole requires 3 potatoes. Well, if I buy a bag of potatoes I now have a bunch leftover that end up going in the trash or that I have to tote back with me or find another way to use. That's just one thing, imagine all the ingredients over the entire trip!
I also just didn't want to be sitting on the beach or on the front porch of a mountain cabin....making a meal plan.
Not really the relaxation I imagined when booking!
So, with lots of trial and error and testing with my own family, I have developed healthy and delicious recipes that are specifically designed for grocery shopping on vacation!
They're made using "a bag of frozen this" or "one can of that" in it's entirety!
With intentional wiggle-room written into them for adjusting to tastes and availability of ingredients, they're sure to make your whole family happy - without excess effort from you!
Each recipe was created to have mass appeal for families with kids and work for multiple diets.
In fact, every one of my recipes are paleo, gf/df, and low-carb friendly!
And easily customizable (with the customizations written there for you) to adjust for your family.
The only thing that isn't used completely are the seasonings, and I have a solution for that too!
Either pack them inside the slow cooker or pressure cooker (no additional space needed!) or prep the spices for each recipe in a disposable sandwich bag and bring them along (then there is nothing to bring back!).
This is most assuredly the best way I've found which works excellently works best for us.
We head off to vacation with a healthy, kid-approved vacation meal plan in hand and a plug-in cooker in the trunk!
Here are some of my tips for this working well:
1. Choose your plan before packing and leaving. Don't overthink it or get into analysis paralysis. You can use my meal plan exactly, or make adjustments, but just pick! It's hard to work in creative mode and planning mode at the same time, so simply choose your meals based on what people will actually like to eat. All of the meals in my plan are pretty equal in prep time and cost, so it's really just a matter of what sounds yummy to you!
2. Set your food order. Go to your vacation destination in your map app, and "Search Nearby" for grocery stores. Find one that has curbside or delivery, get their app and make your grocery list based on that location! By the way, I included a shopping list for you in the printable, to make this even easier. Take this opportunity to add things like napkins, water bottles, and coffee as well. Of course, you can always just go to the grocery store there, too. But I love not having to and saving time! I click "order" when we are close to our destination and either pick it up curbside or welcome the delivery soon after we arrive.
3. Pick your cooker. The Instant Pot is my top choice, as it is stainless steel (read: non-toxic) and has both slow cooker and pressure cooker capabilities, as well as searing abilities (not needed for any of the recipes in this plan, but if you make other things it might be useful!). Slow Cooker is the other best option. All of the recipes are written for one or the other. A link to my favorites are in the bundle.
Simply click the link below to download your free printable and start cooking up some unforgettable memories with your loved ones.
Download your free printable meal planner and grocery list template with the button below.
So pack your bags, fire up the grill, and get ready for a culinary adventure unlike any other. With a little planning and a lot of love, you can nourish your family's bodies and souls wherever your travels may take you.
Be blessed!
