If you vacation frequently in timeshares, as we do, you probably get tired of eating out every night. Not only is it expensive, but we tend to eat too much and don’t always make good choices. Of course, if we’re only away from home for a week, it’s a treat to eat out every night. Generally speaking though, if we’re on a 2 or 3-week trip, we might eat in three or four times. If we’re in a really expensive area like Hawaii, we probably cook even more often. If your family is large, you’ll appreciate those full kitchens. Also, most resorts have barbecue grills for their guests to use, although not all of them are gas grills.
One of the problems with cooking in a timeshare kitchen is that you don’t have all those staple items like you do at home. Items such as flour, sugar, spices, margarine and even salt and pepper need to be purchased or brought along from home. Therefore, the fewer ingredients you can use to cook, the better.
Usually we hit the grocery store the night that we arrive, or the next morning, at the latest. For breakfast we pick up easy, quick items like English muffins, bagels, cereal, milk and juice.
Lunch for us usually consists of deli ham or turkey, buns, or maybe a frozen pizza or two. And we always buy ice cream, because we like it!
Dinner tends to be a bit more complicated, so probably at least half of the time, we eat out. However, we do have some tried and true recipes that we rely on when timesharing, and periodically we’ll be sharing them on this site. Here is one of our favorites:
Timeshare Casserole
This recipe came from the Tug website http://www.tug2.net/ several years ago. Not sure who posted it.
(The best part about this recipe (other than it tastes good) is that everything comes in cans. Thus, you can bring it along if you drive and don’t have to stop at the store!)
2 cans chicken
2 cans mixed vegetables
2 cans any cream soup (undiluted)
2 cans French-fried onions
Spray or grease a 9 x 13 pan. Mix all ingredients in a bowl, except for 1 can of FF onions. Put mixture in pan, and top with last can of FF onions. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 or 30 minutes, taking care that the onions don’t burn. This serves approximately 6-8 people.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Great tip about shopping the first day you get there…..really cuts down on the dining out expenses there.
If you eat out every meal it starts adding up crazy fast….thanks for the recipes….
I generally timeshare with only my husband. I am looking for elegant, simple recipes to prepare. I plan on compiling them into an easy to pack cookbook with a list of all the ingredients in the front of the book. We spend so much on the trip I want the meals I prepare to be simple but special. Ideas are welcome.