How to survive at a homeschool conference with starving children in a hotel room where all the food is way too expensive for your budget.
By Nancy Friedland
Bring:
- Ice chest (refill with the hotel ice)
- Paper & plastic goods: plates, bowls, cups, forks, spoons, knives, napkins and/or paper towels
- Serving bowls to hold things like fresh fruit and other snacks to be available for easy grazing
Main course type foods
- Salad fixings and dressings
- Veggies: red peppers, carrots, cucumber etc for dips, plain snacking, or add to salads
- Bagels and cream cheese
- Box cereal and milk
- Peanut butter and jelly (or honey or whatever)
- Cheeses (Babybels or string cheese come individually wrapped for easy snacking)
- Hard boiled eggs
- Cold leftover pizza (or get take-out)
- Trader Joe’s Just Chicken/Shrimp
- Tuna salad, or egg, chicken, or ham salads as an alternative (can pre-make at home)
- Cottage cheese
- Yogurt
- Add-ons for yogurt or cottage cheese: Honey, jam, cinnamon (can also be a dessert fruit dip)
- Pasta salads: add bagged greens, fruit. Or tuna, diced chicken or ham, or grated cheese for protein, and you have a near-complete meal.
- Take some good brown mustard and a bit of curry powder too. Either one in plain yogurt (or mayo) makes a spread, dip or salad dressing (really jazzes up hardboiled eggs).
- Cold cooked chicken
- Fruit
- Dried fruit–raisins, apricots, cherries, mango, pineapple, etc. (Trader Joe’s has a great assortment)
Cook with hot water (from hotel coffeemaker or bring an electric teapot)
- Ramen or other things you can pour hot water on
- Couscous and cracked wheat (bulgur) are ready in about 5 minutes after pouring hot (near boiling) water on.
- Indian food entrees in foil pouches could sit in hot water
- Oatmeal packets
Bring a toaster oven for:
- Frozen waffles
- Gardenburgers
- Leftover pizza
Drinks
- Juice boxes, or larger bottles plus paper cups
- Bottled water
- Instant hot chocolate
- Instant shakes
Snacks
- Granola bars
- Trail mix
- Nuts: add sunflower seeds, almonds, pumpkin seeds etc. to salads, cereals, yogurt or eat plain.
- Cereal bars
- Trader Joe’s Soy and Flax chips
- Your favorite crackers
- Breads
- Chips and other junk food
- Protein bars
- Packaged sweet rolls
- Crackers and humus
