Cooking on Vacation

smlewis00

smlewis00

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Do you cook while you are on vacation, or do you prefer to eat out? I enjoy eating out while vacationing because I like to visit with the locals, and experience the food and atmosphere.
I also like to cook while on vacation because you can really save money that way. I recently took my crock pot along with me on vacation. While staying at the hotel, I would have warm meals slow cooking while we were out sight seeing or shopping. It was really convenient and helped us save money.
What about you? Cook on vacation, or eat out?
 
I'm afraid we always cook when we are on holiday. We rarely eat out because of the expense and being on holiday is never cheap at the best of times. But we will often go with simpler meals (or very simple meals if we are camping) but ironically the holiday home we usually rent actually has a bigger and better kitchen than the house we rent currently, so we do sometimes 'splash' out and take advantage of having a proper oven and cook something nice whilst on holiday.

And if we do eat out, it is usually something like a chip butty... boy my husband knows how to show a girl a good time!
 
We almost always cook while on vacation. If we go to the beach we will normally eat one meal out but the rest of the time we will cook or make sandwiches. Since vacations are meant as a vacation I like to make simple meals or lots of sandwiches and salads. I have never thought of taking the crock pot with us on our vacations but that might be a good idea for the next time! Oh yes and hubby does like to grill when we go on vacation too.
 
When me and my family go on a vacation sometimes we bring cooked food already along with us and we prepared it ahead of time prior to our travel or wherever is the place for us to spend bonding moments. We don't cook because it is a vacation and we had to relax during that day. Then when it is time for us to go back then we eat or dine out in a restaurant or food shops on our way going home.
 
Shellyann36 said:
We almost always cook while on vacation. If we go to the beach we will normally eat one meal out but the rest of the time we will cook or make sandwiches. Since vacations are meant as a vacation I like to make simple meals or lots of sandwiches and salads. I have never thought of taking the crock pot with us on our vacations but that might be a good idea for the next time! Oh yes and hubby does like to grill when we go on vacation too.
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I love taking my crock pot on vacation! It is so convenient! I have a small crock pot, so it doesn't take up a lot of space. While we are out sight-seeing, or out at the beach, I can have dinner cooking in the crock pot. I like to keep the meals and recipes simple. That way, I can buy just a few groceries, yet have nice meals. We can save money, but still enjoy warm meals.
For example, one crock pot recipe I love is to take a whole chicken, rinse it, then put it in the crock pot. I then pour dry onion soup mix on top of the chicken and let it cook. Thats it! No water, no anything! Just chicken and onion soup mix. It is simple, and it tastes delicious! With the leftover chicken, it tastes great to make chicken salad with! :)
 
I prefer eating out. Anyway, most times I'm on vacation the place I'm staying at doesn't have anything kitchen-wise. Except in Florida once, but we only made popcorn, haha.

I especially prefer eating out when traveling out of state just to try local dishes or things normally not made where I'm from. Eating out is one of the enjoyable parts of vacation for me.
 
Personally, I have not tried that cooking on family vacation till now. Family vacation is a holiday for everyone so we prefer doing the least work and most of holidaying.

However, when we friends are out on a vacation, we are fine with cooking on our own. In fact we are even fine with experimenting and trying out things we had not done before. So, that is basically about my preference.
 
It really depends. If I'm staying in a hotel or resort, then I don't cook. On my last vacation I visited a friend in Las Vegas. We did go out to eat, but most of the time, we stayed in and cooked most of our meals. I was very surprised that I enjoyed it so much.
 
Cooking is the way to go for me. Even on my small mini vacations when I stay close to home I make sure my suite has a kitchenette in it and there is a grocery store near by. It doesn't bother me in the least to cook while on vacation probably because I enjoy cooking so much. Besides saving money- my food is always better anyway ...lol.
 
warmweatherwoman said:
Cooking is the way to go for me. Even on my small mini vacations when I stay close to home I make sure my suite has a kitchenette in it and there is a grocery store near by. It doesn't bother me in the least to cook while on vacation probably because I enjoy cooking so much. Besides saving money- my food is always better anyway ...lol.
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I agree that it is a great way to save money! I really enjoy cooking, and it is so much cheaper to make things on your own then going out to eat. Plus, I like having left-overs. They are easy to re-heat and have a nice warm meal the next day. I also use coupons when I shop so I can get "more bang for my buck."
Another wonderful thing about cooking yourself is, you get to control what ingredients go into your meals. You don't have to add all the harsh chemicals and things that resturaunts sometimes serve.
 
smlewis00 said:
I agree that it is a great way to save money! I really enjoy cooking, and it is so much cheaper to make things on your own then going out to eat. Plus, I like having left-overs. They are easy to re-heat and have a nice warm meal the next day. I also use coupons when I shop so I can get "more bang for my buck."
Another wonderful thing about cooking yourself is, you get to control what ingredients go into your meals. You don't have to add all the harsh chemicals and things that resturaunts sometimes serve.
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Yes absolutely ..there is so much sodium found in pre packaged food that I really do enjoy making the items from scratch. Rice a roni is a perfect example of that..I love rice pilaf but hate all the sodium found in the little seasoning packet that comes with it....simple solution...make it from scratch..not only does it taste better but its healthier for you as well.
 
I would love to cook when travelling, but most of the places I stay at seldom have a full kitchen. Often times there are really great farmers markets and other unique grocers in the area, which can be just as fun to shop at as opposed to going out to eat. I would have just as much fun shopping for some unusual ingredients only available in that area, and bringing them all back to my place to cook a big meal. Cooking isn't a chore for me at all since I love to cook.

While I like to go out to eat as well, it's not practical to do so when on vacation as it can kill your budget pretty quickly. I generally stick to inexpensive street food or diners for breakfast and lunch, then go out to eat for dinner.
 
OhioTom76 said:
I would love to cook when travelling, but most of the places I stay at seldom have a full kitchen. Often times there are really great farmers markets and other unique grocers in the area, which can be just as fun to shop at as opposed to going out to eat. I would have just as much fun shopping for some unusual ingredients only available in that area, and bringing them all back to my place to cook a big meal. Cooking isn't a chore for me at all since I love to cook.

While I like to go out to eat as well, it's not practical to do so when on vacation as it can kill your budget pretty quickly. I generally stick to inexpensive street food or diners for breakfast and lunch, then go out to eat for dinner.
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I totally agree! Street food is fun to try! Its always exciting to eat with the locals and see what kinds of foods they enjoy. It is a great way to experience new tastes and flavors, plus, it usually is fairly inexpensive.
 
A mix of the two. I don't want to eat out every day due to the price, but I do want to experience local food.
What I often do is make something really fast, or even just buying a sandwich from the grocery store, for lunch and then eating out for dinner.
 
I loathe cooking when I'm on vacation as I love eating out, somewhere picturesque, while tasting the local cuisine. When I'm traveling with family, we'll normally visit a grocery store though, to pick up a few bits and pieces for the occasional lunch or dinner, as doing so is a great way to save a little bit of cash.
 
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