Tell me your favourite self catering meals

[TheresBoozeInTheBlender]

Hi,

Going to the canaries for a few weeks in august. We will eat out everyday but have a fully equipped apartment with big balcony and I plan to do a shop and cook some meals.

This is not something we usually do but this trip I feel like it, to save some money and also because the kids are a bit older so they're happy just chilling while I read on the balcony .

I'll go to a big mercadona so everything is available. So far I've got fruits, granola, eggs for breakfasts and pasta dishes as well as steaks and salad on the list.

Easy foods to cook and prepare but still nice and summery. Any ideas welcome 🤗 thanks

If you eat out than I would go for things like bread, cheese, cured meats, salads and a BBQ.

Yes, cold tapas style lunches always go down well.

We will eat out a lot of the time but we all really need the rest and it'll be nice to just stay in some evenings or have lazy mornings. The kids will likely want to sleep in a bit and I don't sleep 🙄

Curry and rice.
Filled pasta with cheese sauce and veg.
Fajitas.
Macaroni cheese.
Homemade garlic bread.

Is there a BBQ? We tend to do self-catering holidays in France, and our dinners are almost always BBQed pre-marinated meat/fish, pre-made tubs of beetroot and carrot salads, Olives, sliced tomatoes, and a carb such as boiled/roast potatoes with vinaigrette or garlic butter, tagliatelle with garlic butter (the GB features heavily in many meals!), or a tub of readymade couscous salad. Although the veg stays the same each day, varying the carbs, protein, and marinade makes each day different enough. DH is happy to stand and BBQ with a beer in hand, and I load the salads onto the table whilst the potatoes/pasta cooks. It only takes about 20 minutes.

When we’re in Spain we eat loads of fish with boiled potatoes and salad. You can get decent burgers and sausages for a BBQ. Mercadona is a good supermarket to shop in. Their fish counter is amazing.

No bbq but can easily stick meats under the grill or in the oven.

Sounds like what we've been eating through this hot weather last month really. Burgers featured quite heavily too. Thanks, adding it all to the list

I find the following dishes easy
tacos
tuna napolitana and pasta (but it might not suit your family)
lemon chicken breast and couscous
waldorf salad (apples grapes celery nuts and mayo)
jacket potato plus…..
Sausages in buns (and extra on the side) with fun local sauces

dont forget lots of snacky stuff and fun local juices etc

I love Mercadona 😂
I buy the ready cooked chicken (these can be reheated), salad, potatoes and alioli for a nice easy meal. Or, loads of prawns and some lovely fresh bread.
For a really easy meal the Mercadona pizzas are great, I think my dd would eat them every day given the chance!

Get a cooked chicken from the supermarket for a chicken Caesar salad.

Salad Niçoise is also a lovely summery meal. Another vote for Waldorf salad, it goes especially well with fish.
For a quick summer lunch try tomatoes stuffed with prawns in mayonnaise.

Pizzas for the kids, chicken salads for us. Sounds perfect.

I can't wait to be trotting round that mercadona with a trolley full of wine and prawns!

Oh I'm jealous 😂

A bean salad is really easy:

2 tin mixed beans or tin kidney beans, tin cannelloni or butter beans or black eyed beans, drained.
Can sweetcorn drained
Red pepper diced
Celery or spring onion
Fresh or dried mixed herbs, lemon juice, olive oil, season to taste.

You can add chopped tomatoes, cucumber, radish, whatever. Just do it by eye and by taste. Eat fresh but leftovers keep in a tupperware.

On the first day I make a massive vat of Mediterranean vegetables in a tomato sauce, courgettes, aubergine, peppers, garlic and chilli etc.

Then we can have it with pasta, or meat, or eggs when we can't be bothered to cook x

Being an island you will get great fish and seafood. Hunt out the local food markets and just buy what looks good. The veg are usually great too. I always buy the tomatoes, garlic and basil to make bruschetta. If you can pick up some linguini, linguini with fresh crab, garlic, chilli, fresh parsley and cherry tomatoes takes about 10 minutes and is delicious.

I usually just stick to fresh bread, fruit, veg, meats and cheeses when self catering abroad. The fruit and veg always seems so much nicer, bigger, juicier, tastier than supermarket fruit and veg at home. Peaches last time we were in crete were amazing.

Posh beans on toast.

What makes them posh? 🤔

They will often have ready meals or frozen dishes of local foods (in Spain think paella, tortilla, gazpacho, but I am sure that there are others, including quite local regional dishes). You can't plan ahead for this as much but it's great fun to try new things.

The canary island potatoes are yum, you could always roast your own chicken , and have it warm with fresh bread and some local potatoes , next day left overs make up some potato salad. For the potatoes you can buy pre made the red pepper sauce and the green sauce they often serve in restaurants as a side, sorry don't recall their proper names something like mojo , I'm sure someone can tell you, but we have picked up tubs in supermarkets.

The local tomatoes are lovely too we often have the local Spanish style breakfast of garlic olive oil strained tomatoes on bagette style bread as often its late in day when kids rise.

Onion,garlic,balsamic vinegar,mushrooms,tinned tomatoes and butter beans.

Fancy 🤣

Mojo rojo and mojo verde I think for the sauce! We have tried to replicate the potatoes at home to little success. I'll just eat those out! Bloody delicious.

Some Mercadonas have started doing whole roast chickens with 'patatas a lo pobre' which are really good, as are the tortillas available from the same counter. The prawns (langostinos) they have on the fresh fish counter are nice and juicy (much better than the prepacked ones). If you like serrano ham the stuff called 'jamón de cebo ibérico' they sell in vacuum packs on the ham counter is almost as good as the much more expensive stuff. They also do a nice cheeseboard in a circular packet if you're a cheese fan and a good range of pates. My kids also love their chorizo criollo sausages.

Also the filetes de lomo are pork loins which take a couple of minutes to fry and make a quick dinner. Spanish kids eat them in sandwiches or you could easily do them with chips or salad. Mercadona also sell those potatoes you just stick in the microwave, which I then cut up and fry if I want to make chips easily.

Fajita kit for 1 night but get some sour cream and avocados locally to add.

Sour cream can then go on baked potatoes another night. Or top a chilli or curry.

Bag pasta, jar sauce and some chicken/bacon etc. A bag of grated cheese to top this and fajitas and baked potatoes is handy.

1 night get a rotisserie chicken, bag salad and some tomatoes etc, and a crusty loaf.

@notasgreenasiamcabbagelooking thank you for that. The pork will go down well definitely