I'm a terrible cook and need meal ideas for self catering holiday please

[kate1277]

Help!

I am just not a great cook at all, and struggle for ideas and time.

I'm taking 4 children away on my own to Tenerife next month... I've never done a self catering holiday before but booked this as it was cheap and the only way I will afford a holiday this year.

So will have a small fridge, 2 burner hob and a microwave in the kitchen. No oven.

Will probably eat out a few nights, but trying to keep costs down.

Breakfast and lunches are fine. It's dinner ideas I will struggle for.

Youngest child is 2 (eats anything). Eldest 14 (eats most things).

Middle 2 are a bit more picky and would like to just eat chips and pasta the whole time. Can't even do chips without an oven though

Been to Spain many times but not Tenerife... there will be a supermarket very close by.

Thanks for any help x

Burgers and salad
Egg fried rice
Jacket potatoes in the microwave with grated cheese, beans and salad
Some sort of pasta and sauce (jar or fresh pot from supermarket)
Fried chicken with pasta salad
Omelette with ham and veg in with crusty bread

Burgers/hot dog cooked in a frying pan

Bangers and mash

Carbonara pasta (chuck meat, egg and cheese into the pan with the cooked and drained pasta and warm for 2 minutes)

Egg fried rice or stir-fry

Picky plates, sliced carrot, apple, toastie, rolled cheese slices, crisps

Chicken salad wraps/hummous, feta wraps

Fajita/tacos

Savory pancakes. Garlic mushrooms with melted cheese. Cheese and ham, roast veg and chicken. Bacon and brie etc etc

Quiche and salad.
Hot dogs.
Omelettes.
Stir fry chicken/beef/fish and veg.
Sausage and mash.

Quesedillas.

Dry frying pan (off) lay down a wrap, a decent handful of grated cheese, some sliced pepperoni/meats, sliced peppers, another handful of cheese, another wrap.

Turn on the heat, medium. Fry til the wrap on the bottom starts to brown, then flip. Fry til lightly brown. Slice like you would a pizza, and serve with a jar of salsa for dipping and some nachos.

Few packs of super noodles (or similar), cooked on the hob as per the packet. Once almost cooked, stir in a big dollop of peanut butter, chopped coriander, squeeze of lime, and sprinkle of chilli flakes. Serve with some cooked chicken or prawns.

Spaghetti, boiled on the hob. Drain, stir in a small jar of pesto, heat through. Add some cooked prawns and or chorizo. Grate some cheese on the top.

Diced pork, peppers, tin of tomatoes, some paprika and stick on the hob on low for 30- 40 minutes and serve with rice - which I always cook in the microwave.

The supermarket may have a "foreign" section where you can get something like a Pataks curry sauce and make an easy curry.

Bite sized chicken pieces and mushrooms fried slowly, then stir in a pot of creme fraîche and a squeeze of lemon juice, and served with rice with some (cooked!) frozen peas stirred through it.

Burgers or hot dogs, salad and a couple of portions of chips from a takeaway style place. That’s what we do some nights when self catering with no oven facilities, so the kids (and me) still get their quota of chips for the week

Look for things that will make quick easy meals eg a whole rotisserie chicken, served with salad and rolls. A whole tortilla (Spanish omelette) serve with beans or salad. Jars of pasta sauce. Make a big pasta salad with eggs and grated cheese in. Veg to stir fry with packet noodles and jar of stir fry sauce.

I would look to keeping it as simple as possible - it's your holiday too.

Pasta is definitely your friend here, and as pp has suggested, you could mix it up with some stuffed pasta.

Ready cooked chicken (don't know about rotisserie but I've definitely seen one in chiller aisle in Mercadona) with salad and baked potatoes in the microwave.

Agree the pre-made food at Mercadona is good and their fresh tortillas are nicer than those in the chiller section.

Have you got check in luggage - or just cabin bags? With check in I would stick some noodles and a tin or two of hot dogs in your luggage.

And have a good scout around your resort to find out where you can eat out cheaply .

They sell little packs of micro chips in the UK, a bit like McDonalds ones but it's probably unlikely that they would sell these in Spain. Although we have bought Smiley Faces before now.

@JC03745 makes a good point about squash - it's quite unusual to see this abroad so you could consider taking a couple of mini concentrate ones with you. Plenty of choice of fizzy pop though.

Dh used to go ott and plan meals on holiday that took far too long to prepare, everything was brought to make from scratch.
Now he does most of the cooking during the weeks (he works from home and I don't) he's discovered why I'd groan when he appeared with a list of ingredients.

So our week (with fussy children) will be something along the lines of:

Day 1: pizza/garlic bread
Day 2: Shop bought lasagne
Day 3: Baked potatoes and cheese
Day 4: Bought chips with sausages/chicken nuggets
Day 5: Some sort of bought pie/chicken on croute/whatever ready meals are on special offer
Day 6: Eat out

By saving the eating out until the end of the week, it also means if something happens earlier in the week you can swap it round.

Dirty nacho bowls.

Make a quick Chilli - you could even take packet mix from home.

Cut a large whole in a grab bag of Doritos or two, so you're left with a bowl shape.

Lots of bowls of things like grated cheese, salsa, sour cream, peppers or whatever you fancy.

I normally have some rice too.

My 3 dc love this they love filling their bowls with different combos.

I also do "burger bar" in a similar fashion, and the kids make up their own.

Oh and you can make oven chips in the frying pan in a pinch.

These are all such good ideas! I honestly really appreciate it.

I've only ever popped into the supermarkets in Spain for snacks and drinks so wasn't too sure what is available.

I will definitely have a look in the freezer section for those meals that can be chucked in a pan.

I love the idea of nachos too! We love nachos and it will be easy to throw together.

I too was going to say that aldi and lidl are in Spain.

If you googled say Aldi, Tenerife and whatever town/area you are in, you'll at least know there is a cheap supermarket there.

Take some extra carrier bags, because they too charge!

The range will be different to the UK, but there are always some familiar brands/products to a UK lidl/aldi.

Omelette and salad?

Ham salad and chips
Pesto / tomato pasta
Chicken fried rice
Jacket potatoes in the microwave
Scrambled eggs / omelette's
Super noodles, shredded chicken and broccoli
Soup with cheese toasties

The fresh fruit and veg should be really good there if you take them to a food market or greengrocers

Sorry posted too soon
I meant to say and let them choose what they like

You can put potato waffles in the toaster.

Take your own sachets of fahita mix and taco mix from here, then when you're there you just need to buy the meat/wraps/veg.

Pesto pasta was a great idea from pp, and hotdogs super easy and will be popular!

I'd do two pasta dishes -
One with a tomato based sauce
One with pesto
Add chicken/tuna and veg if you like.
You can pack pasta, those stir in sauces and pesto and take them with you.

Pan fry some chicken and have it with salad and bread

Boiled potatoes with chicken or fish and some salad.
Take some seasoning with you.

If you have a big pan with a lid, you can cook a frozen defrosted pizza in it. Google for instructions.

If you’ve got a hob, look up camping meals! Fajitas are a great shout. As others have said, a picky tea is also fun and there is nothing wrong with pasta for a few nights. If you’re eating out a few nights as well you probably don’t need too many ideas. Have a lovely time :)