If you self cater on holidays - what sort of meals do you make?

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Just curious about this.

When dc were small we always stayed in apartments on city breaks / holidays so we had more space in the evenings when they'd gone to bed. Plus we could use the fridge for milk / juice / water / wine / beer

We'd stock up on cereal & bread for toast for them & fruit & snacks etc but I never really did much actual cooking

We'd eat out or if dc had eaten enough one of us would go to pick up a lovely takeout when they were asleep.

As they got older we'd all go out for dinner.

I've found fully self catering hard as whikr it's easy to pick up fish or veg etc in market / supermarket there's none of the other ingredients you need to season/ make a dish & if I'm away for a week I'm def not buying olive oils / spices etc

If you self cater, what sort of things do you make?

Ready meals! Posh ones. Steak. Pasta pesto maybe. I’d not be doing actual cooking like chilli or roasting a chicken. I hate cooking though.

Depends where we are and if there is an oven...when we stayed in a holiday cottage in Wales we just went to Tescos and made normal "easy weekday" type meals in the evening like pasta with garlic bread etc or oven pizza and salad. We mostly ate lunch out.

When we go to Italy we hardly ever cook unless staying with relatives, in caravans we just get cold things everyone likes e.g. ham, cheese, bread rolls, salad, fruit and the occasional takeaway pizza.

We just got back from 5 nights in a cottage. We had:

pizza on the first night (tired after travelling)
fajitas
Macaroni cheese
Curry
Chilli con carne

Picnics for lunch.

That was for 2 adults and 6 children.

Fresh pasta and sauce
Posh supermarket pizza
Quiche, new potatoes, salad

Ice cream and strawberries and cream

When we self cater, we’re driving there, so I bring any cooking stuff with me. I know what I’m making for the week and usually it doesn’t require much more than olive oil, salt/pepper, a stock cube and soy sauce. I just chuck it in a carrier bag for the car.

Usually though, it’s lots of fresh stuff - roast chicken or fish, anything on the BBQ, lots of salads, cold meats/cheeses, sausages on rolls. Like I wouldn’t make a curry or a stew, it’s very basic ingredients that together make a nice meal.

If we're in the UK I just bake/cook extra a few times in the weeks before, then put portions in the freezer. Put them in the icebox when we leave and they go into the fridge at the cottage. Add some salad, bit of veg or whatever.

The other days can be jacket potatoes, pasta with a simple sauce, pizzas if there is a supermarket nearby.

We pretty much always make sure a place has a barbecue and then buy meat and fish to grill (which can also be done in an indoor oven) then make up big bowls of salads and vegetables and couscous which can last over two or three days. Sometimes roast a chicken. Oven tray bakes are also good and quick - just whatever vegetables and meat that’s in the market, and things like olive oil and herbs are usually pretty cheap.

We usually try and have one big meal out each day (more than you'd normally eat) so the 'other' meal is just like a top up!

Lots of charcuterie type stuff. Cold meats, breads, cheeses, salads, hummus / tzatziki type dips, tomatoes, olives, crisps, crackers, etc. If there's an oven available could add things like sausage rolls, chicken, prawns, samosas, bhajis, etc.

Leftovers can be wrapped up and will last a few days.

We also BBQ. My kids are very picky eaters so reading all of these meals makes me weep as they wouldn’t eat them!

Currently on hols in Corfu.
Breakfast and lunch are mostly bread/toast with cheese, ham or jam, yoghurt, fresh fruit.
Evenings are steak, fish, pork, sausages with some kind of large salad.

In the past I've ordered a hello fresh box and taken that with us on holiday. All spices, oils etc pre measured for you.

I do a rough meal plan in advance and take spices, oil and salt with me.

I mostly go for traybakes, although I do find self catering places often lack big trays!

If abroad, we like cruising the markets and deciding there and then. Generally lots of pancakes, cereals, eggs for breakfast. Knock up some sandwiches for lunch. BBQ fish, steak, salad etc. etc. for dinner. I would buy a small olive oil and use most of it over a week. Stuff any unused spices in my bag. Or bin them.

We've just got back from a week's self catering. We've had corned beef pues with salad and pickles etc - made and frozen in advance and defrosted on journey there. Spaghetti bolognese. Salmon and new potatoes. Sausages on the bbq. Two days we had large lunches out so just had fruit and snack bits in the evening.

We did sc on a UK holiday. We did things like pizza and chips, pasta dishes and managed a couple of stir fry’s too.

We’re doing another SC break later this year, so starting to plan what to take in terms of seasoning etc as we hadn’t taken anything last time. We’ve been buying smaller versions of stuff when spotted on offer - I.e 250ml bottles of oil, sauce, decanted salt and pepper into a smaller pair of shakers etc - we’ll still bring back anything we don’t use, but find it easier having the smaller versions.

If staying in the uk we take the slow cooker 😂 I prep after breakfast things like spag bol, chilli, casserole so it’s ready when we get back from a days exploring and I just need to sort pasta/ rice. Probably a jarred pasta bake too, as that’s super easy

if we’re abroad we tend to stick to things like pasta which is easy to cook and not unless to clear up

We usually have breakfast rolls at ‘home’ and lunch or early tea out before heading back to cottage - in the evening it would be things like a scotch egg or pork pie we had picked up during the day alongside cold cuts and salad and M&S snacky bits

In the south of France or Italy we always find some kind of a shop/cafe that sells affordable, fresh take-away regional home-cooked meals and the quality is amazing.

Abroad - breakfast cereals fruit bread pastries eggs yogurts

lunch - baguettes salads cold meats crisps and dips

Would eat out every evening

UK cottage break - breakfasts we would take cereal stuff for toast, sausage and bacon etc

stuff to take picnics out

again evenings probs eat out or maybe a couple of bbqs / pizza nights / fajita

Chicken wraps. Breaded chicken tenders, wraps, grated cheese, salad etc

If in the UK we do a combo of M&S and Cook ready meals.

Simple stuff. Rotisserie chicken, pizza, pasta and sauce, tuna pasta, omelette, ham, egg and chips. If on a French campsite, takeaway frites with the above!

We alternate between pub meals, BBQs and things we can leave to cook all day like pulled pork in the slow cooker. And a takeaway or 2!

We usually book somewhere in a good location and eat out everyday and just buy some snacks for the room

We do a brunch usually by the pool (always get an Airbnb with its own private pool)

Otherwise we eat out at night

I rarely cook at home so I am not going to start on holidays

Veggie version of this. Lots of bread olives cheese salad deli things etc. Yum.