Holiday menu planning for non-cook

[hellosunshine888]

I can follow a recipe, but I am not a great or confident cook. I also don't like cooking. We are going on holiday - stay in the UK, and I need to dream up meals that DC will eat and that are not hard to cook. I need to cater for about 14 days knowing what to do. We will also go out a few times for dinner, and I am also sure we can pick up pizzas one day and do a BBQ. I want to think about it now, rather than it becoming a daily problem hanging over my head.

Please help me with putting together a list of recipes. No allergies. Ideally with recipes (I need the instructions!)

So far I got (tried and tested) recipes for:

1. Yorkshire puddings (i'll get them, not make them...), meatballs in passata (Donna Hay kids brilliance cookbook), roasted baby potatoes and veg on the side
2. Spaghetti Bolognese
3. Orzo with chicken and broccoli

Help!!

Tray bake?

Get one of those spray oils, put foil on a baking tray so washing up is easy. Spray the foiled tray with oil.

Pick a meat, chicken goujons work well as does salmon.

Chop up some veg, I like mushrooms, onions, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, spring onions and green beans.

Give it another spray with oil, sprinkle with seasoning of choice, I use salt and pepper and a mix called, 'spicy season oil'.

Do you have a slow cooker?

Pot roast.

Brisket works well season with salt and pepper and lightly flower, put this in the middle of the SC and pack around it, onion chunks new potatoes, slices of carrot, parsnip, leeks, swede - any fairly solid root veg, add a stock cube and a few herbs ( from a jar of dried mixed herbs) top with boiling water and leave for the day.

You could do the same with a pot in the oven or on the hob but the longer and slower the cook the better.

If you have a slow cooker then you can cook a joint or chicken in it, just put it in the sc and switch on, serve with salad. I particularly like lamb done this way, the fat melts and bastes the meat.

Picky tea, sliced melon, cooked meats, salad, couscous, pickles, crisps, crusty bread, selection of cheeses, everyone picks what they want.

Fajitas.

Prep the tray as above but put chicken goujons, sliced peppers and sliced onion on the tray, season with chili, salt, pepper. Put in the oven for 20 mins, warm a pack of tortilla in the microwave (or in the oven for the last 5 mins) serve with guacamole and soured cream (you can get both from a supermarket or you can make your own).

If the weather's good, chuck stuff on the barbecue with salad/roast veg/corn on the cob/wedges/pasta/couscous/rice etc. Not all of the additions at once, or the same protein every night or it feels like the same meal on repeat. If you did sausages/ burgers/ chicken/ halloumi/ fish you'd have several nights for little effort.

Fish finger tacos realfood.tesco.com/recipes/fish-finger-tacos.html

Halloumi burgers www.tamingtwins.com/halloumi-burgers/

Chicken skewers simply-delicious-food.com/easy-herby-lemon-chicken-skewers/

Sausage traybake realfood.tesco.com/recipes/sausage-and-jersey-royal-traybake.html

Cheat’s paella www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/cheats-chicken-paella/

On holiday, we tend to do a BBQ about every other night - which means dh is mostly in charge of food every other night. Otherwise, I do simple things. I am a good cook and I like cooking, but no need to go mad on holiday, especially if it's not what you do at home anyway.

Do things like:

• Spaghetti or fresh filled pasta (bought from shop) with butter and cheese, garlic bread, big salad.
• Fajitas, any sort
• Chicken wings in whatever sauce/rub (dh and I like them with a spice rub, but for kids I do a soy sauce/honey glaze), just shove the tray in the oven, with potato salad and a green salad/crudites for kids if they won't eat salad
• Big ploughman's - no cooking, just put out all the bits on the table (we're having this tonight actually)
• Breakfast for dinner - some combination of things from a cooked breakfast that everyone likes, we often do either sausages or bacon, fried eggs, then a carb of either hash brown/pancake/waffle (purchased from shop)
• Baked fish, new potatoes, salad or whatever veg everyone likes

Quiche with salad, fresh bread and butter.

Fresh pasta cooks quickly, like tortellini.

Hot dog or burgers, easy to put together and customisable.

I'm loving that idea of breakfast for dinner, I'm planning my holiday menu too, great idea.

Fritata with asparagus, green beans and peas, serve with salad.
A simply tomato, mozzarella and basil puff pastry tart.
Roast a piece of gammon and serve sliced cold with chips and pickles one night, then add to a ham a mushroom pasta bake another.
Fresh linguini with garlic, cherry tomatoes, your choice of herbs and prawns. (Add chilli too if people like it.)
Butterflied chicken breasts dusted with paprika.
Cod wrapped in prosciutto with new potatoes and green veg.

Easy meals we do on holiday with no/very minimal cooking are:

Ready cooked chicken from supermarket with salad bits and a baguette

Sausage, mash, veg (brocoli/green beans etc) with gravy (and Yorkshire puddings?)

Tortellini (whatever filling you like and boil for 3 mins) with a sauce (pesto etc)

Pasta, fry up some bacon, ready made cheese sauce from supermarket- serve with green salad/garlic bread

Stir fry - chicken breast or prawns, stir fry veg pack, egg noodles and a stir fry sauce (so quick to cook)

Baked potatoes with coleslaw (or tuna mayo/beans) with cheese and salad (and/or cold meats)

Spaghetti and beef meatballs with tomato and basil sauce (and garlic bread?)

Chicken fajitas (fajita kit, chicken, peppers, onions, cheese etc)

Hot dogs (we use actual sausages but could use frankfurters) grilled onions, hot dog buns etc

Chicken thighs (marinate with whatever you like - we like the packets of chinese marinade or peri peri then cooked in oven) with potato salad/corn on the cob/microwave packet spicy rice/ green salad etc

Just a thought OP how about having a couple of recipe boxes delivered, Hello Fresh or another one. Maybe not for all meals but you said you can follow a recipe and you are on holiday.

Ciabatta “pizza” and salad - slice the ciabattas in half and lightly toast both side. Now spread the flat size with a 50:50 mix of tomato purée and a sprinkle of dried oregano. Top with pre-grated cheddar and mozzarella (you can get mixed bags in Tesco). Let the kids add slices of mushroom, slivers of red pepper and 1 or 2 pieces of pepperoni. Microwave or grill gently until the cheese melts.

serve with green salad

my kids love this! Not actually a cheap meal but very delicious and the whole house smells like a pizza restaurant for ages!

We do similar to @corkcobain on holiday except we also bbq as much as possible - meat, chixken or sausages on bbq with salad/potatoes/rolls. I almost always do bolognaise as its easy and is less reliant on good kitchen equipment (self catering is often crap).

Pasta pesto with bacon bits and peas.

Jacket potatoes

Scrambled eggs on toast.

Lunches tend to be sandwiches or hotdogs or ready made pizza's. I also always buy those par-baked rolls/ciabattas/French loaves. Saves us going out to get fresh bread and just feels really nice and holidayish! The dc love picking at a platter of bread and cheese and ham and a few chopped up veg.

For the first night I tend to cook a chilli at home and transport it frozen. We'll be camping so have a cool box. We eat it with plain tortilla chips.

I was going to suggest looking on the hello fresh website for recipes - no need to actually order the box and some ingredients in small quantities could possibly be omitted if they were going to be bought in bigger packets just for that

I don't like cooking either, snd would not stay in a self catered place if I could avoid it (a big part of a holiday is not having to cook).
But if you have to, I highly recommend Nigella's Express cookbook. Everything I've made from there is simple, quick and really yummy. Our favourites are her chilli and chicken curry.
Jaime Oliver has a few good recipes too, though I have to adjust them.
Two are:
Salami rigatoni pasta bake. Fry up some Milano salami (say a couple packets), then fry a sliced red onion, garlic. Add one tin chopped tomatoes, handful chopped basil, four tablespoons crème fraiche. Cook 300gr pasta, then tip into a baking dish and stir in some cheese (mozzarella, cheddar). Add the sauce and salami and mix. On top put sone mozzarella and a few slices salami. Bake for 30 minutes and serve with salad.
His hit 'n run chicken:
Buy pre chopped Mediterranean vegetables (most big supermarkets have this). Skinned chicken thighs. Put veg in baking dish, add slightly crushed whole garlic cloves (in skin), pour over generous amount olive oil, even more generous amount balsamic vinegar. Add two tablespoons hot paprika and two tablespoons smoked paprika, salt. Stir. Place chicken thighs on top and bake for 45 minutes. Serve over rice.

Honestly, I'd alternate between something on the BBQ (chicken thighs/chicken kebabs/burgers/sausages/salmon/sardines/chops) served with salad and new potatoes or flatbread or potato salad, and Ploughman style meals (ham/cheese/quiche/scotch egg etc served with salad or crudite, potato salad/coleslaw/pickled onion/olives etc. Keep it simple!

Get lots of fruit in, including more interesting stuff like watermelon/pineapple/coconut/mango etc and have fresh fruit platters (maybe with some vanilla ice-cream on the side) for pud.

Maybe a couple of dinner out/fish and chips/pizza nights to give you a proper break.

What do you normally eat at home?

if budget is an issue I'd try and eat out at lunch, usually cheaper, and then bread / cheese type things in the evening.

Cooking isnt my idea of a holiday.

What type of place are you staying in, what equipment will you have?

When I was a kid we'd eat loads of crusty bread and ham and cheese with some salad and fruit. going to buy the bread was part of the holiday.

Dinner would be chips on the beach, bbq or a meal out.

Taking something frozen for the first night to defrost in the car on the way there is a good shout.

Second the suggestion about eating a cooked meal, eg pub lunch, carvery or whatever when you're out and about then having easy food in the evenings. You could do a party food/afternoon tea type night with little sandwiches, mini cakes, crisps, ice cream etc.

Is it just you and the DC and how old are they? If they're small so won't eat much you can make a larger batch so you have leftovers. If you have a partner and/or teens, so eat more, they can all do a couple of nights or so each, so you aren't doing all the cooking.