Ideas for hotel food

[HomeCookingWannabe]

Hi everyone,
I'm really obsessed with the various posts asking for advice on eating in hotels, but mine is a bit nuanced so seeking hive mind again to help with logistics and ideas

I leave on a Monday morning at about 6am, and at that point have access to my full kitchen.

Then travel for 3 hours, at which point I :

• Have access to a fridge and microwave at work
• Have access to neither for dinner, just a kettle

Repeat for 3 nights every week.

I desperately need to lose weight hence can't keep eating takeout every night i'm away.

I have a feeling that taking homemade food in a chiller, then microwave at lunch and put in a thermos for dinner, might be the answer, but i'm open for both logistic and food suggestions. I've also considered offering to pay someone locally to make dinner, not sure if that's weird.

Money less of issue, healthy/reasonable options most important. I'm also a veggie.

Thanks in advance

For dinner I'd do something that can be eaten cold, rather than trying to deal with keeping it hot in a thermos. I like these Mac and veg slices - Recipes - Healthier Families - NHS, or a frittata with some salad, or a falafel salad, or instant soup (that you add water to) could be an option and bring some buttered bread with you.

For lunch, this website has loads of great recipes that can be reheated Healthy dinner ideas - Healthier Families - NHS. I particularly like the Egg shakshuka recipe - Healthier Families - NHS. Do something heavier for lunch and basically reverse lunch and dinner. Most (if not all) the recipes freeze well so you can make portions at home, freeze what you don't take to work and effectively batch cook. Once you've done this for a few weeks (I tend to cook on the sunday in prep for the week) you'll have a freezer stash of meals you can just grab and defrost.

@xmasdealhunter How would I do a salad for dinner?

Pre-chop veg and salad items then mix and match. Or create salad bowls in a batch at home and keep chilled and add dressing to serve. Most supermarket cafes offer soup and salads.

Can you not just eat in the hotel's restaurant and make sensible choices: salmon fillet with veg, chicken and side salad, etc.

@RosesAndHellebores It's at the end of my post, but i'm a veggie. Their veggie option is a veggie burger at 1600 cals, or a bowl of pasta for 800 which isn't very nice

I usually just brought a tupperware of salad with any bits that could make it soggy (like the dressing) in a separate pot. Keep in a cooler and then add the sauce when you're ready to eat. If you bring a pasta salad, you don't have to assemble anything, just keep in a cooler until dinner.

Is there the opportunity to go past a supermarket/M&S food after work? I’d just have a warm lunch at work and get a salad bowl or something for dinner.

Miso soup (Itsu brand have ones in a pot or just get a jar of miso and add a spoonful to hot water)
Fruit.
Crudités and dips
One of the supermarket salads that come in a bowl, add protein of choice

I really like the tins of bean salad in vinaigrette. I buy a salad bowl from supermarket add bean salad and a tiny goats cheese or a little bit of cheese or some tinned tuna. It’s quite a substantial but healthyish tea.

@HomeCookingWannabe Can't you just ask for a veggie burger, or two, with a side salad? You don't have to have the bun or chips. Do they not have soup?

Is it 3 consecutive nights so you only have access to a kitchen on day 1 or 3 x a 1 night stay? I wouldn’t want to eat home cooked food left in an office fridge and reheated then stored in a thermos after 3 days. What options to buy food are there locally eg takeaways, supermarkets and Deliveroo etc? Do you get expenses or is budget an issue too?

@KnickerFolder The former, 3 nights away from home

Ah, in that case I'd do one night of instant soup (bring bread with you). Two nights of deliveroo (Itsu do some good options if that's near, or Leon). Or the hotel cafe as PP said, although if the hotel room has a mini fridge you could still bring separate tupperwares of salad bits and assemble various salads.

Google batch salad prep.

@LIZS I know how to prep a salad :) It was the lack of fridge that I was less sure about

Is it feasible to leave the salads in the work fridge and take one back to the hotel with you on the night you’re going to eat it?

I’d tend to go for a salad with things like roasted beetroot and/or butternut squash, carrot, chopped spring onions, parsley and cubes of tofu or feta. You could take a small bottle of olive oil and another of balsamic vinegar with you and perhaps some seeds to sprinkle on top. A punnet of cherry tomatoes (and a bag of rocket if you can leave it in the work fridge) would be good additions.

Access to a microwave at lunchtime means that vegetable soup would be a good option for lunches.

Is it the same hotel each week?

Could you ask them if they could heat up your food in a microwave or allow you to bring a small microwave oven with you and leave it in a box there when you are away. There may be a lot of things done for regular customers that we are not aware of.

It is more about making several variations and storage methods, but you're welcome

For dinner if there's a supermarket get a mixed side salad and something like smoked mackerel, poached salmon, or even rotisserie chicken pieces if you want hot food

If the hotel's own restaurant isn't great, can't you go and eat at another one?

I just buy a few ready to drink Huels for situations like this.

If there’s a good local restaurant then that could be an option one night but anything more than an occasional restaurant meal doesn’t sound like a very appealing option for a vegetarian who’s trying to eat healthily while away from home for three nights a week.

Do you have a car with you and is your hotel far from work?

Thermos of a filling veggie soup, leek and potato, cream of mushroom.

Take something frozen and allow to defrost during the day, curry etc.

Have your main meals at breakfast and lunch and then have just a snack for dinner.

If intermittent fasting is your method of losing why not skip dinner entirely.

M and s do green salad bowls and you can add a pot of boiled eggs to it or bring your own boiled eggs from home. They keep for 24 hours at room temp.

Alternatively, or maybe for one of the nights just get a healthier takeaway. Stir-fry veg with rice, bibimbap, halloumi salad, vegetable curry, falafel and hummus, jacket potato etc. if you give us a location we can find some good options.

What are your diet goals? Are you just reducing calories? Carbs? Fat?.

If this is for work, surely you get a meal allowance which you could use to go somewhere more suitable for your needs than the hotel restaurant? Even if you ended up ordering takeaway to be delivered to the hotel, surely there would be some healthy choices possible?