Meals on UK holiday - ideas please

[Gladtimeslady]

I'm going to be staying in a self-catering cottage on a pretty isolated farm in June with my 2 adult children and their partners and my grandchildren aged 3 years and 18 months.

We can have a supermarket delivery and I'm starting to think about what meals we might cook for our evening meals while we are there, bearing in mind that the kitchen equipment in a holiday cottage can be very limited. We are a big foodie family and all enjoy cooking, but I want the holiday to be as relaxing as possible for the children's parents so I don't want anyone to be spending hours in the kitchen or driving to a supermarket to shop.

We would usually take some frozen home cooked meals (like lasagne, fish pie and moussaka) with us but, for reasons that are too boring to explain, we can't do that this year.

What interesting but simple meals would you suggest we cook there?

The farm sells frozen home cooked meals (like a mini, local version of Cook) so we won't starve whatever happens.

A nice big chilli is pretty easy. You can prep it whenever and leave it to simmer for a nice few hours if you wanted to. Serve with rice, Tortilla chips, grated cheese, soured cream etc. A great meal and something for everyone.

Is there a BBQ there? You could do a burger night!

You could do a meats, cheeses, breads evening, whipped feta dip, olives and sun dried tomatoes.
pizzas and salads / slaw
fresh pasta puttanesca
sea bass with sweet potatoes and greens

Do you have a crock pot you could take with you? If so, Hungarian Goulash can be made quickly and left to cook, ditto a tagine.
Chilli can also be done in crockpot but easily done on the stove.
Fajitas
Shepherds pie
Paella
Buy some decent soup if you don’t fancy making it and serve with sandwiches or a meat / cheese platter
Burgers, home made don’t take long.
Stir fry if there are enough rings to make in two lots for that number of people.
Salmon cut into fillets will cook quickly

To cut down on prep time and washing up, I would look up a load of different traybake recipes. Jamie has a good traybake collection to ensure a wide variety.

Big pan of risotto one night?

Firstly, I'd be checking reviews of the cottage, or asking the owners what the fridge/freeze space is like? If its an averaged sized fridge but one of those tiny, integrated freezers- then it might limit what frozen food you could buy.
I'd also ask about what cooking facilities they provide. Is there a microwave, BBQ and oven? Often the cooking knife is shit, so I take my own and my oxo peeler which I love. Unless you are flying/have limited space, I'd also take salt/pepper and spices like garlic powder, Italian herb mix etc. Unless you want to buy whole packets in the delivery.

-Baked potatoes and various toppings
-Pasta bake
-Shepherds pie
-Stir fries/noodles
-Salady bits because it might be hot

IF you do have freezer space and don't want to cook every meal from scratch:
https://www.aldi.co.uk/product/four-seasons-cauliflower-cheese-000000000000371142
https://www.aldi.co.uk/product/the-fishmonger-high-protein-king-prawns-in-a-creamy-pesto-sauce-000000000515250003
I've also seen bags of stir fries, fried rice and other meals that you just cook from frozen.

I very often take my slow cooker on holiday with us, then can pop in a casserole or a gammon joint first thing and it’s ready when we get home from a day out.

A honey mustard chicken thigh traybake, there are various recipes that are very easy.

I've learned that it's often easier to see what cooking equipment is in your holiday home and then do the food shopping than take stuff with you and find it doesn't fit in the oven/ on the baking trays / the pans are all too small etc! pizza often seems like an easy meal but for lots of people it's not that easy in a standard sized oven unless you eat in shifts!
If someone has a big slow cooker they can be really useful for a group trip.

My go to meals for "mass catering" would be:
soup / sandwiches / bacon rolls for lunches
jacket potatoes
chilli
spag bol
chicken breast wrapped in bacon with roast potatoes, veg & gravy
salmon, new potatoes & green veg
macaroni cheese
sausage & mash
slow cooker ham

We took a Gousto box away with us, it was perfect and worked out really good value.

Bolognese, salad, garlic bread.

Marry me chicken, veg, potatoes

Fish pie and peas

Curry

Roast dinner

Cheese and onion pie, chips a d please

Cottage pie

Beef in ale (Angela Hartner recipe).

Pizza and salad

BBQ and Salad

OR
Have pizza first night and all choose 2 meals to cook/list of ingredients.

Slightly different to what's been suggested by others, but as someone who does a lot of prepping and cooking (and cleaning the kitchen) most of the year, I try to be really lazy if we do self-catering! I don't want to have to prep anything or think about food until it's time to eat, and have things that are virtually ready to go.

I buy lentils/grains/rice/couscous pouches, and serve with ready-cooked chicken, or hot smoked salmon, green beans, sweetcorn, frozen peas etc. Add some tartare sauce or caesar dressing.

Pasta bake sauce in a jar - serve with garlic bread and salad.

Pasta, ready cooked chicken and fancy pesto with garlic bread.

Sweet and sour sauce in a jar with rice pouches.

Korma sauce in a jar with ready-cooked chicken, rice pouch and frozen peas.

Gammon in the slow cooker, serve with cheese/chutney/salad.

Supermarket pre-packets of roast veg and potatoes that can be bunged in the oven/microwave in their original packaging.

Supermarket oven chips and a premium breaded fish.

Frozen peas, jarred beetroot, coleslaw, cherry tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, olives for veggie intake!

Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to reply. I really appreciate it.

Some good ideas - I will definitely think about tray bakes, for example. And I'm attracted to the idea of actually being quite lazy and taking short cuts. There's plenty of time to think about it all - I find that this kind of planning is part of the pleasure for me.

Unfortunately we will all be away from our homes the week before the holiday in the cottage so we can't take things like a slow cooker or take meals from home that I have made and frozen in advance (as we have done in previous years).

Thank you all again.

When we have caravan or holiday let holiday I usually plan a few very easy meals, and either have a shop delivered there or take shopping with us. Meals that take very little prep or cooking (but do use tins and jars which Mumsnet often frowns at)

• filled pasta, a jar of pasta sauce & a tin of sweetcorn thrown in, takes one pan and about 15 minutes (maybe a garlic bread in the oven)
• packet mash, a couple of tins of veg with pie/pasty (usually from a local bakery)
• stir fry veg pack, sweet and sour sauce with packet rice
• chips, beans and veggie burgers

You can whip up a speedy curry with a jar of paste of your own choice an onion and a can of coconut milk, add ground almonds to thicken - veg, fish meat of your choice. Order some premade snacks / chutneys and rice.

Spaghetti carbonara. Have a tray of cured meats and olives as a starter and buy some garlic bread.

Fajitas are pretty easy in one pan. Buy Guacamole, salad, Nachos etc to go with it.

Chicken and chips. Get a nandos marinade and some frozen chips / wedges of your choice. Serve with salad and coleslaw.

I like buying fresh local ingredients and just putting stuff together rsther than cooking meals as such eg
Ploughman's with crusty bread... maybe with a pork pie or some quiche
Cold meats, Pate, cheese and crackers, grapes olives etc (with some nice wine)
Tapas or mezze with pitta breads or focaccia
Saafood or sushi platter
Afternoon tea with posh sandwiches and nice cakes or scones (with some fizz)
(I think about the types of things I like to eat socially with friends)

Or easy meals such as
Thick sliced ham, boiled eggs and salad
Steak with jacket potato, grilled tomato and garlic mushrooms
Baked or pan fried salmon, buttered new potatoes and green beans

Definitely a takeaway one night.... Has to be
Fish and chips if you are near the sea!.

I take cooking equipment with me including rice cooker/multi cooker, decent knife and large pans. Chilli and rice, simple curry recipe, fajitas, cottage pie?

The key is to have the everyday stuff needed for cooking: salt, pepper, oil, mixed herbs, chilli flakes, stock cubes, oil, flour; easy to throw in a bag or add to the online order. And a sharp knife and veg peeler.
easy meals that can be adapted to cook on whatever is available:
Fajitas or chilli and nachos grande
All day breakfast (use the oven too)
Bake at home baguettes with easy fillings (tuna mayo, deli meat or cheese; salad and crisps or cubed roasted potatoes on the side
Ready made lasagna and salad
Good quality frozen battered fish and the fanciest frozen chips, tinned mushy peas, ready to make curry sauce.

Tubs of ice cream and cornets
Summer fruits, compote, meringue and cream
cheese board and fruit

We usually eat out before returning to cottage and in the evening have more of a buffet usually fresh bread and cheese we have picked up during that day , pies and some fresh salad stuff. Other than that we do a M&S shop on the drive to cottage to stock up on treats and maybe a pizza deal etc

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Sorry I’ll get a time out ban for that but phone genuinely got stuck !

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I have started to bring along my simplycook spices and recipes which i have a monthly subscription for and do the more premium recipes, so at our last cottage stay I made the beef stroganoff with mash. I find it easy because usually the recipes are quick to prepare and don’t have many ingredients.

I’m in camp keep it simple! In holiday cottages for us it’s usually salad-with-something. Hard boiled eggs, fried sausages, tuna, cheese and so on.

For carbs: we always have loads of crusty bread, balsamic vinegar and olive oil for dipping; some days we will add boiled new potatoes or a prepared sachet of flavoured couscous.

We also find the kids are typically happy with simple food - pasta and pesto, pasta and grated cheese, egg fried rice and broccoli, etc.