In our family we have the concept of the "emergency meal." This is something we can make from non-perishable and easily transported ingredients, usually while on holiday.
Can I add at this point that we are not in the habit of taking our favourite brand of breakfast cereal, jam, tea etc. when we go abroad. We prefer to shop locally for everything, at a market where possible. On the first day of a holiday we enjoy the ritual of stopping off at a supermarket near our destination to stock up on food and drink for a few days. However, there is always that worry that we will be delayed and arrive too late to shop or that we have overlooked that there is a Bank Holiday or something which means we can't shop - in which case "emergency meal" is invoked. But if we don't need to use it then fine, it won't go off so we take it home again - or use the ingredients in some other way.
When it was just DH and I we had a fairly uninspiring standby which involved making a stew from tins of corned beef, oxtail soup, new potatoes and baked beans. Not necessarily the most appealing choice in a warm climate and in any case DD has developed an aversion to corned beef so that is ruled out.
The usual option now is to take pasta and then make a sauce out of tinned chopped tomatoes, tinned tuna and prawns and a tin of peas.
This holiday there is the chance that "emergency meal" ideas may be called upon. We are travelling with the PILs in France and on the first day (Saturday) we have a very long drive.
It is quite possible that we will arrive too late to shop on the Saturday and it is also quite possible there will be no shops open on Sunday. Hence we have agreed with PILs we should be prepared with two "emergeny meals" - we will each provide one.
Now the pasta meal above would do but I am just asking to see if anyone else here has their own "emergency meal" ideas - something a bit more inspiring perhaps? Only requirement is that the ingredients won't go off if they have to sit in the car for two days. We do have a cool box but I wouldn't trust it to keep meat or anything fresh for that length of time.