Self catering - life hacks and what to bring

[Selfcateringnotaholiday]

We're going a week's self catering in a holiday cottage in the summer. Looks nice enough but haven't done self catering for a while as it's just more cooking and cleaning.

Looking for some tips on things you like to bring like little luxuries or just practical useful things.

So far on my list are a Brita jug to save countless plastic bottles of water, my new coffee flask and some slippers. DCs have already asked if they can have the small cereal boxes - they're easily pleased!

The house we stayed in, while lovely, had a glass chopping board - quite unacceptable imho.

This thread is peak MN btw. The stuff I took was not that much really. Fitted into a Tupperware box and a reusable bag.

ETA of course you can eat out and not cook. We are a family of five tho and on a budget so ate out maybe twice in a fortnight. My frozen lasagne and brownies would be stashed in the boot Tetris by DH who enjoyed the challenge

I 100% on meal planning being something I am happy to skip but I hate the endless trips to the shop when on holiday if I haven't done a bit of.work in advance. My sister will happily pop to m&s daily to pick up whatever she needs but i would rather poke myself in the eye! 🤣🤣. Its why I buy a selection of things that can easily be turned into meals - it feels like a good balance for me as I dont meal plan but I also dont have to do any meaningful thinking or shopping.

Ditto, the few bits I bring from home like knife, board, cafetiere is because I dont want to be without or have to pop to shop. I am in awe of people on this thread saying they buy these things if the accommodation doesn't have it. Nothing I am less likely to do than that!

I bought a second hand Nespresso machine from Marketplace to take when we self cater in the UK. Currently in a villa in the Canaries with under seat bags only, still managed to find room to pack Yorkshire tea bags and some dishwasher tabs!

Agree, no way am I buying a coffee maker or sharp knife! We did buy kitchen scissors once now I think of it, so always took those after that. Am I the only person with four pairs of kitchen scissors 🤣🤣

I think self-catering varies a lot in what’s provided. Some have lots of cleaning supplies, bin bags, a box of dishwasher tablets, salt, pepper, etc. One place I stayed had lots of dried herbs, oils etc. too as well as foil, cling-film, baking paper. They left wine too as well as tea bags and coffee.
But other places simply provide 2 dishwasher tablets, some washup liquid, 2 tea towels and a J-cloth. I usually bring some basics from home as it cuts down on the amount of shopping we need to do when we get there.

Last one we did I brought fun flavoured toothpaste, peach with love heart, and new fun character tooth brushes for the children. It make teeth brush on their high priority list but it was more fun than normal so a bit easier.

I brought shower steamers for me as I knew there wasn't a bath and I thought if I could have a lovely shower it might feel a bit more holiday.

I bring coffee, nice tea and hot chocolate.

I also grabbed some small fancy chocs for me to have after the children were in bed.

Not every self catering place has a restaurant nearby.

I take paper plates and wooden cutlery if there is no dishwasher.

We wouldn't book anywhere that didn't

We order a Gousto box - so all the ingredients for 4 meals are ready. Then we either eat out or buy locally for the other main meals. This is now it is just 2 of us going away. Usually pack a few sandwich bags and or plastic tubs for picnics or to store leftover food. Usually take butter/jam/chutney/olive oil/teabags/coffee....don't get through a whole one of those in a week so may as well take one from home in the cool bag with any other fridge bits that need using up. Handful of dishwasher and washing machine tabs.

I do this too. Really helps

Don't go mad on the food order as depending on how far you need to travel it's not easy keeping it cool on the journey home. Take a cool bag and ice packs for that. I try not to bother with frozen stuff at all unless I'm certain it'll get used.

I'd also do nice ready meals like m&s lasagne and garlic bread so there's no waste but really easy.

For treats I like coffee sachets for a nice drink, some nice fruity ciders, a few bags of sweets, some nice cookies etc. Also treats for the kids like party rings, jaffa cakes, pringles, just fun stuff!

I also take spare tea towels, antibac wipes, sponge, bin bags, food storage bags. Also extra handwash as they often provide one bar of soap when there's several bathrooms and a kitchen.

What's a shower steamer? On landman, there was a scented oil thingy in the shower that looked fab. Is that ehat you mean? And i think maybe thats something i will treat myself to for this trip!!!

Take small quantities of things where you wouldn’t get through a newly bought one in the time you are there: laundry and dishwashing tablet for example.

We would always get an Ocado or Waitrose shop to arrive an hour or 2 after we do, with nice easy food. Saves a lot of bother, especially when the kids were little and fussy. Croissants for breakfast. A big M and S lasagne for a quick supper. Ice cream in hot weather. Strawberries . And so on

A pizza tray for the oven if you are planning on pizza- they don't often have pizza trays.

I usually take a small sandwich bag of washing powder too just incase I need to hand wash something in the sink (toddlers!).

We take a box containing many of the things mentioned on this list. Sometimes we take it home again unopened as everything is provided, but it's useful to have, as it's often difficult to ascertain in advance exactly what a place will contain.

We once stayed somewhere that had 3 forks, 2 spoons, 4 plates and 1 pan and slept 12. That was it. The owner did send round more crockery and cutlery when we complained and said that the previous occupants must have stolen things. We've steered clear of cheap mass occupancy places since then!

I will add to the excellent suggestions here, oven gloves and hand towel. Places often have no oven gloves or have the ones that just cover one hand that I am not comfortable with. A hand towel for drying your hands in the kitchen is also another thing often not provided.

Yes agree @redskyAtNigh I would take kitchen towel or maybe tea towels that can do double duty, also some cloths to mop up spills (not a kitchen roll fan). Again let me emphasise I would never stay anywhere without a washing machine and dryer.

None of this takes up much room but it’s a pain on a Saturday evening to have to scout round and buy.

We used to take minimal clothes btw. Nothing exists in Pembs in August where either flip flops or walking boots won’t answer. Or nothing we did anyway.

Unless I'm sure of what's provided I would take

Sharp knife/bread knife
Sandwich bags
2 of our mugs
Aero press and coffee
Couple of Tea towels
Non stick frying pan
Small bottle olive oil

Plus food/ingredients for the stay.

We don't mind cooking but had too many experiences of trying to hack at carrots with a blunt knife on a slippery glass chopping board.

I do (did) a lot of SC and camping. I have a 22l plastic tub from Ikea that has my essentials in it. If I am flying, I throw a few must haves from that into a ziploc bag in my case.

I have a decent small sharp knife and 1 decent chopping knife - I managed to get a set years ago that had covers for both so they are safe just tossed in the box.
I have a small Ikea chopping board slid into the side.
A corkscrew, a peeler and a tin opener. A kitchen scissors.
One wooden spoon and one plastic spatula and 1 Sostrene and Greene flexible spoon for serving and scraping clean.

A wine cork (the ones to close a half-used bottle).

A wash up brush, scrubber for non stick, J cloth, hand towel, 2 tea towels.

Washup liquid and a handful of dishwasher tablets from the bag at home (enough to run daily +2), I can bring home any spares but prefer to use it than wash up on hols. I also usually throw in a couple of washing machine capsules for some laundry if needed (various capsules in their own ziplocs).
A box of matches and a couple of tea lights (to have in jam jars or similar - not just loose). Sometimes matches have been needed for BBQs or gas hobs. I usually throw in a couple of firefighters for BBQs as well (in a ziploc). A ball of twine (many many uses!).

I bought a salt and pepper which both had grinders in their lids in supermarket years ago and still use those.

I have a small roll of tin foil and one of cling film …I have big ones at home but it’s handy to have the small ones always in the tub so I don’t forget.
a pair of silicon oven mitts - I used to have bulkier ones but these were a gift and fit great.

I have a 100ml squeeze bottle (Muji) of washup liquid and a 250ml bottle of olive oil that I just refill from current bottle at home when packing.

A couple of clippits to close bags. A handful of clean pegs for hanging clean laundry or wet togs. A couple of ziplocs for mixing things, storing leftovers, picnics etc. a pack of ice-cube making bags for freezer (yes it’s plastic waste but I don’t get upset leaving one behind whereas often there’s no tray and I’ve left my own tray by accident a few times).

2 rubbish sacks from the kitchen roll. A couple of toilet rolls and a full roll of kitchen towel (I don’t usually need a full packet of either, but the loo roll count depends on the numbers (and who) is travelling and for how long.

A flask for picnics and a blanket and a cool bag (latter is usually full of goodies for the journey there with a couple of ice blocks).

A favourite board game and a pack of cards.

I generally do a food shop when we arrive and buy myself a mug there as I usually forget - but I will bring one if I remember.

It’s all a bit random. and that doesn’t count bringing the makings of one nice meal that’s easy to cook with me - and a couple of favourite spices and condiments. (My tub is at the back of a storage unit for 3 years as I’m overseas and haven’t been camping or on a proper holiday since leaving…next year!!)

Thanks to all the logistics loving ladies on this thread😂

So many good suggestions which I'll read properly later. I have started a list on my phone now because who doesn't love a list!

To the pp who said to check out the local farm shops, bakeries, cafes etc, we'll definitely do this and expect to eat out or have takeaways quite a bit anyway but will still do a supermarket delivery for convenience. I dread being hungry on holiday.

It's a sort of block that dissolves with hot water. Like a bath bomb but for a shower.

A few bag clips for closing cereal packets, crisp packets and biscuits.
a pressure cork for any leftover sparking wine to stop it going flat..

This thread is getting me in a holiday mood.

My essentials for self catering are a big sharp knife and a big chopping board. I’ll take my chances with everything else.

Are you driving or flying op? When we drive, I pack in the cube shaped supermarket bags for life. They’re brilliant for toys, shoes, laundry, pool stuff, etc and avoid all the piles of stuff that can drive you mad with dc.

If flying, I pack kitchen roll and toilet roll in one bag because we always have more stuff coming home, and those things can be surprisingly expensive to buy. I like to pack a couple of thick paperbacks that I can leave behind too.

I love supermarket shopping in other countries (very sad) so all my little luxuries are things I buy when I’m there - a lovely new shower gel, nice wines, cheese, and lots of treats.

Other luxuries are situational - the extra bedroom so the dc don’t have to share, the cottage with the garden for the dc, the chalet with the bigger deck area, the jacuzzi, the end of stay cleaning service.

Muslin cloths are really useful as an alternative to tea towels, and dry quickly. A string of outdoor lights is nice for a bit of atmosphere.

Depending on the ages of dc, a small bottle of bubbles, couple of matchbox cars, packet of crayons, pair of dice, pack of cards, colouring page, can make waiting in queues and restaurants more pleasant. If there’s a beach near by, child size metal gardening tools are a luxury beach item! Lap trays for car journeys are great too.

Forgot my biggest luxury - bringing my own pillow. I hate the weird flat square things that pass for pillows in some places.