Meals for a Timeshare

We used to bring meals but found it was easier to bring spices, butter, stuff like that with us and buy the food down there. Less to pack plus we had a nasty habit of going out more than we planned so we would then have to throw the food away or take it back with us.

Although we mostly make reservations for dinner when we're on vacation, sometimes I cook O. or two dinners during a week.
Usually stuff we really like: pasta, breaded, baked chicken, etc.
I agree with Jo--we grocery shop where we are & cook in--if at all, usually breakfast & light lunches, then go out for dinner. Just easier than schlepping food there.

I always make sure I bring the staples. For us, that's white rice, coffee, coffee creamer, seasonings (they probably have some, but may not have exactly what you want/need), bar-b-que sauce, bread, butter, sugar, cereal. Then when we get there, we usually go to the local grocery store for things like meats, munchies, milk. I plan easy meals with easy clean-up. We usually bar-b-que the meat so that saves on dishes and hubby can man the grill while I do he indoor stuff. Meals are usually pretty simple - meat, rice or pasta, veggie/salad. And I find that I don't mind cooking or cleaning up when we're at the timeshare - it just seems easier for some reason.

Also be sure to bring some ziploc type storage bags, aluminum foil, and some storage bowls with lids so you can bring leftovers home or at least store them in the fridge for someone else to eat later.

Have a good time!

grill, grill, grill!

lots of fresh fruits, vegies, & breads.

sandwich makings + tasty sides.

make lots of muffins, cookies, etc.

sounds like fun!

where are you going? We usually plan crock pot meals similar to what we'd eat at home, make a grocery list and shop when we get there for our "local" timeshare get aways (all you have to bring is your crock pot) Stroganoff, stew, chicken parmesan, chicken noodle ect so it cooks all day while we are out

I agree with Jo. And for the first night, we might pick up a roasted chicken form the deli, salad mix and bread for a quick easy meal and clean up. You may also want to bring some paper plates and cups.

We just spent a week in Massanuttan, VA and time in Williamsburg, VA so this question is current in my head. I second bring ziplock bags, tin foil and paper goods. Bring jugs of water, I have become a water snob in my old age and I just did not like the taste of the water there and had to pay way too much to stay hydrated. We did a Costco run and a Trader Joes run before we left. We brought pre-made soups, roll-ups (turkey wraps), cooked chicken, bread rolls, prewashed salad, baby carrots, cheese, meat slices, pickles, olives, crackers, fresh fruit, cereal, milk, hot chocolate, coffee, cans of tuna, peanut butter, etc.

We usually had 2 meals in and sometimes 1 meal out. Sometimes we had brunch and dinner and grazed and snacked the rest of the day. If we were out playing tourist we went out to eat one meal. Breakfast was an easy meal to pull together - instant oatmeal worked great. If we were away from the timeshare I packed picnic sandwiches, stuff that I would send to school and work and had one meal on the go.

I was about EASY meals. I had no interest in cooking, reheat and serve was my mantra, If I spent 15 minutes on food prep it was too long. We did bring our pinnini maker, that was fun.

I packed our favorite games which was great, a family movie we all wanted to see and kid DVDs so they could have their down time in their room while the grown-ups hang out or prepped a meal.

Also, we brought a hand soap pump, which I wish I had brought 2 more. A bottle of laundry soap. Extra paper towels and someone suggested to bring toilet paper and extra towels, (which we didn't need but would still bring again because some time shares charge to replace those.) Where we were had a water park and we did bring our own pool towels which was very useful.

The craziest thing we brought was my favorite blanket from my bed, but since we were driving, we figured why not and I was so glad we had it. It made sleeping much easier and our travel mates were cold at night.

Since you are in DC and I am in Virginia Beach I am wondering where you are headed, it sounds nice and maybe we'll try it out on our next timeshare adventure.

Have fun! If you have any more questions or want to bounce some ideas, please feel free to send me a message.

We bring almost all of our meals when we go to my parent's timeshare. I usually set up a menu the week before and pack everything we need the night before. I brought everything we needed, since the grocery stores in the area tend to be a little more expensive. I cooked the same stuff there that I usually cook at home.

Are you staying with others or it just your immediately family? My family just got back from a timeshare vacation with my siblings and their families. We split the meals so that each family prepares one or two so that no one mom is strapped with all the meal prep.
I like to do crockpot meals so that I'm not tied to the kitchen just before dinner since I find we're often out in the afternoon and I don't like dinner served too late. I normally do chili, sloppy joes, or chicken tortilla soup in the crock pot. I will often take a premade and frozen lasagna or chicken pot pie for the first night since check in tends to be around 4 so I can throw it in the oven while we're unpacking. For lunch, we'll bring sandwich stuff that can be backed for outings. Whatever meals you normally make that are reasonably quick or can be prepared ahead of time work well. Also think about the number of ingredients you'll need and try to pick simple recipes. I normally take my spices premixed for my soup or chili so I can just dumb them in together that day. Remember flour and sugar as well since you don't want to be running to the store for a tablespoon of something. It's a good idea to bring an extra 9x13 pan with you if you're going with a large group since sometimes they timeshares don't have them and a few plastic/glass storage containers for leftovers.
If it is important to you to have a big, traditional meal on Easter, you could consider ordering from a local grocery store one of their premade meals so they will have the ham and sides cooked for you. It's cheaper than a restaurant but saves you having to bring extra pans.
Enjoy!

We went on vacation to the Outer Banks last summer and needed to take or make all of our meals there. It was a large crowd and everyone was on a budget so going out was not really feasible. For the 1st night (knowing no one would want to cook) I made baked spaghetti that I froze and let thaw on the drive down (longer drive than yours). I bought some premade garlic bread and premade a salad I threw in a gallon ziploc bag. Turned on the oven as soon as we arrived and dinner was done in a flash! My SIL premade a breakfast casserole so we had that the next morning. She also made a big pan of homemade mac n cheese and some other casseroles that she froze so we could have easy side dishes. I also made breakfast burritos ahead of time and froze them wrapped in a paper towel and then a piece of aluminum foil. Remove the foil and microwave. Super easy with some fruit - a BIG hit with the teenagers. I used eggs, cheese, onions, peppers, bacon, ham, etc. Just mixed it all up with diff combinations! Lunch was almost exclusively sandwiches (bought bread, meat and cheese at home where it's cheaper and froze it to take with us). We also ate leftovers for lunch. We cooked out on the grill a lot - don't know if you will have one - burgers/hot dogs and then we had london broil we marinated another night. Also grilled chicken. We had pizza 1 night as we were celebrating a birthday. We also bought crabs and shrimp one night and had a feast - that was our treat for the week! We took a TON of snacks - granola bars, trail mix, cereal, chex mix, etc. which made our food $ go further esp. since my SIL and I coupon and that stuff is easy to get with coupons. Not our normal fair but it was vacation and we had a lot of teens to keep full - LOL! You might want to stock up on those types of things in the coming weeks as they will all be on sale for the Super Bowl. They will keep until Easter. MOST IMPORTANTLY we took A LOT of beverages - juices, sodas, water, water and more water. We were at the beach - in the sun and active and everyone was very thirsty. But beach prices - UGH!!!! They know they have you at a location like that. I was able to get cases of bottled water for $2-$3 beforehand and we took an entire cargo tray full. We only had a few bottles left at the end of the week - we saved a ton alone on that!!! Try to have fun and don't be a slave to meal time!!!

Whenever we vacation as a family we use a timeshare (so nice not to be on top of eachother all week!). We always fly to our destination, so I don't know about actual pre-trip prep, but we usually hit the grocery store as soon as we get checked in.

I usually plan to do cold breakfast and lunch most days and get yogurt, cereal, sandwich stuff, and bagels.

I cook hot dinners... anything that uses complete packages is great...

ground meat, jar of pasta sauce, box of pasta, loaf of french bread... done!

Frozen pizza, salad

Frozen asian entree (we like orange chicken) bag of frozen fried rice, frozen potstickers.

grilled cheese and soup and salad

casserole prepped ahead and frozen

We usually still go out at least once and end up doing cold sandwhiches at dinner time somewhere in there too.