Food ideas for houseboat trip

[jrichards]

Hi everyone,

I’m taking a houseboat trip with friends this July for 3 nights, and I’m looking for ideas of things to make/bring food-wise. We have to bring in all our food and drink. We will have a full size fridge/freezer. We’ll also have a standard grill, oven, fridge, and microwave.

The plan is to have a few of us do the food shopping and some of the prep. We have to plan for 3 dinners, 3 breakfasts, and 2 lunches (plus snacks). Meal suggestions/options so far from the group include:




Breakfast - fruit; yogurt; egg sandwiches; cereal


Lunch - wrap sandwiches; burgers


Dinner - burgers; grilled chicken; pasta; pulled pork sandwiches, maybe grilled spare ribs


Snacks = Chips/salsa, cole slaw, fruit


Any good ideas for me? Thanks!

Jennifer

[EmptyNestMom]

What about a kabob night? Could do meats, veggies and even fruit, fix some rice and a veggie or salad...

Do you have to travel far to get to the houseboat? If not, you could put together enchiladas or chilaquiles at home and freeze and then take to bake on the boat, that with a salad would make a good meal...

Sounds like a fun time whatever you eat! :D

[jrichards]

That's a good idea. I think our drive is about 8 hours.

[cookieee]

I'm sorry I don't have any food idea right now. It has been a lot of years since our last houseboat trip. But, would love to hear more about yours. Where is the houseboat, if you don't mind my asking?

[cchhbb]

One thing we often do is take a crockpot to the beach when we are traveling with a large group. I'll cook in advance and then freeze the entree and then put it in the crockpot for people to enjoy at their leisure.

We often take tacos, sloppy joes, pulled pork, ribs and chicken enchiladas. For lunch, we eat PBJ's, hotdogs or brats, mac and cheese and other easy items. Sometimes I pick up a rot. chicken, potato salad, and salad stuff and have that available.

Cheryl

[PurplePotato]

I also like to prepare at home and freeze. We just got back from a cabin trip. I like to keep it simple especially since you don't know how good the kitchen tools will be. And simple means everyone can help.

Some ideas:

Chicken sausages (just heat on grill)
Meatloaf muffins
BBQ chicken on grill
Pasta or lasagne
Burgers
BBQ pulled pork sandwiches
Gumbo or jambalaya

Easy sides:
grilled corn or other veggies
roasted potatoes done in foil on the grill
good bread & butter
fruit salad

For breakfasts we tend to keep it simple:
bagels w/cc
yogurt
fruit
banana bread (I make in advance and freeze)
english muffins
One day we'll make eggs & bacon, another pancakes & sausage

Lunch is usually leftovers, sandwiches, maybe a frozen pizza.

For 8 hours your frozen food will act like ice in the cooler.

[MaryMac]

My only suggestion is that you, if possible, use dry ice for your trip. We went about the same distance to houseboat, the ice melted and food was questionable. I do wish now that we would have thought of that. We did just make it easy and cooked a lot on the grill.

[Kay Henderson]

A night of heavy appetizers (and some lighter ones) as well works well. It is especially easy if they are all finger foods or on skewers or toothpicks.

On the keeping foods cold front, if some of the food is frozen hard before leaving, it functions to keep things cool.

Kay

[MaryMac]

A night of heavy appetizers (and some lighter ones) as well works well. It is especially easy if they are all finger foods or on skewers or toothpicks.

On the keeping foods cold front, if some of the food is frozen hard before leaving, it functions to keep things cool.

Kay

We did freeze the meat, etc., but it might have been helpful if we had taken milk and juice frozen.

[cangoss]

I don't have any other meal suggestions but I'm also wondering where you're going? We did a houseboat trip in Ontario on the Rideau Canal from Kingston to Ottawa when I was in middle school and it was amazing.

[Needarizonanest]

I like the ham roll ups with the veggie flavored cr cheese and asparagus inside then sliced for appetizers. A big tub of mini brownies to munch for desserts. We did the Frito and chili for lunch one day, easy and filling with apple walnut salad.
Not real healthy but easy and good.

[MinEaston]

I don't have any other meal suggestions but I'm also wondering where you're going? We did a houseboat trip in Ontario on the Rideau Canal from Kingston to Ottawa when I was in middle school and it was amazing.

not to highjack the thread but I just had to say we did the same trip when I was 13!

[skinnymomskitch]

I was also going to suggest to do some freezer cooking. You can make a bunch of meals ahead of time then wrap them to bring with you for the trip. For example, meatballs for MB subs. Shredded chicken for wraps, salad, and wraps. Even muffin and/or cookie dough. Pretty much anything can be prepared ahead of time and frozen.

Have fun!

[jrichards]

The place we're going is in KY. Here's the website of the boat we're renting:

http://www.statedock.com/400.htm

[MinEaston]

Wow, that's a big houseboat!

You should have no problem keeping stuff safely cold on your drive if you pack it in coolers, especially if you are able to freeze a lot before.

We do a lot of sailing and meal planning for that is trickier, as we have just an icebox. It does have an electrical refrigeration system but we only turn it on when the engine is running because it does consume a fair amount of battery power. I often freeze what we plan to grill in its marinade. We often do chili or similar which we can reheat on the (propane) stove.

[MaryMac]

The place we're going is in KY. Here's the website of the boat we're renting:

http://www.statedock.com/400.htm

I think that's the same place we rented from, or at least it looks familiar. That is a huge beautiful lake! I'm sure you have probably looked into this but be prepared for sticker shock on the gas and we were there about ten years ago. We did end up taking a smaller boat with us and towed it behind the houseboat....made it fun to tie up at night. It will be a fun trip!

[Sheila in MD]

We went about the same distance to houseboat, the ice melted and food was questionable.

Wow..I wonder if the coolers were overpacked or just not that good? That would be a bummer! I regularly travel good distances and keep things in coolers much longer than 8 hours (I compete in dog agility!) and have never had that happen... One thing I have noticed though is ice from hotel ice machines melts MUCH faster than ice from the store as a rule...so I always buy a bag of ice in the morning rather than filling from the hotel. THe hotel ice works fine overnight as the coolers are normally in the room with me. You could always check the ice when you do a pit stop and pick up another bag if necc...likely way cheaper than the dry ice route unless you have a good supplier nearby.

As for food for the trip....marinated pork tenderloin for the grill! Freeze it in the marinade. Leftovers make great sandwiches. I would be bringing a variety of dips and salsas for snack time as well...and plenty of homemade cookies and bars...but that is just me! The coconut lime sours (I think originally posted by Val Chemist) are great for road trips and hold up remarkably well even in heat (weird since they have a glaze on top!) over several days, when packed in a tupperware like container.

Sheila in MD