Studio Cooking About This Page:

[Heather_K]

Hey everyone! My husband and I will be staying in a studio at OKW for the first time in September. We are trying to do this trip on a budget, and only plan on eating out once a day during the trip, and they will likely be CS with the exception of one or two sit down meals.

We have no issues cooking in the villas, and actually love cooking on vacation. I have a small crock pot and a flat top electric griddle in my Owners Locker that we plan on utilizing for the week.

I have searched the boards for recipes for crock pots, or for studios and I came up with a few ideas but am looking for a few more still.

Anyone have any ideas for how to cook decent substantial meals using only a microwave, toaster, crock pot, griddle and the outdoor BBQ areas?
So far I came up with the below meals, and am not sure if they will work out well or not.

Breakfast
bagels
fruit
donuts
Lunch/ Dinner
crock pot shredded BBQ chicken sandwiches
crock pot meatball subs
hot dogs / frozen mac & cheese
crock pot fajitas
grilled chicken salads
pb&j
grilled cheese

Any other ideas?
Thank you!!

[NurseLesley]

I really like making pot roast in my crock pot. On vaca you could buy on of the powdered gravy maker packets and throw it all in
Or chili would be awesome!

[HollyH]

If you have a griddle, I would add pancakes. I've tried the "add water" mixes for camping and DVC trips and found them to be good.

If you are on Pinterest, there are a ton of slow cooker recipe ideas. I've made BBQ chicken, pesto chicken, meatloaf with potatoes with good results. I've even seen lasagna in the crockpot recipes but I haven't tried them.

I would advise that you try out any recipes at home first though.

Good luck!

[HiddenMickey]

How long is your trip? It looks like you've got a lot of great ideas already and I don't think you'll need to add much more, unless you're there two weeks?

Cereal or eggs for breakfast?
We tend to try to use the outdoor grill a lot when on vacation. Bratwurst, Shrimp (put it on foil on the grill), burgers, marinated chicken breasts (use an italian dressing), grilled veggies (asparagus, eggplant, squash)

[rosanna]

I just made a delicious, simple recipe from pinterest in the crock pot. It is called Chile Colorado. Stew meat, a can of enchilada sauce and beef bullion. Let it cook on low all day and make burritos with tortillas, refried beans, and cheese. So good and so simple.

[Heather_K]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! Please keep them coming

Originally Posted by HiddenMickey

How long is your trip? It looks like you've got a lot of great ideas already and I don't think you'll need to add much more, unless you're there two weeks?

Cereal or eggs for breakfast?
We tend to try to use the outdoor grill a lot when on vacation. Bratwurst, Shrimp (put it on foil on the grill), burgers, marinated chicken breasts (use an italian dressing), grilled veggies (asparagus, eggplant, squash)

We will be there for 8 full days, so I was aiming for at least that many meals. I would like to eat breakfast and at least one meal in the room every day, but may keep some of the meals smaller just in case we change our minds on the fly.

I'm really excited to use the BBQ grills at the resort. We are staying at OKW, and have never been there. I hear the resort is huge, so I'm hoping finding a grill isn't too difficult

Originally Posted by rosanna

I just made a delicious, simple recipe from pinterest in the crock pot. It is called Chile Colorado. Stew meat, a can of enchilada sauce and beef bullion. Let it cook on low all day and make burritos with tortillas, refried beans, and cheese. So good and so simple.

That sounds amazing!!! I may do that instead of the fajitas


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[Starwind]

You can make scrambled eggs in a microwave:

The Egg Farmers of Canada website has lots of recipes involving eggs and the microwave at Search Results » Eggs.ca

I have used their basic microwave scrambled eggs instructions (substituting water for the milk) many times with great success: Recipes - Basic Microwave Scrambled Eggs » Eggs.ca

The manufacturer's website for Crock-Pot has LOTS of recipes: Recipes

Spoonful, by disney, has lots of recipes. One of my favourites of their's is for Best Ever Beef Stew, done in the crockpot: Best-ever Beef Stew Recipe | Spoonful . When in a rush or for convenience, I used bagged pre-washed baby carrots and bagged small pre-washed round potatoes so I don't have to do any cutting :-) sometimes I just use stewing beef, the baby carrots, the baby potatoes, and a container of beef broth, and then at the end do the mix of a scoop of the liquid + 1 tablespoon flour (I learned that more than that makes the liquid consistency not something I like -- TRY AT HOME FIRST !!! to find out what works best for you) + 1 small can tomato paste, mixed and added back in to the crockpot for the final half hour.

Spoonful's main recipe page is at: Recipes for Families | Spoonful

(scroll down and you will see their Slow Cooked recipes)

Finally, we have a Fasta Pasta Microwave Cooker (the original, NOT a knock-off) which is GREAT for cooking pasta in the microwave. it can also do veggies. I HIGHLY recommend it. Fasta Pasta - Microwave Pasta Cooker

Also, Sistema Plastics from New Zealand makes an entire line of made-in-NZ BPA-free microwave containers that have a built-in vent and facilitate steam-cooking. They work very very well. We have used them to microwave cook many things, including, for example, chicken breasts. The US website is at http://sistemaus.com/ and their products are available from a wide variety of retailors, including Bed bath & Beyond and Amazon. I do recommend looking around for the best prices.

-SW

[HiddenMickey]

Off Topic- Heather- I think it's funny how your profile picture says 1 month, 1 week, 1 day to your LAST MINUTE getaway. I just planned a trip yesterday and leave Aug 2...... (I had to move dates from Aug 22). Made my FPs at 11 days out. That's last minute. (Though I admit, I did plan a trip 2 days in advance once, when I had APs).


Back On Topic-
I'll think of some other ideas for you and come back.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Heather_K

I'm really excited to use the BBQ grills at the resort. We are staying at OKW, and have never been there. I hear the resort is huge, so I'm hoping finding a grill isn't too difficult

There are grills at each of the three quiet (leisure) pools, but not at the main themed pool near the Hospitality House. We grilled when we stayed at OKW a few years ago, and it really was a lot of fun (not to mention delicious!).

For convenience of access to the grills, I would request a villa that is near one of the quiet pools. Have fun - I think you will love OKW.

[Heather_K]

Originally Posted by HiddenMickey

Off Topic- Heather- I think it's funny how your profile picture says 1 month, 1 week, 1 day to your LAST MINUTE getaway. I just planned a trip yesterday and leave Aug 2...... (I had to move dates from Aug 22). Made my FPs at 11 days out. That's last minute. (Though I admit, I did plan a trip 2 days in advance once, when I had APs).


Back On Topic-
I'll think of some other ideas for you and come back.

I know! It felt so much closer when we booked it, I am normally an 11 month out planner - so this felt so quick. But, it's basically been a hurry up and wait game since I made that ticker

Originally Posted by Starwind

You can make scrambled eggs in a microwave:

The Egg Farmers of Canada website has lots of recipes involving eggs and the microwave at Search Results » Eggs.ca

I have used their basic microwave scrambled eggs instructions (substituting water for the milk) many times with great success: Recipes - Basic Microwave Scrambled Eggs » Eggs.ca

The manufacturer's website for Crock-Pot has LOTS of recipes: Recipes

Spoonful, by disney, has lots of recipes. One of my favourites of their's is for Best Ever Beef Stew, done in the crockpot: Best-ever Beef Stew Recipe | Spoonful . When in a rush or for convenience, I used bagged pre-washed baby carrots and bagged small pre-washed round potatoes so I don't have to do any cutting :-) sometimes I just use stewing beef, the baby carrots, the baby potatoes, and a container of beef broth, and then at the end do the mix of a scoop of the liquid + 1 tablespoon flour (I learned that more than that makes the liquid consistency not something I like -- TRY AT HOME FIRST !!! to find out what works best for you) + 1 small can tomato paste, mixed and added back in to the crockpot for the final half hour.

Spoonful's main recipe page is at: Recipes for Families | Spoonful

(scroll down and you will see their Slow Cooked recipes)

Finally, we have a Fasta Pasta Microwave Cooker (the original, NOT a knock-off) which is GREAT for cooking pasta in the microwave. it can also do veggies. I HIGHLY recommend it. Fasta Pasta - Microwave Pasta Cooker

Also, Sistema Plastics from New Zealand makes an entire line of made-in-NZ BPA-free microwave containers that have a built-in vent and facilitate steam-cooking. They work very very well. We have used them to microwave cook many things, including, for example, chicken breasts. The US website is at SISTEMAUS.COM and their products are available from a wide variety of retailors, including Bed bath & Beyond and Amazon. I do recommend looking around for the best prices.

-SW

Thanks for all the tips!! That fasta pasta thing sounds really cool. I'm glad to hear it actuallyw works! I would have just assumed it would all stick together and probably would never consider getting one

Originally Posted by Brad

There are grills at each of the three quiet (leisure) pools, but not at the main themed pool near the Hospitality House. We grilled when we stayed at OKW a few years ago, and it really was a lot of fun (not to mention delicious!).

For convenience of access to the grills, I would request a villa that is near one of the quiet pools. Have fun - I think you will love OKW.

Thank you so much for the tip! I definitely will put that request in... I have been trying to figure out what area would be most convenient for grilling. Other than that, we really have no requests. Something with a beautiful view would be great, obviously - but really we aren't very picky

[DMA]

Breakfast for dinner is always fun! Pancakes have already been suggested. You can also make Egg McMuffins with toasted English Muffins, fried eggs, and a slice of ham and cheese. That would be a quick lunch or dinner.