what to cook at a vacation house v.2
 The house is booked, everyone has requested the time off from work, the summer vacation plans are officially a go. But then, one week prior to the trip, you suddenly remember that there are now SO MANY mouths to feed, three meals a day, for seven days straight! Planning vacation house meals can be fun, but it’s also stressful, so in lieu of your normal meal plan this month, we are bringing you the second installment of What To Cook at a Vacation House — complete with a grocery list broken down by aisle! (Click here for the first installment.) Today’s plan includes a line up of five crowd-pleasing summer dinners that are easy to pull together and don’t require a ton of random spices that you either have to buy upon arrival or lug with you from home. We’ve noted meals that you can cook ahead of time, elements that you can double up on to minimize time spent in the kitchen later in the week, and places you can (actually, SHOULD — it’s vacay, take the shortcut!) use a store-bought swap to save time and effort. You’ll also find our recs for excellent vacation lunches, and a few breakfast, cocktail, and snack ideas, too, should you need them. PS, if you are vacationing with several families, I highly recommend dividing up the meals by adult teams! If you have kids, it’s best not for parents to cook together so that one of them can keep an eye on the kids while the other cooks. For instance, my sister and I would team up and cook dinner one night, and my husband and brother-in-law the next night. If you plan to use this meal plan, tell us where you’re vacationing! I’m going to live vicariously through your travels this year as I’ve been on pre-baby travel lockdown all summer! Leave a comment As always, we’ve provided a shopping list organized by aisle. Everybody will want to go a different direction with lunches and breakfasts (though we’ve included ideas below!), so the shopping list only includes ingredients for the dinners. To modify the grocery list in order to add lunch ingredients, switch up your proteins, etc., copy and paste this master shopping list into a new Google doc or phone Note and edit away to make it perfect for your crew. link to printer version Let’s kick things off with something fresh, fun, and totally customizable. Use whatever protein sounds good or is readily available — shrimp, chicken, salmon, or steak. COOK ONCE, EAT TWICE: Double the green sauce — you’ll use it again on night 3.TAKE THE SHORTCUT! Use frozen white rice (it’s OK to skip the coconut — this meal already has so much flavor) and store-bought pico de gallo plus pre-cut pineapple to make this meal easier. COOK ONCE, EAT TWICE: Double the green sauce — you’ll use it again on night 3. COOK ONCE, EAT TWICE: Double the green sauce — you’ll use it again on night 3. TAKE THE SHORTCUT! Use frozen white rice (it’s OK to skip the coconut — this meal already has so much flavor) and store-bought pico de gallo plus pre-cut pineapple to make this meal easier. TAKE THE SHORTCUT! Use frozen white rice (it’s OK to skip the coconut — this meal already has so much flavor) and store-bought pico de gallo plus pre-cut pineapple to make this meal easier. This pasta feeds a big group, is packed with both protein and veggies, and is a major crowd-pleaser. MAKE (WAY!) AHEAD: Make this one at home before your trip, freeze it, and let it thaw in a cooler during the drive. Pop it in the fridge to eat on the first or second night. MAKE (WAY!) AHEAD: Make this one at home before your trip, freeze it, and let it thaw in a cooler during the drive. Pop it in the fridge to eat on the first or second night. MAKE (WAY!) AHEAD: Make this one at home before your trip, freeze it, and let it thaw in a cooler during the drive. Pop it in the fridge to eat on the first or second night. Simple and summery! Here’s where you’ll use the rest of the green sauce you made on night 1.COOK ONCE, EAT TWICE: If you will want to serve meat with your risotto tomorrow, cook extra chicken tonight.No grill at your rental? You can roast everything in the oven instead. See the “I don’t have a grill” note beneath the recipe for more. Here’s where you’ll use the rest of the green sauce you made on night 1. Here’s where you’ll use the rest of the green sauce you made on night 1. COOK ONCE, EAT TWICE: If you will want to serve meat with your risotto tomorrow, cook extra chicken tonight. COOK ONCE, EAT TWICE: If you will want to serve meat with your risotto tomorrow, cook extra chicken tonight. No grill at your rental? You can roast everything in the oven instead. See the “I don’t have a grill” note beneath the recipe for more. No grill at your rental? You can roast everything in the oven instead. See the “I don’t have a grill” note beneath the recipe for more. Just 10 minutes of active work yields a creamy, cozy, surprisingly elegant dinner. You toss everything in a pot, bake it in the oven, and voila — risotto! If you doubled the chicken last night, use the leftovers here as a protein on top. Or see the “must have meat” note beneath the recipe for more ideas. MAKE AHEAD: This is a great make-ahead meal if you want to knock it out early in the day. Once cool, cover the pot with its lid and stick the whole thing in the fridge. Just before dinner, reheat it on the stove over medium heat, adding splashes of water or broth as needed to bring it back to peak creaminess. If you doubled the chicken last night, use the leftovers here as a protein on top. Or see the “must have meat” note beneath the recipe for more ideas. If you doubled the chicken last night, use the leftovers here as a protein on top. Or see the “must have meat” note beneath the recipe for more ideas. MAKE AHEAD: This is a great make-ahead meal if you want to knock it out early in the day. Once cool, cover the pot with its lid and stick the whole thing in the fridge. Just before dinner, reheat it on the stove over medium heat, adding splashes of water or broth as needed to bring it back to peak creaminess. MAKE AHEAD: This is a great make-ahead meal if you want to knock it out early in the day. Once cool, cover the pot with its lid and stick the whole thing in the fridge. Just before dinner, reheat it on the stove over medium heat, adding splashes of water or broth as needed to bring it back to peak creaminess. A fun and delicious way to close out the week — and a great excuse to use up whatever’s left in the fridge. Make the sheet-pan summer corn pizza (creamy, cheesy, and packed with summer produce) and bee-sting pizza insalata (sweet, spicy, topped with arugula and parm). Both use the same dough (store-bought!) and bake on sheet pans for ease. LOVE YOUR LEFTOVERS: You could add a third pizza, or swap one of those out, to use up whatever’s left in the fridge — grilled veggies, grilled chicken, extra herbs, green sauce, stray bits of cheese. You can even split each pizza in half so people can build their own pie.STORE-BOUGHT SWAP: Buy a jar of plain marinara or pizza sauce to skip making your own for the bee-sting pizza insalata.Serve pizzas with a simple salad, or let the arugula on the bee-sting pizza do the heavy lifting. LOVE YOUR LEFTOVERS: You could add a third pizza, or swap one of those out, to use up whatever’s left in the fridge — grilled veggies, grilled chicken, extra herbs, green sauce, stray bits of cheese. You can even split each pizza in half so people can build their own pie. LOVE YOUR LEFTOVERS: You could add a third pizza, or swap one of those out, to use up whatever’s left in the fridge — grilled veggies, grilled chicken, extra herbs, green sauce, stray bits of cheese. You can even split each pizza in half so people can build their own pie. STORE-BOUGHT SWAP: Buy a jar of plain marinara or pizza sauce to skip making your own for the bee-sting pizza insalata. STORE-BOUGHT SWAP: Buy a jar of plain marinara or pizza sauce to skip making your own for the bee-sting pizza insalata. Serve pizzas with a simple salad, or let the arugula on the bee-sting pizza do the heavy lifting. Serve pizzas with a simple salad, or let the arugula on the bee-sting pizza do the heavy lifting. Easy make-ahead lunches that hold up well in the fridge and are great for beach days, road snacks, or quick bites between adventures. Use store-bought pimento cheese to keep things simple. If you’re not eating these on the go, we recommend serving this family style with each component plated separately so everyone can build their own dream BLT. These pack well and are easy to assemble in batches. Make it even easier by using (good) store-bought pesto! A make-ahead soup that’s just right for hot vacation days when no one wants to turn on the oven or stovetop. Make a big batch to keep in the fridge all week long. Serve with crackers, toast, or grilled cheese if you're feeling fancy. You’ve gotta stock the fridge with at least one Good All Week salad! This one’s especially hearty, fresh, and seasonal. Keep the avocado out until serving so it doesn’t brown (and the tomatoes, if it’s going to sit in the fridge for more than 48 hours — they’d get mushy). A great vegetarian lunch that takes very little effort — especially if you buy pre-cooked hard-boiled eggs. My mom grates the eggs instead of chopping them, which makes the whole thing extra creamy and luxurious. Serve it on sandwich bread, crackers, or in lettuce cups. Save this for a day you want to have a beautiful seated lunch — maybe a rainy day, if you have one in the forecast? You can make it platter-style or mix everything together, it’s a total crowd-pleaser either way. A few more recipes to bookmark, including breakfasts that feed a crowd, pre-dinner snacks, and batch cocktails. a perfect breakfast casserolestarbucks egg bite copycat frittata a perfect breakfast casserole a perfect breakfast casserole starbucks egg bite copycat frittata starbucks egg bite copycat frittata whipped pistachio fetatortellini with aiolijalapeño bacon pimento cheesecamembert with blackberries and mint whipped pistachio feta whipped pistachio feta tortellini with aioli tortellini with aioli jalapeño bacon pimento cheese jalapeño bacon pimento cheese camembert with blackberries and mint camembert with blackberries and mint berry mojitosstrawberry lemon margs berry mojitos berry mojitos strawberry lemon margs strawberry lemon margs Are any other What To Cook recipes go-tos for your annual beach/lake/mountain trips? We’d love to hear which ones! Leave a comment No posts