Long story short, I will be spending the next couple months in a hotel for work training. Hotels during the week, home on the weekends, but wont have time to meal prep because of other chores that require my attention when I'm home. I would like to retain as much of my per diem as possible, so I’m trying to avoid spending money on fast food and restaurants. Obviously grocery shopping is the way to go, but I’m trying to figure out the best way to eat lunch and dinner for 5 days at a time without wasting any of it. I work a physical job so solid meals are a must.
This week all I have is the hotel microwave/fridge, a small cooler, one of those 60w lunch box food warmers from crockpot, and a couple microwave safe dishes, but I'm considering bringing my propane camp stove/oven combo next trip out, so I have some better options.
Any recommendations for cheap but healthy and filling meals/recipes would be greatly appreciated, and bonus points for recipes that require mostly/entirely shelf stable ingredients.
HELP – Healthy meals for minimal cost while traveling
byu/ToxicFox95 inFrugal
Posted by ToxicFox95
4 Comments
Do not do not DO NOT cook inside on a propane stove. It’s incredibly dangerous.
A better option might be a slow cooker, rice cooker or crockpot. You can also get electric hot plates.
Electrically heated cooking devices are the only safe option. Gas appliances intended for outdoors can be deadly if used inside.
I’d be living on rotisserie chickens and prepackaged salads.
Hotel + microwave life is very doable, you just need repeatable combos.
Microwave rice + canned beans + rotisserie chicken + salsa or hot sauce is cheap, filling, and easy to portion for 5 days. You can swap the chicken for tuna packets or canned chicken to make it more shelf stable.
Oats with peanut butter, nuts, and protein powder are solid for breakfast or even dinner if you’re wiped. Wraps are great too, tortillas + deli meat or canned protein + cheese + bagged spinach. No real cooking required.
Chili is another good one if you’re willing to heat it up. Canned chili or beans + canned tomatoes + spices in a bowl, microwave and portion out. Eats well all week.
If you want to keep waste low, stick to ingredients that work in multiple meals, rice, tortillas, beans, peanut butter, eggs. The goal is simple, repeatable, and filling, not fancy.
Electric hot plate or get an electric skillet and use either with a silicone trivet (to protect the surfaces you’re cooking on)