Away from home meals

zrudling

Hi I'm a student nurse and my next practice placement will have me away from home staying in a hotel for 4/7 nights a week. I need some ideas on what I could have without a) blowing the bank and b) eating out all the time

Currently thinking lots of pasta and raw fruit and veg but I'm so stuck from breakfast and variation

Thanks!

lynn_glenmont

Will you have access to a kitchen in the hotel? If you told us whether you will have a refrigerator, range-top, microwave, and or oven, you would get more useful suggestions.

Annie_01

I meal prep but when I get lazy and don't cook I keep some frozen dinners on hand and just add some veggies to them. They are okay in a pinch. Cost wise the are fairly budget friendly usually 2-3 dollars. A bag of frozen vegetable are around a dollar. Bags of salad with roasted store bought chicken would make you a few meals. You can do scramble eggs in a microwave. I tried them and they are not too bad.

Do you have an electric skillet? I have fixed pasta in mine. You can actually cook a pretty good meal in an electric skillet. I bought a small one (about $30 from Walmart and it is great for 1 or 2 people.

zrudling

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

Will you have access to a kitchen in the hotel? If you told us whether you will have a refrigerator, range-top, microwave, and or oven, you would get more useful suggestions.

Sorry I'll have access to a kettle and maybe a fridge. And possibly. Microwave whilst I'm at work

purplefizzy

I did a ton of travel for work one year. I could usually find a store to grab spinach and some form of protein. More than once, I stuck shredded seasoned chicken into a tub of spinach, added a sprinkle of nuts, and shook it up like crazy. Then ate it with my hands because I was exhausted and had forgotten a fork.

Other staples were Greek yogurt, apples, bars.

My team would go out to eat late dinners and drink.
I ate ‘fuel food’ in my room, went to bed, and put in 10 miles before they were up the next day.

It’s possible to stay completely on target. It’s not always graceful or glam. But totally possible.

bannock_and_biceps

purplefizzy wrote: »

I did a ton of travel for work one year. I could usually find a store to grab spinach and some form of protein. More than once, I stuck shredded seasoned chicken into a tub of spinach, added a sprinkle of nuts, and shook it up like crazy. Then ate it with my hands because I was exhausted and had forgotten a fork.

Other staples were Greek yogurt, apples, bars.

My team would go out to eat late dinners and drink.
I ate ‘fuel food’ in my room, went to bed, and put in 10 miles before they were up the next day.

It’s possible to stay completely on target. It’s not always graceful or glam. But totally possible.

now THAT's dedication girl! well done

acpgee

My strategy would be to live on microwavable ready meals at lunchtime at work and rely on sandwiches in the evening. Just keep a stash of low cal charcuterie (smoked chicken or turkey, braesola), cheeses (laughing cow light), and greens (lettuce, cucumber, rucola) for evening sandwiches.

You could do instant ramen noodles if you have an electric kettle in your hotel roon. Bulk it with a handful of spinach or some diced tomato. Would check on google if you can make soft boiled eggs in an electric kettle. Also consider cooking some protein in the microwave at work to slice up into instant ramen in the evenings. You can definitely poach eggs in the microwave to take home for dinner.

acpgee

I googled and boiling eggs in an electrical kettle seems to be something a lot of people do.

If you need to take home poached eggs from the microwave at work for evenings there are two methods. At the bottom of a small pastic dish with lid add either a few tablespoons of water or a little cooking oil on the bottom. Microwave on high about 30 seconds Nuke at simiar increments until egg white is done, cover and take home. I prefer the water method as it results in a more liquid yolk. A microwave cooks high fat elements more quickly than low fat.

Which reminds me, bacon cooked in the microwave is great. Line a plate with paper towels, top with bacon and cover with paper towels. Zap at 1 minute increments until done. Bacon gets very crispy this way because the microwave cooks the fat faster than the protein.