Cabin crew meal prep ideas???

lucygriffiths252
lucygriffiths252 Posts: 3 Member
edited November 23 in Health and Weight Loss
I am a flight attendant and gained over 10kgs in the last couple of years through unhealthy lifestyle patterns and irregular eating patterns etc...
On a mission to lose this extra weight but I struggle to prep food for layovers in hotels...
can any body suggest some affordable and tasty meal prep ideas that will cover 24 hours in a hotel and to and from the destination??
***Recipes must travel well and not go funny/smelly or look unappetising after being boxed up***

Any ideas appreciated

Replies

  • JustSomeEm
    JustSomeEm Posts: 20,269 MFP Moderator
    Will you have access to a refrigerator and/or a microwave?

    I tend to have soup (Campbells or Progresso) when I'm on the go, as long as I'll have access to a microwave. Not great if you're watching sodium, but they taste good and are fairly low calorie.
  • lucygriffiths252
    lucygriffiths252 Posts: 3 Member
    Sometimes I will have access to a refrigerator in the hotel room, but not always.
    Makes things like carrying salads and cooked meats a bit difficult. Packet soups are an ok idea, but not to see me through 24hours, but as a snack I keep some in my suitcase along with crackers and nuts.
    Tins of tuna also carry well, along with a couple of apples. Problem is that I find arriving at a hotel at 7am to a tin of tuna is rather unappealing....

    Thanks for your help though :)
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    lucygriffiths252 wrote: »
    Sometimes I will have access to a refrigerator in the hotel room, but not always.
    Makes things like carrying salads and cooked meats a bit difficult. Packet soups are an ok idea, but not to see me through 24hours, but as a snack I keep some in my suitcase along with crackers and nuts.
    Tins of tuna also carry well, along with a couple of apples. Problem is that I find arriving at a hotel at 7am to a tin of tuna is rather unappealing....

    Thanks for your help though :)

    What foods do you find appealing? It's hard for strangers to guess what you will enjoy eating. It might be easier for you to figure out a way to make your current choices and preferences fit into a calorie goal.

    What is appealing to you at 7 AM in a hotel room?
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    my on the road meals include pre-cooked rice with some flavored cream cheese mixed in (for fat); cans of soup, yogurt, I pre-cook meat (i.e. chicken) to snack on
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  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    Thank you for your work on the airline that makes our travel possible. I'm sure it can be a rough schedule sometimes. Remember, the key to weight control is portions and total calories.

    Are you able to eat some of the food offered by the airline to passengers? There often are a couple of "healthier" lower calorie options. Arriving at 7am might make food seem like dinner to you rather than breakfast but you could have the tuna at a different time during the day if you don't like it at 7am. Packets of oatmeal can be mixed up with hot water in the hotel. Often you can pick up a salad, yogurt, healthy sandwich or maybe even hard boiled eggs in the airport. Cheese keeps quite well.

    Go to the grocery store and look in the canned food aisle to see what else they have that meets your criteria. They might not all be as nutritiously balanced as fresh food, but you can find something workable if that's your goal.

    You could also look at dried meals in a camping store. There are some that can be made with hot water and don't require cooking.

    You are trying to plan ahead and that's very important, especially in your circumstances. Just keep an open mind and try some things you might not do at home.
  • aeloine
    aeloine Posts: 2,163 Member
    suzannesimmons3 wrote: »
    aeloine wrote: »
    think about granola for those 7am trips. Homemade granola bars could REALLY be jazzed up with so many different ingredients!

    Make bread, muffins, zucchini bread, banana bread, etc for those breakfast times. They hold very well. You can control your portions, cals, ingredients.

    I find that sandwiches do an okay job holding. Especially PB&J.

    Nuts and seeds
    Dried fruit and edamame
    Pasta without sauce should hold, just make sure to not have sauce/veg in there. That won't hold. You can toss in herbs, S&P, and olive oil. Even cold, it makes great pasta salad.

    ETA: OMG, can't believe I didn't think of this earlier! look into ice packs! They make ones that can stay cold for 24 hrs. If you toss that into your lunch box, it'll keep everything nice and fresh!

    Depending on where you fly you could be prohibited from bringing "non packaged" and even some packaged foods into the country.

    Usually the restrictions are on fruit and veg, if I'm correct. I bet bread and granola aren't always prohibited.
    These ideas are good for domestic flights, at least.
  • caroldavison332
    caroldavison332 Posts: 864 Member
    you can purchased hard boiled eggs, veggies, fruit, and cheese at most groceries. Nuts. Jerky. Dried fruit. Cans of tuna, chicken, ham, spam or what ever you will eat. Nuke soup. There are mircowave ready meals that come sealed in plastic.
  • hokiemom14
    hokiemom14 Posts: 105 Member
    edited December 2017
    If I were in your shoes, I would pack spinach wraps and the flavored tuna packets as both will pack well and keep for a long time. I would also pack a jar of almond butter for wraps as well or maybe a few apples that you could cut up to eat with the almond butter. Maybe make a homemade granola for the mornings and for a snack as well as peanuts/almonds for quick snacks.
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  • lucygriffiths252
    lucygriffiths252 Posts: 3 Member
    Wow thank you all for your suggestions! These are all very helpful and motivating. Planning your diet around your schedule when you don't have a routine can be pretty difficult! The homemade granola is definitely appealing so I will look for some recipes!
    Stephwalkie I appreciate your efforts here! And it's nice to have someone who knows what it can be like! Quesadilla definitely sounds tasty and manageable. And the ice trick! Perfect too when the hotel doesn't have a fridge!!
    Just need to make sure I am constantly planning ahead and staying away from all those breakfast buffets and room service steak and cheese baguettes !
    Thanks everyone for your help!
  • kittiwakeh
    kittiwakeh Posts: 8 Member
    I have lived in hotel rooms for a few years when commuting away to work.

    Dried couscous was a good staple. You can buy flavoured packets or by plain and add to them. On its own it is a bit dull but you can add all sorts of ingredients to increase it's taste. I used to take a small pot containing lemon juice chopped coriander (cilantro), diced tomato and other vegetables. For added protein nuts seeds, tinned fish ham or chicken all work well. Couscous is prepared just by adding hot water a leaving for a few minutes and is fine hot or cold

    Home made vegetable soup also works well and keeps OK. If you make it very thick then adding hot water at your destination will heat and thin it.

    If you have a. Microwave then baked potatoes can be pre cooked and then reheated and work well with tuna and salad.
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