What food do you bring?

[northerngal]

We will be eating out a lot but has anyone tried to bring food with it being in a cooler? Salami? cheese? Breakfast stuff?

[shoemak38]

Our trip back in April I brought a cooler with 40 pounds of meat and cheese in it. As long as it’s not liquid, you’re okay. My suggestion is to bring snack food with your drinks, i.e., cheese, salami and other hors d’oeuvres.
Oh by the way, I brought it as carry-on that's why the 40 pound limit

[mfaughey]

You will find varying opinions... We never bring food, we check-in luggage at airport and rent the Jeep on St J. No right answer, it is just personal preferences....

[kklay]

Here is what we bring (usually 4 couples/8 adults in Our group): filet, Spaghetti sauce, bacon, lunch meats, cheeses and most important - HOTDOGS to cook on the beach! If weight allows we also stick in some real butter and frozen OJ. We have a Polar Bear cooler that we check on. We also divide up among the couples some condiments in small bottles for their checked bags. I know many only do carry on, but we prefer to check luggage and bring snacks and other food along with us.

[Kate59]

We bring a polar bear cooler with a spiral ham, bacon & breakfast sausage all frozen solid, also a wheel of cheese, coffee, our favorite local fresh bread (frozen)Check it through with your luggage and hope it gets there when you do!

[Caw954s]

I bring our favorite coffee, filters, and trail mix. We stop at starfish and get eggs , cheese, and bread. We enjoy breakfast in...but we love our lunch and dinners out! I hope to get over to Vie's on the east end this time..we haven't eaten there yet.

[liamsaunt]

I typically bring good bacon, grass fed beef (only when the kids are coming, for their burgers), organic chicken that I've pre-marinated and vacuum sealed, a big chunk of real parmesean, some good cheddar, a spice kit, and a knife kit. I usually put something like a pre-assembled cheese plate in there too for the first night, when we are too tired to go out.

Honestly, I have found that other than meat, I can find almost everything I need/want for cooking at the local markets. It requires some shopping around but I don't mind that.

Fair warning, I have had the checked cooler go missing twice. One time the airline called, said they found it, and offered to deliver it to me...three days later. It was full of chicken. I told them they could keep it! The other one is still out there somewhere.

[jimg20]

We load up our Polar Bear with techni-ice and frozen meats. We bring steaks, chops, chicken, bacon and sausage in the cooler. We wrap and freeze it about a week ahead. We also turn the freezer down to its lowest setting. A day or two before departure, I load the meat into the cooler and put the now full cooler in the freezer. I also tape a note to the front door to remind me to grab the cooler and turn the setting back to normal. The cooler and contents are now at their lowest possible temperature. For us it is about 12 hoours door to door. We've checked the cooler and carried the cooler. When we get to the villa, the meat goes into the freezer and the bacon, which has begun to thaw, goes into the fridge. The bacon will not stay frozen because it has too much salt.

We also take some snacks in our bags like individual packages of cookies. They make a great snack in the villa or on the beach between snorkle excursions.

TSA will almost certainly want to look in your cooler. Apparently frozen meat looks very strange in their machines. By the way, don't wrap the meat in foil. That will give TSA a serious problem that you may not be able to fix at the check point.

Have a great trip.

JIM

[toes in the sand]

Personal opinion;
If only 2 people for 1 week or less with no dietary restrictions or strong personal preferences, we like to only bring whatever snack food, coffee, tea, cereal we can fit into our luggage. We have found those items to offer the most savings when brought from home. The few meals that we cook when by ourselves offers a very limited savings oppurtunity when taking account the cost, hassle and risk of packing, checking and hauling a cooler from car to airport, airport to taxi, taxi to ferry, ferry to car rental.

[kklay]

I did want to clarify my original post - we freeze everything (except the lunch meat and cheeses) at least two weeks in advance. We also vacuum seal the filet, spaghetti sauce. The day we leave we do wrap some of the meats/sauce in newspaper. The cooler is packed full with the lunch meats/cheeses in the center surrounded by the frozen stuff. One time our cooler was taken by someone else by mistake at the baggage carousel (two coolers that looked very similar!), however we did get it the next morning on the ferry and items were still froze. We get free checked bags and also rent our vehicle on St. Thomas, so it is very easy for us - no need to do the airport - taxi - ferry - taxi shuffle!

Good luck with whatever you decide. I agree that the snack foods/cereals ( and I believe coffee) are some of the higher priced items at the grocery on island.

[gibber161]

Steaks and boneless chicken breast. I will wrap them in saran wrap, then newspaper and then put them into a gallon size zip lock bag. I put them in my backpack and stow them under my seat for the flight. We have never had a problem with TSA and the steaks and chicken never leave my sight.

[dctac]

Steaks for sure..Ribeyes, tenderloins & NZ lamb racks. some good hard cheese and coffee... .. rest can get there ...

[PaminMaine]

I pack a polar bear 12 can cooler with deli meats/cheese, butter, steak, cheese/pepperoni, 2lbs bacon, hot dog/hamburg for the grill and place in the cooler about 1 week prior to leaving.

[Bigcheeze]

We did it the first couple of times we came to the Rock...we now just bring a Credit card. Less planning...less worry...more go with the flow.

[kirk]

If you like mac&cheese bring a couple boxes down with you. $2.95 a box at starfish.