What do you pack in your cooler for villa meals& snack?

[PA Girl]

I was just thinking that too jmq! To each their own, but I never go to the trouble of taking food with me. Our villa is stocked with coffee and homemade granola so we are set for breakfast, and typically eat a late lunch out, and then I'm perfectly content to have PBJ for supper. After all, I'm on St. John! I'll leave the gourmet meals for the other 51 weeks of the year

You and my mom:)

My husband and I are the live to eat type of people. My mom is more of the eat to live type. I remember the first trip we took my mom along. When it came to going out to eat that first night, she said wanted to hang back at the villa because "I grabbed a muffin at the hotel this morning" that she intended to have for supper.

My husband was all worried that something was wrong that she choose a cello wrapped muffin from the freebie breakfast bar over going out to eat. I assured him "vacation" for her was sitting on the porch with her muffin and the view and the rustling palms with her grandson. To each their own in deed! We got nights out and she was in her own paradise with her grand baby.

[ncsusan]

We travel with 11 adults so we do pack a cooler to save money. This year we are bringing:
12 steaks
12 Hamburger patties
4 pork tenderloin
24 chicken breasts
9 salmon steaks
4 lbs pulled pork
2 lbs bacon
1 lb. turkey bacon
2 lbs sliced turkey (for sandwiches)
2 lbs. sliced ham (for sandwiches)
2 brownie mix
condiments:mayo, mustard, salad dressings, cooking oil
1 bag rice
4 blocks of cheese
3 boxes of crackers
coffee, tea and sugar
sandwich bags and foil
plus little things that each person packs for themselves (cereal, snacks)

We purchase everything else on island. This year we provisioned with Starfish Market for the second time. They do our food and liquor order and deliver it to the villa so its there when we arrive. Very reasonably priced and they did a great job. We visit Josephines for fresh vegetables several times a week.

We eat out our first night to get us in vacation mode and either eat lunch at the beach or we pick a restaurant to go to. We found that due to the size of our group, its very expensive to eat out (think 11 people, food and bar bill). We stay in a beautiful villa and take turns cooking (everyone couple cooks one night), we eat on our patio overlooking the water and save $$$$.

Everyone kicks in $130 for the week and it pays for the contents of the cooler, the $25 luggage fee to check it and our initial provisions and alcohol on island.

[lorijo068]

We bring our Polar Bear backpack (to use on the beach) and bring 2 steaks, 2 pork chops, hashbrowns, bacon, sausage patties, shredded cheese, lunchmeat, sliced cheese, jalapenos (for poppers).
I freeze everything and then 2 days before we leave I pack the cooler and put the whole thing in the freezer.
In my mind since we paid for the villa we should stay there a couple nights for dinner and enjoy it...
Have fun! We just got back last week and wish we were still there....

[PA Girl]

ncsusan, I like the way you roll! Every trip we talk about how we should enjoy the villas more at night but When it comes down to brass tacks, no one will participate in planning ahead so we end up going out every night.

The rest of the group gets it in their head that we will cook and set out to the store. Then they take one look at the offerings and turn around and leave because they want, for example, local lobsters and there are no lobsters to be had.

I refuse to participate in such wastes of vacation time, which is why I always took a cooler when I had to cook for the grandparents and our son.

[jimg20]

I agree with PA Girl. The choices are limited in the grocery stores on STJ. Yes, I've seen the improvement in the number of stores, the selection and to a limited extent, the quality over the years. The problem is still the quality and especially the price. I see a piece of meat in the case that is what we in the US would call substandard at twice the price of the higher quality meat in the US. I know the shipping problems. I know all about the cost to bring it there. Yes, I empathize with those issues. It doesn't mean we have to patronize it and tell them it's OK by spending our money on it.

We are "cooler people." Our plan is remarkably similar to some of the others who have gone before me in this thread. I even load the cooler and put the whole thing in the freezer a couple of days before we leave. My one personalization on that technique is to tape a note to the front door that says, "DON'T FORGET THE MEAT." When excited and in a hurry at 4 am, it could get overlooked. After all it is not sitting on the living room floor with the suitcases and dive equipment. They've been sitting in the living room since before the cooler went into the freezer.

How we pack the cooler depends on the time we will be there and who is going with us. We bring steaks, chops, chicken breasts, ground beef, sausage, bacon and shrimp. We also load cookies and other things like that in the suitcases. We tried bringing fresh eggs last year, but that didn't work out so well. NO, we didn't pack them in the shells! We tried something we did successfully on a canoe trip. We broke a half dozen eggs in a bowl, mixed in milk and lightly scrambled them. We then put them in a quart size zip-lock bag and froze them in a flat configuration with no air in the bag. The problem this time was that the bags leaked when we thawed them out. We still don't know why.

Our 24 can Polar Bear is perfect for bringing back rum.

JIM

[ski2play]

The timing of this thread is so perfect. We are headed back down to the villa (on Jost) in March arriving on Easter Sunday. Monday is also a holiday in the BVI. Due to logistics and timing I am concerned about the availability and time needed to get food for our first few days. Hey the girl likes to eat and plan, not a terrible combination.....

We have never hauled food, frozen or not on any of our trips, so thanks for the inspiration and helpful hints! We are also looking at provisioning, again, something we have never tried.

Happy Planning

[mindehankins]

Cooler person here, too! We've brought everything listed above, plus crab legs - once. They were delicious, steamed on the grill. Last trip, I had the guy at my favorite Indian restaurant freeze some dishes for me, and I brought those. This time, I'm bringing Puerto Rican style rice and peas. It freezes great and is so fast...
LOL at Jim! I take my food packing tips from camping, too! I haven't tried to bring eggs to STJ, but I do take them camping. You might try putting them into a smallish plastic container, next time.
I've also pre-made breakfast burritos at home (eggs, sausage, cheese, green pepper and onion - wrap in non-stick style aluminum foil), and frozen them. About 7" on each side, in the foil, on the grill, and they're a quick and delicious grab and go breakfast.

[jimg20]

I have not figured out why the bags were intact on the cooler in the canoe but most or all of them leaked when thawed out in the refrigerator on STJ. (What a mess to clean up!) They weren't handled more roughly on the way to STJ. We used freezer bags and not storage or sandwich bags. By the way, don't put salt in the eggs before you freeze them. It lowers the freezing temp and makes it harder to keep them frozen.

JIM

[PA Girl]

My one personalization on that technique is to tape a note to the front door that says, "DON'T FORGET THE MEAT." When excited and in a hurry at 4 am, it could get overlooked. After all it is not sitting on the living room floor with the suitcases and dive equipment. They've been sitting in the living room since before the cooler went into the freezer.

JIM

We tape a note to the door AND clip the car keys to the cooler with a beemer clip so there is no possible way to leave without it!

I agree 100% on the improvement in the store selections and that it still falls short for my tastes.

Ski - we started provisioning years ago and love it. The fees in the BVIs are very reasonable, I think it was $10 last VG trip. Jost may be higher considering the logistics but after a long travel day, it is wonderful to arrive with the house stocked and cold beer in the fridge.

[kklay]

I agree that the selections in the grocery stores on island are better than a few years ago, but I don't like shopping at home and really despise having to spend time on My vacation shopping for food! We usually travel with a group of 6 to 10 family/friends so bringing some food and snacks in a cooler makes sense for us. I think even if it were the two of us I would still bring a cooler with items. The only thing I want to stop for on island is some ice and some fresh fruit and salad greens. Got to keep the beer and adult beverages cold for the beach!

[jimg20]

We tape a note to the door AND clip the car keys to the cooler with a beemer clip so there is no possible way to leave without it!

JIM

[luvinsun]

We pack in a rolling cooler: 4 steaks (we use these for dinner and breakfast), pork chops, garlic sausage, bacon, hot dogs, shredded cheese, frozen bread dough, tubes of Pillsbury croissants, and cinnamon rolls, spreadable butter, olive oil, coffee, and salad dressing. We usually pack everything the night before in the cooler, and like others, put the whole cooler in the freezer..... I have notes all over the place to remind us to pull it out before we leave!