Villas in Florida all come extremely well equipped with the opportunity to be completely self catering as far as eating is concerned. The fact is, however, that many families visit Orlando and do nothing more than make a cup of tea or coffee in their holiday home,
I know, because for several years we were one of them! The most we would do would be to use the crockery for a take away pizza, but then again you can always eat it direct from the box, saves on washing up! Once, we got really adventurous and had a carry out meal from the Outback!
When the children were young we felt we didn' t have time to be catering, it was get up, get out, breakfast at Denny' s or somewhere similar and then on to the theme parks to exist on fast food! On a quieter day it was a treat to go out and eat at a nice family style restaurant.
Of course for many families it is a two week vacation from cooking and that is absolutely as it should be, your holiday, your choice!
As we have grown older, traveled to Orlando more frequently and spent longer periods there, spending holidays based around the villa rather than the theme parks, it has become somewhat tedious to be going out in search of food every evening and the trip to the restaurant which was once a nightly ritual, has now become an occasional treat. We can often afford to eat at a really high quality restaurant because we are not eating out every night.
Self catering is really very easy and doesn' t need to mean that the chef in the household should spend hours slaving over a hot stove, nor does it mean simply microwaving ready meals, although you can use the microwave to cut down on the time it takes you to present a really lovely meal.
A trip to the supermarket (grocery store) has become a really pleasant experience, Publix is our favorite store for food and the variety of food on offer is mind boggling and makes it really easy to prepare a fresh and tasty meal. We once went with a friend who was a branch manager at a well known UK supermarket and he could not get over the amount of stock that was carried.
Fresh food is always beautifully presented and appetizing. Salads can be bought ready prepared and if you want the skin removing from your fish or the fat trimming from your beef just ask, nothing is too much trouble. There are varieties of food we don' t see at home and that gives you the opportunity to try something different if you wish.
There is an in store bakery where the bread is absolutely delicious but best eaten fresh, so we often buy several loaves of Cuban bread or French baguettes and freeze them, they don' t take long to defrost and it saves a daily trip to the store.
Then of course a meal would not be complete without a nice glass of wine and there is a huge selection to choose from and no worries about drinking and driving. If, like me, you are a lover of frozen cocktails you can buy these ready prepared, no need to source all the individual ingredients, just one tip though, splash out on some straws if there are none at the villa, it makes them much easier to drink, and if you are lucky enough to look under 30 don' t forget that you may be asked for ID.
Read on in part 2 for some ideas for delicious, quick and easy meals or prepare.
I know, because for several years we were one of them! The most we would do would be to use the crockery for a take away pizza, but then again you can always eat it direct from the box, saves on washing up! Once, we got really adventurous and had a carry out meal from the Outback!
When the children were young we felt we didn' t have time to be catering, it was get up, get out, breakfast at Denny' s or somewhere similar and then on to the theme parks to exist on fast food! On a quieter day it was a treat to go out and eat at a nice family style restaurant.
Of course for many families it is a two week vacation from cooking and that is absolutely as it should be, your holiday, your choice!
As we have grown older, traveled to Orlando more frequently and spent longer periods there, spending holidays based around the villa rather than the theme parks, it has become somewhat tedious to be going out in search of food every evening and the trip to the restaurant which was once a nightly ritual, has now become an occasional treat. We can often afford to eat at a really high quality restaurant because we are not eating out every night.
Self catering is really very easy and doesn' t need to mean that the chef in the household should spend hours slaving over a hot stove, nor does it mean simply microwaving ready meals, although you can use the microwave to cut down on the time it takes you to present a really lovely meal.
A trip to the supermarket (grocery store) has become a really pleasant experience, Publix is our favorite store for food and the variety of food on offer is mind boggling and makes it really easy to prepare a fresh and tasty meal. We once went with a friend who was a branch manager at a well known UK supermarket and he could not get over the amount of stock that was carried.
Fresh food is always beautifully presented and appetizing. Salads can be bought ready prepared and if you want the skin removing from your fish or the fat trimming from your beef just ask, nothing is too much trouble. There are varieties of food we don' t see at home and that gives you the opportunity to try something different if you wish.
There is an in store bakery where the bread is absolutely delicious but best eaten fresh, so we often buy several loaves of Cuban bread or French baguettes and freeze them, they don' t take long to defrost and it saves a daily trip to the store.
Then of course a meal would not be complete without a nice glass of wine and there is a huge selection to choose from and no worries about drinking and driving. If, like me, you are a lover of frozen cocktails you can buy these ready prepared, no need to source all the individual ingredients, just one tip though, splash out on some straws if there are none at the villa, it makes them much easier to drink, and if you are lucky enough to look under 30 don' t forget that you may be asked for ID.
Read on in part 2 for some ideas for delicious, quick and easy meals or prepare.