Assuming you have that electric frying pan - Quesadillas using precooked chicken would work.

Pre-cooked, diced chicken breasts OR Rotisserie chicken shredded
shredded cheese
sliced peppers, tomatoes, etc.
salsa, sour cream

Lay flour tortillas in the frying pan. Add shredded cheese and diced chicken. Heat until cheese is melted and tortilla is lightly crisp.

Serve pepper, tomatoes, etc on the side for each person to add.

Sounds like a great summer!

Teresa

You could make fish tacos using frozen fish sticks cooked in the electric fry pan: Fish Tacos: fish sticks, lettuce/tomato/ranch dressing or slaw, salsa, flour tortillas

I'd make some BBQ Cups at home and keep chilled for an easy lunch for the children:

Barbecue Cups
oven to 400F
makes about 20

3/4lb. lean ground beef
1 TB plus chopped onion
2 TB brown sugar
1/2c BBQ sauce
canned biscuits 2 10 pks.
grated cheddar cheese

Brown beef, drain fat. Add onion and saute lightly. Add sugar and sauce, simmer a few minutes.

Press biscuits to make a larger circle. Put into muffin tin cups. Add meat mixture, top with grated cheddar cheese. Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes.

For pizza cups, add pizza sauce to browned beef, omit sugar, top with grated mozzarella cheese.

Pulled pork cooked all day in the Slow Cooker. Figure 1/4 lb per person with 25% shrinkage - so about 1/3 lb per person uncooked weight if you don't want leftovers.

The great smell will whet the appetite all day long! Serve with buns (no need to heat), ready-made coleslaw and fresh fruit.

Sounds like a fun trip!

My first thought was pulled pork, too! Or anything else that can't be killed with overcooking or reheating on days you don't feel like grilling.

Actually my first thought really was, "Just how much electricity does she have?" Some of those appliances, like the large toaster oven, will easily trip breakers particularly if the circuit is shared with neighbors.

Lol good thing I'm married to an electrician ;) everyone seems to have the fridge, toaster oven and micro. Not sure I'm doing micro. The crockpot, electric frying pan, and George foreman I will bring on the days when I'm using each morning.

But sounds like electric frying pan might be the most handy. Love the idea of the "cups" and quesadillas are perfect. Pulled pork for sure and I will try the fish tacos on them. Beans and weenies in crockpot and fajitas maybe...

Thank you :) we will have this all summer. The summer recreation program thru the school is canceled. My kids school is still closed due to Superstorm Sandy.

We are really looking forward to this!

Send him my way, half my house flickers when I turn on the toaster! You must be south shore. A summer at the beach is the best news I've heard out of Sandy. I just discovered that the roofers put a new roof on top of completely damaged rafters. That's being addressed this weekend. Fortunately my ins co has been incredibly cooperative straight through. Hard to imagine all the areas still devastated. I haven't driven south since the storm.

First, remember, I live a block from the beach down here in Central FL. For me ... beach cabana meals include, maybe, boiled shrimp, fried or grilled fresh fish, hushpuppies, etc.

Pulled pork? On the beach? Not down here!

Oh. Fish sandwiches with the fish cooked in the a.m.? Coleslaw, absolutely--on the sandwiches. What about fish tacos with the same ingredients? Oysters? Clams? Oh, crab cakes or crab imperial. I have Maryland recipes for those that are killer!

This post was edited by beachlily on Wed, May 8, 13 at 18:29

FOAS, sorry to hear bout roof but glad you have good insurance company...def not the norm. Still living in Diaster Recovery Area...not easy but ok could be worse.

Beach lily, sounds wonderful and like the food I did for my dads 70th when I rented a beach pavilion. I live in a beach community where they are known as clam diggers so no doubt we ill have clams on the grill with hot sauce and maybe a lobster bake for special occasion. The club has a restaurant as well but really don't expect to eat their much.

We will be at the cabana everyday and really need practical food that pleases the sandy messy little people and makes us adults happy, too. I will bring what i need in morning but have limited storage...i don't want to be fussy to much but also enjoy this part of it, too! Don't think I will be adding deep fryer to the list of appliances lol

I did go to a pig roast on the beach in South Florida! Bro in law is chef down there ;)

Thanks for the ideas.

This post was edited by maggie2094 on Wed, May 8, 13 at 19:14

Another idea is Walking Tacos

Lindac introduced me to these and they are a crowd-pleaser. I've made them for 150 band kids - it is their favorite meal and the adults enjoy them too. If you don't know, these are basically tacos, but you use chip bags of Fritos or Doritos in place of a taco shell. Crush the chips with your hands, then open the bag and each person can put in what they like from the taco ingredients provided. You can prep all the ingredients ahead of time and keep them in the cooler - just serve right from the storage containers. If you want to serve hot taco meat - you could use your Crock Pot to reheat the taco meat for an hour before serving.

Our Walking Tacos include: Taco meat, pinto or black beans (drained and rinsed, but not cooked), shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, shredded cheese, sliced black olives, chopped green onions, and salsa. You could provide plates for the adults if you want and they can make it more of a taco salad - though I have found most love the bags too. Everything can be prepped the night before and it will hold just fine.

Oh! And this is another family favorite! I will make this for dinner and my kids will eat this for breakfast the next day they love it so much. All of this can be prepped the day before and mixed together just before serving.

Italian Chopped Salad
8 servings

2 romaine hearts (1.5 lbs), chopped into small dice
4 Roma Tomatoes, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice
Salami - 8 ounces (Columbus Italian Dry Salami) - matchstick slices
Provolone Cheese - 8 ounces - matchstick slices
1/2 red onion - diced
1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas) - rinsed
2 cans (3.8 ounce) sliced black olives - about 2 cups, drained
12 ounces Wishbone Robusto Italian dressing
Ditalini Pasta - 6 ounces

If I was making this for adults only, I would cut the pasta back to 4 ounces, but the kids love the pasta and I really don't mind that much either.

Cook the pasta until done and rinse under cold water. Drain well. Add a bit of the dressing so the pasta will not stick.

Just toss all ingredients in a bowl and enjoy!

My kids LOVE tacos! Do they eat with a spoon? Def will do this...will be great when they have friends over, too. Pasta salad sounds delish! Thanks, Jeri.

A fork works best for the Walking Tacos. After adding the ingredients, just give a quick stir and enjoy. :-)

I don't have a recipe in mind but beef teriyaki strips on little sticks came to mind. You can marinate the meat in the AM and make extra for steak salad the next day. Chicken on a stick would be fun at the beach too.

I look forward to a picture or two of you preparing a meal in your make shift kitchen!

I hope you have a wonderful summer!

Teresa

Thanks, Joanm, that is a good idea and thanks, Teresa :)

Another thought: chicken nugget wraps, like the ones MacDonald's is now serving - cook chicken tenders or nuggets in the electric frypan, drizzle some Ranch dressing on a flour tortilla, layer on the chicken, lettuce, tomato, cucumber and onion in any combination (grated cheese is optional) roll up and eat.

Lots of cut-up fresh fruit or fruit kabobs, apple slices to spread with peanut butter, celery sticks filled with cream cheese or pimiento cheese, string cheese sticks, grape tomatoes, cucumber slices to dip in dressing, and lots of water - folks drink a lot more water while active outside. [I'm channeling my former Girl Scout leader days in this post!]

Teresa

Teresa beat me to it. We make a lot of wraps here during the summer. They are handy to pack for the beach. The choice of ingredients is infinite -- so many good combinations -- and they are very little work to make. Some of the things we like are turkey, lettuce, onion, tomato, avocado, cheese, arugula, hummus, sprouts and various dressings.

Jim

This post was edited by jimster on Sun, May 12, 13 at 18:42

Funny, I make myself wraps for work lunvh all the time and never make for the kids! Why? Lol will def be doing wraps and so many combos. My daughter does love hummus. Fruit kabobs would be perfect. My daughter has peanut and egg allergy so no pb or ranch. Plenty other subs, though.

I saw mason jar salads and was thinking I could use the idea for veggie sticks and dip and individual desserts. Just grab what I need I morning and bring home to wash at night. I have no sink so that is hardest thing.

Thanks!

Maggie, it sounds like a great way to spend time in the summer.

I agree on the hummus and fresh veggies to dip. As for the Walking Tacos, that's a big seller at football games and track meets here, the concession stand does a booming business. Here they just open the bag of Fritos or Doritos, ladle in a spoonful of taco filling or chili, add some cheese, stir it all around. Depending on the thickness of your toppings, a fork or a spoon work equally well.

I remember Grandma used to fill ice cream cones with kind of homemade trail mix so we just ate the cones when we were done with the stuff inside it. Back then it was called "gorp" and hikers and campers used to eat it. Ours was made with raisins, M&Ms, sunflower seeds, cereal like cheerios or chex, maybe pretzels, usually peanuts but the mixture is whatever works so something else could be substituted.

If you can have that electric skillet, you can make nearly anything. The girls and I used to take one with us when we travelled, it fit in the van and we used it to make chili, baked potatoes, pancakes, rice and pasta, grilled cheese, oatmeal, bacon, eggs, hash browns, hamburgers, pork chops, we even "fried" dollops of cake mix like pancakes and rolled them up with ice cream instead of cones or sprinkled them with powdered sugar.

Above all, though, keep it easy and fast, and have a great time!

Annie

Love the ice cream cone idea! Edible container...perfect!

I am thinking the electric skillet will be the way to go.