Ideas...?

[telophase]

...for foods to bring to make breakfasts and lunches at a con that aren't just the usual PB&J type stuff? Assume no cookware or microwave, but a possible fridge (or small cooler if no fridge). Breakfast can be messier as it will be eaten in the room, but lunch will be eaten at the artist alley table and shouldn't stink out the alley. :D (i.e., no heavily-garlicked hummus, despite how delicious it may be. Mmmmmm, hummus.)

This is just in the light planning stage at the moment, and I may end up defaulting to bringing a box of cereal, bread, lunchmeat, and some apples or something, but it might be fun to see how gourmet I can get. If not for this con, then for future cons. :D

Comments

[ailelie]

Hummus?
Pre-made spaghetti noodles with separate sauce?

Bentos!! Seriously, they aren't made to be re-heated, so all the food has to be good cold. Also, people eat them in their offices, on buses, etc, which means they are often easy to eat.

When I get back home, I'll link you to a good site with recipes for easy stuff.

[telophase]

I'm also making them on Thursday night, to be eaten Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. XD But I've got a lot of ideas from here and the LJ post. Thanks!

[ailelie]

All right, so the website is called 'My Lunch Can Beat Up Your Lunch.'

Here is her page of recipes: http://www.c4vct.com/kym/bento/recipes.htm

[telophase]

Thanks! :D

[affreca.livejournal.com]

Does the hotel provide a coffee pot? If so, that opens up a variety of choices that require hot water like instant oatmeal/grits, ramen and dehydrated soups.

Smelly probably stops things like black olives stuffed with feta (one of my favorites). Burritos are nice if you are OK with them not warm.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

There should be a coffee pot, although I find that it tends to give an unmistakable whiff of coffee to items when I use it. XD (I don't think I have my hot pot anymore, otherwise I could bring it.) But I might chance oatmeal, which I like.

Thanks!

[chisotahn]

I've used pasties, piroskis, soft pretzel-dough rolls - basically, hand-held meals. They are really quite tasty though they do require some form of cooling overnight. Pretzel-dough rolls are very durable; piroskis are less so but very tasty.

edit: and when I take these to cons I make them all the day before I leave, then parcel out for eating each day as needed.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)

[ebony14.livejournal.com]

Hot dogs rolled in crescent rolls and baked. They're okay cold the next day. You can substitute breakfast link sausage for the hot dogs for breakfast.

[badnoodles.livejournal.com]

Or just skip the effort and get a box of kolaches. :P

[mothoc.livejournal.com]

Breakfast burritos with pre-cooked eggs, cheese, fajita meet or sausage. Stuff that refrigerate well and keep for a few days and don't taste bad eaten cold.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Lettuce wraps?

[the_rck]

I like those little tiny cans of tuna or chicken. I generally mix the tuna with hummos, the flavor packet from a ramen noodle package (my daughter won't eat ramen if it's flavored so we have lots of them), salt and dill, or ranch salad dressing.

Boiled eggs travel well if you'll have a chance to cook and carry to the convention. They need fridge or cooler space, of course.

Those bars of pressed fruit (or fruit rollups), granola bars and the like are great for sticking in a bag and carrying along for emergencies. I like muffins, too, but they're a little messier.

I tend to wander through the grocery store before going to a convention and just pick up what I think will work. We also invested in a hot plate back when we used to go to Gen Con regularly, but we were driving and could take as much as we could pack in the car. I recommend a hot plate if you go to a lot of local cons as even access to hot water expands one's options a lot.

Oh, I know--- Is the room likely to have a coffee/tea maker? The water heated by those things can be used for cup of soup or ramen or instant oatmeal (assuming you don't mind it with no milk), among other things.

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

I like dried pecans, dried cherries, and a few tiny Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips. It doesn't take much to fill me up and holds me for a while. Very calorie dense.

[chomiji]

These things are delicious ... I use them for "desperation rations" when I get stuck working late at the office.

Little cups of applesauce and stuff, as well as fresh fruit. Shelf-stable boxes of milk, soy milk, or rice milk. Home-made snack mix with dry cereal, nuts, fruit bits, and chocolate chips. Babybel cheeses or mozarella cheese sticks (I know you can't have too much of those).

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I actually have a few of the noodle things (well, similar thing, different brand) and some rice noodle bowls I can bring.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I'm not as inclined to them for myself, as I'm not leaving the table to go back to the room for lunch, and water from the coffeemaker in hotel rooms tends to taste like coffee to me. :D But you can bring them if you think you'll eat them. :)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I'll probably leave them here, then. I mostly have them for when I need a quick meal that travels, but (assuming we're staying in the same hotel) if I'm going back over there, I'd just as soon just get something in the food court.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

I would think most bento food would work well, frankly, if made in advance, although rice-based things go texturally weird under refrigeration.

Do you want my mustard soy green bean recipe? Keeps a week in a fridge and has no particular liquid so goes well in a box.

You could do a caprese salad: sliced tomatoes, sliced mozzarella (as good as you'll spring for), fresh shredded basil leaves, other fancy greens, salt, pepper, good olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maybe some slices of prosciutto or ham.

We always take astronaut ice cream to Otakon. ^_^

If you wind up taking apples, take a little container of mixed peanut butter and honey, or of caramel sauce, to dip your slices.

Hard-boiled eggs are awesome, but you can also soft-boil an egg and then open it carefully and drizzle the yolk over bread or toast.

If you think you'll have access to non-coffee-flavored hot water, I can give you my list of 101 Genuinely Exciting Things To Do With Ramen.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

If you think you'll have access to non-coffee-flavored hot water, I can give you my list of 101 Genuinely Exciting Things To Do With Ramen.

I'd love to see that list anyway. XD

[liralen.livejournal.com]

to add to the salad idea for lunches... maybe boxes of salads with mixed stuff and dressings on the side? Whole baby spinach leaves hold up better than lettuce if you have a fridge. Boil some eggs before hand, and you can cut 'em up for salad or just eat 'em for breakfast.

There's a "sit sandwich" that's better with a little time... here's the recipe (http://www.recipezaar.com/Moms-Sit-Sandwich-Aka-Squishy-Sorta-Muffuletta-27931).

Quiches are good for both breakfast and lunch, and can be very good cold, or even frittatas done beforehand, and can be served on bread for a sandwich, easily. *laughs*

[puppleball.livejournal.com]

You could try this (http://www.chow.com/stories/10461) or try the Freeze dried food (http://www.rei.com/search?cat=4500001_Food&page_size=22&hist=cat%2C4500001_Food%3AFood&pageSizeRedirect") in the camp section where you just add water to the pouch. Not sure how the stuff tastes. I'd put money down I'd like it for a limited con time as I always loved the MRE's dad would bring home after training (and we'd heat on the radiators of the house).

[yamiko-michi.livejournal.com]

if you don't have a fridge I find those cool bags (the insulated bags made to keep things cold for a few hours) packed with some ice can act as a make-shift fridge espically if the hotel actually has ice when you get there to change the melted stuff out for (which I never have seen at a convention after day one xD) then you can bring things like milk for cereal, lunchmeat, yogurts etc

[tygerr.livejournal.com]

If you cycle plain water through the hotel room coffeemaker twice, it's hot enough to make instant oatmeal for breakfast. (This will require bowl and spoon--I generally bring disposables.)