Click here to get to the full post--from where this list originates.
I brought along all the staples we'd need to make the following meals:
- Pizzas loaded with artichokes, roasted red peppers, mushrooms, & Field Roast or Upton's Italian "Sausage"
- Breakfasts of steel-cut oats (Chocolate Oatmeal--this converts easily from crockpot to stovetop cooking by cutting the liquid down to 2 cups of soymilk & 1 cup of water), Chocolate Chia Breakfast Pudding, rolled oats, Whole Grain Muffins & peanut butter (for the kids)
- Chloe's Artichoke & Spinach Dip
- Vietnamese Ba'hn M'i Salad/Sandwiches
- Spicy Chipotle Sweet Potato, Corn, Black Bean & Chorizo Lasagna
- Black Bean, Cherry Tomato Guacomole Salad (just ditch the oil in this recipe)
- Black-Eyed Pea & Sweet Potato Burgers with Buns (ditch the oil, & consider using Taylor's canned sweet potatoes for faster prep)
- Sicilian-Style Orzo Salad with Chickpeas, Walnuts & Raisins
- Fixings for a taco dinner--Upton's Chorizo & Plain Seitan, Salsa, Beans
- Lunch fixings: Tu-No salad, smoked tofu sandwiches, humus (Note: Tree of Life Smoked Tofu is not availabe everywhere, but it is fabulous & makes delicious sandwiches)
- Beach snacks.
- Drinks. Watermelon Margaritas. Mojitos.
The Master Vacation Shopping List
The Beans: Eden Brand Garbanzos, Black Beans, TJ's vacuumed-packed Black-Eyed Peas
The Spices & Herbs: This basic supply included a lot of blends that work for multiple recipes. Kelp granules, cinnamon; curry; Penzey's Cajun; Barbecue 3000 & 4/S, Greek Seasoning; sea salt; Trader Joe's South Aftican Seasoning Blend; Red Pepper flakes; cumin; vanilla; black pepper; ground fennel seed; a bag of fresh garlic
The Condiments: Kalamata olives, capers, sriracha sauce, jarred roasted red peppers, rice vinegar, pizza sauce, chipotle salsa, nutritional yeast, ketchup, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Olive Tap Lemon White Reserve Balsamic Vinegar (a gift from from SIL), TJ's Fat-Free Balsamic Vinaigrette, TJ's Sesame Soy Giner Vinaigrette.
The Canned Food--excluding beans: Taylor's Sweet Potatoes (nothing added), chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, artichoke hearts, mushrooms
The Staples: Eden-brand soymilk, 1 box of low-sodium vegetable broth, steel-cut oats, rolled oats, whole wheat orzo, chia seed, raw cashews, raw walnuts, Penzey's Cocoa, raisins, PB2, medjool dates, Starbuck's coffee
The Refrigerated Foods: 3 Sami's Millet Flax Pizza Crusts; Field Roast Italian Sausage; Upton's Plain, Chorizo & Italian Style Seitan, NaSoya Soft Tofu, 4 packages of Tree of Life Smoked Tofu (Regular & Hot n' Spicy); Chipotle & Regular Humus; 1/4 cup of Tahini for burgers; peanut butter for Little Man
The Breads, Buns, & Crackers: Ezekiel Sprouted Corn Tortillas, Trader Joe's Whole Wheat English Muffins, Ezekiel Sprouted Bread, Alvarado Street Bakery Sprouted Hamburger Buns, Finn Caraway Crisps, Wasa Crackers, Mary's Gone Crackers (regular & caraway), Pretzel Crisps (Sesame & Everything), plenty of Heart Thrives for emergency meals or snacks.
The Mixed Drink Fixings: Tequila & Grand Marnier
The Kitchen Tools
I've been in enough vacation rental condos/houses to know that "you never know how well-equipped" someone else's kitchen is going to be.
If you REALLY have a favorite "must-have" kitchen utensil--just bring your own. Better safe than sorry.
Here's what I packed:
- My VitaMix--we used it everyday. Smoothies, salsas, dressings, chia pudding, humus, etc.
- A good spatula for the VitaMix
- One really good sharp knife (Oops, I forgot to pack this one!)
- A Zester & my favorite (I use it everyday!) lemon juicer (if you don't have one of these, get one ASAP)
- Measuring spoons & cups--I'm big on measuring ingredients!
- My mini-OXO angled measuring cup--great for measuring small amounts of liquid ingredients--including mixed drinks.
- The recipes I planned on making, & 2 cookbooks--just in case plans changed. Robin Robertson's Quick-Fix Vegan & Chloe's Kitchen.
- Dobie pads for dishwashing. My own favorite dish rags for counter clean-up
- Ziploc bags, aluminum foil--so glad I did.
- I really wanted to cart my Cuisinart food processor--but, I had to draw the line.
- Lots of freezer packs
- A couple of my fave plastic containers
- Kleen Canteens
- Coffee filters