Cooking in an airbnb

[CAJinBE]

I'm staying with my dd in an airbnb while she does AP exams. It's very charming. It has a well equipped kitchen but it is small and I don't want to mess it up too much. I'm looking for some good ideas for super easy yet healthy food. There is no microwave. I can get roast chicken at the local market so I will probably do that with salad a couple times. We went out for lunch yesterday and had sandwiches for dinner. We could go out more often but she wants to be at the rental to study as much as possible in the evenings. My other idea is wraps. We have nearly two weeks here. The shops are unfamiliar so I think simple is the key.  Thanks for your ideas.

[Chris in VA]

We make a yummy penne pasta dish that is just a box of penne, water, cherry or grape tomatoes, onion, red pepper flakes and basil (fresh). I'm sorry I can't list it now, but it's a Martha Stewart recipe. You just chop and throw things into a pan and cook the pasta right in the same pan. Takes maybe 20 mins.  Maybe some one-pot dishes like that?

 

 

[Ottakee]

Not sure if this meets your health requirements but when we were at an air Bnb we made black bean tacos.

1 can corn, drained

1 can petite diced tomatoes, mostly drained

1 can black beans rinsed and drained

1 packet taco seasoning mix

Mix these all together and heat through.  Serve on warmed tortillas with cheese....easy to add sour cream, salsa, green onions, etc 

Sometimes we serve with Mexican rice.

 

 

[Arcadia]

Does the AirBnB has a slow cooker? My husband doesn’t like using hotel kitchenette cookware so we usually buy or bring our own small cookware. My kids like soup so that’s what we eat with outside lunch leftovers if we cook in the hotel. 

The crockpot in link should be from a Netherlands site https://www.debijenkorf.nl/crock-pot-slowcooker-3-5-liter-6595090126-659509012600000?query=fh_location%3D%2F%2Fcatalog01%2Fnl_NL%2F%24s%3Dslow%5Cu0020cooker%26fh_start_index%3D0%26fh_view_size%3D48%26country%3DNL%26chl%3D1%26vt%3Dadd2basket%26vt%3Dunknown%26fh_sort%3D-voorraad_indication%2C-_match_rate%2C-%24ranking_midseason_nonfashion_nl

[plansrme]

I make this skillet lasagna once in a while, and it's pretty good.  It's only a few ingredients, and you can buy most of them in a size that you use up entirely.  You basically brown a pound of ground beef, and then add a teaspoon ('ish) of Italian seasoning, a jar of spaghetti sauce and a package of refrigerated tortellini.  The tortellini cooks in the sauce.  Top it with shredded mozzarella and cover until the cheese is melty (you can stick it in the oven for this part if you skillet is oven-proof).  It is not the best lasagna ever, but for 15 minutes, 4 ingredients and almost no mess (as opposed to real lasagna, which requires that I wash every pan and scrub down my kitchen afterwards), it's pretty good.

 

[J-rap]

We sometimes make a dinner salad that includes two cans of black beans, a can of corn, a whole red pepper chopped, green onions sliced, lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.  Makes a good dinner plus leftovers for lunch the next day.

[CAJinBE]

Those are all great ideas! No slow cooker here. They don't even want us to use the tea kettle and the dishwasher or clothes washer simultaneously. It might blow a fuse. They are super energy conscious here. It's interesting to me to watch everyone pedaling around with their little bags. I even saw an older couple cycling with potted plants they bought at a garden center. Quite a contrast to the pick-up truck we take to the garden center when we go. I can walk or cycle to the shops. I'm trying to embrace this aspect of the culture while I'm here. One odd thing is that the gas stove has an auto-igniter, but the flame isn't the blue I'm used to and the gas doesn't have an odor. I keep staring at it to make sure the flame is still on and I can't see if it's the right size for the pan I'm using. It's disconcerting.