Hel 'n' Ali

I have took bacon,sausages and mini cereals with me before,I froze the bacon and sausages took them out just before leaving for the airport wrapped them in newspaper then in a carrier bag then into our cool bag,they were just right ready to pop in the fridge when we got to our hotel.
This was really handy for breakfasts in the morning, so yes I should imagine it will be fine.

I might take some bacon again this time and mini cereals for the kids as they are fussy for brekkie

SHAZAJO... Thanks for ur speedy reply, will definitely take ur advice and wrap the frozen stuff up in a cool box and put the rest in our cases... thanks for your help much appreciated xx

We took our very 'picky' Father-in-law away to Portugal last year. The old bu**er won't eat anything foreign, and he'd rather eat his own feet than eat anything containing garlic or spices. He's also diabetic, so it was important to bring something he would eat with us.

We contacted the airport to see what we were allowed to take, and if it's an E.U. country, we were allowed to take most of his food requirements. We took bacon, frozen braised beef in gravy, corned beef, Cheddar cheese, Mcvities ginger nuts and rich tea biscuits, (He doesn't like Portugese biscuits). and of course, his endless supply of tea-bags. (He moaned that the milk didn't taste the same though)
Believe me, I would rather take a small baby next time!!! ........Especially as he tried to light his pipe up on the plane!!!!

Ha Ha Ha.... Well i hope you enjoyed ur holiday (even with ur "excess baggage) Hee Hee... Thanks for Ur info, will make life a lot easier as our kids are extremely fussy too so now I can take the food they love and we will all be happy. as well as a bit better off money wise. x

i really dont know what to do , i will be taking tea and coffee , my head is saying take some basic things with you , but as its only the 2 of us i dont plan on doing any kind of cooking as such while on holiday ....dont mind making salads and rolls with fillings , so i might take a few paste spreads with me . cant remember what shops are at bristol airport for me to buy there . Just checked on the airport website there doesn't seemn to be anywhere to purchase certain things after security , so if ido take anything will buy it before i go and pack it accordingly

We don't take food as such with us, but I do pack some boiled eggs & crisps in hand luggage as, even if they aren't eaten on the journey they're ok as a quick snack in resort. This year I took some packet dried noodle cup a snacks as well for myself. They were handy as sometimes I don't fancy too much to eat so were just enough for an 'on the balcony' nibble. Got 3 packs from Morrison's for £1.50, spicy tomato

we take Tea , coffee , and sugar would never dream of taking food when in most countries its far cheaper and even things like tomatoes far tastier than the uk

I stick things like pkt cheese slices, pkt sliced cold meat, noodles in my son's case when he goes incase he runs out of money!!

Yea, but WIZARD........... Have you ever tried just ordering even a cheese sandwich for a 75 year old bloke in Portugal?
The bread's different for starters, and the cheese doesn't even resemble our Cheddar, and it's rock hard.
Then despite many requests for them not to add anything else, the cheese sandwich ALWAYS comes with olives, peppers,
and all manner of foreign stuff old British people just wouldn't consider eating.

We are fine to try all sorts of food, but old people and children aren't, and bringing something
they will eat is sometimes the only option...............

OR, I suppose we could leave the old cuss behind!!!

I always take t bags no matter where I am going. I do also take a jar of green pesto sauce, a bag of pasta and a couple of packets of chicken super noodles. My daughter isnt too fussy an eater normally, but on holiday she does lose her appetite slightly and wont eat a lot. I know that if all else fails, she will eat pasta with pesto sauce till it comes out of her ears or a plate of noodles. And yes, I know that I can buy it whilst we are there, but it just saves the hassle of looking for those specific items (plus super noodles cost the earth in Spain)!

I've never even dreamt of taking foodstuffs away with me! Part of going on holiday is about eating new stuff isn't it? That's how i was brought up, my Mum never took stuff away with us when we were kids, we ate whatever was there

For those of you who do take things with you - How do you manage with the weight allowances, surely you'll be over weight and the charges must be more than it would cost to buy the foodstuff abroad?

Was just coming to ask the same thing. Uncanny!

We're thinking of taking a massive multi pack of crisps for picking at in the apartment when we're getting ready to go out in the evening (you know when you're starving and everyone is taking hours to get ready! :lol:), a few pot noodles, some super noodles, etc. Mainly lightweight stuff! Would be interested to see what we actually can and cannot take, though, as opposed to guessing and hoping for the best.

Just a thought when packing bacon, cheese etc. in your main baggage. What would happen if it got lost and spent 2 weeks in a warm Spanish warehouse before catching you up???

I never take any food. After unpacking the first stop is the supermarket. If I took anything that should be kept refrigerated I would only throw it away when I got there because it hadn't been refrigerated. For the difference in the cost I can't be bothered using up weight alllowance. I would rather take some extra books or even just take less weight.

I've never even dreamt of taking foodstuffs away with me! Part of going on holiday is about eating new stuff isn't it? That's how i was brought up,

Some people are picky eaters in the UK so God knows how they manage abroard! My holidays certainly are not about eating new stuff! I'm fairly lucky though as I'll eat almost anything but I know there are many people who struggle while away and a few home comforts can help loads!

phildo74 wrote:

I've never even dreamt of taking foodstuffs away with me! Part of going on holiday is about eating new stuff isn't it?

If it was just me and hubby, the only thing I would take would be the tbags (has to be yorkshire tea). We love eating out and experiencing new tastes and will eat out most nights but like I said, my 6 year old seems to lose her appetite when we are away so to take some pasta and noodles means that she will have something to eat during our stay instead of wasting money on a meal that she wont eat.

My daughter has a very good appetite usually and surprisingly, doesnt like chips that much. She is a very traditional eater, loves her vegetables and potatoes but it seems that most restaurants when on holiday dont seem to know what a vegetable is and all the meals are served with chips! We have just returned from our holiday and the first things she asked for when we got home were cucumber (couldnt get one for love nor money where were staying) and a roast dinner with potatoes, vegetables and gravy

Id rather sacrifice a couple of pairs of my hubby's shorts and take a few home comforts for my child than her eat nothing but crisps and icecream for maybe a fortnight so to put a couple of bits in the luggage of things that I know she will eat is not a problem and to be fair, it doesnt weigh that much. I have travelled abroad for many years now and have only once received excess baggage charges and that was on the way home and not going. .

We did the cheap n cheerful apartments years ago when the two boys were younger and after years in a hotel where I definately didn't get my money's worth, we tried self catering last year and we loved it.
I've just got back from a 2 week self catering holiday in a private apartment in Torremolinos and apart from taking some tea bags, a few herbs/spices in those little plastic money bags you use at the bank, and a little dried milk for that important cuppa just in case we were delayed and the supermarkets were closed, I took nothing else because IMO it's not worth it and the stuff is just as cheap in the supermarkets in Spain as it is here...if you know what to buy and get the British imported brands out of your head.

OK I'll admit that there's only the 2 of us and my hubby loves cooking, but he hates shopping and clearing up afterwards, and most of all we both absolutely hate spending money on food that isn't very good or worth the money.
So we have a good arrangement because he'll give me a head start to whip around the supermarket and I'll leave him in a nearby bar, and then he follows me just as I seem to be at the check-out....
Get him the ingredients and he could show some of these bars charging estupido prices a thing or two, and I've NEVER been ill after eating food that he has prepared/cooked which is the most important thing for me because I detest being sick.

We eat bacon eggs, beans/tomatoes/toast/marmalade for breakfast, for a snack we have things like cheese/ham sandwich with crisps or a pastry, and in the evening as it gets cooler he cooks things like Spag Bol, Chilli c*n Carne and I buy cooked chickens from the supermarket which we have with a salad and some boiled baby potatoes and crusty bread, followed by a yoghurt"¦.we're talking of a couple of pans and maybe ¾ of an hour for the job lot. (preparing and cooking) we have the legs off the chicken and a bit of side salad for a snack.

Breakfast is a doddle..."¦Pour a glass of fresh orange juice, bacon 3 minutes in the microwave, load the toaster up and have the beans warming in a pan, but if we wanted we could stick them in the microwave for a minute or two"¦.and they're wanting on average €5 each for this in most bars/cafes"¦.which is €10 x 12 days for breakfast.!!!
€120 ?... I bet I didn't spend much more than that on food for the whole 2 weeks shopping and we ate healthily and well.! but the problem is in many cases that people can't be bothered to try the true meaning of self catering and go out for the occasional meal, but those 5 euros for breakfast doesn't sound a lot, but over a 2 week period, they soon mount up.
IMO: If we were to eat all the meals outside the apartment, then we just might as well go into a hotel because the total price will not be much different.

I'll give you a few examples"¦.
Carton of orange juice "¦53 centimos....I drink buckets full of the stuff.
English type loaf of white sliced bread (pan de molde rustico)"¦ €1.15
6 toilet rolls"¦ €1.79
10 rashers of vacuum packet ‘British' type bacon €1.49 at Lidl and €1.89 at Supersol.
Cooked chicken "¦ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚¬4.95
A good quality pre-packed ham (10 slices)"¦ €1.75
A good slab of pre-packed mild Cheshire cheese (on offer)"¦ € 1.59
Box/packet of cherry tomatoes "¦ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚¬1.29
Medium sized jar of marmalade and it tastes better than Robertsons with Spanish oranges.!!! "¦53 centimos
Carton of skimmed milk"¦ 63 centimos
Flora Margarine €1.41(I think that was for the smaller size)
Large eggs"¦ €1.17
Tin of baked beans in tomato sauce"¦ 55 centimos
Huge tin of tomatoes, which did us 2 days"¦ 70 centimos
Big bottle of washing up liquid"¦ €1.11
6 cans of Mahou beer"¦ €2.70 at Lidl & €2.88 at Supersol
Schweppes (spel?) tonic (can)"¦59 centimos
Sliced mushrooms in a polystyrene tray"¦.€1.29
½ kilo of minced beef just a few centimos over €3 ( in Supersol the beef is cut from a joint as you ask at the meat counter and put through the mincer, and for the 2 of us we halved it and it did for 2 meals (spag bol & chilli)"¦ one lot was €3.02 and another was €3.08 .

In contrast"¦..next to the baked beans were Heinz at over 2 euros a can and bread such as Sunblest and Warburtons was ridiculously priced way over 2 euros a loaf, so if you're only going to buy familiar imported British branded goods, you will pay for them.

Sanji

Sanji, you should try the Supersol beer, a six pack for about 1.5 euros. Or evend the Spar lager!

Chivas69 wrote:

Sanji, you should try the Supersol beer, a six pack for about 1.5 euros. Or evend the Spar lager! :tup

I don't drink and the Mahou was for my OH, but thanks Chivas, I'll mention it to him for September....he doesn't like San Miguel either.
BTW: I haven't got a good memory, I've just got a load of shopping receipts that I kept dumping at the bottom of my handbag and I saved them, just in case someone was interested in the prices.

Sanji