"jmcquown" > wrote in message
. ..
> It's two weeks until the trip and I've had a couple more thoughts.
>
> It was mentioned, and I'm leaning towards pan-fried steaks. He loves
> filet
> minon; I'd go with either that or pan-fried NY strip. Heck, I even told
> him
> I'd nuke "baked potatoes" LOL
>
> Last year we did use leftover pasta after I used the first two chicken
> breast halves to make stuffed chicken parmesan in a tomato sauce. The
> remaining two chicken breast halves were used with artichoke hearts, etc.
> to
> prepare a second meal a couple of nights later with the leftover pasta.
> It
> worked out very well.
>
> Anyway, last night I had a dream about this. You fish nay-sayers may
> criticize all you wish, but I would think a hotel room that has a kitchen
> provides some sort of relief from cooking scents. Besides, this isn't a
> hermetically sealed suite; the windows actually open. And now I'm not
> talking about fish, I'm talking about already cooked frozen shrimp. Not
> like I'll be boiling cabbage. So I'd like your opinion, given I dreamt
> about this last night:
>
> Saute some broccoli florets in olive oil until tender-crisp. Throw in
> lots
> of garlic (I'm picturing 4-6 cloves, slivered) and maybe some sliced
> mushrooms. Continue to saute until garlic is lightly browned and
> mushrooms
> are tender. Deglaze the pan with a splash of white wine or squeeze a
> small
> lemon into the pan. Add medium-sized cooked frozen peeled deveined
> shrimp.
> Add half & half and simmer until the shrimp are heated through and the
> sauce
> has reduced. Season with salt & pepper, perhaps some Italian flat-leaf
> parsley (I don't want to go heavy on or buy a lot of herbs). Serve on a
> bed
> of pasta.
>
> And there's always hamburgers. He and I both love mushroom swiss burgers.
>
> The whole point of this is not to impress but to save money. We could go
> out for a steak dinner and spend $75, or we could make use of the kitchen
> in
> the room and spend about $15-20 for the same dinner. He's bringing the
> wine
> We could go to an Italian restaurant and spent $50 on a shrimp and
> pasta
> dinner, or (again) make a similar dinner in our room.
>
> NOTE: I'm not trying to nay-say any ideas but I *will* say I'm not
> carrying
> cooked food with me on the plane LOL I'm just trying to get a little
> creative without having to spend a fortune eating out for six days, four
> of
> which we'll be tired from working at the art show.
>

It sounds good, but honestly, if I was cooking in a hotel room, and it was
very short-term, and I was planning on being exhausted, I'd probably opt for
things that didn't require much from me at all. It's not like this is a
lifestyle, so if it's a little unbalanced, what difference does it make?

And I wouldn't want to end up buying ingredients that I had to use up or
throw away before I left, unless it was so cheap that I didn't care. Burger
buns come in 8-packs...do you use condiments? Want pickles? Things you take
for granted at home, you won't find in the hotel fridge. You're stuck buying
everything from salt and pepper to butter and oil, all of which adds up. And
if you forget something, you're not going to want to run out and get it at
the last minute.

Rotisserie chicken, bagged salad, some kind of nuked veggie or potato. That
would be fine. Buy some pasta and a good jarred sauce, if you know there's
one you like. Couple of steaks is simple.

Find out if there's a good local deli and pick stuff up there. Pizza. Sub
sandwiches. If this was a 3-week thing, cooking more complicated food might
be worthwhile, but for a couple of days, I'd be eating stuff I don't eat
much at home.

By the way, what kind of art show is this? You mentioned Olathe...is there
anything else in Colorado?

Donna