Cooking in Your Motel Room

 

My motto is eat at home wherever you can. That’s right wherever. Whenever is a given but what if your home moves around on four wheels or is a cheap motel room for a few nights?

John and I cook in our motel room after a long day of (activity–fill in the blank) Motomarathon or skiing because we’d rather eat the results of my cooking, don’t feel like dressing up and going out to a restaurant where the prices are always higher than homemade and the quality just so-so.

Many hotels and motels don’t mind when you cook in their rooms.  At least that’s how we see it. *Guilty smile* And for places that do care, regardless of where we stay, we leave no trace that we were cooking there. Now I’m not encouraging you to break any rules and get fined ? but after all, those rooms do have a microwave and a coffee maker…

So they’re encouraging us to cook in the room, right?

Packing for Cooking on The Road

Coffee! The only start for our every morning. Am I bad because I am a coffee snob?  Credit for this goes to my mother, who made the strongest coffee in the neighborhood growing up  and credit goes to  Starbucks  as well, for getting us all  away from the watery diner-type coffee and making us coffee connoisseurs or for at least trying.

Going to Starbucks is a great way to fritter away your money, as my mother would say.  So I bring along my Chemex coffee maker, Braun coffee grinder and (we prefer dark roast beans–either French and/or Italian roast and) enough coffee and filters for the number of days you are away.

Grinding your coffee beans for 30 seconds at 10 second intervals (with a second or two break for engine rest  between each 10-second grind) creates a fine, espresso grade grind and that combined with the Chemex drip process makes a strong, delicious cup of coffee that is comparable  or superior to Starbucks. Narcotic!

Bring along a small (tester size) of your favorite dishwashing liquid, a roll of  strong paper towels  such as Bounty, a square of aluminum foil, an electric  grill pan with a lid, some silicone cooking utensils such as a spoon and spatula, one sharp pairing knife and and enough paper plates, spoons and knives for the travelers. And I always wrap my knives and cutlery and utensils in a kitchen towel with a rubber band around them.  This prevents them from tearing everything up, such as the .99 grocery bag I usually schlep them in.

Cheap Shopping Note: I went to my local Salvation Army store and picked up my $4 electric frying pan  that I use when we do travel cooking (shown with bacon in the pic above.) My sister, Fig, bought me an expensive new electric frying pan as a Christmas gift, which made me feel guilty as I only got her a couple of secondhand ornaments. Hah! ??She is the great gift giver of the six sisters! I now take my new, exalted electric cooker whenever I travel. Thanks, Fig!

Food to Bring Along

We always have milk, cereal, bacon and eggs, bread and peanut butter and jelly on hand in the cooler. The rest is pretty much up to you. Tuna fish, egg noodles and a can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup makes a quick meal. I always have a few cans of seltzer water to take care of indigestion after dinner, dried fruit, mulled wine (in winter–fab warm-up apres  ski) or mojito makings (in summer: 2tsp sugar, one lime, fresh mint,  a shot of rum, crushed ice and a half can of seltzer for each mojito).

I make food in advance such as quiche or sarmale (pigs in blankets) and shop near my motel for things such as raw chicken, fresh cut veggies, etc., or whatever it is that you eat, or you can shop before you leave and bring the food along.  But not all local shopping is inexpensive, especially in Colorado ski towns in winter. If you’re say, traveling from Longmont, Colorado that the grocery in Aspen will cost a lot more money than it will in Longmont.  Part of our adventure is in saving money!   It’s always good to have a gallon of  drinking water or some bottled water just in case.

Cleaning as You Go – Leave No Trace

I use my electric skillet with the top on because it prevents spatter and, as you see in the picture above, you don’t always have linoleum counters to cook on!

Once the meal is cooked and consumed,  I wipe out the grease and food from the skillet and carefully throw it away in a plastic grocery store bag, along with any egg shells, peels or cooking-induced garbage and plastic cutlery or paper plates that can’t be reused.

Do not put food in the bathroom sink of your motel room.  I know this sounds obvious, but it really isn’t. Just don’t do it. You can really screw up the plumbing in a bathroom sink by putting food down and that’s usually your washing tub: the bathroom sink.

We set up some of the extra hand towels  from the motel as a drying rack for any utensils, knives or cutlery or plates that we dirtied.  We try not to use the washcloths as sponges to wash dirty food from plates and our skillet.  (Remember: This is why we brought our heavy duty paper towels.)  Rule number one of motel cooking: respect the towels.

You can save $$$ by  cooking in your motel room  and once you’re home have the bragging rights to tell your friends and family how little money you spent and what cheapskates you are.???

Save that money for something that matters! Like a college education for one of your kids. Or something important.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Thank you for reading!

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