Help - first time self catering

A snowHead

Hello

Only 10 days to go! YAY (People at work are getting pretty tired of my count down lol)

I've not been on a self catered holiday before! Do people try to take any food with them? If so, what are the essentials? Are there airport limits on taking food? (Flying to Geneva). Little bit worried as my cooking skills are non existent!

A snowHead

I'm going self catered in 11 days, 8 of us in a chalet, will probably get a load of bits from the supermarket for breakie and a few teas, and maybe eat out a few nights. You just survive the same there as you would here, you'll have to get some microwave meals if you can't cook!!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Also.... Says you have to pay extra for linen and towels. Might be being a little simple... by linen do they mean sheets and pillow cases or all bedding like duvet and pillows?

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Millie10, duvets and pillows should be provided.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I think the swiss are really strict about what you can take into the country, worth checking. If you've got a car do some shopping at a large supermarket on the way to the resort, if not all resorts have supermarkets of varying sizes. Do you know what cooking facilities you have, they can be pretty basic. I was SC in St Anton last week, never used the cooking facilities once wink

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It usually means all sheets, covers and cases. Pillows and blankets usually there.

Easy enough to cook. Buy pasta. meat and sauce from supermarket for bolognese.

Rice + Chicken + Curry Sauce etc

Box of cereal and milk fopr breakfast or croissants etc. They usually dont have the best bacon but in a crusty baguette can be nice.

What resort you off to?

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Thanks for the replies. I think the facilities are going to be very basic like my cooking skills. They sell pot noodles in france right? haha

I'm going to Val Thorens

After all it is free

Millie10, Linen means sheets, pillow cases and duvet covers (unless there are blankets, in which case you'll need a top sheet as well as bottom - ask the company you are renting from, if they have duvets or blankets).

As for what food to take, there are always shops and supermarkets but they may be a trek from your accommodation - again, you'll need to ask the company. I would just take some tea bags or instant coffee in a small plastic bag, perhaps some cereal bars or similar - I've know people to take packets of Pasta in Sauce, Savoury Rice and that sort of thing, so they don't completely starve Laughing

Decant some salt and pepper into a bag; perhaps some dried herbs too - little things which make a difference to simple easy-cook food, but which can be expensive to buy in resort, when you only need a little.

Dependent on the accommodation there may be dishwasher tablets or washing up liquid provided, but equally there may not be. If you can pop a couple of tablets or some washing up liquid in a small bottle, in your case, it will save having to buy them and leave behind, almost full

Are you going to Switzerland or france.
If CH I would think twice about eating out on a budget.

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I believe you are going to Val Thorens. You often find that the Huit a Huit or Sherpa has a pre-prepared "special" each day like lasagna or (if you must) tartiflette. You just have to warn them up. Other than that, as suggested above, the basic student scran like spaggy bol or curried anything workd fine. If it cooks in two pans it is good!

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Thank you for all the replies Very Happy

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Right in the centre of the village. there is a little take away open late. Pizza and chips etc. Buy and take back to hotel. Val Thorens is my favourite French resort and I always stay in cheap and cheerful accomodation. Be prepared for no oven though. Just hobs and a microwave.

An oven? haha I think I have one of those in my kitchen!!!

More than happy with a microwave!

You know it makes sense.

Millie10, anniepen gives very good advice. if your cooking is really basic, some packet soups are light, and easy to carry (tins weigh a ton). Packet soup, baked potatoes (microwaved if there's no oven Sad

), plenty of grated cheese, some butter, a bag of ready washed salad and a couple of bottles of plonk - perfect meal for hard-up and hungry skiers, feed the whole lot of you for the cost of one person eating out.

There are no relevant restrictions as to what you can take into France. the shops in the resort will sell the sort of things you need - there will be loads of people in basic apartments, looking for ways to produce cheap and easy meals.

If you take absolutely nothing else, then if you are a tea drinker, take tea bags. Or you'll get stuck with the dreaded yellow packet of "Lipton's Breakfast". I do some apartment cleaning sometimes, and I throw away a good many of those!

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I'm taking my slow cooker with me in the car when I go down to Les Deux Alpes at Easter. Slap beef, wine, veg in it in the morning, Voila Boeuf Bourgignon at 6pm.

A snowHead

pam w, trouble is you often don't get get a kettle, making tea from water boiled in a saucepan is a pain.

A snowHead

Millie10,
Lots of good advice above personally we always take a small pepper grinder as I prefer freshly ground pepper to sneezing powder and dishwasher tabs as they always seem pricey but are easy to carry. Other things depend on what you like.

If you are on a budget in a place like Val thorens remember you can save lots by coming back to your appartment and having something nice from the bakery for lunch rather than eating on the slopes, or if the weather is good taking a picnic. This will save loads and allow you to buy decent quality precooked meals that just need reheating rather than worrying about actually cooking in the evening if it isnt your thing.

One dead easy dish that is simple in the alps which we usually have on arrival or departure when we dont have the time to do anything else is: 1 tub creme fraiche 1 packet strongish blue cheese,crumble cheese then heat slowly together untill cheese is dissoved pour over cooked pasta.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

When flying, I take: a decent sharp knife (in hold luggage, obviously) since I have yet to find one in any self-catering accommodation, pepper grinder and salt grinder (filled with Maldon salt, nothing else will do!) tea-bags, Marmite, dishwasher tabs. And that's it, I think. The shopping in VT is fine, you can get most things at not over-inflated prices.

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Hurtle,

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

kooky,

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No problem 'getting the groceries in' in VT. They have a few supermarkets that compete on price. The Spar in the commercial centre is generally similar to what you get (price-wise) in Tesco. Sometimes Sherpa has stupidly cheap things, and Carrefour has the widest range..... they are no more than 5 minutes walk apart.

If you are on a budget, VT is the best resort ever. There is no reason to eat out, as your accommodation will be a few minutes away from the nearest run, so no need to spend 20 Euro a head on lunch, when you can nip back to the apartment and spend 2 Euro all in.

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After one SC trip I consider myself an expert, at least in apartments with no sharp knives or cheese graters - take a sharp knife and a cheese grater! (Sheathed in cardboard in hold luggage.) I thought of the former in advance and used it to great effect shaving Parmesan for the pasta having overlooked the later.

Mixed herbs would be good as well, as it livens up a tin of tomatoes for the aforementioned pasta and cheese. I think herbs are easy to come by in the shops, but there's a great feeling of smugness to be gained from knowing you've brought something useful with you that you've used. On this basis, I wouldn't take stock cubes. What was I thinking? Smile

A tea towel, dish cloth and pan scourer would be good additions to your lugggage as well. French supermarkets have consistently failed to impress re towels and cloths on summer camping holidays, with a non-trivial impact on the amout of time spent washing up.

After all it is free

Remember to pack towels - they won't be supplied, and no-one has suggested they would be included in the 'linen hire'.

On the food front, as others have said, teabags, if they matter to you, and a selection of seasonings, depending on how much you might cook., and a decent knife (you don't need to actually cook for this to be useful - cutting sausage, or cheese with a blunt one is not fun).

On the rare occasions we go SC, we take our oldest teatowels and bin them at the end - means we can use them for any last minute wiping without concern about packing them damp/dirty.

You haven't said if you'll have a car or are using a transfer service - if you have a car, it is worth stopping at a supermarket in a large town on the way, where you'll get a better range than in resort.

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pam w, my kids always found it hilarious that we had to drink our morning coffees out of bowls as there were never any mugs!

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Never came accross this lack of utensils! And certainly not in the one we rent out! Little breakages also! But this is because of the cost of hire! Some of the cheaper ones attract many that do not look after the place! We (as a family ((parents)) used to rent out apartments in London! Whenever a tenant left the old fella would change carpets and re paint! His belief was that if the landlord took care of the place the tenants would! He was on the whole right, and is something I follow! Was back before Xmas this year and was surprised to still see the six mugs I bought in 2009! I have been a little more careless at home! Embarassed

If you are on a budget:
Measure out porridge oats for breakfast each day and take them. Plus a plastic container of sugar, coffee, and tea bags.
If you like marmite take a plastic pot of it as doubt you will find it there.
Dishwasher tabs, and cleaning things are normally provided but we usually take a small bag of kitchen cloth, tea towel, kitchen roll, bin liner etc.
Take a few fold up shopping bags for the supermarket otherwise you will have to pay per bag. For lunches you could buy some ham, cheese, and salad stuff in the resort supermarket and stick it in the fridge. In the mornings order a baguette for delivery first thing. When you get back at lunch time you can quickly make a sandwich.
for suppers buy either the ready made frozen meals at the supermarket or some meat that could be fried/grilled with a tin of carrots and peas. Pasta and sauce is another easy option.
wine and bottled water are cheaper in france than here and you could also treat yourself to a few milka bars in the resort supermarket.
Some self catering places let you hire a fondue set. If you are planning to do that take a clove of garlic with you and buy the wine and cheese in the supermarket in resort (don't buy the ready chopped fondue cheese as the price will probably be a rip off)
I always take a few loo rolls for the journey and for when those in the appartment run out. They usually supply a couple.
Be prepared for a combined oven /microwave and making sure you have the correct dish in for the setting you have selected!

You know it makes sense.

Why would you want to take a clove of garlic to France?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

A snowHead

Taking coals to Newcastle

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

pam w, I always buy a whole grappe in the market, and bring the rest home. Far better quality than I buy in Tesco.

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Millie10, visit Chalet Deux Lacs for lunch and you won't need to cook in the evening

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

There was a good trade going on in the apartments at the EOSB. I'll swap you a lemon for a clove of garlic etc etc.

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Hells Bells, The balsamic did the rounds too

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Hells Bells, I love those big things of garlic but I don't use it fast enough to make them worthwhile. Our Waitrose usually has excellent garlic but a bulb lasts me ages and the local greengrocer often has really good fresh ones from Isle of Wight garlic.

After all it is free

pam w, I use loads of the stuff.

snowball, I love chicken with 40 cloves of garlic.

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I've stayed in a friends apartment in VT quite a few times and I'd echo what snowymum has said, plus ....

I used to cook meals from scratch , now I just buy a jar of bolognese sauce and add the mince , boil the spagetti etc.
Other meals ...
chilli con carne ... use the same sauce , add kidney beans , cook rice
ham , eggs and chips ( chips bought from takeaway )
cooked chicken , boiled potatoes , haricot vert
sausages , potatoes other veg,
buy or take with you some patak curry paste , add tomatoes , chicken etc , cook rice
Buy 5L box of wine - from Moutiers if at all possible.

Lunchtimes .... if weather good ... eat on the hoof / find a rock to sit on and take snacks out in your pockets.
snacks = lump of sausison , cheese and a few slices of bread.
Buy an "Americano avec frites" from SkiFood near the skidoo rental in VT and share it !! it's big enough and only 6euro

If you're over in Meribel-Mottaret go to the best burger snack bar in the 3V ... between the Sherpa and newsagent. Ask someone if you can't find it.

Eating out in the 3V is a ripoff and the French know it. Why some people ( esp the english ) pay those silly prices is beyond me , they're halfway to a 2nd ski holiday with some of the lunch bills i've seen people pay.

Help!!

Help - first time self catering

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