Packing food

[Wilco]

Loading up a checked box with snorkel gear and food. What are suggestions to bring for food. What is ridiculously expensive on the island? Coffee? Wine? Basics like sugar?

[Lindy]

Wine and sugar aren't that expensive so don't bother. I've found that things like snack foods are outrageously expensive along with meats and cheese. My husband always thinks that I'm a lunatic for sending a flat rate box with things like potato chips, snack crackers and that sort of thing....at least until we get to the market and I show him the price on a bag of potato chips!! And when we've travelled with a group of nine, one bag of chips doesn't go very far. We also take a cooler bag filled with frozen meats, bacon, breakfast sausage, cheese and some lunch meat. We usually take a couple deboned turkey breasts and steaks for grilling and the leftovers can be used for sandwiches to take to the beach. A nice thick sirloin can be frozen in a ziplock bag with a teriyaki marinade (makes great sandwiches) and even extra bacon from breakfast can be turned into a BLT which tastes mighty fine after snorkeling! Another favorite is to make a batch of homemade meatballs and freeze them in a ziplock bag. Then with some dry pasta and some sauce from a jar you have a quick dinner after a day at the beach. It's really hard to get nine people to agree on a restaurant or to all move in the same direction at the same time so we eat at the villa quite a bit.

[Joppa]

I find that most foods are pretty high compared to what I pay here on the Seacoast of NH. I bought a can of tomatoes on St.John this year for $2.49
I think I pay $.89 here. Most things are not that extreme but higher for sure. Usually I pack meats(more for quality than $ savings), and lots of trail mix,granola bars, and nuts.

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[Jumbiegirl]

I always pack snacks for the beach like granola bars, Pop Tarts and such. I also bring along Mac and Cheese, pizza sauce, pizza crusts. It used to be the St John grocery stores were real short of items. You never knew if you were even going to be able to get some basic items so we always brought things we wanted to be sure not to be short of. Now the stores are much better stocked.

If you have a favorite cereal bring it along. For some reason cereal is crazy expensive.

[Xislandgirl]

Coffee is number 1 for us.
Peanut butter, splenda, granola, crystal light, pasta, and oatmeal go in our box.

We carry on a small cooler with bacon (I am picky about bacon, soppresata, genoa, vermont cheddar, and chicken(picky, again)

I am not even sure if you can ship wine, but I would not bother anyway. Booze is cheap on island

[ColumbiaSCTraveler]

Granola bars and cereal are two items that we always bring with us. However - never fails. I always bring too much. Lucky for the guests who arrive after us!

[liamsaunt]

Don't bother bringing or shipping wine. It is too heavy and the possibility for breakage is great. The only times I have brought wine have been when John and I were celebrating something like an anniversary and we had one very special bottle we wanted to being from home. By the time it's all packaged up in bubble wrap/box etc. it takes up tons of room in the luggage.

Starfish Gourmet has a very nice selection of wines in various price ranges. It is more expensive than home, but not prohibitively so. For whatever reason there seems to be more value for dollar in the European wine selections as opposed to the California wines on offer.

[PA Girl]

Starfish Gourmet has a very nice selection of wines in various price ranges. It is more expensive than home, but not prohibitively so. For whatever reason there seems to be more value for dollar in the European wine selections as opposed to the California wines on offer.

Agree on both points. I am in PA, which controls alcohol sales and prices through the state system, and I don't think STJ wine prices are bad at all. Starfish does have a nice selection.

ETA - Things I stuff into the suitcase if there is room - coffee, granola bars, nuts, ziplocs, paper plates, bags of mini snickers

[pnoeric]

I agree with what everyone else has said-- and can confirm that alcohol is cheap here on the islands. (BTW we always get our bottles of wine at Pine Peace... it's not a fancy place, nothing like Starfish Gourmet, but they have a decent selection and good prices.)

Whenever I'm back in the states, I usually try to bring a cooler back with me of frozen meats (esp the pre-marinaded stuff from Trader Joe's, yum) and snack sort of stuff (fancy mixed nuts from Costco, more from Trader Joe's, packaged prosciutto and cheese "plates," etc).

[eala]

Ya, skip on the alcohol. We were kind of surprised by the seafood prices at the market. Hawaii was way cheaper on those. We love fresh local stuff when we travel but next time we'll probably pack frozen. I also took the Starbucks Via packs with me and that worked well because we always seemed on the run.

[cindygad]

I just started setting stuff aside for our trip in a month. I keep a list and it continues to grow each year.

We eat most breakfast in, take light lunch to beach and eat 3 suppers in each week.

Dry ingredients, crackers, peanut butter, snack bars, pancake mix, syrup, 1 cup flour for french toast, powder sugar, cinnamon,, rice, noodles, pasta, pasta sauce, small bottle Italian dressing for marinating and small bottle favorite salad dressing, foil, lots of sip lock bags all sizes. seasonings in small 3x3 size bags to cook with , oatmeal, dried fruit, brown sugar,coffee and filters. I bring lots of individual chips bags, pringles for lunches.Large sweet onion.jelly.

In cooler, pork chops, salmon, bacon, sausage, butter, lunch meat, ton's of cheese, cream cheese for smoked salmon, capers, frozen shrimp, frozen blueberries, frozen peppers cut up for omelets, individual 1/2& 1/2
containers for coffee,

This year added those individual laundry soaps for laundry and coco lopez for drinks at villa.Homemade cookie dough frozen in log shape.

[Bonny in CA]

We didn't take any refrigerated items. But we did have one carry on that was all snack food, granola bars, crackers, oreos, tea bags, etc. On the way home that bag was full of souvenirs! We left a lot of snack food at the villa too, the next people certainly didn't starve!

I travel that way to Disneyland too, except the bag is mostly full of bottled water, they charge around $5 for one 16oz bottle of water!!

[ruffmom]

We always pack at least some food to take with us. A cooler with cold cuts, cheeses, bacon, butter, burgers and chicken and shrimp. That way we can eat breakfast in, pack sandwiches for the beach and cook in for at least 3 nights. In suitcases I alway put coffee, tea bags, equal, cereal, crackers, trail mix, granola bars and nuts. Oh and maybe a pkg of English muffins and wraps for sandwiches. And sandwich bags, a roll of foil, some ziplocks. Most of this stuff can be packed in nooks and crannies in the suitcases. To be honest we take such few clothes now that there is plenty of room for the groceries. We always have a crowd to feed though and it helps with the expenses. Don't worry..the stores still get plenty of my money!

[Myheart'sinSTJ]

Wilco

You say you are packing up a checked box, does this mean you are shipping it ahead via the mail? And if so, I assume you pick it up at the post office? How far ahead do you need to ship? Thanks in advance for your response!

[mnfun2bme]

We took food last year and plan to do so again.
We'd do things like make taco meat and freeze it. Italian Beef and freeze it for sandwiches. Last year I even froze big packs of shaved turkey. It was great for sandwiches. I made a trip to Costco prior to our trip and filled one luggage bag completely full. The bag weighed 49 lbs. I had free bag for the airline so why not?

If you pay for your luggage. It's not a bad idea to consider a credit card from that particular airline (if they have the offer.) I received 30,000 miles from Delta and checked a bag free. It was worth the pull on my credit.