Beach Food Ideas

luvstjohn · Post by **luvstjohn** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:46 am

Hey all. I have a question for you all. This will be only our second visit to St John and the first time we went, we took a cooler to the beach for lunches and snacks. However, we got really tired of eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches most days.

What are some other, somewhat cheap, ideas for beach lunches? We plan on eating breakfast at the villa, lunches on the beach and dinners in town. We are bringing snacky stuff like chips, crackers etc in a suitcase but as for a solid staple for lunch, Im at a loss.

Also, I hear that lunchmeat and cheese etc are expensive on the island.

Where is the cheapest place to get these in Cruz Bay? Or is it better to just get a little collapsable cooler and take it with in our luggage? If we take it with, do we pack it in our suitcase with the other food or as a carry on? Is that an issue with the airlines?

Thanks all for your help. Its nice to have experts who have been there done that.....

Bre

iowaguy · Post by **iowaguy** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 11:07 am

The deli turkey and ham is a little more expensive in STJ than at home, but not that much more. Compared to eating out or picking up sandwiches at Deli Grotto, making your own sandwiches for lunch is still relatively cheap. Cheese is quite a bit more expensive on STJ than at home, so if its convenient, you could probably bring that along.

2muchsnow · Post by **2muchsnow** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 11:19 am

Container of Hummus and veggies/crackers/chips. All the places we've stayed have had a cooler you can take to the beach.

chicagoans · Post by **chicagoans** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 1:11 pm

I buy wraps (tortillas) of different types (plain, spinach, tomato.) Then I slice up whatever leftover meat we have from the grill the night before (steak and chicken, mostly, sometimes fish) and make wraps with the meat, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese and maybe a bit of salsa just for fun. Or I use lunch meat if I don't have any leftovers. But it helps to make extra meat when you grill at the villa, just so you have something easy on hand for lunch.

We have brought vac packed, frozen steaks and sea food from home (in a small cooler as carry on); and we have also purchased meat to grill and lunch meat on STJ. We've used both Starfish Market in Cruz Bay and Lily's Market in Coral Bay. The meat is more expensive than home, but I expect that, and I don't remember it being too badly priced.

Greenskeeper · Post by **Greenskeeper** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 1:27 pm

We tend to do a big breakfast and snacky lunch or snack at breakfast and big lunch on vacation so some of my ideas may not be appealing.

Fruit, nuts, granola bars and yogurt are good for lunch. We also do cheese and crackers and hummus- we like the variety at the gourmet shop across from Starfish. We usually buy lunch if we go to Trunk the prices are good and their chicken sandwich is fab. Tuna fish is always easy and you can bring cans with you.

mahojim · Post by **mahojim** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 3:39 pm

We've brought everything from fruit, cheese, crackers, hoagies, to Uncle Joe's bbq.
Plenty of places to buy them all on island if you don't bring them with you.
Do yourself a favor, though- just like mom warned you; wait at least 1/2 hour after eating before you go into the water. Don't want to burp up bbq through your snorkel!

Smiles-
MJ

philbetm · Post by **philbetm** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 12:59 am

We usually eat a large kinda high carb breakfast for lots of extra energy for snorkeling. Then take a cooler with cheese,crackers,fruits esp. bananas since they are a great price and a large muffin too share from Starfish. Lots of water. But, our favorite is to get one large sandwich and a sweet to share from Deli Grotto....good price and fills us up.

The last villa we stayed at had a snack basket for us that was amazing. Never had a welcome basket like that before...he even had milk,eggs,juice,butter,
bread,soft drinks and beer in the fridge for us. It was enough for us and the couple that went with us for several beach lunches.

liamsaunt · Post by **liamsaunt** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:13 am

I love having lunch on the beach! This past trip when we were at Gallows and I wasn't doing much cooking we mostly ate sandwiches and salads from Deli Grotto or Sam and Jacks. Their sandwiches are so big that one sandwich is more than enough for two people. I brought leftovers from dinners out a couple of times too.

When we stay at a villa and I am doing lots of cooking I plan ahead for lunch the next day when I am making dinner. For example, if I grill shrimp, I will make extra and then combine them with chopped onion, cucumber and mango for a chilled shrimp salad at the beach the next day. Grilled chicken: make an extra piece and then slice it and throw it into a wrap or else bring a container of washed chopped greens and some salad dressing and toss it all together at the beach.

If you are bringing food from home and you want to carry it on, it must be frozen completely solid tp pass the no liquids/gels requirement.

Nic in KC · Post by **Nic in KC** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 4:54 pm

Our second trip down, the people traveling with us bought a big thing of bologna and american cheese, white bread and miracle whip. I wouldn't eat that sandwich at home, but she made them for my husband and I one day and they tasted soooo good on St. John. So, when we go, that's a typical beach lunch for us. Sometimes with turkey bologna. We make the sandwiches up, wrap each in a papertowel and then put them in a big zip lock. I buy cans of pringles and put them in our suitcases to take with us. We all look forward to our beach sandwiches now! We always do a Deli Grotto lunch too!

LauraD · Post by **LauraD** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 12:38 pm

A sandwich I bring to the beach here is a crunhy peanut butter and thinly sliced granny smith apple with a generous sprinkle of fresh ground cinnamon, sometimes I will add raisons, yum. Laura

mahojim · Post by **mahojim** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 1:31 pm

LauraD wrote:A sandwich I bring to the beach here is a crunhy peanut butter and thinly sliced granny smith apple with a generous sprinkle of fresh ground cinnamon, sometimes I will add raisons, yum. Laura

Wow. You're talking my language, sister!
Peanut butter on Maho,-who'da tunk'a dat?
Groovy.
Smiles-
MJ

samoka · Post by **samoka** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 6:30 pm

I love bringing a fluffernutter to the beach - I love the way the fluff gets real soft and kind of melts out - I'm gonna go make one now!

Kentuckygirl · Post by **Kentuckygirl** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 7:38 pm

samoka wrote:I love bringing a fluffernutter to the beach - I love the way the fluff gets real soft and kind of melts out - I'm gonna go make one now!

I've never heard of a fluffernutter. Is that peanut butter and marshmallow cream? If so, we call those "little miss muffets". Why? No idea. Wasn't she eating curds and whey.

Kentuckygirl · Post by **Kentuckygirl** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 7:44 pm

As a reply to the original question, we usually make sandwiches with deli meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato etc., or take cheese, crackers, and fruit. Once or twice per trip we pick up from Deli Grotto or the deli in Cocolobo Coral Bay, which has changed names and ownership several times since we started coming to St John.

Capn Dan and Ruby · Post by **Capn Dan and Ruby** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 9:59 pm

We bring wraps from home (what ever you like) then we bring those vacume packs of tuna, chicken, and ham and make tuna/chicken/or ham salad and take chips etc. ( I usually ship the meat packs in with our sunscrean and bug repelant in a one price box that we mail to connections) This year we will ship low fat mayo and buy lots of fruit and greens to try to stay with our healthy eating plan as much as possible.

Untill dinner

We alao reserve at least one day to share a Deli Grato Sandwich. This year we want to do a couple of lunch places we have not tried as well.

usvi-on-line

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Beach Food Ideas

Beach Food Ideas