Lately I’ve done several local sits, some for just one night or two, and was wondering what other sitters do for meals. It gets expensive to eat out or get stuff to go, but also I don’t necessarily want to cook and have to clean a bunch of pots/pans.
I’d love to hear what others do to simplify meals - like do you bring stuff with you or what are easy meals that you like to make?
Hello, @SoloTraveler Great question and one that we as sitters have been discussing lately too.
Here are some previous discussions that also cover the topic:
I am sure that other forum members will also let you know how they manage their food choices when sitting 
My sits typically are around 1-2 months long. However, in between my longer sits I’ll usually stack ones that around 1-2 weeks long. I’ve found that whether it’s the shorter or longer sits, I use Instacart to buy groceries according to how long I’ll be at a home. An added benefit for this is I typically buy the same stuff, so I just adjust quantities accordingly and hit the “Reorder” button making it both fast and easy, as well as cost and time effective. If I’m at a sit that’s walkable or nearby restaurants, I’ll fit in a few meals out. But most of the time to keep costs low I do groceries.
When your at home do you eat out everynight? Carry out meals every day? Or do you cook your food?
Personally, we cook at home most nights and maybe have a meal out once a week which we do at home.
I cook, rarely eat out.
Enjoy experimenting with local and seasonal foods.
Not shy about asking what is it?
How do you prepare it?
Or googling recipes.
It’s part of the adventure.
And makes great conversation at the markets.
3 words for you - home delivered groceries!
We order online and have them delivered to the sit address on the afternoon we arrive or the next morning. Best thing out.
We almost always cook our own food on a sit and save the eating out for the days in between. Usually we’ll have one dinner out per week on a sit, as it’s part of enjoying the place we’re in (and that’s what we would do at home too!)
For sits that are short or where we are traveling by public transport, we try to do easy meals like a pasta with veggies, a lentil stew, or a vaguely Asian rice dish. Ideally we’ll get at least two meals out of our efforts, which saves on ingredients, prep time and clean up.
Shelf stable ingredients we can take from sit to sit are good too (think canned beans, crackers & tuna, trail mix, granola, etc) as these reduce waste, especially if we have several days between sits. Right now we are traveling by car which has allowed us a bit more flexibility and bulk purchases (olive oil!) but generally speaking we try to travel as light as possible and only buy what we know we’ll eat in the time.
For our sits abroad it’s been a different story, but in the US I can’t speak highly enough of my Costco membership. We have a cooler and cooler bag and will usually get some prepared things that can be microwaved/heated up, which are ideal for those annoying stints in motels in between.
I also hoard condiments, disposable utensils, and tea bags. I keep these – along with my own salt, cooking oil, small paring knife, plastic cutting board, – in a large food service Cambro.
For longer sits I always cook most of our meals at home, but try to frequent some local establishments and cafes if time and the budget allow for it.
I use house-sitting as a way to travel internationally so for me eating out is part of it. For the same reason carrying loads of food with me wouldn’t be feasible. If I am somewhere for a while I pre-order grocery delivery if possible.
Love this @pitcherplant - I have a Sam’s membership and never thought of this. I, too, collect condiments (and napkins).
If it’s in a hot country flying there just tea bags and coffee.I’m retired and solo traveller so treat it as a wee holiday with cuddly companions.certainly don’t won’t to cook.something .easy to prepare specially if no air con in 40degrees don’t want to put on oven !love shopping in markets for fresh fruit cheese and salad .
Some microwaveable rice/quinoa, a rotisserie chicken, some bags of frozen broccoli or cabbage salad, and whatever random condiments you have salvaged can make a pretty good meal that you can eat at least 2-3 times.
We carry a small cooler bag when we travel (even when flying) and sometimes carry some basic items between sits or when we are at airbnbs. I usually cook like I do at home, but I also sometimes buy packaged meals (meat pies, lasagne etc ) at the grocery store that I only have to heat up, or stir fries or other pre-prepared foods that I can easily throw together without too much in the way of leftovers. It’s more expensive that cooking from scratch but cheaper than restaurants.
Get hello fresh, blue apron, or everyplate, if they are available in your area. I’m a chef, so I love to cook, but I do this if I’m feeling especially lazy 
Love this! We had a couple of HOs leave their subscriptions active for us, which was awesome. I have too many dietary restrictions for it to work now, but at the time it was really a lifesaver – especially in super rural areas with only a Dollar store/gas station within reach.
Yes, this is especially useful for a “food desert” area If you don’t have a vehicle.
Where I live, it’s really remote. 15 minutes drive, one way, to get to an adequate grocery store, and 30 minutes to get to a good one.
It’s so rural, nobody will deliver food! Forget about even getting groceries delivered! But FedEx and UPS do come, so that would be an option.
If someone came to my house and didn’t have a car, it would be a problem… And that’s part of the reason I sit! Is to get out of there! 
I moderately plan ahead so that I hardly have any food leftover; I cannot take much food with me as a nomad without a car.
It’s a combination of nutritious frozen box dinners, grocery items that can be versatile when put together in different ways with use of HO’s spices and seasonings, HO’s offered supplies, social event food, and restaurant food.
I no longer feel restaurant food is worth what they’re priced at 9/10 times, so I hardly eat out anymore even though I can technically afford it. It’s just not respecting my money. I normally like what I make better.