I have a vacation coming up!! And I know Jen just returned from one, so I thought this topic was timely. As I’m preparing to leave for a trip, I try to use up all the perishables in the refrigerator before leaving. Of course, then that means returning from a trip with no fresh fruits or milk or meal-making ingredients in the house. I always expect to need to head to the grocery store within a day of returning from a trip (such a dreaded chore!) but I was trying to think of a way to have some meals/food ready for the day of return so that we don’t have to go grocery shopping that same night, and so we don’t have to return from a week of eating out to consume some nasty frozen pizza. (Frozen pizza is almost always my Sunday-night meal of choice after being gone for a weekend!!)
I know I could do the following…
I could make a pan of something or pot of something that will freeze well, and then pop that in the oven when we get home. I could have a helpful friend or family member deliver me a gallon of milk and some other essentials so that the items are waiting upon our arrival (that seems really bothersome though…I don’t think I’d ask anyone to do that unless really desperate). I could buck up and just go to the grocery store the same day as returning from the trip. Or, I could just deal with not having milk for 12 hours. Technically, the world would not end. In fact, I don’t even LIKE milk.
All this blathering, and what I really want to ask is what do YOU do for yourself and your pantry to be prepared for the return from a trip? (And I’m talking about a trip of long-enough duration for the milk to spoil.) But even for a weekend away…are you one of those people who has a meal and ingredients all planned out ahead of time so that when you get home Sunday night you don’t have to make frozen pizza? Or do you make the frozen pizza?? Do you make a meal and freeze it and then cook it up upon your return from vacation?? Do you have a friend make a special delivery of the essentials before you get back? Or do you just deal with dry cereal and drag yourself to the grocer’s the next day?
She said. She said. 
Frozen pizza? Heck, that would require me to turn on the oven. We tend to be so lazy that we just order it delivered.
That being said, one of the sweetest returns home ever was a time my father in law was dog/house sitting and there were some things just picked up from the nearby Kowalski’s deli. A ready to eat meal.
I always schedule a Pea Pod delivery for the morning after we get back from vacation. And I like to get delivery the night we get home – it feels like a nice close to a vacation to have a fun pizza dinner on paper plates.
I guess I have never even thought about this issue probably becuase we rarely go on long vacations – at least not long enough that the milk would spoil. However, reading Kris’s comment brought back a wonderful memory.
Both my husband and I were traveling for work the same week – this was about 7 yrs ago. Our friend, Fr. Tom, came to stay at the house with the kids while we were gone. I was to arrive home first from my trip and would be arriving around dinner time. Fr. Tom had the kids help him put together a fabulous meal. It was all ready and he had called me to check on my ETA. He gave the kids instructions on how to set the table and put the meal together and then he left! He had a 3 hour trip for him to get home.(my kids were old enough). When I got home my kids were so proud of their table and in putting the meal together for me – they contributed and it was so awesome to have a home cooked gourmet meal (Fr. Tom was quite the chef) and to sit down with my kids and enjoy it. The fridge was also stocked with milk, etc… enough for the rest of the week. My kids still talk about this – what a wonderful gift and even better memory!
Scrambled eggs and peanut butter toast – quick and easy. No milk required.
Chinese take out is an option or popcorn and apple slices work too