Airline Pilot Meal Planning
Feeding my pilot
Meal planning out of necessity
Airline Pilot Meal Planning
We are brand new to the commercial aviation world.
Now that my husband is done with his training and flying for an airline he’s gone for multiple days at a time. One of my concerns was what will he eat while he’s away? Sure he can eat out, but I know how gross I feel after eating out on a trip day after day, not to mention that it gets expensive. It’s also a way that I can express to him that I love and care about him even when we’re apart.
I’ve been studying up on Pinterest about how others feed themselves in hotel rooms when they’re on trips. You can check out my board that I’ve gathered here. (A lot of them are crockpot meals, which obviously he doesn’t have a crockpot- but I thought if we take an extended trip as a family at some point it would be good to pin those too? Who knows.) Meal planning has always been really hard for me to stick to. I’ve always admired people who are great at it. You know- the kind of people who meal prep on Sundays and wash/chop everything up before they put it away. Maybe if I do this long enough it’ll become easier for me and just a natural part of my life. That would be awesome. Right now I’m still figuring things out.
Anyway. He purchased a travel cooler. (I know that’s the one he bought, but not sure which website he got it from.) I’ve started the process of filling my freezer with individual portioned sized meals for him to take and stocking up the pantry with snacks. I want him to be able to have options. Not all this stuff is always in our house at once, and he obviously doesn’t take everything on every trip.
Here’s what we’ve come up with so far.
- Hard boiled eggs (I write an “H” on the ones that are hard boiled so that a raw one isn’t accidentally packed.)
- Oatmeal (I like to make up my own packets because they’re healthier and taste better than the instant sugary ones. If you have a coffee maker, you can get hot water.)
- Banana Bread
- Peanut butter energy bites
- Pre-made/frozen breakfast burritos
- Yogurt
- Fruit (apples and oranges are good because they don’t get squished easily in the cooler. . . but I also like frozen mangos or pineapple, they defrost great.)
- Hot chocolate
- Protein Shakes
- Jerky
- Trail mix
- Dried fruit
- Nuts
- Crackers/chips (My husband doesn’t like popcorn, but that would be a good snack that yours could make in the hotel if his room has a microwave.)
- Fruit
- String Cheese
- Yogurt
- Raw Veggies
- Carrots and hummus
- Tortilla chips and salsa
- Pretzels
- Granola bars
- Protein Bars
- Cookies and candy
- Smoked pork roast, mashed potatoes, and corn
- Chicken pesto, tomatoes and I make fresh pasta before he goes to put it over because I don’t feel like pasta defrosts well. (I just use a Costco roasted chicken and their pesto.)
- Chicken curry and rice
- Roast beef, roasted potatoes & carrots, and gravy
- Burritos
- Pulled pork sandwiches (put buns in a tupperware so they don’t get smashed)
- PBJ or meat and cheese sandwiches
- Lasagna
- Spaghetti (again make fresh pasta)
- Cup of noodles
- Sliders (I just use Costco rolls. I’m at Costco a lot. lol)
- Turkey burgers (put buns in a tupperware so they don’t get smashed)
- Salads
- Turkey chili
- Stuffed Peppers
- Stroganoff (make fresh pasta or have him make minute rice in his room)
- Fajitas
- Stir fry
- Pack a glass bowl to heat things up.
- Some hotels have breakfast. Yay! Some don’t even have a microwave in the room. Make sure he has options for whatever the case may be.
- If you have something that your pilot isn’t familiar with cooking (like minute rice in the microwave) take a picture of the directions and text it to them to save in their pictures to reference
- I’m starting to freeze a couple portions of whatever leftovers we have from dinner
- I just found out that freezing the rice in the curry totally changes the texture of the rice. My son wanted some curry so I grabbed one of the ones I had in the freezer and made it for him. The flavor was good and he didn’t mind the rice, but I do. I thought I was making it easier on my husband by pre-making/mixing it for him. Not so much. Next time I’ll just make the curry and freeze it and then send him with some minute rice to pour it over. Minute rice isn’t as good as basmati, but at least it’ll taste like rice. I guess I can remake the rice before he goes and just not freeze it.
- Start collecting different sauces, dressings and condiments when you’re out at fast food places. Chick-fil-A has lots of different sauces that are great if your pilot likes some variety.
- If you’re just starting to build up your freezer meals, I found it easiest to just buy Costco roasted chicken breast from the deli section and just season it differently/add it into a bunch of different meals.
