Meal Plans for South Padre Island

In a week from today I will be heading with my parents to Houston to meet up with the rest of my mom's side of the family for a reunion at South Padre Island. So excited! Unfortunately, school starts for Zac on Monday and his first exam is just a week later so he won't be able to make it.

I think I take after my mom when I say that planning consumes me whenever I am given an assignment of any sort (and Zac will definitely attest to that). Usually, I only get assigned to make one meal for our family reunions or I am usually just helping here and there with meal prep but since we are staying at a house for a whole week I got assigned to an entire day's worth of meals. An entire day. When I told Zac about this his first reaction was that it made him feel somewhat okay with missing out on all the fun since he wouldn't have to do a whole day's worth of meal prep for 21 people.

Anyways for the past week I have been creating, recreating, researching, and finalizing the menu and game plan for the day and I think I have finally got THE menu down. My only fear is that the grocery store options at South Padre are even more sparse than what my research has revealed to me and that I will end up changing everything when we get there. That would probably kill me. So, just to be safe I am already beginning to set aside ingredients from my own pantry to bring and hoping the fresh food selection will work itself out when I get there.

The Menu

Saturday Dinner
Vietnamese style Pork Chops, Lime and Cumin Dusted Tilapia, Eggplant--Grilled
Thai Salad
Steamed Rice
Fresh Fruit bar

Sunday Breakfast
Cinnamon swirl waffles
Mini Veggie Quiches with a Hash brown crust
Bacon and Sausage
Fresh Fruit
Horchata

Sunday Lunch (Dim Sum Style--and ode to my grandparents)
Potsickers
Sticky Black Bean and Hoisin Chicken Wings or Short Ribs (still deciding on this one)
Stir Fry with Shrimp and Veggies
Char Siu Sweet Pork Steamed Buns
Steamed White Rice
Sauteed Spinach & Bok Choy topped with crispy shi-take mushrooms
Fresh Fruit

When I shared the menu with my husband he thought I was crazy and that I was probably going to give myslef and baby Z a heart attack, but I have already planned it all out so most of the prep is done a day before the meals and at least half of Sunday meal's can just take care of themselves in the oven. Most of the dishes on the menu are made with stand by recipes I've collected/created over the years so hopefully the SPI grocery stores cooperate with me! I'll take lots of pictures and keep track of all the substitutions/changes I will probably have to make so I can share how it all turned out when we get back.

My mom sent me a link to the kitchen we will be using to help with the planning so I am pretty excited it is already appliance equipped :)

Happy last few weeks of Summer!