How to Reheat Food in a Hotel Room

While the idea of cooking while traveling is hardly ever an appetizing one, it is sometimes necessary to reheat your own food in a hotel room. Particularly on business trips, which can sometimes mean staying in a hotel room for days or weeks at a time. Investments in travel-size appliances are one option for reheating food, though, you can also utilize the appliances found in hotel closets for reheating food quickly and easily.

Things You'll Need

• Travel microwave
• Foil
• Ironing board
• Iron

Tips For You

1. Book a hotel room that features a microwave for easy re-heating options. Hotels generally list amenities on their websites by type of room, allowing you to browse for the best room option for you that also features this appliance. While a room with a microwave may cost more than a standard hotel room, it is worth the investment if you are on an extended business trip or other vacation in which will be doing a fair amount of cooking and reheating in your room.
2. Invest in a travel-size microwave, particularly if you go on frequent business trips and do not want to have to rely on take-out and restaurant food. Such models are portable and save you money in the long run as you will not have to constantly book rooms that feature microwaves or other cooking appliances. Travel-size microwaves allow you to cook as well as reheat food.
3. Use an iron to reheat your food. Wrap items such as vegetables, chicken, fish and even fried foods in one to three layers of foil and place the wrapped food on the hotel ironing board. Turn the iron to its highest setting and place the iron over the foil-wrapped food for three to five minutes depending on what you are reheating. Be careful not to let any juices from the food seep out of the foil and onto the iron, which can stain and damage the appliance.

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Food Tours in Parma, Italy

Food tours in Parma, Italy, highlight the city's rich local cuisine and introduce you to the sights, smells and tastes of the region's ancient food production processes. Parma, specializing in the making of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, wine, Parma ham and balsamic vinegar, offers plenty of delicacies to try. The city's various food tours, lasting from a morning or an afternoon to several days, give you the history of these Italian traditions, let you watch food production and offer taste tests.

Food Valley Tours

• Food Valley Tours, offering 28 options that let you explore various Italian regions, includes tours of Parma and its surrounds. On tours lasting a morning, an afternoon, a day or several days, highlights include a visit to a Prosciutto di Parma factory and a stop at a vineyard that produces award-winning sparkling red wine. Another tour visits a downtown Parma restaurant and serves an afternoon snack of cured meats and cheeses.

Food n Walk Tours

• The Food n Walk tours offer two tours of Parma, both of which take six or seven hours. The first tour, the 3 Kings "Platinum" Food Tour, offers a heavier, two-course lunch, while the second, the 3 Kings Budget Beater & Crossways tour, includes a lighter lunch of meats and breads. All tours include stops at local food production facilities and a vineyard. You'll need to bring your own car for this tour.

Emilia Delizia Tours

• Emilia Delizia Tours will take you around the Emilia Romagna region, which includes the cities of Bologna, Modena and Parma. After you tour the region's Parmesan, ham and vinegar factories, you'll sit down to a bread, cheese and cured meats lunch at an organic winery. Add-ons to your tour can include a pasta making class or a mushroom-finding expedition You can either bring your own car or be chauffeured around by the company.

Parma Golosa Tours

• On this morning tour, you'll start by visiting cheese, ham and vinegar production plants where you'll learn how whey is separated in cheese-making and how meats are cured. Next, the Parma Golosa tour offers either a lighter lunch of cured meats and cheese or a heavier lunch of stuffed tortelli, dessert and coffee or grappa at the Langhirano vineyards. Started in 2000, the Parma Golosa company offers tours in five languages.

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Food to Pack for a Long Vacation in a Car

Road trips are often romanticized, and rightfully so. Hitting the open road is the ultimate vacation from ordinary daily life, exposing you to new sights and cultures while forging lasting relationships with those in your traveling party. Getting the logistical details right before departure can make all the difference in how smoothly the journey goes. What food to pack for a long vacation in a car is near the top of that list.

Snacks

• Part of the fun of a road trip is snacking along the way. It breaks the monotony of endless miles and provides a diversion for young children. As tempting as it may be to provide normally forbidden junk food, an enclosed vehicle is not the place to create sugar highs and lows. Avoid candy and fat-laden foods that cause bloating and irritation without the ability to work it off with exercise. Opt for granola bars, cheese sticks, naturally sweetened fruit snacks, pretzels, popcorn, rice cakes, crackers, nuts and fresh fruit. Veggie sticks such as carrots and celery are an excellent choice for snacking and for encouraging proper digestion while sitting for long periods of time. You want happy campers, so feed them healthy snacks.

Meals

• Experiencing local cuisine is one of the memorable parts of a road trip, so stop at small cafes and roadside diners serving regional cuisine if at all possible. There will be times when this is not feasible, so have simple meals in the car for lunch while driving or for stopping at picnic sites along the way. Sandwiches and wraps are an easy and healthy solution. If you choose cold cuts or fresh meat, keep them cold at all times and consume within one day. Opt for peanut butter if possible. Wrap sandwiches in plastic and save condiments for spreading immediately prior to eating so that sandwiches will not get soggy. Avoid foods with strong smells.
• Liquids

• Water is the drink of choice on road trips as it quenches the thirst, cleanses the system and keeps you hydrated on hot days. Purchase individual water bottles in bulk ahead of time in order to avoid excessively high prices at convenience stores along the way. For some variety, pack juice boxes and bottles of flavored herbal iced tea. Keep the driver in mind and throw in some energy drinks or coffee drinks to help with alertness. Warm liquids can be soothing for passengers who want to sleep, so bring along a thermos for hot cocoa and tea.

Considerations

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  An ice chest is an essential piece of equipment for any road trip. Choose a chest with an easily accessible spout for emptying water as the ice melts. Consider purchasing refreezable gel ice packs as an alternative to real ice. Large ice chests are tempting but take up too much space and encourage excessive amounts of food, which can go bad if not consumed with a couple of days. Opt for a smaller, durable chest that is easily carried indoors and refilled with fresh items as the trip progresses. Collapsible ice chests offer the most flexibility as the journey draws to a close. Remember to pack trash bags and disposable utensils. Place snacks in small, resealable plastic bags for easy access and portion control.

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