There's good news: Your vacation rental at the beach has a kitchen. And there's bad news: Your vacation rental at the beach has a kitchen.

Residents of Philadelphia and New Jersey who head to Shore homes or rentals every summer do so for the sunlight, ambience, fellowship, waves and recreation. In other words, to chill out.

Convivial dining is, of course, a big part of the experience. Still, eating out or ordering pizza can become expensive and monotonous. And most home cooks don't relish being in the grocery store and then the kitchen while everyone else is building castles in the sand.

Many solve this problem by cooking ahead at home, freezing, and then transporting these ready-to-eat or nearly ready-to-eat meals in a cooler. They also stop to buy fresh produce from farmers along the way, another part of the vacation tradition.

This Cooler Crew has the drill down pat. Members know what dishes have worked for them in the past, be they casseroles or grill-ready uncooked pork chops marinating in a sealed plastic bag. They accept that food shopping and its preparation must be added to the regular get-out-of-town tasks of packing suitcases, getting the cat to the kennel, cleaning out the pantry and refrigerator, picking up prescriptions and doing every piece of laundry.

They are willing, however, to add that to their to-do lists in exchange for a week of minimal culinary effort that enables long walks along the beach as the sun sets and dinner beckons.

If you are new to the Cooler Crew - or if you are looking for new ideas - it's time to squeeze the preparation of a week of more innovative dinners into the schedule before heading out.

That seems like overkill?

OK, then, how about taking at least two meals and a plan for others?

There are plenty of ways to go that don't involve large pieces of pure, cooked meat and poultry, whose texture does not fare well in the freezer.

For example, you can freeze uncooked meat, poultry or fish in a lower-acid marinade (too much acid will "cook" the meat) or with spices pounded into it. Once defrosted, food prepared in this way, like the Margarita Pork Chops recipe printed here, is broiler- or grill-ready.

If you are freezing proteins for the cooler, wrap thinner pieces or individual servings, as in the lamb burgers included here, separately to avoid having to wait for a solid block of food to thaw completely.

Accordingly, perhaps the best protein to have on hand for the first evening meal is a bag of frozen shrimp, which can be thawed quickly under running water.

Stewlike mixtures like Turkey Sloppy Joes, below, freeze well and will feed the inevitable crowds that will descend on a vacation dinner table, but will need a day or two of defrosting in the refrigerator before they are heated. Freeze them in shallow containers to speed the process and don't count on them for the first meal.

Easier than all of this, of course, is to brainstorm for items that are near-ready or simple meal makings and will keep you from running to the supermarket when you could be reading in a beach chair.

Some other ideas for items to throw into the cooler are:

• Glazed, spiral-cut ham.
• Aseptic packages of tofu to top with ginger, soy sauce or other bottled Chinese condiments.
• Composed butter combinations to put on grilled or fresh fish.
• Instant couscous.
• Ravioli, sauce, and meatballs from your favorite Italian specialty store.
• Bacon; pancake mix and eggs (very fresh ones can keep refrigerated up to a month) for breakfast or breakfast-for-dinner.
• Canned dolmas, the rice-filled grape leaves available at Middle Eastern markets; a hunk of feta, sealed container of hummus, hard sausage, olives and frozen flatbread or pita bread for a dinner of small-plate items.
• Shredded cheese, tortillas and salsa for quesadillas.

And what about dessert, you ask?

Technically, it is that flat of strawberries you buy on the way to the beach.

In actuality, dessert is the sweet sensation of sitting on the deck of a beach house, cocktail in hand, with very little or nothing to do.

Lamb Burgers With Feta

Makes 12 servings