Tbh, i've never tried to combat brood loss while on vacation. I normally leave a fair amount of living insects in my larger colonies outworlds, or some dead ones in test tubes until i get back or next feeding. My Aphaenogaster picea will leave the living in the outworld until they're hungry to go out and kill the rest. I've had crickets live in outworlds for as long as a week. On the other hand my Camponotus pennsylvanicus colony will kill everything living and bring the food to a dry spot in the nest, which it's usually piled for a couple of days until it's all consumed.
If you're gone for a week, i would seriously just consider feeding the night before and leaving it in there till you get back. Anything with a nest and outworld should maintain extra food and remove bits and pieces from the nest as they're done. With test tubes, pre-killed food is placed directly on the other side of the dry cotton, which it usually remains and is picked from or put back in the same spot once the ants are finished. I wouldn't say they're trained to put waste on the dry end, but more or less putting it as far from the nesting area as possible. I've never had a mold issue with doing this either, which IMO is successful.
I think if you were to try something to extensive for only a week vacation, you may end up putting too much time and effort into it or causing an issue you don't wanna come home to.
