Traveling Food

[bigdogs29906]

Ok, we're headed off on a road trip soon and I need new ideas for food we can take with us. Our budget is tight, so filling up on food that we've made/taken as much as we can will be important.

 

I'm ready for your ideas!!

[nlmullen]

cereal, granola bars, chips, cup of noodle soup, canned soup that doesn't need an opener (if you can microwave)

[mommylawyer]

raisins, popcorn, vanilla wafers

[melissel]

Ok, we're headed off on a road trip soon and I need new ideas for food we can take with us. Our budget is tight, so filling up on food that we've made/taken as much as we can will be important.

 

I'm ready for your ideas!!

 

Will you be able to cook/reheat/keep anything cold? Or do you need ideas for things that will survive at room (well, car) temp?

 

I made a big batch of homemade granola bars before we left. I also threw almonds, pecans, dried cranberries and dried pineapple into a hug container for picking at. Hard-boiled eggs, fruits and veggies already washed, but still whole, dry cereal (Barbara's shredded spoonfuls and Life cereal are great for this)... If I think of more, I'll add.

Edited July 8, 2009 by melissel

[stripe]

Also, how big is your family? Will you be stopping along the way or driving every day? Try to stay at a restaurant that has free breakfasts.

 

Try to avoid taking only sweet stuff.... Canned tuna?

[rafiki]

.

[OnTheBrink]

I just got back from a 3 week road trip. I took:

 

lunch meat sandwiches (bread, meat, cheese, nothing else)

packets of mustard and mayo for the sandwiches

individual containers of cut up fresh fruit, fresh veggies, potato salad and cole slaw (I used gladware containers)

one container of ranch dip

home made muffins

boiled eggs (learn from me and don't try to peel these while driving)

cereal bars

Pringles (they don't get crushed in the can)

dried cranberries

animal crackers

mixed nuts

paper plates

paper towels

plastic forks

bottled water and crystal light mix

few bottles of soda, for when I needed a caffeine lift

 

I used up the potato salad and slaw servings at the beginning of the trip, given that they don't last that long. Along the way, we'd replenish produce as needed.

 

I also used 3 small coolers instead of one large one. One was only for beverages, as it would be opened the most. I had one for the day's supply of meals, and then one for everything else. I also used a plastic crate (like a milk crate) for the non-perishables. It kept things more organized and less likely to be smashed by taking things in and out of the car.

 

Overall, I was pleased with how it went with our own food. We did get tired of sandwiches, but I personally didn't want to contend with cans of tuna or anything else that needed a can opener. You could certainly take canned meats and beans with you and they'd do fine in the car.

 

HTH

[bigdogs29906]

All right! Keep 'em coming!

 

There are only 4 of us. We will have a way to keep food cold ~ but don't know if there will be a way to heat things up.

 

We won't be in the car all day, but will use the hotel room as a home base.

[OnTheBrink]

All right! Keep 'em coming!

 

There are only 4 of us. We will have a way to keep food cold ~ but don't know if there will be a way to heat things up.

 

We won't be in the car all day, but will use the hotel room as a home base.

 

Oh, see if the hotel has a fridge or microwave. Some Motel 6's have them, in the newer properties. I think a few budget-priced motels have them. Super 8, maybe? It'll help with keeping from buying ice all the time.

[stripe]

I've also stayed at a Days Inn that had microwave, frig, and coffee maker in the room.

 

If you are going to be in the same place for a while, you have the opportunity to buy something perishable (say, milk) near your destination and keep it cold. But obviously not if you stay in a different place every night. I took a can of pineapple with me (the sort with the lift off top), and it was nice. I added a banana and apple, and called it fruit salad.

 

I am not a tuna person, but it is important to have something other than starchy sweets + salty stuff, or you'll start feeling sick. Don't ask how I know.

[Kathy in MD]

Check into getting a cheap hotpot of some sort. My dh got me a quart size pot with a built-in heater to use in the hotel. We've also used the in-room coffee pots to boil water for instant oatmeal or soups. But sometimes, even after a cleaning run, they still taste of coffee.:tongue_smilie:

 

But for meals, you can dehydrate a lot of foods. This reduces the space they take up and the need for refrigeration. Some things don't need heating to be eaten after rehydration, such as coleslaw or a shreaded carrot and raisin salad. Of course many things don't need rehydration, such as dried fruit and jerky.

[stripe]

Rice cooker?

 

There was a fantastic article in the Christian Science Monitor about a woman who traveled to Italy with her mother, who brought along a rice cooker, and cooked up lots of stuff.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0311/p18s01-lifo.html

 

This provides further inspiration.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/dining/01rice.html

[Deb in NZ]

since you are staying in a hotel, replace the ice in the coolers each night/morning from the ice machine. When we do roadtrips we take:

 

Breakfasts (eat in hotel room before you leave):

cereal (those individual boxes, quite a treat for my dc & still cheaper than buying breakfast)

milk

granola bars

yogurts

 

Lunches (eat at a rest area or local park to let the kids run around):

buns

lunch meat & cheese

marg. & mayo.

lettuce/tomato/cucumber/etc.

fresh fruit

*we had a small cooler set up as our lunch kit with a small cuttingboard, small paper plates, a paring knife, a cheese cutter, etc. & bought the ingredients every couple of days as needed from a grocery store on the way.

 

Dinners:

We would try to eat early at a family diner.

 

Only water was allowed for drinking in the car & my dc aren't used to snaking all day so they knew to fill up during our breaks, if they were hungry.

 

JMHO,

[Riverfront Headmistress]

I love the pad thai "just add water" meals.

[cougarmom4]

We love to buy baked chicken tenders at the deli section of the grocery store--basically fried chicken but without the bone. They taste just as yummy cold as hot and aren't as messy as the kind with the bone and they seem a lot healthier than chicken nuggets at McDonald's. (at least I hope they are!)

 

We also do bagels with cream cheese or make our own 'lunchables' (I would cut lunch-meat and cheese up before leaving and add wheat crackers).

 

Our favorite snack in the car is trail mix--I just dump a bunch of different cereals, pretzels, goldfish, raisins, etc into big gallon ziploc bags. I bring along large paper cups for each person and then scoop refills as needed. It's more fun if you throw in a few M&M's, but be careful they don't melt and turn into a mess! Of course the kids eat all the M&M's first and then want a refill...but the rule was they had to finish the cup.

 

If you're staying at hotels, another thing we love to do is bring microwave popcorn for an evening snack. Easy and the kids love it.

[Mom24bz1g]

A lot of good ideas are in the thread. I would like to add:

 

Take a jar of peanut butter, empty out 1/3 of it, add honey to it. Stir together. Put lid back on jar.

 

Take jar of peanut butter/honey mixture

Loaf of Bread

Knife

 

Add fruit or chips and you have a nice lunch. I also use flax/peanut butter or almond butter or whatever type of peanut butter you like.

 

The honey doesn't drip off the sandwich. I always have a jar of this around and it makes a whole lot less mess and the kids can make the sandwiches themselves.

 

Blessings,

Michele

[Anne Rittenhouse]

We always stay in a "family suites" hotel in the USA, we rent houses or cottages in Europe. The cost is a little higher per night but not as much as eating out. The hotels almost always has a complementary breakfast, which we eat and we bag an extra piece of fruit for each of us from the lobby for morning snack. Lunch is always "on the road", stop at a grocery store, bread, cheese, fruit, and various nibbles are cheap and easy. Granted we have broad palates so nibbles include olives, hummus, various small canned fish, rotissary chicken, ect....what ever looks good that day. We buy fresh from the store, they do the prep work and we have the picnic. Leftover picnic is afternoon snack. We stop at the grocery store before returning to the hotel for dinner....typical meals are pasta and salad, pizza, chicken, microwaved potatoes, and veg, soup and sandwiches. We keep it pretty simple but the hotel room has a basic galley kitchen with enough equipment to get the job done. I can't remember the last time I ate out while on vacation....this allows us to mind our budgets, our waistlines and our cholesterol levels. Our vacations tend to be about the places we visit and not the food we eat. Everyone is happy.