Travelling Food

[ChocoChris]

We are driving to Georgia on Tuesday and I would like to make a savory snack that is not very fattening (sitting on our butts for 13 hours) but will tide us over through the meal breaks. Last time I made savory scones. They were good but a little dry without something to spread on it. It's a short visit so we are packing light and won't be bringing a cooler. Thanks for your suggestions.

ChocoChris

P.S. Roadkill cooked on the heat of our engine is not an option

[Fat Guy]

We do a lot of road tripping and usually pack a variety of snacks with varying levels of longevity. If we're leaving from home early in the morning, the first round of snacks will be bagels. The late morning snacks will be salads packed in disposable plastic containers (we use leftover Chinese-food takeout containers). Just basic Romaine lettuce, a few vegetables, and a dressing on the side. When it's time to eat, add dressing to salad, close container, shake vigorously, and you're all set. Next round of food, for mid-afternoon, will likely be sandwiches. If you make them on frozen bread, they'll stay fresh and vibrant for the better part of a day -- a self-refrigerating mechanism if you will. After that, cheese and crackers and lots and lots of fruit. Hard-boiled eggs are also a good option. Pretzels too, though they're salty. We typically skip dinner after a long road-trip day. From an energy-and-alertness perspective it's better to graze throughout the day.

[ChocoChris]

Great suggestions...thanks! Is the dressing a simple oil and vinegar?

Edited November 25, 2002 by ChocoChris (log)

[Fat Guy]

Usually oil, vinegar, a touch of mustard, salt, and pepper. Pack it in an old glass jar with a tight fitting lid, or in the leftover cruet from a commercially packaged dressing or bottled sauce. That way you can really shake it before dressing the salad, because even if you make the dressing in a blender there's no way the emulsion is going to hold for so many hours.

[nightscotsman]

Beef jerky is good for snacking. My favorite brand is Tillamook Country Smoker. The Beef Steak Nuggets are especially good.

Another good ready-to-eat snack are Clif Bars. Lots of flavors, and unlike other "energy bars", they taste like real food. They have a new line called "Mojo Bars" that are less sweet.

[snowangel]

These are great suggestions, and pretty much the same stuff I do almost every weekend all summer long.

A couple of other hints. Keep a roll of paper towels, and a few plastic trash bags (I re-use the plastic shopping bags from Target, grocery, etc.), and a package of baby wipes (the ones for their bottoms) in the car for clean-up. The baby wipes are as good as those individually packaged wipe things you get from rib and lobster joints, and lots cheaper.

And, even if you are not bringing a cooler, think about freezing bottles of water (open them first and pour a little out) so you have cold water to drink.

[Fat Guy]

Our glove compartment is a veritable kitchen on wheels. We always keep it stocked with napkins, plastic utensils, wipes, straws, a couple of Opinel knives, salt, sweetener, and every kind of condiment that can be pasteurized, irradiated, or otherwise individually packaged in a non-perishable manner.

[Ellen Shapiro]

To elaborate:

The best napkins come from Wendy's. They're yellow but they don't run.

Wendy's is also the best source for plastic utensils because they're heavy-duty and individually wrapped.

Wipes are worth purchasing. No chain establishment has good ones that won't wreck your skin and make you smell like a bus-station bathroom.

McDonald's is the leader in straws, with nice durable thick ones.

It's amazing the condiments you can acquire. In addition to ketchup (even if a place uses pump dispensers, they'll give you packets if you ask), don't overlook things like hot sauces (from Taco Bell, for example) and mustards (you can get quite a range if you make a habit of picking up a few packets everywhere you go). Most bizarre condiment: "Cajun Sparkle" from Popeye's which must be 99% supercharged MSG. This may not be available anymore but we still have some.

Supermarkets, not restaurants, are the best places to get food on road trips, but that doesn't get you much in the way of hot food and eating cold food meal after meal gets depressing especially when it's cold out. Fast food chains, however, provide good meal supplements if you know how to use them. For example the baked potatoes at Wendy's are very good and can be ordered with chives only (they use fresh chives) for 99 cents at any Wendy's in America. As an addition to a supermarket-based meal a hot baked potato makes all the difference. Many of the fast food chains also now offer basic garden salads for a dollar or two and the produce is usually in better shape than what you get at some of the supermarkets in Yennevelt. The trick is not to use their dressings. When we roadtrip for longer than a few days we expand the pantry to include olive oil, vinegar, and other staples so we can make things like dressings.

On really long trips, we also travel with a Glowmaster catering stove, real kitchen knives and tools, cutting board, and a skillet.

[snowangel]

When my sister and I were in college, we shared a 1971 volkswagon bug. Great car.

The glove box was always well stocked with limes and salt. My dad once wondered about this, and my sister said that the salt was in case we ever got suck on the ice in the winter. This would have been our tequila days.

She's now working on a vaccine for menengitis, and I am remodeling our house (after 20+ years in entertainment industry), so we did turn out OK.

[maggiethecat]

His Handsomeness does a strange revert-to third grade thing when we set out on a road trip. He buys a dozen juice boxes (things that haven't appeared since our daughter was eight) and freezes them. They act as very efficient cooler boxes in the picnic basket. And by the time we get to, say, Lansing, they are ready to drink.

And a big thermos of your best coffee. Actually, buy *Better* coffee for your travelling thermos.

Make your very best chicken salad and pack a few good buttered rolls. Haul out the picnic Opinel knife (see Fat Guy above), make a sandwich, and understand that the best road food tastes fresh. A good pear and a couple of homemade shortbread cookies. A group of grapes.

But there has to be at least one junk food meal on the road. We like Burger King, and, in Canada, Tim Horton's.

[Fat Guy]

The basic Opinel knife, for those who are unfamiliar with this very useful and economical product:

[baphie]

This is not an item to make, but we find find sushi to be a fantastic road food. It can eaten with fingers and, if well made, there is no mess. It also provides a good balance of carbs and protein to keep you going.

[Ron Johnson]

Next round of food, for mid-afternoon, will likely be sandwiches. If you make them on frozen bread, they'll stay fresh and vibrant for the better part of a day -- a self-refrigerating mechanism if you will.

Brilliant. This one I will use on my journey to St. Louis on Wednesday. This is the type of tip that make this site simply indispensable.

Edited November 25, 2002 by ron johnson (log)

[Fat Guy]

The other key strategy with road sandwiches is to prevent wet ingredients from coming into direct contact with the bread. This means you need to use things like well-dried lettuce -- top and bottom -- as protective barriers. For wrapping, I advocate aluminum foil closed tightly around the sandwiches so as to prevent any shifting of ingredients, and a Zip-Loc over that. Label your sandwiches clearly if you've made more than one kind so you don't drive off the road while checking each sandwich and trading them with the other people in the car. "No, no, this one's the chicken . . . [crash]"

Everybody above is right that frozen beverages make excellent cooling devices. No special insulated carriers required. Just pack whatever needs to be cold underneath (remember heat rises and cold sinks) and you'll keep things relatively cool for hours. Depending on the season and whether you're using heat or air conditioning, the position of food in your car will also make a big difference. Like if it's cold out, even if you're running the heater, you'll find there are two nice cool spots in any Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge minivan in the corners near the back hatch. Likewise, if you're running the air conditioning on the same vehicle, turn the controls to feet and place your bag of food between the two front seats, where the center-console floor vent will blow cool air on the bag all day.

[Ron Johnson]

One of this nice options in my car is an AC vent directly into the glove box, which is insulated. In the summer I open this vent and bottled water, sodas, etc. stay chilled. The vent is large and because the glove box is small and insulated it actually gets quite cool.

[Fat Guy]

Well it's cheating -- isn't it? -- if your car has a built-in refrigeration feature. Where's the fun in that?

[Ron Johnson]

Hey, it only holds so much. I still need the self-refrigerated sandwiches. And in the winter, who wants the AC running?

[Jason Perlow]

Or you can get one of those mini coolers that is powered by 12VAC.

[ChocoChris]

You guys are awesome. So many great suggestions! We've been doing these trips to Georgia since I met my hubby, so we figured out the garbage bag, baby wipes necessities and when I started hording plasticware in the glove compartment, he wasn't thrilled. I'll be showing his this thread for sure! Utilitizing the side items at fast food places is a great tip. You do have to think creatively. We analyze the side offerings and sometimes, if you get lucky, you can make a great inexpensive and fairly low in fat alternative by combining certain side dishes into a meal (as Ellen mentioned).

That Opinel knife looks great. I'll have to check it out for the next trip. Looks like a good stocking stuffer, tho. My bread for sandwiches is in the freezer as I type. Thanks again for the suggestions!

[Jaymes]

Y'all are terrific, and so creative.

I just gave the kids each a box of that sugary crap cereal that I never let them have otherwise.

It is true that upon our arrival, I'd have to spend some time vacuming up the Count Chocula and Fruit Loops from the back seat, but the kids thought that "travel days" were wonderful.

[Fat Guy]

Or you can get one of those mini coolers that is powered by 12VAC.

Has anybody used one of these successfully? I've never heard much positive said about them. It seems all the hardcore road-trippers favor passive cooling.

[Jason Perlow]

Or you can get one of those mini coolers that is powered by 12VAC.

Has anybody used one of these successfully? I've never heard much positive said about them. It seems all the hardcore road-trippers favor passive cooling.

I know Fredlet and Daiv use them on long trips.

[Fat Guy]

Well let's get Fred to post something here! Airstream Chick must have serious insight as to road-tripping.

[Jason Perlow]

Here's a site with a lot of Thermoelectric coolers:

http://www.sportchalet.com/family/index.js...tegoryId=712453

I think Fredlet uses the Igloo but not sure.

[maggiethecat]

Another thing we do to make eating on the road more of a treat than it often is: I bake a batch of something we try not to have lurking in a two-person household, like brownies or a couple of kinds of cookies. The proverbial homemade goodies go down well while stuck in traffic around, say, Kalamazoo.