Food You Eat That Car Makers Would Hate You For

[Katie Meadow]

We don't eat in the car. Maybe a cold drink if the weather is really hot. On car-trips, where most of the driving is freeway driving, we stop at rest-stops that have shady tables. We find a table that is farther away from the bathrooms and the parking lot, and we pack the best food we can manage in a cooler, plastic utensils and plates that are washable and reusable. We rinse them best we can at the water fountain and wash them once we get to our hotel, motel, whatever. Lots of zip-lock bags and napkins. And if we had a dog with us, that was far easier than trying to stop at a restaurant.

We take fruit, hard cheese, crackers, peanut butter, whatever is moderately durable on the road and whatever can hopefully last through the night. It isn't as if we have some shiny new vehicle, although I really don't want to add crumbs to my daytime environment. Part of it may be I just don't really enjoy my food if I'm trying to do something else at the same time. And I hate spending money on lousy fast food. If we go through an old main street and see a promising diner or cafe we might stop there, but how often is that really a great experience?

When we were in France traveling by car we bought a great set of light-weight colorful plastic plates along with a serrated tomato knife w/plastic handle that has proven invaluable for traveling. And I always have a Swiss Army knife along for the ride. I'm going to keep those plates forever. I can't remember what I used to do to pacify my daughter when she was little in the car. I must have carried along something that wasn't too messy so she could get her carbs, juice boxes and the like.

[Deryn]

If I were to stop to eat while on one of my trips, I would take too long to get where I am going. And I would not be able to time my trips to miss the worst traffic hours near the large cities - a problem from Washington DC and on up the east coast. And my dog's medicines would unfortunately be ruined by the time I got to my destination where I can put them in a proper fridge again. I am jealous of those of you who somehow have figured out how to enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

 

But, though I don't go in to eat anywhere along my route, I also do not stop at fast food places either, despite them being at every gas station from here to Timbuctoo. The one exception to that is that I will occasionally pick up a sandwich at Subway - with little to no meat but as many vegetables and pickles (hot spicy ones) as I can get them to fit into the bun. I get them to cut the bun in small (usually 2-bite) pieces so I can safely handle it while driving. I crave vegetables when driving, not sure why that is. Deep fried foods or hamburgers and fries just sit in my stomach like lumps so I avoid those, even when not travelling, but especially when travelling.

 

If I am on a trip longer than a day (which most of them are - most are now 3-4 days straight through, with very little sleep), I stop at grocery stores if I can find one close by the highway and buy fresh ingredients like guacamole, pico de gallo, salad makings, fresh fruit and hummus to put together my own noshes (along with a rotisserie chicken for the dog).

 

Decent restaurants (even if I liked eating alone, had time to do so and could leave my dog in the car for that long) are not often to be found within feet of the main highway (or if they are, I don't know where to find them) but I do try to eat healthily when I am travelling despite not having a way to cook for myself on a trip.

 

By the 3rd day of driving I often get tired, so when going north along the coast when it is not winter or otherwise inclement weather, I do sometimes deek off the main highway and follow the coastal/old Post road for a bit hoping to pick up more gourmet fare like a fresh lobster roll. And I may sit for a few minutes in the shade then too to savour that treat. Coming south I have never found a place that was interesting enough to make a special stop at for a meal of any kind.

 

Maybe someday, I can go on a leisurely vacation and re-learn how to enjoy the journey more. I cannot recall a car trip yet in the past 30 years though that was not on a deadline of some kind.   It used to be fun. Not so much so nowadays.

[FauxPas]

I will be leaving work in a few minutes. I realized there is one other thing that I regularly eat in the car. String cheese after I get on the road.

 

Ha, string cheese is one of the things I always pack in a cooler for road trips. Along with peeled hard-boiled eggs and apples/pears, maybe carrots. Sometimes the BabyBel cheeses. My husband does more of the driving, so I can open the packaging and pass it to him. 

[ChrisTaylor]

At all times I have a bottle of hot sauce in the dash console. I use it regularly. I do it because I'm a fundamentally bad person who drives while eating.

[Porthos]

I do it because I'm a fundamentally bad person who drives while eating.

 

That means that I am also a fundementally bad person because I have eaten while driving since 1971. But I can live with that.

[palo]

Snacks aside, I dislike eating in a vehicle whether as the driver or a passenger. It's the discomfort and not enjoying the food as well as I could if I was at a table. Even while stopped, the lack of a "traditional" dining setting disturbs my enjoyment of the food. I also do not eat while standing in the kitchen, have to sit.

Having said that, there are exceptions like time constraints that will force me to eat in the car.

A whole new topic would be drive-through nightmares.

p

[Lindacakes]

I am a fastidious person, and it would be compatible with my personality to say I make it a rule to never eat in the car in order to uphold a variety of principles I hold dear.

 

However, this just isn't true.

 

I eat in the car.  I enjoy eating in the car.  I keep a little zipper case with two sets of stainless steel travel cutlery, a folding knife, a corkscrew, and a tiny salt and pepper on a keyring.  That's just there.  If I am thinking, there will be a blanket, a canteen and enamel mugs.

 

I get off work and I'm hungry.  I don't have a pet currently and no particular reason to go home so I'll stop for food.  I'll get tacos.  I'll get sushi.  I'll get a falafel.  I'll get donuts.  And I'll listen to the radio and eat in the car.  Just like that.  Chomp chomp chomp, no destination. 

 

If I was alone, I likely would not do this.  I have a partner in crime.  I have developed a distaste for restaurants, I would rather eat in the car.  And I've gotten quite expert at Snack Bags which is a little drawstring bag I got that I carry EVERYWHERE with snacks in it.  Work, airplane, travel.

 

And yes, I need to lose a few.