Emergency Food Items

[mrsadm]

I was at the Cincinnati airport earlier this week and between flights, tried to grab lunch at the Subway there. I ordered a cheesesteak sandwich (the quality of which I'll leave to your imagination) and asked for ketchup (what's a cheesesteak wi/out ketchup?) and the girl told me they DIDN"T HAVE ANY. I could have mayo, dressings, pickles, etc. etc. but no ketchup.

So now I'm thinking I need to pack a couple of those little packets of ketchup to make an inedible sandwich into something less-than-inedible.

I also always carry tea bags, after a visit to Au Bon Pain revealed a selection of Herbal Mint, Lemon, Raspberry and other teas but nothing resembling a standard Tetley style orange pekoe.

I also carry Splenda packets as most places still only have saccherin based sweeteners.

Lately I've been packing one of those little Vendage 3-glass wine boxes in case I arrive in a dry county in Texas or in Germany on a Sunday when everything is closed.

What food items do you pack when traveling?

[Daniel]

I have a bottle of tabasco and salt in my briefcase...

[Artichoke]

I never travel without mini bottles of Tabasco, I keep them in my toiletry case. While technically not a food item, I also never travel without my flask, usually filled with either Kettle One or Lagavulin. McCormick's black peppercorn grinder and sea salt grinder are good as well.

[jsolomon]

Hmm... I travel with... cash. Occasionally coffee. But, too many military years have rendered all food nutritious and filling, even if somewhat distasteful.

But, if I were to have something always with me, it would be a thermos of good coffee.

[Anonymouze]

Always at least 1 to 2 bottles of water depending on trip length. If I'm staying away from home I pack a case of coke because I'm a heavy-duty coke addict! (SODA folks... SODA!)

[Milagai]

Since I'm "traveling with kids", I am like Napoleon:

my army marches on its stomach.

I have to be prepared at all times with:

water; cheerios in a baggie; cookies in another baggie;

something like cheese sticks or similar; chips.

If on a longer trip, I pack disposable tupperware with:

idlis + chutney OR yogurt-rice (south indian travel friendly staples).

For myself: a tiny baggie of mom-style lemon pickle

(wards off motion sickness, and in general, cures whatever ails you).

Plus I have the metabolism that needs small frequent meals

or I go crazy, so I nosh on whatever the kids are having that's

not sugary (sugar makes me more motion sick).

Milagai

ps: I'm now thinking of adding a small bottle of

red chili powder or similar to my stash, to spice

up bland food (I can't handle bland). I beleive

Zubin Mehta (famous conductor, Parsi origin) did the same.....

Edited June 6, 2006 by Milagai (log)

[Verjuice]

Emer'gen-C Raspberry or Cranberry and multivitamins.

When I went camping in Cappadocia last month, I brought along a few Odwalla bars. They were a nice treat but totally unnecessary. Eh.

I had a vegetarian friend from the States visit me here in Abu Dhabi recently. She brought a huge bag of granola and a container of protein powder.

When I moved to the U.A.E. last year though, I packed a box full of stuff I knew I'd be otherwise living without for a couple of years. Not exactly "emergency food items" but very nice indeed: Sriracha, vanilla beans, New Mexico green chiles, Maldon salt, Ventresca tuna, sherry vinegar and red wine vinegar and champagne vinegar (they don't sell anything that hints at alcohol in markets here), Arrowhwad Mills natural peanut butter and Grade B maple syrup.

My carry-on luggage consisted of my seventeen-pound dog and a tub of white truffle butter packed in dry ice.

[slo_ted]

Packets of red pepper flakes

[Rehovot]

Water. Lots of it.

Candied ginger (ostensibly for motion sickness).

Sesame energy bars.

Chocolate (only in winter; now, it just melts).

Dried fruits or fresh fruit.

Nuts! (Or coated peanuts, to which I'm addicted...)

I'm a walking snack kiosk.

[judiu]

McCormic's It's A Dilly seasoning blend. It has dill, lemon & "seasonings", but no salt. It perks up almost anything savory.

[AmyKay]

I also tend to get a little sick if I don't eat regularly, so I usually have an emergency cliff bar in my bag and water with me. I have recently fallen in love with Lara bars, though, so they are quickly becoming my newest emergency food. They have less protein, but are good!

[SuzySushi]

Since my husband and now my daughter have diabetes, we tend to travel with everything but the kitchen sink!

For plane travel, it's meal bars, bread, crackers, hard cheese, dried fruit, chocolate, juice packs (frozen, to double as an icepack), on-the-go packs of Crystal Light mix, individual aseptic boxes of milk, and water in our carry-ons.

In addition, I'll put a few packages of vacuum-packed udon into our checked luggage. Depending on where we're planning to stay, I may pack coffee (and coffee filters and a single-cup plastic filter holder) and tea as well -- not if we know we're going to be in reasonable distance of a gourmet market, however!

For car travel, it's all of the above, plus stuff we buy on the road, kept in the trunk of our rental car: cans of tuna, fruit, and vegetables ("for emergencies"), more cheese and bread kept in our room, and fresh fruit bought during the day.

For long stays in rental apartments in France, we've packed soy sauce and short grain sushi rice -- not any more, though, because we now know where to get them there.

[purplewiz]

I don't go anywhere without packets of Splenda. I never know when I might need them.

There is also always at least one bottle of water in the car. It's DRY out here. When we have guests along, I make sure there are extras - you never know when you will need them.

For any trip longer than a couple of hours, at least one protein bar for each of us, preferably the Zone bars.

For plane trips: nuts of various sorts, more protein bars, and beef jerky are the staples. I've been known to take along bags of vegetables and cheese sticks, especially if they were going to go bad by the time we got home.

For car trips: the sky's the limit, as we have a powered cooler. It's almost as good as having a fridge along. I love being able to stop at grocery stores along the way and stock up on things like yogurt and blueberries for breakfast.

Marcia.

[TPO]

For short trips, I bring a small cooler with water and soda, and some sort of snack such as trail mix or crackers and cheese.

For long trips, I also have a powered cooler and really fill it up. But if I was to list only the things that qualify as emergency food, they would be:

- Items in case we can't stop for dinner somewhere (canned tuna, canned chicken, bread or crackers, peanut butter, Thai Kitchen instant rice noodles, and other such easily prepared foods)

- Regular and herbal teas and a hot pot in case we are out of water and stuck somewhere where the water doesn't taste good

- Protein bars and trail mix

- Seasonings and such like salt, pepper, hot sauce, and mayonnaise

In addition, we usually bring easy breakfast foods (instant oatmeal, fruit, coffee and French press, cream and sugar) on long trips so we don't need to stop for breakfast.

[Terrasanct]

I used to carry more when I had kids at home. I keep everything in my car since I'm in it so often, including change of clothing, toiletries, duct tape, matches, picnic supplies, etc. I always keep a very sharp paring knife (in a case) in my glove compartment. I take water with me everywhere, and some packets of Splenda, like a few other people mentioned. If I want some dessert I can buy plain yogurt and unsweetened berries, and the Splenda is nice to have. Always have a can of nuts in the car because they stay good. On a Sunday drive, Zone bars for the hubby and South Beach peanut butter bars for me. Sometimes jerky, too.

The only problem is that he can't eat a Zone bar without coffee, so I suspect he'd starve rather than have it with water.

[liamsaunt]

For plane travel I usually have a bottle of water, an orange, a few crackers, and a small piece of good chocolate.

We're soon leaving for a vacation on an island where everything is shipped in and therefore expensive. We will have a kitchen in our rental house, so I am packing into our checked luggage an assortment of spices, repacked into labeled .5 oz. tins, a pepper grinder, salt, olive oil, the tea we like, a few bottles of wine, a sharp knife, and a corkscrew.

[suzilightning]

in each car's glove box there are chopsticks, plastic cutlery and a corkscrew and church key.

on trips i pack sandwiches, cookies, chips of some sort and water and a sports drink - inevitably 1/2 an hour after we start out i hear "what do we have to eat?" from johnnybird

during the hawkwatch i have in my trunk a small box with: South Beach Diet cranberry almond bars, fruit snacks like fruit leather,cookies for when john stops by, granola and the very important chocolate - in our case fudgy bourbon brownies. i bring for my breakfast and lunch vanilla soy youghurt, fresh fruit, the makings of tomato sandwiches or chicken waldorf salad and water - or in coleer months - a thermos of coffee.

the rest of the year there is dried fruit, the cranberry almond bars and fruit snacks along with bottles of water.

[dvs]

what is this "powered cooler" of which you speak? can anyone link me to a good one?

[jsolomon]

My car doesn't have a glove box, so I guess I'm going to have to starve...or find an appropriate coffee shop.

[mizducky]

My standard road rations these days: low-fat breakfast bars; dried fruit; bottled water; and yes, the dreaded celery sticks and baby carrots (not half bad if they're really fresh).

[TPO]

what is this "powered cooler" of which you speak? can anyone link me to a good one? 

←

Mine is a Coleman, although it's an older model that doesn't have the "vertical" option. It plugs into the cigarette lighter so it doesn't need ice. It is great for long trips. We also have the convertor to plug it in to an electrical outlet, so we can pack it up the day before a trip, and if our trip involves hotel rooms we can bring it into the room at night and keep everything cold.

Edited June 7, 2006 by TPO (log)

[Vanessa L.]

I guess it really depends on what kind of travelling you're talking about. If we're talking North American road trip I stick with fruits, bottles of water and BEEF JERKY! It is a haven of protein in the sugar and starch world of unsatisfying snack foods.

If we're talking backpacking: peanut butter, Veggiemite, a bottle of the local hot sauce and green tea are what usually end of filling my pack. For the long bus trips in Latin America my boyfriend and I would stop by a local bakery (called the panaderia) and stock up on both savoury and sweet. I can still remember their cheese pastries and palmiers. Yum.

[johnsmith45678]

Cash/card is my emergency food item.

If I'm going on a road trip, I fill a cooler with sandwich stuff, fruits, and whatever else; then refill as needed. For breakfast I pack instant coffee and instant oatmeal (and a water heater). I usually buy dinner. If camping, I load up on Mountain House meal packages.

When flying, I take no food. But if I can find a small water heater, I would probably do the same breakfast routine.

[mrsadm]

what is this "powered cooler" of which you speak? can anyone link me to a good one? 

←

Last summer I found a great mini-fridge at Target which can plug into either a regular electrical outlet, or with an adapter, into the car cigarette lighter. So you pack your minifridge (pre-cooled is a good idea), move to the car and plug in the lighter. When you arrive at your motel, you pick up the fridge by the handle and take into your room, then plug into the wall outlet.

I got tired of hotels/motels charging $5-10 a day for a small fridge.

I bought mine at end-of-season last year for about $50. How sublime is that?

[CKatCook]

I usually take nothing. Half the fun of traveling for me is the "road food" I call it.