As mentioned in this thread, the family is heading on a cross-country road trip to visit my family in Alberta. We will be driving approximately 2300 miles, and have only a cooler (and will keep ice in it) to keep our food chilled.
What sort of foods will keep alright for three days? We are camping the first two nights, but on the third night, we will have refrigeration at our hotel. We just want to be able to have quick breakfasts, lunches, and snacks - nothing fancy, and we don’t plan to bring any cooking gear with us. I am pregnant, and will need to have milk, and fruit and vegetables. Buying them fresh each day is not a problem.
I highly recomend Landjaeger beef snacks. They rock! They can usually be bought at any deli. Safeway and Overwaitea often have them. I buy mine at Costco.
Twizlers or nibs are good for snaking on as well. If you were travelling in the states, I would recomend Spree candy as well.
Our usual travel food includes bread, pre-sliced kielbasa in ziplock bags, pre-sliced cheese, carrots, a jar of peanuts, beef jerky, and lots of water.
Bread, string cheese, chips, salsa, snap peas/baby carrots, oranges/apples, peanut butter, jelly, and tomatoes are all things that will keep OK in a cooler (well, no need to cool the chips), and are all things that I would bring on a similar road trip. If you’re a meat eater, lunch meat will also keep pretty well in a cooler and, along with mustard/salsa, tomatoes, and maybe a block of cheese, will help contribute to a good sandwich. PBJ is a good standby.
One GREAT thing this time of year are sweet cherries. Buy a few pounds of 'em and keep 'em in the ice chest. Delicious snacks that are easy to eat while driving. Unlike bananas and other soft fruit, they tend to stay good even when treated less-than-gently.
Another idea: Before you leave, buy a bag of oblong buns and make sandwiches - any kind you like. Ham/roast beef/turkey/whatever. I usually buy some good cheese to have on them too, and onions and lettuce and mustard and whatever you like. Wrap them individually in plastic wrap and put them back in the bag the buns came in. Easy to keep in the ice chest and easy to pull out when you’re hungry. For some reason, these taste better on the road.
Also fun: pick up local food on the way. If you’re going through Wisconsin, for example, stop and pick up some string cheese and beef sticks. Fresh fruit is another good one - check out those farmer’s markets you see along the way. The quality is also better than what you can find at gas stations, and if you’re anything like me you can never find grocery stores while on the road.
there is a wee ‘fridge’ that plugs into your cars lighter. it is big enough to fit a six pack of beverages. i have seen it in cvs for about 30 dollars.
i got one for my library, keeps chocolate and fresh fruit just right.
on the cooler front:
freeze bottles of water to keep things cool, very nice for drinking as well. fruits should do well for a day or two. mayo and salad dressings are the only things i would worry about. if you need those items get them in sealed packs like at fast food places. as far as milk… it depends on how much y’all think you will go through. milk does freeze, so if you want to go with a gallon and some cereal, freezing the gallon first will help.
as long as the cooler isn’t in direct sunlight it will do really well. a light blanket or afgan folded on top will help.
i doubt y’all are gonna be using the heater much so anything in with y’all should be fine.
My tip: be sure to bring several gallon-sized ziploc bags to keep your food in. When the ice melts in the cooler you don’t want the lunch meat or cheese or fruit getting all wet do you? Even if you use frozen water bottles or “ice packs” they still sweat.
Ohhhh, yeah. I tried that one time. It was not very tasty. I think we’ll stick to buying milk each morning. We (my son and I) will go through a half-gallon in a day, probably, between drinking and cereal. I’m really freaky about getting enough calcium into me.
The number one contender is hard boiled eggs. Kept cool they will last for a lot longer than you will be on the road. Apples, carrots, celery also all keep well. I’m with Ethilrist on the pre-sliced kielbasa. We also buy a summer sausage and a dry salami or pepperoni. Hard cheeses like, Swiss, Cheddar, Provolone, or jack will keep.
If you will stop to eat:
With a can of tuna and a few small plastic packets of mayo, mustard and relish you can make an individual quantity of an edible tuna salad on the spot, with no refrigeration required. And last, if you like them, sardines, smoked oysters or Vienna sausage can be eaten from straight from the can.
I’m surprised your taste buds can tell between Parmalat milk and regular milk. Are you sure you aren’t mistaking it for soy milk or rice milk (both of which come in similar containers)? With Parmalat you would have the added advantage of buying as much as you think you might need before you start traveling, and only have to stick the container in the cooler once it’s opened. (I would recommend a Rubbermaid bottle to prevent spillage.)
In any event, you can easily keep regular milk in an ice-filled cooler for a couple of days. Cold cuts and the like also hold up very well. The key thing to remember is to drain the meltwater out of your cooler each day, and top off with more ice if needed. It may seem counterintuitive, but if you leave the meltwater in your cooler, the ice will melt more quickly and your food will not stay as cold. I used to camp out for a week at a stretch while doing field work, and I never ran into problems this way (and the ice lasted about 4-5 days, too).
My traditional “road food” supply shopping list usually includes:
Good Beef Jerky (look in IMHO for style/brand recommendations)
Granola bars
Pop Tarts (this is the only time I eat pop tarts)
Dried Fruit, esp. Dates and Apricots
Bananas
Almonds and/or cashews
Those little cinnamon pecan twirl buns
String Cheese (or lately, “GoGurt”)
and a six pack of each of the following for each two person-days of travel:
Bottled Water
Mountain Dew or Dr. Pepper (for the caffeine)
Boxed Juice or Chocolate Milk (Hershey’s makes boxed chocomilk, Yum!)
None of this needs refrigeration or cooking, and it’s all healthy and balanced except maybe a bit high in sugars. You can bring ice for the drinks if you like, but I don’t bother. The thing about all of these foods is that you can eat/drink them while driving, and there’s enough variety that you can subsist on it for nearly a week without getting bored if you supplement it on the way with visits to local delis or restaurants – avoid national chains and look for local “flavor.”
Now, on the opposite extreme, my wife will slice fresh fruit, chop vegetable sticks, put chips into baggies, and make sandwiches and go all out to prepare food to go in a cooler. And to eat, we have to stop and get out and set a table and basically stop the trip so we can dine. If you go that route, you might as well mix up some tater salad and bring a bottle of wine, because you’re not eating on the road, you’re having a picnic.
Some meals she’s premade and packed:
Goat cheese, basil and sliced tomato sandwiches on Baguettes. Oil and balsamic vinegar dressing – no mayo. Salt and pepper to taste. (This Rocks!)
Pate, cornishons, olives, mustard, and assorted smoked cheese platters, with assorted crackers.
Cold fried chicken, potato salad, and cornbread with whipped honey butter.
Seven-layer dip (avocado, salsa, cream cheese, refried beans, taco meat, etc, all layered in one container) with chips (or my fave, Frito’s scoops).
Fixin’s for make-on-the-spot salad. For instance, my fave is taco salad with romine, crumbled tortilla chips, salsa, ranch dressing, seasoned ground beef, drained kidney beans, and chopped tomatos. She puts all the ingredients in baggies and jars, and the lettuce in a big tupperware bowl. Then all she has to do is dump the stuff in with the lettuce, toss well, and serve.
Yes, very certain. I don’t know why, but I can tell the difference. We’ll just buy fresh (supermarket) milk daily. I plan to buy some fresh fruit and veggies along the way daily, anyway.
Jeff Olsen: Yeah, it’s not a matter of small, or convenient. We can certainly take cooking things with us, but as we plan to eat a full restaurant meal every evening, it’s just not worth it to lug the stuff along. We’ll be fine with bagels and cereal and fruit in the morning, and other road things at lunch.
bughunter: I like your wife’s style. However, we wouldn’t stop for a big spread, as Dave’s pretty adept at eating and driving. He’s been driving to meet clients for the past seven years or so. The man could probably shave while driving, too.
About 20 years ago, my boys and I drove all over hellandgone (Chicago all through the southwest, up to San Francisco and back) - close to 3,000 miles. We found that until we finally tired of it - after more than two weeks on the road -GORP was an ideal snack. You can make a lot of different versions, it travels well, you can nibble on a little or a lot, it’s got lots of desirable vitamins and minerals, including, no doubt, folic acid, and it goes with everything. Some folks call it trail mix. Whatever - it’s a great trip food. xo C.