I have a long (20+ hours) road trip coming up, and one of the worst parts of long drives is having to eat in restaurants all the time, and I can’t bear the thought of snacking on chips and cookies the entire way. What sort of foods would you recommend that are quick and easy to prepare, nutritious, and tasty? We’ll be taking an ice chest, so items that need to stay cold are okay.
I’ve already considered sandwich fixings. How long can oranges stay good if they are already peeled and divided? What other fruit can be made into ready-to-eat snacks? If we could bypass entire meals without having to eat in a restaurant, that would be terrific.
I just had to make two very lengthy road trips, and here’s what I brought:
[ul]
[li]Apples[/li][li]Oranges, cut into sections, but not peeled[/li][li]Bananas[/li][li]Potato chips[/li][li]Bottled water[/li][li]Malted milk balls (gotta have something sweet)[/li][/ul]
I still stopped for meals, but I made sure they were at least healthy meals. That way, I got a good break in.
Also, keep caffeine to a minimum and drink LOTS of water. Iced tea is okay too, as is juice.
I always bring a couple of huge bottles of water–it’s nice to take a big swig of cold water when you’re getting a little tired. Another food that’s worked for me as a good snack is dried fruit–I like craisins and dried apricots, but there’s dried pineapple, dried peaches, and other fruits as well.
Or, buy the little containers of mandarin oranges/pineapple/etc (Dole makes them). They make travelling easy.
GORP is manna on long trips, IMO. Keeps ya going.
Another idea with the water: A few days before you leave, fill the bottles up and pop them in the freezer. That way you not only have them as additional ice packs, but VERY cold water as they melt.
Personally, I just take a 1/2 liter bottle of Dr. Pepper or Iced Tea with me for caffine and just eat when I stop, but when I travel with the family, sucking candies are always on the menu. Stuff like Starbursts, caramel, those little Broch’s assorted candies and gum. Stuff that keeps you focused on the act of consuming them. It keeps you focused a bit, which helps you stay alert, and they last longer than foods you simply eat.
Especially if you keep the olive load under the rear window on that little shelf thing (let it warm up in the sun) and keep the chocolate milk ice cold.
Keeps well.
Good chew factor.
High protein/low fat and no carbs to make you sleeeeeepy.
Ubiquitous at road stops.
Use caution if sodium is an issue.
(Avoid Pemmican brand.)
Best road food ever: my friend Alan’s homemade chocolate-covered espresso beans. He worked in a cafe at the time, and roasted the beans himself. They got us from Chicago to lovely Waldoboro, Maine, in record time.
Of course, by the time we got back, I couldn’t stand the sight of the damn things.
My last long trip (12hrs, alone) I brought along a box of breakfast bars the ones with “milk”. When I’d get hungry, just peel open a bar or two, or three and I was all set. Only stopped once to eat a real meal. They were also remarkably crumb-free, a nice benefit. Fig Newtons are good that way too, low crumb quotient.
I also avoided all liquids early in the trip, so that I could drink water and coffee later in the trip and not have to pee 10 times.
Whenever I have to drive to upstate NY I pack a cooler. I’ll generally put in three or four Nantucket Nectar Half and Halfs and a jar of Claussen garlic dill pickles. I’ll also bring a bag of dried cherries for something sweet and a pack of cinnamon gum to get rid of pickle breath. ;> It works for me, pickles rule.
Lots of good suggestions here. I did a 4000 mile road trip with my wife recently. Microwaved popcorn in a bag was my fave. We also carried a one-burner camping stove and a percolator coffee pot. Twice a day we’d stop at some nice rest stop, jump out of the car, put on a pot to brew, do some bouncing and stretching, and have steaming hot perked coffee.
Don’ts: If you open a bag of peanuts in the shell in your car you might just as well pour them all over yourself and in your lap, save time. Don’t throw anything out the car window, banana peels, apple cores, that might attract animals onto the road to get sqwarshed.
My grandparents are big fans of making up a whole bunch of little sandwiches.
They buy a bag of 24-count dollar buns (uhh…that’s what they call them here, at least - little hamburger buns about two inches across.) and make up ham & cheese or summer sausage & cheese sandwiches, then stick them in a small cooler. When the ex and I were heading back to the east coast they did this for us, and it really does work out pretty good - they’re easy to eat one-handed.
I’ve done the Colorado-Michigan road trip many times. Takes about 24 hours total. My favorite thing to do was to get a bag of buns - I use those long french mini-baguette things that seem to be available anywhere. Make 'em into sandwiches, whatever’s your favorite. I usually do half roast beef, half turkey or ham. Then wrap each one with plastic wrap, and put 'em back into the bag the buns came in. After several hours in the ice chest, I actually think they get better - the flavors meld, they’re nice and cold, yummmmy!
I also take lots of water, both fizzy water and regular water. And cokes, for when you get sleepy.
Surely I’m not the only one with memories of sitting on the tailgate of the station wagon, eating lunches made from the contents of an ice chest, on family vacations way back when?
In case I am, a bit of advice: wrap your lunchmeats well, and avoid the stinky ones. My memory claims that every blipping thing in the ice chest smelled and tasted like bologna by the time we actually ate lunch. Including the milk. Eeew. But if you choose carefully, it’s a good alternative; a big, fat, freshly made sandwich, a cold drink, some fruit, and maybe chips and/or a couple of cookies makes a satisfying and reasonably nutritious meal that beats the hell out of fast food or crowded service-plaza restaurants.