Awesome Road Trip Foods

When I was a kid, I remember taking a road trip with my best friend Amy’s family. It seemed so entertaining to spray cheese whiz into our mouths and chasing it down with soda. We munched on Keebler Elf cookies – the frosted kind – and Ritz crackers. When I grew into a mighty teenager and took road trips without parental supervision, I remember the car feast: candy, cookies, chips, and other convenient grub.

GROSS!

Looking back, I also remember feeling nasty after eating all that garbage. I felt lethargic. My belt felt tighter. My mood sank and my sparkle dulled. My skin was speckled like a painted easter egg with relentless acne.

Salad greens with turkey, zucchini, feta, red onion, sliced peaces, and fried lentils.

Are you someone who assumes that traveling and healthy eating rarely coexist? Do you find that you feel heavier and duller after indulging in the convenient travel foods?

Let’s all admit something to ourselves, if we haven’t already. You can definitely eat like a queen or king while traveling on the road without feeding yourself garbage. If the food you are eating is good, you should feel good after it goes into your hatch. Roadtrips, camping, and airport hopping do not need to be exceptions.

It’s easy.

One of my special gifts is making road trips feel like a royal joy ride for my mouth, mind and tummy. I tote along all healthy foods, like crisp vegetables, sweet watermelon, aged cheese, hummus, and sandwich fixins. What might surprise you is that my traveling companions never complain that they feel hungry or that they are missing out on scrumptious fast foods. That’s because bringing a variety of delicious, nutritious, and fresh foods is incredibly satisfying. And when you’re traveling, you’re probably sitting for most of the day. So eating light, fresh, and fulfilling foods and snacks is important if you’re going to maintain your weight and diet regimen. Plus, you’ll save yourself boatloads of money that it costs when eating out.

Maybe you can split your savings with me for passing on these tips! Hey, that’s not asking for much when you consider how invaluable your health is for creating both time and quality of life.

In the photos below, I’ll share with you one trip I shared with my sister Kate and nephew Sam. We stayed in the same hotel for about a week during her relocation across the country. Her apartment wasn’t ready for her to move into, as she had expected. I’ll also give you the steps I use for making awesome road trip foods successful, easy, and energizing.

Baby Sam loooves awesome road trip foods.

Step 1: Plan ahead for a smoother adventure. Bring these items:

1. Prepare several items before hand. Cut the melon, wash the grapes, prepare sandwiches, and have several pre-washed veggies with you.
2. Enough bowls for the people traveling with you. I bring glassware (or Tupperware) for serving dishes because it is versatile and can also hold leftovers.
3. Utensils, including a small knife (protected with a sheath).
4. A small cutting board.
5. Cloth napkins, and maybe a couple of small towels for messes.
6. A little dish soap. You can also use shampoo in a pinch.
7. A water bottle for each person. This encourages each of you to drink enough and allows you to track how much you are actually drinking.
8. A thermos and/or hot mug if you consume tea or coffee.
9. Your cooler. This is your most important item, because without it, you cannot preserve your food without refrigeration.
10. It may sound obvious, but be sure that the driver’s copilot has easy access to food and food-prep supplies.
11. Baby wipes and hand sanitizer to avoid contaminating food with dirty hands.

Step 2: Keep your food chilled.

Whether it’s in the cooler of your car or campsite, or at your hotel, temperature control is imperative.

Tip: Before booking your hotel, confirm that they can provide you with a mini-fridge. Almost every hotel is happy to accommodate.

Tip: Refill your ice chest holding your food as one of the last things before you check out.

Pre-washed salad, cheese, blueberries, hummus, deli meat, milk, yogurt, peanut butter.

Salad dressing, jam, flaxseed oil supplement, string cheese

Step 3: Organize.

Put respective items where they will be most easily found, without creating clutter and mess.

1. Fridge & freezer for perishable items;
2. Drawer for snacks and “pantry items”, if available;
3. Top of fridge is great for dishes or ripening fruit

This is our chest-of-snacks drawer. Snack bars, dried fruits, tea, bread, crackers and other “misfits” land here.

Sam and Kate like cereal. I like a touch of maple syrup in my yogurt with berries. We all liked the soups, which we heated in the microwave.

A variety of soup, cheerios, and syrup.

Hotel water frequently doesn’t taste good. Having fresh fruit available makes it easy to make smart choices, and they satisfy a sweet tooth. It also helps to encourage you to drink enough.

We also kept a heap of fresh fruit and bottled water around.

I make fruit parfaits on nearly every road trip. They are sweet, satisfying and ridiculously easy to create. This exact parfait wasn’t produced in Corvallis, but actually from a trip Mike and I took to Victoria, British Columbia.

plain yogurt, kiwi, mango, hemp seeds, and a dash of maple syrup.

In another post, I’ll share with you some of the best camping foods Mike and I enjoyed on our honeymoon this summer.

If you forget something, don’t worry. It is usually quite easy, and even fun, to improvise!

Improv tip:

You can turn a frisbee into both a cutting board and a plate, after playing a round of frisbee for exercise, of course.

Now, tell me your story. What lessons have you learned about road trips and foods? What foods work well or not-so-well for traveling? What is a great improvisation trick?

Please post your answers in the comments below.

And please share this post with your pals on social media. I appreciate your support!

Hugs not Drugs,

Frances