Roadtrip Food Tips

boatsie77

I love going on roadtrips of a week on up to three weeks. We stay mostly in Holiday Inn-type hotels for 1-3 nights; some have microwave and fridge, some just a fridge, some have neither. Some have morning breakfast buffets as well.

I am planning my 1st roadtrip post-MFP--previously I've just pigged out at the breakfast buffets and we stopped at fast food and various casual dining joints all along the way...not to mention the ever-present car "snack stash" of pretzels, candy, Cheez-its and sodas.

Need some help from my fellow MPFers on suggestions for eating/dining during roadtrips that are somewhat healthy under the travel conditions I've outlined above. Also, if the meals can be easily posted to my MFP log that would be a big plus!

Are those frozen microwave dinners like Smart Ones/Weight Watchers/Lean Cusine (which we'd have to buy when we roll into town) a good option? Are there any ones better than others? I'd hate to waste my time and money buying a brand/menu choice that ends up tasting like yuck.

Any suggestions, tips and lessons learned from fellow road warriors is most appreciated.

Thanks so much...you guys rock!!

Ready2Rock206

Bring along a good stash of healthy snacks and bottled water. Can you bring a cooler? That would really expand your options.

From the breakfast buffet fruit and eggs are usually safe bets.

Dinners I'd try for finding healthy restaurant options rather than a Lean Cuisine which will leave you hungry and unsatisfied and hitting the vending machine.

SoDamnHungry

I'm going on a trip myself... I would suggest making yourself some trail mix with nuts and dried fruit to munch on. Dried fruit isn't low cal, but it's slightly better for you than Cheez Its. I also like to bring Trader Joe's fruit leathers with. They're quite tasty and at about 50 calories each, not a bad snack.

julepgirl

For car snacking, pre-portion your snacks.

One of my favorite car snacks is grapes. I buy a bag or two (red seedless for me) and wash them, and then pick every single one of them off the stem and put them into 2-3 cup plastic containers or ziplocs. Yum! and you could refill your containers every so often really easily.

String cheese is a fun snack for the passenger (or for the passenger to feed to the driver) and it takes a while to eat, if you enjoy peeling it.

For when the urge to crunch won't go away, baby carrots are great, or portion something lower-cal, like Popcorners, into one-serving portions in snack bags.

If you're travelling with a cooler, and don't want to eat out, I'd recommend something besides frozen dinners. Like R2R said, they'll just leave you hungry. carry the makings for wraps - buy cooked, sliced chicken breast, sandwich meat, romaine, light cheese, avocado, salsa, and/or tons of other stuff and have all kinds of options. My current favorite is half an avocado, bacon, chicken breast and ranch dressing. YUM!

Another dinner idea is, if you're in a hotel with a microwave (even in the lobby), you can get steamfresh bags and steam all kinds of veggies (and fish, I think!) and I'm not sure if they tell you this, but you can totally rinse those bags out and reuse them a lot of times.

You can buy white rice from a chinese joint cheap, add your steamed fish and veggies and you have an awesomely healthy dinner.

julepgirl

Ms Hungry reminded me of something awesome. Trader Joes has dehydrated blueberries, strawberries and bananas. They're yum!

emilypino

I love Lean Cuisines/Smartones/Healthy Choice meals! But, they are small. What I love to do is mix a bunch of vegetables into the boxed meal when it's done heating up, then put a portion of veggies on the side of the meal too! That way, it's more food and it keeps you fuller with the extra veggies!

WendyTerry420

I love Lean Cuisines/Smartones/Healthy Choice meals! But, they are small. What I love to do is mix a bunch of vegetables into the boxed meal when it's done heating up, then put a portion of veggies on the side of the meal too! That way, it's more food and it keeps you fuller with the extra veggies!

I do this too! Those dinners are always WAY short on veggies!

michmill98

First off - make space for an easily reachable cooler inside your vehicle. Stock cooler with water, string cheese or laughing cow cheeses (the ones with the wax coating), hard boiled eggs (already peeled to cut down on the mess), grapes, fresh veggies, etc. If you have space, add some sandwich fixings or hummus. Pre-portion the grapes and veggies so you know how much to log in MFP. You can use ice packs (refreeze when possible) or buy ice during your trip as needed.

Then add a basket/crate for non-perishable items such as gum, nuts, apples, bananas, raisins/dried fruit (just watch portion sizes), healthier cracker options (we love triscuits and the Blue Diamond nut thins), baked goldfish crackers, jerky, single serve bags of pretzels or baked chips, microwave popcorn (for the hotel room) etc. Don't forget the roll of paper towels, wet ones/hand cleaner, and a trash bag!

Go to restaurants instead of eating frozen meals - most of them are tasteless or high in sodium and leave me hungrier later anyway. Just use common sense when ordering - grilled or baked vs fried, steamed veggies instead of french fries, etc. A shared appetizer and a bowl of quality soup can be dinner too. A lot of chains have healthier options marked on their menu but don't feel like you're limited to only those things or only eating at chains. I've found some great restaurants that aren't chains and can still eat healthy at them. Growing up, we almost always had a picnic for lunch (when the weather permitted) during our road trips - sandwiches, chips, and fruit.

Only eat when you're truly hungry - not just when you're bored with the drive. Stop and walk around every few hours too. Since you'll have access to a vehicle, it means you'll be able to stop at a grocery store to replenish a lot of your stash as needed.