Long Car Trip With No Time For Healthy Meals--Help!

sunshyncatra

Stop at grocery stores instead of fast food places. Many grocery stores have salad bars for a quick healthy meal. I would load the cooler with string cheese, fruit, veggies, almond butter, and yogurt.

Annerk1

Starkist does single serve packets of tuna and maybe salmon - available in a variety of flavors - work well as part of a salad or sandwich (I'm GF, so do open faced on a tostada or a GF wrap). Importantly, they don't require refrigeration and aren't too bad on sodium. Beyond that - lots of healthy munchies - fruits and vegetable, air popped popcorn (make a bunch before you leave and package in "single serve" portions - probably about 4 cups per serving). You can also do "lettuce wraps", using lettuce leaves in place of tortillas and "fill" with meat, cheese, veg, etc. Hummus and celery or peanut butter and celery make a nice snack or lunch

Not a tuna fan, but I had forgotten about the salmon--that's a great idea--thanks! I would probably just eat it "naked."

I like the idea of hummus--I could eat that with carrots.

Annerk1

I don't generally eat potatoes, no real nutritional value and far too many carbs for me--I'd rather get my carbs through vegetables and whole grains.

false:
Have you read the label lately?

One medium-size potato has just 110 calories and is absolutely fat-, sodium and cholesterol free, making them downright undeniable for any diet. The power of the potato doesn’t stop there.

POTASSIUM

Potatoes are a good source of potassium…more potassium than a banana.

One medium potato with skin provides 620 milligrams or 18% of the recommended daily value (DV) per serving. Potatoes rank highest for potassium content among the top 20 most frequently consumed raw vegetables and fruits. Potassium is a mineral that is part of every body cell. It helps regulate fluids and mineral balance in and out of cells and in doing so, helps maintain normal blood pressure. Potassium is also vital for transmitting nerve impulses or signals, and in helping muscles contract.

Potassium is a powerful dietary factor that may help lower blood pressure. Unfortunately, few Americans are getting the recommended 4700 milligrams per day of potassium they need. (Potatoes make it easier!)

VITAMIN C

Potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C (45% of the DV), which is more vitamin C than one medium tomato (40% DV) or sweet potato (30% DV).

Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin that acts as an antioxidant stabilizing free radicals, thus helping prevent cellular damage. It aids in collagen production; assists with iron absorption; and helps heal wounds and keep your gums healthy. Vitamin C may help support the body’s immune system.

FIBER

One medium potato with the skin contributes 2 grams of fiber or 8% of the daily value per serving.
Dietary fiber is a complex carbohydrate and is the part of the plant material that cannot be digested and absorbed in the bloodstream. Soluble fiber may help with weight loss as it makes you feel full longer, and research has shown it also may help lower blood cholesterol.

B6

Potatoes are a good source of vitamin B6 with one medium potato providing 10% of the recommended daily value.

Vitamin B6 is a water-soluble vitamin that plays important roles in carbohydrate and protein metabolism. It helps the body make nonessential amino acids needed to make various body proteins; it is a cofactor for several co-enzymes involved in energy metabolism; and is required for the synthesis of hemoglobin – an essential component of red blood cells.

IRON

One medium potato provides 6% of the recommended daily value of iron.

Iron is a major component of hemoglobin that carries oxygen to all parts of the body. Iron also has a critical role within cells assisting in oxygen utilization, enzymatic systems, especially for neural development, and overall cell function everywhere in the body. Thus, iron deficiency affects all body functions, not only through anemia, which appears late in the process of tissue iron deficits.

Knock yourself out--I get all of those nutrients from other sources that are more appealing and are lower in carbs.

Annerk1

You are right on the route TX to Phoenix, sounds like you are going to be on I10, and travel stops for gas is going to be your main options. SO fast food options, not the best.

Two things.

1.At the "Subway" / gas stop locations, have them make salads and not sandwiches, and add the chicken (or turkey) to the salad for the protein. Skip the fatty dressing.

Good idea. I can bring along some low fat balsamic and olive oil dressing to use.

2. Fill your cooler. Even if you are on the road for 6 days, it is easy to cook and prepare meals and keep them in the cooler.

Figure out a schedule for the days you are going to be on the road, and the menu that you are going to want to eat.
Then take 1/2 a day and cook it all. Bag it up, and throw it in the cooler. keep the ice fresh 2x a day and you will be fine. That way you know what you are going to have each and every meal, because you planned it out.
No different from going shopping and putting in in your fridge at home, you just have a cooler instead of a fridge.

If you are an oatmeal friend, then all the travel stops have hot water, so you can make this.
In fact, unless you are driving straight through, you will be spending the night some place, so breakfast should be taken care of there, or some place close by, so you are really only looking at 2x meals a day and snacks... easy to do in a large cooler.

We are traveling for two weeks. The cooler I'm bringing wouldn't be large enough to hold that many meals, and there would be no way to heat them.

I'll be having oatmeal for breakfast most mornings at our hotels.

Nutterbeanie

fair enough. I was just defending the all mighty potato

I loved your info. I have heard far too many mean things said about potatoes lately but I still maintain that they are healthy

Hbazzell

I have driven accros country a lot. I take a cooler with healthy food in it.

kikiboniki

fair enough. I was just defending the all mighty potato

I loved your info. I have heard far too many mean things said about potatoes lately but I still maintain that they are healthy

thank you. I khow that they are in higher in carbs, but since I don't believe that carbs are the enemy. I LOVE MYSELF SOME TATERS.

singer201

My mom and I just finished an extended car trip with several all-day drives. We also eat gluten-free, so fast food stops were not an option. We packed fruit (fresh and home-canned), cut-up veggies, hard-boiled eggs, pre-cooked bacon, baked chicken pieces, nuts and nut bars, rice crackers, cheese cubes, beef jerky, home-made pudding in single-serve containers, and crustless quiche portions (for my breakfasts--I don't do cereal). I packed a couple of small dishes, spoons, and napkins. I think our travel food was less expensive, healthier, and more convenient than stopping for what was available along the way.

kingscrown

Get Tosca Reno's book Recharged. She totally tells you how to pack a cooler and has menus of yummy thing to pack it with. I haven't taken any long trips, but I have longs days where I need to bring food. It's really helped me have healthy choices, so when that irresistible choice shows up you can have one with no guilt. A lot of the time my coworkers see my food and ask me where on the buffet table I got it. I feel kind of bad unintentionally teasing them sometimes.

camrunner

I mostly eat gum and coffee on road trips.

And Clif bars! I'm pretty lazy... then again, I really don't get hungry if I'm just driving all day.