Here are some things I am doing to help with food while traveling as eating out every meal costs quite a bit as well as not being very healthy. When we travel, I always pack a cooler. We almost always stay in a hotel that has a mini-fridge too which always is a great asset when traveling. But even if we don't get one we have the cooler. I have those ice bricks and love them as they keep the food colder longer than ice cubes. I like that I can put those bricks into the mini-fridge - freezer section to have frozen and ready for our return trip.
So this is what I pack when traveling....
I pack small snack size ziplocks with grapes, sliced/cubed cheese or string cheese, pickles, baby carrots, baby peppers, or sliced peppers. I then take those little bags and put in a bigger ziplock, so that I just don't have lots of little bags floating around the ice. I put little containers of ranch dressing or bean dip to dunk veggies. I bring other fruit with us - bananas and apples with us too. Make sure you wash all fruits and veggies before you go so you can eat in the car easily.
Other traveling snacks I pack at times are trail mix or crackers that I put in snack size ziplocks for portion control as welly as just easier to have a little bag then a box or bigger bag. For something sweet, I will make cookies or bars so that we aren't picking up candy bar or other sweet treats. Sometimes of course we indulge as our area doesn't have Dunkin Donuts so when in a town that has one we usually do part take in the puffy pillows of goodness.
For breakfasts, I add some containers of yogurt to the cooler and bake some muffins. I also try to make at least the first day of travel meals - lunch and dinner - if not a couple of lunches. Such as packing sandwich/wrap makings - bread/tortilla shells and lunch meat, slices of tomato, spinach or lettuce. If I am just planning for one lunch/dinner then I will make up sandwiches for us knowing they will be ate that day. I sometimes make a pasta salad or garden salad with some shredded chicken to top it as alternative. (Extra little tip - if I bring wrap ingredients a quick easy lunch or snack is also using some bean dip/hummus, sliced peppers, tomatoes and spinach on a tortillas. Yums!)
When packing, I also remember to pack silverware including a knife that will cut apples or bread if needed, paper plates, paper towels, baby wipes for sticky fingers, and condiments. I try to keep it down to one salad dressing we both like and one condiment such as Dijon so that I am not having the cooler overloaded with things we will use so little of on the trip. (Extra tip: We have a Sprouts here, but I am pretty sure Whole Foods has them too, but they sell the little almond and healthy Nutella spread in little condiment size packages like you get ketchup in when eating fast food - really nice for apples or crackers on the road.)
We always buy a case of bottled water - to keep hydrated during this hot hot summer and to discourage us from stopping from soda as much. When you pack your silverware, you might throw in a corkscrew also. Sometimes picking up a bottle of wine on the road especially an area that has local wineries is always a nice treat while in a hotel room after a long day of being on the road.
Really, I know that has to be other stuff that could be easily packed and used for trips....please feel free to share your tips!
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