Food for traveling

Submitted by HighMaintenanceMom on May 17, 2006 - 22:13.

I've been traveling for work a lot in the past few months and have been trying to find a way to eat the same types of food I eat at home. Taking food on the plane and then going to a supermarket when I land has been working well for my past three trips. Because I eat every two to three hours and I try not to eat refined flour or sugar, having my own food during workshops is important...

On my flight out I often put items in a bag with ice packs so I can bring sandwiches and fruit. Frozen items also work well such as a small container of frozen corn or frozen muffins. It's fun to eat and keeps food near it cool. I've also found that not every supermarket has the whole wheat no high fructose corn syrup bread I like so I've started to bring whole wheat pita and my favorite cereal.

Items I bring with me because they are often hard to find:

  • My favorite cereal (Kashi Go Lean) in a ziploc bag
  • Whole wheat pita bread (it's flat so it doesn't get too mushed) and whole wheat crackers or pretzels
  • Peanut butter Luna bars (they have the lowest sugar I could find for a bar while providing protein)
  • Fruit for the plane
  • A vegetable for the plane
  • Two bottles of water
  • Plastic utensils
  • A few ziploc plastic bags

Items I purchase when I land:

  • Carrots - often in the snack packs because they are easier to travel with. If I have enough ziploc bags then I will buy a regular size bag
  • Apples and bananas or other fruit that doesn't require a refrigerator
  • Peanut butter AND/OR
  • Soy cheese or goat cheese, if available AND/OR
  • Tuna fish (there are now packets you can buy that are single servings)
  • Crackers, cereal, cereal bars, etc. if I've forgotten to bring it or if the store has something fun.

Sometimes I end up bringing too much food, which makes my bags are awkward and heavy. I've also been known to bring softer foods that would get mushed in my bags (muffins, nectarines, etc). My goal for the next trip with the kids is to reduce the amount of food that ends up smushed at the bottom of my purse or spilled on me.

( categories: Food | Travel )
Food for traveling
Submitted by tld on May 19, 2006 - 18:03.

I do similar items. I've always been an "eat small snacks/meals every few hours" person. I'd always bring snacks with me in my bag to long meetings. And I've always preferred taking my own snacks/food when traveling rather than airport food, plane food etc. When I was pregnant eating every few hours was a must, and also while nursing. Now that we have J I take food for him when traveling, as well as the adults. That way we have snacks to keep our energy up, to deal with delays, stress etc. and aren't forced to grab something we'd prefer not to have in our systems!

When we get somewhere I go out to the grocery store so we have items we are used to. When I travel I always look up and have directions, hours etc. to the local Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Sprouts type stores in advance and keep it with all my other travel info. We just got back from Moab, Utah. My girlfriend was there first so she picked up the basics for me, and they were already in our fridge when we checked in which was a great help. I then went to their local store and picked up a weeks worth of food for our vacation, hikes etc. They didn't have a chain type natural food store, but had a local small one that had everything we needed. We are going to Atlanta in June and I've already looked up the closest WF.

Another thing I bring is seeds or nuts - pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds or shelled pistaccios or almonds or walnuts or whatever. We usually buy unsalted and if we want a little touch of salt to any of them we add it into a large bag of seeds/nuts so it's pretty diluted. If you prefer salted, it just means probably drinking more water while flying.

Sort of related... Jake and I eat oatmeal for breakfast almost everyday. What I do to help speed up the preparation is that on the weekends I measure out 14-15 baggies with oatmeal and a little brown sugar. So they are pre measured and then in the a.m. all I have to do is put my packet in water, and boil. I add sliced almonds after it's cooked. Sometimes blueberries. It's like the prepared oatmeal you buy, but not as processed - its organic 5 minute oats, a bit of org brown sugar. So when I travel I am sure to bring those packets with. Enough for each day. My husband and J eat Uncle Sams cereal with a bit of coconut and raisins. So sometimes when traveling we pre-measure those too. Uncle Sams is toasted whole wheat flakes and whole flaxseed. It's low glycemic index so great for breakfast.

J has never had fast food and very limited processed food, which is relatively easy at home. I think planning ahead and bringing snacks along when we travel helps to avoid getting into a bind at airports, on drives, planes, new cities when we land.

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