Road trip food

[Darby]

My husband and I are driving to visit my in-laws for Thanksgiving and it's about a 12 hour drive. Does anyone have any ideas for food to take on the road? We do have a cooler we can take.

Thanks,
Darby

[LoriM]

I typically make a wrap sandwich for each of us, and wrap them in a paper towel and then clear plastic wrap to keep them moist. We like a wide variety of toppings, so hummus, rice, spinach, red bell pepper strips, cucumber strips or broccoli slaw are all favorites. Then I include fresh fruit (2-3 pieces each), bottles of water, a thermos of hot tea or Teeccino (herbal coffee). We also bring whole wheat crackers or homemade muffins. Cold sweet potato is another favorite.

Then, we always stop for one meal "on the road" if it's going to be a 10-12 hour drive. Wendy's baked potatoes are a nice fast food option, but Italian restaurants usually offer some pasta and veg option that is "bulkier" and so we look for that too. Asian restaurants (Thai, Chinese, Japanese) are usually able to feed us. In a pinch, we hit one of the chain buffet restaurants like Golden Corral or Ryan's, and just eat as healthy as possible. Salads and selected hot items.

Staying hydrated is the biggest challenge on the road, so we just make sure we drink plenty of water and then stop at as many rest areas as that requires. (c:

Lori

[Mrs. Doodlepunk]

We always start out our trips (6 hours) with a few baked potatoes wrapped in kitchen towels. They stay hot for a couple hours. We also might take sandwiches and fruit, air popped corn and pretzels. We almost always stop for a meal at a Big Boy where we can get baked potato and cabbage soup or pasta with marinara and they usually have an OK salad bar.

If I can find them I like the small cans of Bush's baked beans in the Vegetarian style, but then you'll need a can opener and spoons.