Traveling Without Fast Food?

[Peacock]

My family and I take small trips every so often-- weekend trips, for fun, for my daughter's cheer competitions, whatever. One or two nights in a motel. This past weekend we went down to Mammoth Cave; my son went camping with his Scout troop and I helped drive some of their gear. Thought it was a nice opportunity to get out with my daughter too - we stayed at a motel and had a fun time.

But we are utterly sick of fast food, my daughter and I. Even a salad isn't really that good. We generally eat one meal in a decent sit-down place like Cracker Barrel, and try to stay at hotels that give us breakfast. As I was sitting in Burger King this afternoon choking down a nasty Whopper Jr., it occurred to me that I would have much rather carried a loaf of bread, some PB&J and have just made my own lunch.

I told my daughter, next time we go on a trip, we're packing food. She looked at me like I was nuts, but then again, might be on to something. Of course we usually shop for snacks ahead of time, maybe bring something microwaveable for the motel room like some of those little bowls of soup. Never anything *healthy.*

Seems to me that people used to do that when on family vacations, way back in the 50s and 60s before there was a McD's at every highway exit (or highways, for that matter). They'd bring along bread and lunchmeat, stop by the side of the road and make sandwiches - I can't even remember the last time I had an honest to goodness picnic that wasn't basically a potluck party with a grill.

Even when I was a kid we did this. But now it seems people are used to a certain standard of food, and cold-cut sandwiches on a picnic table at a rest stop just won't do.

I notice this when it's time for dinner - say, we're really busy and I don't have time to fix dinner. When I was a kid and this happened, we'd fix ourselves a cheese sandwich or even just snack on crackers and milk. But now people want to order a pizza, go out for burgers or Skyline chili, or at the very least have something high-fat and high-sodium to microwave.

If people today had to get by on the commonly available meals of the 50s, they'd cry.

And we wonder why everyone's so fat. OK, I digress but you get my point.

I just wondered, does anyone else travel on trips without stopping at those nasty fast-food places, and do you have any tips on how to do it gracefully, so that nobody feels deprived?

[hotzcatz]

Frequently we will stop at a grocery store and gather up whatever food items we want for lunch or dinner while we are travelling. We buy the makings for sandwiches, fruits and vegetables, sometimes a tub of potato salad or coleslaw. I'll usually have a thermos of coffee or tea with us as well as water bottles which we refill as we find water spigots. Bottled water is insane, un-ecological and is also insanely expensive. It saves tons of money not buying pre-made food. We will usually take food with us, too. Boiled eggs are always good. Sometimes I'll make cinnamon buns or broccoli bread or some other festive baked thing to go along.

When we do stop and eat somewhere, we never stop at a fast food place. It's junk food and very expensive. Well, we do get Subways sandwiches, I'm not sure if those are really fast food or not. The last time we had three people so we got one of the foot long ones and had it cut into three pieces. There was plenty for everyone. When we stop at a restaurant, frequently we will split an entree. That cuts the price by half right there. Ask for a glass of water, split an entree and no dessert or split a dessert. It's cheap eating and nobody ends up leaving hungry.

[nancy237]

Lately we pack lots of healthy snacks and just graze the whole drive down
to see family (9 hours) Yogart, cheese sticks, hummus, healthy granola bars , fruit, whole grain bread, healthy muffins, rotisserie chicken,popcorn, nuts. I always feel better doing this than when I eat at a fast food.

[Micheal]

NO fast food eating here, when traveling we'll hit the groc stores for a meal of ______. Only thing(s) we tote along is foam/paper plates and cups, plastic utensils, napkins, and 2 gallon sized plastic bags (for trash).

Most stores with their deli sections offering salads, roasted chicken, seafood fried or steamed, let alone cheeses, sandwich meats, etc. how can you go wrong? Then toss in the bakery section for rolls, bread or even a fresh pastry, and Taa-Daa a meal fit for a king - well it is way better then "fast-food".......
Bout the only thing I haven't found readly available in most groc stores is brewed coffee, but I've noticed even that is changing. Although with juices, sodas, water, and other assorted drinks available, who cares.

[RosewoodfarmVA]

We will often take along fruit or sandwiches, though sandwiches don't keep well. We'll sometimes stop at a Food Lion and get stuff to eat also. In fact on Saturday we had to go on a long trip to get some tile that I found at a good deal, and on the way back figured that we'd have fun and go to a restaurant. Though it was 4 in the afternoon we were in a 'breakfast mood' so stopped at an Ihop. The bathrooms were filthy, wife tried to change our baby and the changing table was covered in poop, so she went out to the truck to change him there, and saw 4 cooks out back smoking it up. Talk about Yuk!! We left there, stopped at a waffle house, the waitress coughed several times in her hand, then reached into the pouch to pull out our silverware, then licked her finger to pull out a napkin for each of us. Wife and I looked at eachother like, what kind of sickness does she have? Thought, well we're already here so go ahead and order, got our drinks (coffee for me, sweet tea for her) and I enjoyed 2 cups of good coffee, she didn't touch her tea (still grossed out). We didn't eat, just left after that. While paying, my wife asked the lady to take off the tea as she didn't drink any of it, which she took off. After paying, we overheard the cashier say to the lady in the back "I've had several complaints about your tea, did you put enough sugar in it when you made it yesterday? Well, throw it out and make some more" YUK!! Day old tea in a restaurant!!! We ended up stopping at a food lion for bread and turkey and cheese for a sandwich...

I don't like fast food but now it seems that even what used to be good restaurants are just as yucky!

[Callieslamb]

FF makes DH and I sick. Especially when we are in a car. We like Subway - sub sandwiches, but they dont have bread small enough for DS to eat. We pack our own food on trips now. A cool box can stay cold a long time if foods are put into it already cold. (we have blue ice also - or can freeze bottled water) You can also buy ice along the way if needed. Lunchmeats, cheeses, lettuces, tuna salad, macaroni salad, carrots, cole slaw.....we can pack it all. I use small individual serving containers - that helps on the mess. We all feel better and actually like stopping for the picnic. We usually stop at a restaurant for one meal a day. You can only eat so many sandwiches!

[countrysunshine]

when I am traveling w/out my husband I take sandwich makings and picnic style food and stop at rest stops.

It works well for us.

My dad always had a pan full of fried chicken whenever he started out on any long trip.

[Wisconsin Ann]

Queen of the PicNic basket, here.
short trip: sandwiches wrapped in plastic, oranges, apples, granola bars
longertrip: tubs of tuna salad, cheese, meats, with condiments and fresh bread already sliced. Containers of fried chicken, maybe roast (all in a cooler) Also have a camp/travel kitchen that fits on the carrier that goes on the back of the car. stove, mini oven, plates, utensils, condiments and propane (and my coffee pot!)

One thing I've learned over the many years of traveling is that most grocery stores now have fantastic "meals" in the deli area. Instead of spending $6.00 at McDs on a sandwich and drink, we'll stop at the grocery store for bread and fruit...and hit the deli. MAN! Fresh fried or roasted chicken, mashed potatoes. Potato wedges. Salads galore usually. Chili. BBQ chicken or beef...you just never know what you'll find, but it's always good.

We also stop at Flying-J Truck stops. They have consistent quality of food and it's GOOD. If we're in a hurry, we buy from the hot spot..corn dogs, HUGE burritos, fried chicken, BBQ skewers of beef, ...depends on the location..they'll have local favorites.

Flying-J's restaurant is great, too. LOTS of food on theplate and cheap. Coffee is fantastic, too.

Local hole in the wall restaurants are fantastic adventures

[HillsideWayCSA]

I do so much camping/backpacking that I'm kinda spoiled on road trips. I toss my pack in with me and it has everything I need to make a great meal (fishing pole and all). I have a little single burner that sits ontop of a small propane tank and basically just a small kitchen. The last time I took a road trip I ended up having crawdads for dinner.

[NickieL]

I have a home made alcohol stove that fits in the palm of my hand so it takes up hardly no room at all. It can boil water well which I add to home dehydrated meals and let it sit and absorb untill I have a hot yummy meal. If I'm jsut on the road I will bring food. Rarely will I stop for something unless I jsut came off the trail from backpacking and I'm craving food something fierce.

[Kris in MI]

In 2008 we went from MI to OR and back and only ate out 4 times in the entire 2 weeks we were gone. Now, we did haul a camper that had a fridge and stove/oven in it, so that made dinners easier, but alot of meals were actually eaten on the side of the road or in the truck while driving.

Mostly dh and I just remembered back to traveling w/our grandparents during our childhoods. That generation was masters of planning ahead and bringing food to eat while away from home.

We had many variations of sandwiches, but also: summer sausage, cheese, crackers, hummus, grapes, apples, cherries, bananas, oranges, carrots, celery, broccoli. A jug of lemonade is easy to whip up (lemon juice, sugar, water) and can be poured into cups and served.

[Terri]

My most successfull take-along meal, according to my family, was sliced roast with home made rolls and jello ( I put it in a clean jar and put the lid on. when eaten I simply threw away the jar). We ate it on paper plates.

It transported very well.

[WildernesFamily]

We either pack a cooler and take along fixings to make cold meat sandwiches, or we stop at Subway.

We can't eat at McD's or anywhere like that.. it upsets our stomachs.

We don't do Subway meals though since there are 7 of us. We stop and pick up a fresh fruit juice at a grocery store, along with maybe some chips if we feel like it. We keep cups in the car for the juice and we can share out the chips in those too if we don't have plates. Then we go to Subway and buy 4 footlongs and share them. Makes it a "meal" for much cheaper and we get to have real fruit juice instead of soda and we can choose chips that don't contain MSG.

Much easier if we just pack a lunch ourselves, but sometimes that's not possible.

[TheMartianChick]

My family has traveled to a lot of places and we have a couple of "requirements" when we do! We always try to rent a house or condo if we are on vacation. It is usually cheaper than staying a week or two in a hotel and offers so much more in the way of a kitchen and more than one bath. We are picky eaters and prefer to prepare our own stuff. A quick trip to the local grocery store and we are all set. We still eat out for some of the meals, but eating fast food gets really tiresome.

If we are unable to rent a condo or a house, then we get a hotel room that has a fridge and microwave. They usually don't cost that much more and we can make that up in the food savings.

For a road trip, we always borrow my parents' cooler. It is one of those metal Coleman ones. A couple of bags of ice can last for days in there. We load it up with drinks, fruit, salad, etc...That also saves us a lot of money. Even if we go to a fast food place along the way, we drink our own beverages. It is so much nicer being able to have a choice of juices, soy milk or whatever.

[Elffriend]

We are currently on a road trip and I am typing this from a hotel room that has a fridge, microwave and 2 burner stove top. We brought two coolers with us, a small one with our packed lunch and snacks for the car trip and a larger one with food for when we got here. For lunch most days it's sandwiches and carrot sticks. For dinners I've been reheating food we brought with us, like chili, spaghetti and meatballs, little meatballs with mushroom gravy and egg noodles. We also hit the grocery store when we got here and picked up some stuff. We haven't eaten out once yet, though one set of relatives ordered pizza while we were visiting them and another ordered chinese food.

[Cabin Fever]

In the morning before you start traveling, cut up some onions, potatoes, carrots, and beef (or use hamburger). Double wrap the veggies and meat in aluminum foil. Place the foil packages on the exhaust manifold(s) of your vehicle. In a few hours, you'll be able to enjoy a nice home-cooked meal.

This is just one recipe for exhaust manifold cooking, there are many more.

[bloogrssgrl]

HillsideWay and Nicki beat me to it. My suggestion would be to look for a small camp stove. You would be amazed with what you can make on those things and they really are farily compact.

Sandwiches are good here and there but, if that's all you are able to turn to, you'll get sick of those too eventually.

[clovis]

A jar of peanut butter and a box of graham crackers make for a very filling snack in the car. They are easy to fix by one of the non-drivers.

I often will buy a gallon of water at the store, and mix a few Crystal Light packages in it. Don't forget to pour a little off the top for easier shaking.

Those are awesome and filling snacks!!!!!

[Jenn]

Kids like fast food and I like good restaurants we don't have near home. But that just means for longer trips we pack a cooler with frozen water bottles, maybe frozen milk for cereal, lunchmeats and cheese sticks/ sliced provolone, a good homemade sliced loaf bread or two, sodas, fruit, yoghurts, and then also (if trip long enough) bring a basket of fruit peanut butter nutella and cereal and some bowls and mustard. Then keep BK or McD to once every 2 days so I don't suffer too much. After a few days when all the water is melted we either buy a bag of ice or nag Dad and kids to finish the milk meat and cheese quick.

[clovis]

Oh, one other idea:

If you are on the road, and don't have anything from home, most grocery stores carry tuna and tuna salad in the pouches. Just grab a plastic fork from the deli area.

These make great snacks that are easy to eat in the car.