Packing For A Trip....

[2ofus2kids2dogs]

Hi everyone - I need some help. I am going to be traveling to Bowling Green, Kentucky the end of June. Its a 10 hour trip - and while I have pretty good plans for some meals while out there - I'd like some suggestions for what people pack in the car to take for snacks. I do not have any other food intolerences, just gluten. My biggest problem is that I have a hard time finding things that are "filling." Fruit is great, so are cihps, candy bars, etc, but then I don't feel like I've eaten "real food." Hope that makes sense.

I don't mind buying speciality things (like gluten free cereals, snack bars, etc) and I do a lot of cooking, so I'm open to suggestions. I just hate the thought of living off Snickers Bars adn UTZ potato chips! We're traveling to a shooting cmopetition for my son - so we'll be in Bowling Green for 4 days - so restaurant suggestions would be great too. We'll do breakfasts and dinners at restuarants, but during the day I'll be confined to the college campus - so I need to pack well.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

Melissa

[Guhlia]

For the trip I would highly recommend getting a few Thermos food jars, the more expensive the food jar, the longer the food will stay hot. Fill them up with things like pasta w/ sauce, mashed potato, chicken in gravy, hot dogs in boiling water, or even a casserole. If you get the good food jars, it will definitely stay warm for 10 hours. I think I paid roughly $30 for my really good food jar and it lasts me roughly 9 hours in 50 degree weather with hot food. I'm sure in a car it would last much longer so long as the AC wasn't blowing on it.

As for snacks, I generally pack Glutino pretzels and Jif peanut butter single packs, Robert's American Gourmet Pirates Booty or Tings or wheat free chaos, fresh fruit (apples travel well), Utz chips, GV brand fruit snacks and Stretch Island fruit leathers to satisfy our sweet tooth.

If you don't want to buy food jars, you could make lunch meat roll ups and put them in a cooler. You may have to repack your cooler with ice half way through the trip, but it's worth it for a safe, gluten free meal. Just wrap up your favorite lunch meats around cream cheese or american cheese. It fills you up like a sandwich, but travels like a snack. I pair these with baby carrots, fresh fruit or applesauce, and single serve cheese (like string cheese or bite size cracker barrel). My daughter LOVES this for an on-the-go meal.

[Phyllis28]

I always take an ice chest on a car trip. The ice will need to be replaced each day. Below is the list of food I would add to your list:

Rice bread

PeanutButter

Jelly

Gluten Free Bars (Glutino, Enjoy Life, Lara)

Chicken Nuggets (or any cooked meat that can be eaten cold)

Yogurt

If you have access to a microwave add

Precooked and frozen meals such as spagetti sauce over gluten free pasta.

Hope you have a nice trip.

[gfgypsyqueen]

When we travel, I pack an ice chest or two depending on the trip. One cooler has drinks and the other food. I make tuna salad, chicken and salsa with veggies, potato salad, fruits, chips and dip. pretty much anything that I would normally eat for lunch is packed into a cooler.

Have a great time and good luck at the comptetion.

[kbbccd]

I have found a great resource at Trade Joe's. I purchase their pre-packaged Indian foods and pre-cooked rice in air-tight packages. I take several packets of these along on a trip and then open them and heat them quickly in a microwave or heat the foil packets in hot water. They're a great option for portable decent foods.

Hi everyone - I need some help. I am going to be traveling to Bowling Green, Kentucky the end of June. Its a 10 hour trip - and while I have pretty good plans for some meals while out there - I'd like some suggestions for what people pack in the car to take for snacks. I do not have any other food intolerences, just gluten. My biggest problem is that I have a hard time finding things that are "filling." Fruit is great, so are cihps, candy bars, etc, but then I don't feel like I've eaten "real food." Hope that makes sense.

I don't mind buying speciality things (like gluten free cereals, snack bars, etc) and I do a lot of cooking, so I'm open to suggestions. I just hate the thought of living off Snickers Bars adn UTZ potato chips! We're traveling to a shooting cmopetition for my son - so we'll be in Bowling Green for 4 days - so restaurant suggestions would be great too. We'll do breakfasts and dinners at restuarants, but during the day I'll be confined to the college campus - so I need to pack well.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

Melissa

[blueeyedmanda]

When we took a roadtrip to the beach a few weeks back I was the only one who would not eat fast food.

I took Glutino pretzels

Peanut Butter

Applesauce--single serves *there are so many flavors these days*

Nut thins *also a few flavors*

string cheese

lunch wraps are always good too.

I had a candy stash

[Katydid]

One of my favorite things to do when planning a trip is to make "canned bread".

You need the wide mouthed canning jars so the bread will slide out easily. Wash and sterilize canning jars, lids and rings. Spray jars with cooking spray. Leave lids and rings in boiling water.

Make your favorite bread recipe and fill jars 1/2 full, let rise and bake as you normally would. I use the short squatty jars that are about 6" or 7" tall and about 4" in diameter and I bake them about 40-45 minutes, covering with foil half way through. For ease of filling, I use a lever type ice scream scoop. If bread rises above jar, don't worry. Use a bread knife and just slice the top off when removing from the oven. When baking is complete, I turn off the oven and remove only one jar at a time. Using tongs, remove a lid and ring from boiling water, blotting on paper towel and screw on jar. Then remove the next jar from the oven..and so on.

When ready to use, open the jar and the bread slides right out. Slice and fix a sandwich or toast. This last time, I used Anna's Bread mix and it made 5 jars (loaves). Everyone always asks me how long it keeps; and I'm really not sure because it gets used. I do know I baked some for my granddaughter to keep on her cupboard shelf for slicing to make french toast and she tells me it was still good after several weeks.

Kay

[Guhlia]

One of my favorite things to do when planning a trip is to make "canned bread".

You need the wide mouthed canning jars so the bread will slide out easily. Wash and sterilize canning jars, lids and rings. Spray jars with cooking spray. Leave lids and rings in boiling water.

Make your favorite bread recipe and fill jars 1/2 full, let rise and bake as you normally would. I use the short squatty jars that are about 6" or 7" tall and about 4" in diameter and I bake them about 40-45 minutes, covering with foil half way through. For ease of filling, I use a lever type ice scream scoop. If bread rises above jar, don't worry. Use a bread knife and just slice the top off when removing from the oven. When baking is complete, I turn off the oven and remove only one jar at a time. Using tongs, remove a lid and ring from boiling water, blotting on paper towel and screw on jar. Then remove the next jar from the oven..and so on.

When ready to use, open the jar and the bread slides right out. Slice and fix a sandwich or toast. This last time, I used Anna's Bread mix and it made 5 jars (loaves). Everyone always asks me how long it keeps; and I'm really not sure because it gets used. I do know I baked some for my granddaughter to keep on her cupboard shelf for slicing to make french toast and she tells me it was still good after several weeks.

Kay

Kay, that is such a brilliant idea. You should start a new post so that everyone will see it.

[michelleL]

I hard boil some eggs and take them along. I also make a trail mix with almonds I roast myself in the oven (350 degrees oven, about 10-20 min. - keep an eye to make sure they don't brown too much), dried fruits (people with soy alergies, watch out for dried fruits - often are coated with soy oil and not listed on ingredient label, since not really an ingredient per se...), chocolate chips, etc. etc. I also take along cheese. Basically things with protein will fill yer up. Sometimes, I'll make a salad with tuna, or sliced eggs, chicken, meat, always with cheese (ie. feta, grated parmesan, or cheddar) and lettuce, all the usual veggies, maybe some potatoes - and toss it in a container, or I'll make a sandwich with gluten-free bread, or I'll bake a gluten-free banana bread loaf with walnuts and bring it along....

[Susanna]

For car trips, I take beef jerky--read labels and avoid the ones with soy sauce--Bridgford Original is OK, and I've found some Kroger brand ones that are OK.

I also take rice cakes and peanut butter, nuts, trail mix, dried apricots, Lara Bars, string cheese, salami, rice crackers.

These work well for hikes, for camping, and in my desk at work, too.

Susanna

[Glutenfreefamily]

We make roll up sandwiches with lunchmeat or shredded chicken, shredded lettuce, cheese and a condiment like mayo or mustard wrapped up in ole soft corn tortillas.

Taco salad prepared ahead of time.

Tuna salad or chicken salad prepared ahead of time and can be wrapped in corn tortillas.

Dinty Moore beef stew (dont forget the can opener )

Hormel Completes Microwave Meals: Sweet & Sour Rice, Chicken & Rice, BBQ Beef & Beans

These also do not need to be cold, they are shelf stable.

My daughter loves the chicken and rice, You can heat it up if you have access to a microwave but honestly its good just how it is without being heated up.

Glutino breakfast bars and larabars.

Salsa and tostitos chips (make sure they arent the kind with wheat)

Hormel Vienna Sausages are gluten free

Here's directions for an outback steakhouse in bowling green

Open Original Shared Link!

[foxdog]

Health food stores often have entire gluten free sections with snacks, pre-made meals, etc. But they are more expensive. When I drove from Arizona to Maine, my partner and I cooked as much food (corn pasta with veggies and ground turkey, turkey burgers, mainly) as we could fit in the cooler, and ate snacks like peanuts and raisins, fresh veggies, and pb and crackers.

The main trick (I've found) to not feeling tired on a long drive is avoiding refined sugar as much as possible- soda, candy bars, most processed food. Which is hard. (I almost never eat refined sugar (we don't have any in our house), and I find it difficult on a long drive.)

If you eat it, you'll get a sugar crash, and you'll probably be dehydrated, which can lead to headaches, and worse- general grumpiness.

[2ofus2kids2dogs]

I just wanted to thank everyone for the great ideas. Now I have a pretty god list of things to take. The canned bread idea was amazing. I would never have imagined that! Now I need to go get some bread mix and give it a try!!

Thanks again for taking the time to respond!

melissa