Going On A Week Long Trip..

[curiousifcd]

In the beginning of May, I'm going to Beaver Island (a tiny island in northern, mi that my college has a lab on) for a week long class with about 40 other college students. All meals will be provided in a cafeteria. However, im positive theyre going to be catered to the "typical" college student. I know for snacks at night theyre going to have stuff like pizza, smores, and the like. I dont know about normal meals, they didnt have a menu. I did let the director know, and she wrote it down and said she would took with the kitchen staff as soon as we get there but she was a little unsure of the first dinner. I know that there is a small grocery store there (tho dont know what they will carry..its a tiny island with a small population- u have to take a 2 hour ferry to get there). Im kind of concerned, because when i get "glutened" it knocks me out for a few days, and i can't afford that. I know for lunch the very first day we are stoppin in a small town, where theres a burger king and a subway (i dont eat fast food- are there any safe foods there?) Other than that, I dont know what they will serve and on top of that Im pretty new to this. I do plan to bring some staples, like peanut butter, fruit cups, and rice cakes. I can't bring a lot obviously, but any suggestions?

[phakephur]

Check out Tamarind Tree prepackaged Indian meals. They don't require refrigeration. I have found these in 2 chain grocery stores. (I'm in southeast US). These meals include precooked rice which you need to rehydrate and a nice dish to put on top, so if you have access to a microwave it would be easy to heat. I recently took one of these on a day long client site visit and was really pleased with the convenience and the taste.

Good luck on your trip.

Sarah

[tarnalberry]

I would suggest definitely bringing something for breakfast - be it a bag of millet grits (mmm... tasty) or quinoa flakes, or rice cakes and peanut butter. The grocery store will almost certainly have rice, which can be made for you. The store should of course carry the fresh stuff that you can eat, and perhaps they'd allow you to use the kitchen to prepare a quick mean for yourself? Other than that, nuts, dried fruit, and beef jerkey! :-)

[Guest nini]

you may want to pack a small bag of staples and gluten-free snacks that would be easy to prepare, I would def. be planning to bring some of my faves.

As far as the coordinator person saying that she would talk to the kitchen staff ONCE YOU ARE THERE, is not good enough. I would be demanding to talk to them way in advance to know exactly what kind of accommodations they would be able to make, like would they be able to cook gluten-free pasta for you if you brought it, would they be able to provide ingredients of other things in advance so you'd have an idea of what might be available.

We are going on vacation next week, and I'm not planning on carrying much, but I've already discovered that there are several health food stores in the town we will be in that carry a good supply of gluten-free stuff, as well as a Whole Foods. We will be staying at my mother in law's house, and I've already told her to NOT plan on cooking for me and my daughter, I will take care of that.

[Guest GFLisa0405]

Thanks for the replies, I know I have to bring some staples- don't want to starve for a week! LOL. I will check and see if i'll have access to a microwave, ive tried some of those gluten free rice noodle type bowls and they could really come in handy if im depserate. nini- how was ure trip? Does anyone know if those carnation instant breakfast drinks are gluten-free? My roomate has some and I thought I read that those are somewhere, but figure I better be safe than sorry and double check. They'd make a good breakfast in a pinch (specially if all they offer is pancakes or something..ugh, im worried about this trip...) since you just add them to milk and are easy to throw in the luggage (and don't take up a lot of room, and deliever some much needed vitamins). Anyways, I'd appreciate if anyone knew..