Show Season (Horses)

[RideAllWays]

Hi all,

So show season is rapidly approaching, and we are travelling all over BC (no shows in Kamloops, where we are..) and usually sleeping in the horse trailer. It is the goose-neck kind with a bed on top.

My coach will be mostly eating at the show grounds, there are lots of cafeteria-style vendors around. I MIGHT be able to get away with a salad, but I really can't risk getting sick while I'm competing. I don't think I'll have access to a microwave, we might be able to bring a hot plate..

Usually we will be there for three days, so I was thinking of taking a cooler jam packed with lara bars, pre-made salad stuff, and lots of chickpea snacks and beans, nuts... We can probably go to a grocery store near the show grounds and stock up on fruit. Any other ideas? I'm really starting to worry that this is going to put so much extra stress on the already high-tension environment..

[GlutenGladi8or]

Many of the club stores (Sam's, Costco, etc.) have packs of all natural lunch meats that are HPP'd (High Pressure Pasteurized). That's a fancy word for a vacuum packing technique that gives 100+ days of shelf life if it's unopened. And, many of them have re-sealable bags.

Grab a loaf of gluten-free bread, and your favorite condiment, and you have plenty of sandwiches. Better yet, I even roll them up -- like how you would see them on a luncheon meat tray. Add some low fat mozzarella string cheese and whole fruit and you'll have plenty of energy to make those judges give you the highest scores possible.

Good luck with the competition!

[Alison R]

If you add fruit and seed granola, maybe beef jerky (never checked ingred. on store bought, we make our own), and maybe some type of yogurt to your diet of roll ups, salads, fresh fruit and veggies, it sounds like great out of town food to me. Other than that, if I had a power outlet, I would take a small George Forman grill and then you can easily cook chicken breasts, steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs, or fish filets...best of all they're CHEAP and quick cooking (down here you can find the small grills for about $10). Also, if you run out of gluten-free rollups, I usually use a big piece of green leaf lettuce or a couple of pieces of boston lettuce to roll up my "sandwiches." It's even healthier and no dealing with bread that tastes like cardboard.

I hope you do well with your show season, but I don't think I would eat anything I didn't pack in with me.

[RideAllWays]

Thanks guys, those are good ideas. It looks like I will have access to an electrical outlet, so I might bring my little grill with me.

Alison R, how do you make your beef jerky?

[Alison R]

I don't. My dad retired two years ago and this is one of his new hobbies. He has a dehydrator and checked out all his ingredients to make sure everything is gluten free for me. I'll get his recipe this weekend and pm it to you if you'd like.

[GlutenGladi8or]

I also like to hard boil several dozen eggs. Keep them in a zip lock and on ice. You can even peel them before you leave. Eggs are nearly a perfect hi protein snack (toss the yolk if your worried about cholesterol).

[Lostfalls]

Last summer was my first show season Gluten Free, and it is a little bit of a pain but there are things you can do. Bring your own food for heaven sakes don't eat the vendors food, the chances of cross contamination are too high. Even if you get a salad chances are the dressing would NOT be gluten free.

I have a Living Quarters Trailer that I stay in so that helps. Don't know if you are staying in a trailer or hotel but there are ways to work either situation.

1) Locate all (if any) gluten-free restaurants near by before you go. Use the internet - call them to make sure.

2) Locate all Health Food stores, farmers markets, Whole Foods stores, Trader Joe's - before you go, again using the internet. That way you will know FOR SURE where you can go get more food. If nothing is available you are call the local grocery stores and see if they have a gluten-free section or at least offer gluten-free foods.

3) Plan your meals out, write them down (knowing you are going to work your butt off all day and need more calories than usual) and then pack your food.

This seems like a pain but it pays off when you are at a show, low on food and hungry.

I pack all my own food, breakfast, lunch and dinner to eat while I am at the shows. Sometimes i will grab some gluten-free meal packs - they are cheap and easy to fix with no cooking and taste good - see here: Open Original Shared Link

I don't know about you but when i am showing everything is HURRY UP, RUSH, RUSH and then Wait!...(usually by the "in-gate" where my food is not. So I like taking some really good gluten-free lunch meat and wrapping it around a stick of string cheese and eating a couple of those for lunch because it's quick to make, quick to eat and filling. I will top it off with a couple of pickles, some potato chips and LOTs of water. If you are full you won't feel sorry for yourself when you are watching your friends eat Hot Dogs and Hamburgers from the vendors. I pack Gluten Free Beer, snacks and for dinner if you don't have a kitchenette you can yes, bring an electric grill or you can bring one of those little propane grills - set it on the tailgate of your truck and cook yourself up some gluten-free Hot Dogs or heck a steak! Homemade jerky is yummy and you can pack it to the barn in your pocket to eat while your tack up. gluten-free Trail mix is also a good portable snack. Peanut M&M's are tasty portable gluten-free sweet snack with some energy.

Also when you are packing bring all the meds you would need if you are accidentally glutened (Imodium, Ibuprofen, etc...) and if you are on any vitamins pack those too - you'll feel it right away if you go off them and you don't need that while you are at show.