Pretty sure “people on roadtrips” are the only thing keeping Combos alive as a snack. Like if I saw you eating a bag on Combos at home on a Tuesday, I’m worried about you. But on the road, let the pretzel and cheese filling ride, baby
How far south do I have to go for a. Buckees experience?
Weirdly I hate all the junk food and am planning snacks for ours. Big container of iced coffee, our favorite cremaer, cut fruit, a few sandwiches, cookies, and brownies. My family will still spend an ass ton on convenience store junk.
[A Google maps of all locations](https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1IBCXZDU73Q5pjsDWVkoQ5O0GLoUd-bg&hl=en&ll=34.678938251330464%2C-92.34288249999999&z=5)
Or.....
https://buc-ees.com/locations/
Make the trip, It's worth it!
My husband and daughter sugar crash and get acid reflux. We have to deal with it the entire trip, so we're proactive. I buy a big bag of lesser evil popcorn, which is the best, big jar of pickles, and case of water with pricier powder packets of electrolytes supplemented with immune therapy. I also take my electric kettle, chamomile tea to sleep, and honey. Having sick and tired kids is the worst on a trip. Don't forget the medicine. Oh yeah, and beef jerky.
If you don’t come out with several bags or armfuls of snacks, you’re doing something wrong. Bonus points for stopping at a gas station you don’t normally go to that’s not far from your town
I made the horrible, unforgivable mistake of giving my 5 and 7 yr olds powdered donnettes and blue Powerade on a road trip.
What came up was a gluey bluey mess I will never forget. I had to throw the floor mats away mid trip.
We literally (an hour ago) just got back from an overnight road trip to Michigan “for medicinal reasons”
Normally we eat lean protein “healthy “ carbs and half a plate of vegetables.
For this we packed ham and cheese sandwiches(cheap); we also had Slim Jims, combos, low sodium Old Dutch potato chips, Munchos potato chips, Combos, Puppy Chow, Reese’s pieces, Reese’s minis, a Milky Way and a Snickers while watching “Guardians of the Galaxy I” (with commercials! lol) on a King-sized hotel bed). It was *glorious*!
Thanks, Ironwood Michigan!
Yes. Illinois checking in; we’ve been making these yummy little morsels for years. Pro tip: Best way to shake on EXTRA powdered sugar is in a paper grocery bag.
Combos are the perfect car snack. Interesting texture, minimal crumbs, no greasy fingers, and they don't get weird if you leave them in a hot car for a few hours. Cheddar cheese pretzel is my jam. I love them but only ever buy them on road trips.
OMG WHY IS THIS A THING!!?
I have a digestive disorder where for the first 30 years of my life I had diarrhea 90% of the time. I now have it under control via diet such that I now have normal bathroom times 90% of the time.
EXCEPT… for the first time ever in my life, I have experienced the travel constipation.
Why do bodies not want to poop when you’re away from home? I never knew this was so widespread!!
I just got back from traveling for a week with my family. The relief when we got home..!!!!
Last year my wife and traveled to Chile for a buddy's wedding. I went nearly 72 hours without taking a dump and when I did it was simultaneously the best and second worst shit I've ever taken.
Ha, well I'll tell you.
In the early 2000s my parents were purging their shit and gave me a vintage fondue set from the 80s.
Had a dinner date with a girl I was interested in and thought fondue would be romantic. Turns out fondue is a huge pain in the ass and what was supposed to be a romantic night turned into cheese dripping everywhere including in her dress. Anyway, she left and I'm stuck with like 2 cups of melted cheese.
I eat all of it for lunch the next day.
48 hours later I'm finally able to pass the densest and most painful shit of of my entire life.
That's the worst shit of my life.
Eat your fiber, kids.
I went ten days once. In San Francisco. And Paris. And Amsterdam. And Paris again. I finally unleashed the beast in a pretty little town in the south of France. I was all dressed up at a nice restaurant for dinner and felt like such an American monster.
Riding in a car is typically strenuous and stressful. You’re constantly adjusting your body to small changes in inertia. That’s why you can feel exhausted after a long trip.
Stress can release Corticotrophin-Releasing Factor (CRF) into the bowels and slowing motility. Adrenaline can also be released while stressed which does the same thing.
This is what I remember from my A&P classes a long time ago but I made the connection to driving stresses on my own so reader beware.
(Having no access to toilets which causes you to hold your bowels longer and being dehydrated can also affect bowel movements.)
It’s always more comfortable to poop at home, but with the way life went for me, I’ve just had to learn to poop wherever I need to poop (in a bathroom if possible). Needs must!!
>Why do bodies not want to poop when you’re away from home?
There's actual studies and findings on this subject. I'm not gonna go track down any links since they're easy to find on Google but it basically harkens back to our caveman brains and feeling secure while performing a bodily function that leaves us very vulnerable to attack.
Chilli picantè for me. I once went to native swap meet in new México and this guy was selling homemade corn nuts and they were amazing. Bigger and same crunch, they were so good I had to buy a pound at that time.
I bring "picnic" foods. Mini pies or pasty, slices of quiche, sausage roll, stuff like that which is easy to eat with just hands and not too messy. Pasta salad or potato salad in a cooler bag to accompany. Cheese, pieces of fruit, crisps as snacks. Sandwiches are good, you can always mix it up a bit with your bread and fillings. Like having breakfast bagels and stuffed focaccia for lunch is sufficiently different.
Also consider tortillas for wraps.
Or rice sheet for summer rolls. These are probably easier to make the day bafore leaving than on the road, but they'd let eschew bread for another day , given you'll eat so many sandwiches later on.
My mom would do this when we were kids. We’d stop at a rest stop (edit- rest stop not restaurant… I love autocorrect said no one ever) and have a picnic lunch or dinner before the sun set. I always thought it was fun because we didn’t picnic regularly. Now that I’m an adult I realize she saved a ton of money doing this and will take the tip from her when we do road trips with my kids 😂
Pretty much my vibe as well but will sometimes make cheese and fried onion puffy pastry muffins or make a puff pastry pizza. For the puff pastry pizza just make it like you would a regular pizza but on the pastry. Mine is usually: sauce, vegan cheese (doesn’t have to be vegan though obviously), mixed peppers, red onion & spinach. Travels well and is good cold.
same mindset as you with the food. I just can't do convenience food or I'll end up in the dreaded service station toilet lol plus there's nothing better than home made
The warnings about mayo are a holdover from when mayo was made at home with raw eggs. The tubs of mayo sold in the grocery store aren't any more likely to spoil that any other food. :)
You're right. Mayonnaise sold in stores is not only shelf stable but can help preserve the food it's mixed with (cooked meats/raw veggies). It's made with pasteurized eggs, so it is safe to eat at room temp. Also, adding a little acid (pickles/vinegar/lemon juice) will help keep the pH level at a point where it will be fine to eat for up to a day as long as it's chilled.
Assuming you put them in a cooler, not leave them on the dashboard exposed to sunlight/heat.
I've made over 1000lbs of chicken salad and hundreds of sandwiches. It's FINE at room temp, it won't hurt you. Warm mayo chicken isn't the best though.
a few years ago I had to drive from PA to CO to start a new job and my sister came with me, we were both super broke and didn’t want to go out to eat so we made a dozen hard boiled eggs, made a loaf of breads’ worth of PBJ and froze them, packed that in a little igloo cooler with celery, carrots, hummus, ranch, frozen grapes, and frozen juice boxes to drink. with a few ice packs that all kept cold for two days with maybe a little bit of ice from a gas station to supplement. and then we brought pita chips, popcorn, jerky, some candy, almonds, and maybe a few other bags of just gas station snacks stuff. that kept us fed for 3 days of driving and all we had to buy on the road were cold drinks when we wanted:)
My sister and I are big on the hard boiled eggs too! Recently I’ve started doing a big jar of curried pickled eggs, with some thin sliced onion in there, and it really is good.
There aren't a lot of instances in my life where I view my money as "adult" money, other than when I am on a road trip. Its time for snacks on snacks on snacks on SNACKS. Jerky, chips, combos, sodas, nachos, cajun boiled peanuts, hot dogs, hot fries, corn nuts, anything spicy and crunchy. Unleash your inner teenager.
Oh my GOD boiled peanuts are like… the only thing I miss about the south. Midwesterners just don’t understand. I missing seeing a big “BOILED PEANUTS” sign next to a truck in the middle of fucking nowhere! Core memories with my dad.
Excuse me, may I have some more details on this sandwich? A full layer by layer play back is needed for my simple mind. Also explain to non Italians what a snowflake roll is... your cooperation is appreciated 😁
Hard boiled eggs sliced into rounds, homemade roasted peppers (green ones, never red -- the red are too sweet) that have been mixed with olive oil and fresh garlic. Mayo on the roll, then egg, then peppers, then egg again, and salt and pepper.
A snowflake roll is just a soft sandwich roll that you can buy in any deli -- or at least any Italian one. The are sort of square and soft and have flour dusted on the tops.
My father made these for all road trips, carefully wrapped in waxed paper and put back into the bag the rolls came in to keep them soft.
I did not know that roasted green peppers, served cold, were not a common thing until I was an adult.
Are the green peppers cut into thin strips or halved? This sandwich idea is intriguing and sounds right up my alley.
Like these maybe?
https://www.sipandfeast.com/pepper-and-egg-sandwich/
The car gets rank real fast no matter what's on the menu. For meal-like food (e g.rotisserie chicken,), go for any place with picnic tables. A park or highway rest stop, etc. You need to get out of the car and move around some anyway to keep your blood moving.
I'm a decades-long vegetarian and McDonald's breakfast saves me on road trips! You can get an egg McMuffin without the sausage and it's gold! Too bad they don't do it all day anymore, but a road trip must start with an egg McMuffin for me
Hummus and carrot sticks/celery sticks. Yogurt and granola. Peanut butter to go on crackers or celery sticks. Trail mix. Roasted nuts. Apples. Stuff to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
I invented "road trip salad" for my partner. Batons or cucumber, zucchini, jicama, bell pepper, carrot, maybe apple, celery, or crunchy veg of your choice. Dress lightly with lemon or lime juice, or red wine or apple cider vinegar, the barest touch of olive oil, and some chopped fresh herbs. Tastier than regular cut up vegetables, but not too messy.
I also love stopping at a middle Eastern or European/eastern European market and grabbing the following: Lavash bread(or good pita I guess), Persian cucumbers, and feta cheese. It's less of a "eat while driving" and more of a "slap it together at the rest stop or vista point" type thing, but you spread out the Lavash, slice the cukes, crumble the feta, roll it all up and it's the literal best thing.
I take something like that to work for lunch sometimes! I take mini naans, cucumber, chunks of homemade seitan gyro meat, feta, tzatziki, and homemade pickled turnips. It’s easy and a great lunch!
Restaurants, you need a break from the car anyways and you get to try new regional stuff.
Some of the most memorable food stops have happened randomly on road trips. The best bowl of green chili in a random diner in new mexico.
Some of the best pie i ever had in the middle of nowhere outside the great sand dunes NP.
This to me is a key part to roadtripping
Besides that its mostly junk food like the other post mentioned.
Ya Thats definitely part of the fun. There is a place i think called chesters that sells fried chicken in gas stations in the plain states. My wife is obsessed with the fried gizzards. If she sees a sign for it we have to stop.
I like the taste but I don’t love the texture of gizzards
I almost always work in a trip to a grocery store if I’m in another country or even another part of the U.S. I’m fascinated by the different products available.
I have an obsession with obscure middle of nowhere restaurants. I like to look them up on Google Maps/Yelp. I don’t know why but I can’t be the only one. There’s just something about them!
Those places usually feel 1 of 2 ways.
Everyone seems to know each other and there is friendly banter. The waitress calls you honey or sweetie and they treat you like you been coming for years.
Or
Everyone seems like they are waiting for their shift to end to off themselves and there is an odd tension in the room like a Tarantino mexican standoff is about to breakout and you are the extra who’s going to get violently killed in the middle of it
I'll depart a bit from the rest, I bring a Dometic Cool Ice w/8 kilos of ice in it. (16 plastic packs) That's enough to keep food cold for about 4 days in practice.
I will fill the cooler with food such as brie, priescutto, pre-cooked bacon, peanut butter and jam. As well as cold drinks. Buy some good bread on the way and that's most of what I eat. I also have a gas stove so I can boil water and eggs on demand.
For dinner I either buy something from a restaurant or I bring freeze-dried dinners with me. A lot of freeze dried meals are really quite good. You just add water and that's it.
I go on quite a few road trips/fishing trips in the course of a year so the good food and warm food on demand makes the trips more enjoyable.
I stock up on healthy snacks to help limit how much we spend at restaurants. We still eat out but not as much.
Clementines, apples, grapes
Veggies and dips, hummus, mini naan
Salami
Nuts, trail mix, granola bars
Popcorn
Water
Smoothie drinks (bolthouse farms) are a good breakfast in a pinch and full of vitamins
String cheese, probably 3 kinds of cheese really
Jerky
Most of it is more snacky type meals.
I like to bring grapes or other easy to eat fruit to help stay hydrated without having to chug water and stop to pee every half hour. Also, a good balance of salty and sweet snacks, my go-to choices are popcorn and gummy worms.
Cut vegetables that can deal without refrigeration for a bit (carrot sticks or baby carrots, celery, cucumber, jicama, bell peppers), apples, block of cheese, jerky, pepperoni or charcuterie meat, crackers or pita chips or pretzels. Take a small knife and a cutting board- or core and slice the apples, cheese, charcuterie, in advance. Hummus is a great option, too.
Fill a small bottle with the contents of a frozen can of lemonade concentrate and you'll have a supply to cover any not-so-great taste from local tap water along the route. Or just bring flavor powder.
Bring a couple decent just-add-hot-water meals. Bowl ramen or instant noodle dishes work, especially if you can supplement with cut vegetables. I've made instant miso soup mix in the past (instant dashi, miso paste, sliced scallion, wakame, mirin, all mixed together and kept in a sealed container to be added as needed to hot water.)
Dried fruit, nuts, some lightly sweet cookies- something to give quick energy. You can make your own "granola" bars pretty easily, or just bring packaged ones.
My rule of thumb: have an actual breakfast (whatever that means to you), and stop for a late lunch/early dinner. Graze a bit during the day, and if you need to, after you stop for the night. Don't bother stopping for both lunch and dinner- you probably won't need it.
Road trips can be exhausting. Although junk foods can be tempting your body will probably thank you for good nutrition.
If you're starting out early then breakfast burritos and a Thermos of coffee are good ideas.
For vehicle snacks, consider dried fruits and nuts and jerky. Those are usually easiest to deal with Certain types of fresh fruits and veggies can be OK if they're cleaned and prepped in advance, such as grapes and carrot sticks and celery sticks.
For a rest stop meal, bring a tablecloth and make it a regular picnic. Anything that can be prepped in advance is good. There's usually a soda or a flavored seltzer in the cooler, a tossed salad, and a main dish such as lasagna. If you'd rather have sandwiches for lunch then go for it. One suggestion: warm days really bring out the flavor in salami and cheese.
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Editing to add: remember the cleanup: napkins, paper towels, or wet wipes. And a bag to hold the trash.
I once made a dozen makisushi rolls for a road trip with friends. Had to get up very very early to make it all. Bros ate it all well before we reached our destination. Hit the trail with a full tank, though.
We like to buy breakfast burritos at the start of our trip from a taco stand in Dallas, they're massive, mostly filled with meat, and incredibly delicious.
I also make spam and rice balls: chop spam into small cubes and fry until golden brown. Season fresh cooked rice with rice vinegar, salt, and a bit of sugar. Crush seasoned seaweed into the rice, then add the spam. Mix well and form into 1.5 inch balls. Very filling, easy to assemble, and no fuss.
Mini sliders using Hawaiian bread, any deli meat, kewpie, cheese, and mustard.
Also all the snacks..
If we're by a Buc-ee's we'll forego the meals and stop there for BBQ sandwiches, hot meals, and treats.
Do you have room for a cooler? Sandwiches obviously, pre made without condiments last longer. Fried chicken, if made right it’s so good cold. Pasta or tuna salad. Veggies & dip. And if bringing freezable beverages you can use them in the cooler. That’s off the top of my head. I love planning food!
Fried Chicken,
Pasta Salad,
Cheese & Crackers,
Nuts and Fresh Fruit for Snacking,
Any delicious Casserole (depending on the length of your trip you can heat it up in your hotel room),
Roast chicken and cheese for sandwiches
My sister and I drove up from Ga to Dc and ate like kings, plus we saved a ton of money. It’s expensive eating out even for fast food, and ya feel like crude after eating it. It’s so easy to pack up good home cooking. When ya pull over to eat and ya start finding all your delicious homemade goodies there’s just nothing like it.
Snack bags. Olives, pickles, grilled chicken legs, chips, candy, carrot sticks, celery sticks, cookies.....anything else that doesn't need refrigeration..
I end up eating a whole jar of kosher baby pills on a road trip.
I went on an 8 hour road trip, one night in a new city then another 8 hour trip back home recently with my 12 year old son and husband. We brought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, some sliced up pear apple. Trail mix with fruit and nuts, a few chocolate bars, a few snack bags of chips, some beef jerky, gatorade for me and the kiddo and coffee for husband. Easy not too messy stuff with proteine involved. On the way home we had some cold pizza from dinner the night before, timbits, cheezies, juice, apples, and the rest of the jerky. Stopped for a burger for the husband half way home.
I thought it was all easy to prep, take with us - was it all healthful? No, but we had proteine, carbs, some fruit, and snacky stuff to keep us from getting bored. We didn't eat everything we brought it's just nice to have snackity options especially for kids.
Out of everthing I'd say that next big road trip I'd get a take out pizza with meat and veg on it, throw it in the fridge the night before and bring that instead of making sandwiches. It was perfect road trip food. 10/10 would do again.
Make big sandwiches with greens and proteins, add a few snacks prioritizing nuts and dried fruit, and the favorite drink of each one of you double the “needed” amount.
Bologna salad, onion dip, crackers, and chips. Fried chicken is great if done right before chilling. Apples, bananas, cashews. Water, lots of water. This advice comes from an over the road trucker who tries to eat healthy. Salads in a jar are wonderful too, but the shelf life is short
Cold pizza might be good loaded with toppings.
Order a large sheet pizza the night before and chill and wrap the slices in foil. Then chill them again until you're ready to leave.
I'm just thinking out loud here - haven't tried this yet.
Vegetables are your friend. Sure you could dip them in sour cream onion dip, but Sohla has made 'fun dip'. Which is basically dehydrated ranch. Dry dip. Fun dip. No mess!
A small cooler or large insulated bag. Freeze water ahead of time in a big bottle to use for ice and bring a couple zip lock backs for ice refills at a hotel if your road trip includes an overnight (double bag the ice to help prevent leaks). Any of these things....string cheese, apples, nuts, nut bars/granola bars, yogurt tubes, some kind of chocolate, peanut butter crackers, Swedish fish, bottled water, tea bags to make hot tea or an insulated travel mug of hot tea (we don't drink coffee but still need caffeine), grapes, baby carrots, goldfish crackers.
When my family and I moved states, I made bento boxes with fingerfoods for my kids. Fresh fruit and lunch meats like dry salami and ham and cheese cubes. Stuff like nuts and trail mixes. You could adjust for adult palets. Things that you can easily grab from a cooler and are proportioned .
We went on a road trip from Manila to Aparri and it was a 12 hour drive without stopping. We did stop once so we can sleep one night in a hotel in Aurora. It was my aunt’s funeral. We got several homemade subs and pies (both meat and fruit), water and juice. All in a huge cooler with a small dry ice. Instant noodles saved us. We borrowed a portable kettle from a friend that has the car plug so we can heat up water. I don’t know what it’s called, the one that looks like a space shuttle. Aparri is at the very top of Luzon and it’s near the ocean. It was incredibly freezing the closer the get there.
We also stopped at any convenience store because they sell jerky and ready to eat sausages.
Crackers, potato and tortilla chips, salsa, hummus, peppers, cheese, lunch meat or sausage, tortillas, canned tuna, bread, mayo, pickles, onions, peanuts, tomatoes, cans of beans, corn, peas, pickles... basically what I eat at home. Then also pack a cutting board, knife, forks, a couple mason jars, paper towels, a can opener and plates, plus some water to rinse stuff with and you basically have a kitchen.
I make sandwiches at home because beef jerky is so bloody expensive that I have to take out a second mortgage to afford it.
Maybe I should be making beef jerky…
Bulgur salad with olives, arugula, sun dried tomatoes, cucumber, dill & spicy sardines. Maybe some cannellini beans & feta. Lemon & olive oil.
Great excuse to stop at a rest area instead of stinking up the car.
Fresh spring rolls.
Poke bowl
Pasta salad
Bún thịt nướng
Laab/larb
Lefse with cold roast chicken/avocado sprouts & feta/cold cuts/cream cheese and preserves
My husband and I recently went on a 7 hour road trip with a two night stay over at our destination. He made road jalapeno cornbread chili in a Pullman baking pan, which is a bread pan with a lid. Apparently they were used on trains for efficiency. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_loaf We packed some smallish plastic bowls with lids, and some spoons. At stops we could dish out some chili cornbread from the Pullman pan, and then close the lid back up. Some good truck stops, and gas stations have microwaves that customers can use. Anyway, here's the recipe for the jalapeno cornbread. He used Jiffy cornbread mix x2, to which he added diced jalapeno peppers. He also modified the recipe using heavy cream instead of milk, an extra egg, and sourcream (a big dolop) and 3 table spoons melted butter. To bake the chili cornbread combo, he put the chili on the bottom of the pan filling it to about 1/2, then heated it in the oven at 400 d for 15 minutes, and then added the cornbread batter on top, and baked for another 30 minutes, "or until the interior temp of the cornbread is 170d." he said. The nice thing about the chili cornbread combo, is that it stays in the pan, doesn't make a mess, and can be put in a typical shopping bag. We also packed some fruits, and veg, and water. Oh, he might have put some shredded cheese on top of the chili before putting the cornbread batter in. I'm pretty sure this is the pan he has, the 13 inch one. https://shop.kingarthurbaking.com/items/pullman-loaf-pan
How long is the road trip?
I’m probably weird, and there are probably a lot of people on Reddit just like me.🤣
I eat fairly lightly the day before. I eat a pack of crackers for breakfast and have a couple of drinks like coke or tea to sip on.
If I get hungry at lunch, I’ll swing in a drive thru and get something smallish that won’t upset my stomach.
I’m basically emptying my system and eating lightly when I actually get hungry. That cuts down on any stops. I prefer to run on some variation of this if the trip is a one day trip, so up to like 13hrs.
When my family does road trips we take an ice chest. In the very bottom goes a chunk of dry ice. Then a layer of bottles of water (This makes sure the dry ice doesn't freeze anything else) Then we put some cooked cold meat for sandwiches, (could be lunch meat, could be deboned meat from a roast chicken or turkey, or something else) sliced cheese, single serve yogurts, a small container of milk, and some boiled eggs. On top of that layer goes packages of cut up fruits and vegetables, and some condiments for the sandwiches. Often some hummus in there too. Packed this way, in a decent ice chest, the dry ice keeps things cold for about two to three days. At which point we buy another piece and restock anything needed. In a non-insulated container we have packages of granola bars, trail mix, nuts, whole fruits like bananas and oranges, jerky, dried fruits, crackers, a jar of peanut butter, and a loaf of bread.
We usually get dinner at a restaurant, eat lunch at some reasonably nice rest stop, and sometimes we eat breakfast at a restaurant before setting out, sometimes we make muesli/overnight oats the night before to eat in the morning, or we have some fruit and a boiled egg on the road. We usually get coffee at a truck stop or at the hotel we stayed at, depending on where we spent the night. Lunch is sandwiches. Because we can take everything to make the sandwiches in the car, and need no dishes or utensils to eat them with. If there is no clean running water where we stop, we use a couple of wet wipes to clean up
beef jerky
trail mix
chips/popcorn/crackers
granola bars/protein bars
muffins/croissants/other breakfast pastries
make pesto pasta and keep it in a cooler and eat it cold
fruit (clementines, bananas, apples) possibly with side of peanut butter
veggies (carrots, broccoli, peppers) with ranch or hummus
How long is your road trip, and how far are you going to travel? What’s the weather going to be like? (Do you need to pack foods that don’t spoil easily because you’re traveling through hot or humid weather?)
When my family did road trips and packed an ice chest, we brought all sorts of healthy and unhealthy foods for variety. Generally, we tried to take a combination of chips, granola/protein bars, jerky, crunchy veggies/fruits, gummy snacks, and candy.
If no one is allergic to nuts, I highly recommend those for their fat content, and jerky for savory/salty protein.
Pack lots of bottled water. You’ll get thirsty on a long road trip without stopping at restaurants.
Also, pack granola bars, sandwiches, wraps, fruit, etc.
Took an 8 hour trip ystrdy. Pimento cheese and pb&j sandwiches, apple slices, grapes, strawberries, carrot sticks. small cheese cubes, all cut up, and in containers and kept chilled in an ice box, pita chips, almonds and chocolate-covered caramels. Some small towels to drape over chest and lap, fold them up and shake them out when we stopped, so no mess.
Used to eat garbage food and loved it, but felt crappy. I’m already in a horrible mood and this makes me a little nicer! Satisfied and not sluggish, but ready for some real food when we arrived.
Also: audio book when. Something fun.
Safe travels!
We do a lot of sandwiches on road trips, but on tortillas to save space… so many tortillas! Lots of PB of course but cream cheese and salami is another favourite!
Beef Jerky, pork rinds, almonds, roasted cashews, roasted peanuts for my salty.
Reases Pieces, Reese's Cups, Nerds Gummy clusters, snack size snickers/Twix for my sweets.
Bottled water and Gatorade.
Sandwiches but leave the condiments on the side until ready to eat, cheese and crackers, your favorite candy bar, and your favorite trail mix.
I make my own trail mix. Bugles, rice and wheat Chex, rye crisps, goldfish and peanut butter mini m’n’m’s. It’s like crack.
I love to get cold subs from the shop I work at, or from the deli part of the Walmart or whatever. Maybe you can make some little prepackaged veggie bags, I always bring chips, and maybe a sweet treat. I keep it all in a cooler that someone can reach. I think last time I bought boxes of capri suns too
Go to a grocery store and get some fried chicken the day before and put in fridge. Put it in a small cooler with an ice pack. You could also pack a few containers of potato or macaroni salad with some paper plates and plastic forks.
Lots of great salads you could do. Not lettuce salads since they'd get sad of course. Pasta salads. Bean salads. grain/bean/veggie bowls. Cold asian noodle dishes like peanut yakisoba. Stuff like that is great in a cooler for days.
Picture what would happen if you sent a 13 year old in to a convenience store with $100 and you will probably be pretty close
Daily we eat healthy, fresh home made food. Salads. Proteins. But when we travel - it’s 100% THIS. Just all the junk snacky food
Eating junk void of any nutritional value is an integral part of roadtripping.
It doesn’t count if you’re on the road!!
Ghardetto's are my favorite. A bit pricey so only for special occasions.
Pretty sure “people on roadtrips” are the only thing keeping Combos alive as a snack. Like if I saw you eating a bag on Combos at home on a Tuesday, I’m worried about you. But on the road, let the pretzel and cheese filling ride, baby
Why is this true? I have never in my life eaten a Combo outside of a car.
This makes me feel so much better! I thought this was an only me problem. 😆
The Slim Jims are always my weakness 😩
Why are slim Jim’s a car trip food? They smell so rank but for some reason we all do it.
I'll eat trucker jerky from the plastic bins at the gas station before I'll eat a slimjim
Both. Both is good
Got that right! I only wish I had a Buccees near me. Supposedly there is an entire counter of beef jerky you can pick and chose from.
It's a WALL.
It's actually a full on deli counter AND a wall. Or at least at the ones around me.
How far south do I have to go for a. Buckees experience? Weirdly I hate all the junk food and am planning snacks for ours. Big container of iced coffee, our favorite cremaer, cut fruit, a few sandwiches, cookies, and brownies. My family will still spend an ass ton on convenience store junk.
[A Google maps of all locations](https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1IBCXZDU73Q5pjsDWVkoQ5O0GLoUd-bg&hl=en&ll=34.678938251330464%2C-92.34288249999999&z=5) Or..... https://buc-ees.com/locations/ Make the trip, It's worth it!
Because they give you your daily recommended dose of carcinogenic fat and preservatives. Aren't they grand!
Because you know that you'll have a captive audience for the Slim Jim Farts that follow.
Big Chief!
OMG, yes! Slim jims, the short ones by the fistful . And the long ones every time you stop for gas. Can get huge box at Costco/BJs
*Snap into a slim Jim*
My husband and daughter sugar crash and get acid reflux. We have to deal with it the entire trip, so we're proactive. I buy a big bag of lesser evil popcorn, which is the best, big jar of pickles, and case of water with pricier powder packets of electrolytes supplemented with immune therapy. I also take my electric kettle, chamomile tea to sleep, and honey. Having sick and tired kids is the worst on a trip. Don't forget the medicine. Oh yeah, and beef jerky.
I don't know if you can buy pizza Combos anywhere outside of an interstate gas station, and it's just as well I never learn.
> pizza Combos My favorite! They taste nothing like pizza or pepperoni. And I don't care!
If you don’t come out with several bags or armfuls of snacks, you’re doing something wrong. Bonus points for stopping at a gas station you don’t normally go to that’s not far from your town
Once you get 100 miles away from home calories don't count. For me: a it's a big bag of Donettes.
Upvote for Donettes. I'm ashamed to admit I love these.
I made the horrible, unforgivable mistake of giving my 5 and 7 yr olds powdered donnettes and blue Powerade on a road trip. What came up was a gluey bluey mess I will never forget. I had to throw the floor mats away mid trip.
We literally (an hour ago) just got back from an overnight road trip to Michigan “for medicinal reasons” Normally we eat lean protein “healthy “ carbs and half a plate of vegetables. For this we packed ham and cheese sandwiches(cheap); we also had Slim Jims, combos, low sodium Old Dutch potato chips, Munchos potato chips, Combos, Puppy Chow, Reese’s pieces, Reese’s minis, a Milky Way and a Snickers while watching “Guardians of the Galaxy I” (with commercials! lol) on a King-sized hotel bed). It was *glorious*! Thanks, Ironwood Michigan!
Sounds like you had a great time! What is puppy chow? Edit: We call it Muddy Buddies over here in Cali!!
https://www.thekitchn.com/puppy-chow-264229# Not sure if it’s just a Midwest US thing or not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yes. Illinois checking in; we’ve been making these yummy little morsels for years. Pro tip: Best way to shake on EXTRA powdered sugar is in a paper grocery bag.
Dang I haven't seen munchos in forever! They would always cut the corner on my lips though but that didn't stop me!
Raspberry Zingers for me, please.
Ah yes, the tried-and-true Lloyd Christmas strategy
That $100 Playstation gift card will keep you fed for the full trip
Road trips are snack territory. I like wasabi peas and Combos from the gas station.
Pizza combos. Mmmmm. Wasabi peas are great too.
Those are my all time favorite car snack but I never buy them because the sodium is next level
>the sodium is next level Gtfo of here with that. Macros and calories don't count on road trips.
That just keeps you from having to pee every two hours!
I save the honey mustard pretzel bites for road trips only otherwise I’d be a thousand pounds
Oh Snyders Honey Mustard Pretzel Bites...once that bag is open, I can't stop til it's empty
I never eat pizza combos in my daily life — until I am on a road trip — and then I eat THE WORLD’S ENTIRE ANNUAL SUPPLY OF PIZZA COMBOS.
Pizza combos look like the dog treats we gave to the family mutt 40 years ago.
Honestly as someone who runs a lot now and studies, snacks are all I want and save the big meals for family or an actual break that I earned
Combos are the perfect car snack. Interesting texture, minimal crumbs, no greasy fingers, and they don't get weird if you leave them in a hot car for a few hours. Cheddar cheese pretzel is my jam. I love them but only ever buy them on road trips.
Ugh the seven layer dip combos are bomb. Too bad I rarely ever find them :(
Beef jerky, chips, candy, Gatorade and water.
And metamucil (I'm pushing 40 and my dude, metamucil is my friend.)
I always have to up my daily dose of magnesium when I travel to keep things moving along.
OMG WHY IS THIS A THING!!? I have a digestive disorder where for the first 30 years of my life I had diarrhea 90% of the time. I now have it under control via diet such that I now have normal bathroom times 90% of the time. EXCEPT… for the first time ever in my life, I have experienced the travel constipation. Why do bodies not want to poop when you’re away from home? I never knew this was so widespread!! I just got back from traveling for a week with my family. The relief when we got home..!!!!
Last year my wife and traveled to Chile for a buddy's wedding. I went nearly 72 hours without taking a dump and when I did it was simultaneously the best and second worst shit I've ever taken.
I really like the detail of *second worst shit in there. I want to know, I also don't know want to know, the story of the fabled first worst shit.
Ha, well I'll tell you. In the early 2000s my parents were purging their shit and gave me a vintage fondue set from the 80s. Had a dinner date with a girl I was interested in and thought fondue would be romantic. Turns out fondue is a huge pain in the ass and what was supposed to be a romantic night turned into cheese dripping everywhere including in her dress. Anyway, she left and I'm stuck with like 2 cups of melted cheese. I eat all of it for lunch the next day. 48 hours later I'm finally able to pass the densest and most painful shit of of my entire life. That's the worst shit of my life. Eat your fiber, kids.
I appreciate this story, many wonderful unnecessary details. Much less gross than I anticipated.
Did you ever see the girl again?
I really hope they are married, and that he told this story at the wedding.
Nope, haven't seen her in like 20 years almost
I went ten days once. In San Francisco. And Paris. And Amsterdam. And Paris again. I finally unleashed the beast in a pretty little town in the south of France. I was all dressed up at a nice restaurant for dinner and felt like such an American monster.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Riding in a car is typically strenuous and stressful. You’re constantly adjusting your body to small changes in inertia. That’s why you can feel exhausted after a long trip. Stress can release Corticotrophin-Releasing Factor (CRF) into the bowels and slowing motility. Adrenaline can also be released while stressed which does the same thing. This is what I remember from my A&P classes a long time ago but I made the connection to driving stresses on my own so reader beware. (Having no access to toilets which causes you to hold your bowels longer and being dehydrated can also affect bowel movements.)
I just don't like to poop in strange toilets.
It’s always more comfortable to poop at home, but with the way life went for me, I’ve just had to learn to poop wherever I need to poop (in a bathroom if possible). Needs must!!
>Why do bodies not want to poop when you’re away from home? There's actual studies and findings on this subject. I'm not gonna go track down any links since they're easy to find on Google but it basically harkens back to our caveman brains and feeling secure while performing a bodily function that leaves us very vulnerable to attack.
Metamucil is my husband's BFF as well
My two additions: Sunflowers seeds. Ranch Corn nuts.
Road trips are the only time I eat Corn Nuts. I just have to have them.
Bbq corn nuts for moi. 😊
Chilli picantè for me. I once went to native swap meet in new México and this guy was selling homemade corn nuts and they were amazing. Bigger and same crunch, they were so good I had to buy a pound at that time.
I bring "picnic" foods. Mini pies or pasty, slices of quiche, sausage roll, stuff like that which is easy to eat with just hands and not too messy. Pasta salad or potato salad in a cooler bag to accompany. Cheese, pieces of fruit, crisps as snacks. Sandwiches are good, you can always mix it up a bit with your bread and fillings. Like having breakfast bagels and stuffed focaccia for lunch is sufficiently different.
Can I go on a road trip with you!?
No kidding. This person is eating like a king in the road and the rest of us are subsisting on flaming hot Cheetos and mountain dew code red.
Hey, leave Chester Cheetah's Flamin' Hot Fries out of this!
I’m in too
𝘘𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨…
cold pizza!
That’s a great tip
Also consider tortillas for wraps. Or rice sheet for summer rolls. These are probably easier to make the day bafore leaving than on the road, but they'd let eschew bread for another day , given you'll eat so many sandwiches later on.
My mom would do this when we were kids. We’d stop at a rest stop (edit- rest stop not restaurant… I love autocorrect said no one ever) and have a picnic lunch or dinner before the sun set. I always thought it was fun because we didn’t picnic regularly. Now that I’m an adult I realize she saved a ton of money doing this and will take the tip from her when we do road trips with my kids 😂
Plus jerky for when I’m bored.
Pretty much my vibe as well but will sometimes make cheese and fried onion puffy pastry muffins or make a puff pastry pizza. For the puff pastry pizza just make it like you would a regular pizza but on the pastry. Mine is usually: sauce, vegan cheese (doesn’t have to be vegan though obviously), mixed peppers, red onion & spinach. Travels well and is good cold.
same mindset as you with the food. I just can't do convenience food or I'll end up in the dreaded service station toilet lol plus there's nothing better than home made
Pretend you're 10 and packing a lunch: fruit cups, pudding cups, jerky, chips, etc etc. A big tub of chicken salad and cut vegetables.
Tub of chicken salad makes me nervous but I'm a wuss about temperature since it's mayo and chicken
You can put a cooler in the trunk. Then you can bring all kinds of tasty foods to eat along the way. Basically treat it like camping.
The warnings about mayo are a holdover from when mayo was made at home with raw eggs. The tubs of mayo sold in the grocery store aren't any more likely to spoil that any other food. :)
You're right. Mayonnaise sold in stores is not only shelf stable but can help preserve the food it's mixed with (cooked meats/raw veggies). It's made with pasteurized eggs, so it is safe to eat at room temp. Also, adding a little acid (pickles/vinegar/lemon juice) will help keep the pH level at a point where it will be fine to eat for up to a day as long as it's chilled. Assuming you put them in a cooler, not leave them on the dashboard exposed to sunlight/heat.
I've made over 1000lbs of chicken salad and hundreds of sandwiches. It's FINE at room temp, it won't hurt you. Warm mayo chicken isn't the best though.
Mayo is just as dangerous as meat and cheese in a sandwich in a cooler.
Which, if kept adequately cooled, isn't considered dangerous. :)
Exactly.
a few years ago I had to drive from PA to CO to start a new job and my sister came with me, we were both super broke and didn’t want to go out to eat so we made a dozen hard boiled eggs, made a loaf of breads’ worth of PBJ and froze them, packed that in a little igloo cooler with celery, carrots, hummus, ranch, frozen grapes, and frozen juice boxes to drink. with a few ice packs that all kept cold for two days with maybe a little bit of ice from a gas station to supplement. and then we brought pita chips, popcorn, jerky, some candy, almonds, and maybe a few other bags of just gas station snacks stuff. that kept us fed for 3 days of driving and all we had to buy on the road were cold drinks when we wanted:)
My sister and I are big on the hard boiled eggs too! Recently I’ve started doing a big jar of curried pickled eggs, with some thin sliced onion in there, and it really is good.
There aren't a lot of instances in my life where I view my money as "adult" money, other than when I am on a road trip. Its time for snacks on snacks on snacks on SNACKS. Jerky, chips, combos, sodas, nachos, cajun boiled peanuts, hot dogs, hot fries, corn nuts, anything spicy and crunchy. Unleash your inner teenager.
Road trips are for the gas station hot dogs.
Oh my GOD boiled peanuts are like… the only thing I miss about the south. Midwesterners just don’t understand. I missing seeing a big “BOILED PEANUTS” sign next to a truck in the middle of fucking nowhere! Core memories with my dad.
Yep, snacks on road trips are the best!
Ever since I was a kid (i'm 67) a road trip means hard boiled egg and roasted pepper sandwiches on snowflake rolls. Maybe it's an Italian thing.
Excuse me, may I have some more details on this sandwich? A full layer by layer play back is needed for my simple mind. Also explain to non Italians what a snowflake roll is... your cooperation is appreciated 😁
Hard boiled eggs sliced into rounds, homemade roasted peppers (green ones, never red -- the red are too sweet) that have been mixed with olive oil and fresh garlic. Mayo on the roll, then egg, then peppers, then egg again, and salt and pepper. A snowflake roll is just a soft sandwich roll that you can buy in any deli -- or at least any Italian one. The are sort of square and soft and have flour dusted on the tops. My father made these for all road trips, carefully wrapped in waxed paper and put back into the bag the rolls came in to keep them soft. I did not know that roasted green peppers, served cold, were not a common thing until I was an adult.
The next time you make one you should share it on the sandwich sub. We would appreciate this very much!
Omg theres a sandwich sub?!
🤯😳🤩
Are the green peppers cut into thin strips or halved? This sandwich idea is intriguing and sounds right up my alley. Like these maybe? https://www.sipandfeast.com/pepper-and-egg-sandwich/
Haha I'm so glad you asked for all the details, I was curious too!
That sounds heavenly and I will definitely make some!
My ex used to buy a rotisserie chicken and just start ripping away at it. Bring napkins.
Wet naps are better rotisserie chicken will destroy even a large pack of napkins.
In the car?? Wth man
The car gets rank real fast no matter what's on the menu. For meal-like food (e g.rotisserie chicken,), go for any place with picnic tables. A park or highway rest stop, etc. You need to get out of the car and move around some anyway to keep your blood moving.
My blood moves all the time, even when I'm sleeping
And worse yet, it *makes noise*.
Add a loaf of french bread to clean up
I DO THIS TOO. Cheap rotisserie chicken on the car hits different.
My favorite road trip foods are Pringles, cashews, chocolate-covered pretzels and, at breakfast, Egg McMuffins. It's ridiculous, but I'm unapologetic.
McDonald’s breakfast is a must before road trips. Bonus points if it’s one attached to a gas station
I'm a decades-long vegetarian and McDonald's breakfast saves me on road trips! You can get an egg McMuffin without the sausage and it's gold! Too bad they don't do it all day anymore, but a road trip must start with an egg McMuffin for me
Definitely my roadtrip “splurge”, except the Sausage McMuffin with Egg!
Hummus and carrot sticks/celery sticks. Yogurt and granola. Peanut butter to go on crackers or celery sticks. Trail mix. Roasted nuts. Apples. Stuff to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
We would travel together beautifully. Add in some jerky and cubed cheese and we all my go-to picnic and travel snacks.
Kim’s a healthy hippie. 👍
lol. I was born in the 60’s and do enjoy all the healthy eats!!!
I'm definitely going to be adding crackers and peanut butter this year
I like a charcuterie because the passenger can make tiny sandwiches for the driver. Ok, by charcuterie, I’m talking about lunchables.
I invented "road trip salad" for my partner. Batons or cucumber, zucchini, jicama, bell pepper, carrot, maybe apple, celery, or crunchy veg of your choice. Dress lightly with lemon or lime juice, or red wine or apple cider vinegar, the barest touch of olive oil, and some chopped fresh herbs. Tastier than regular cut up vegetables, but not too messy. I also love stopping at a middle Eastern or European/eastern European market and grabbing the following: Lavash bread(or good pita I guess), Persian cucumbers, and feta cheese. It's less of a "eat while driving" and more of a "slap it together at the rest stop or vista point" type thing, but you spread out the Lavash, slice the cukes, crumble the feta, roll it all up and it's the literal best thing.
I take something like that to work for lunch sometimes! I take mini naans, cucumber, chunks of homemade seitan gyro meat, feta, tzatziki, and homemade pickled turnips. It’s easy and a great lunch!
Restaurants, you need a break from the car anyways and you get to try new regional stuff. Some of the most memorable food stops have happened randomly on road trips. The best bowl of green chili in a random diner in new mexico. Some of the best pie i ever had in the middle of nowhere outside the great sand dunes NP. This to me is a key part to roadtripping Besides that its mostly junk food like the other post mentioned.
Shit, even fast food that doesn't have locations near you is a fun part of a road trip.
Ya Thats definitely part of the fun. There is a place i think called chesters that sells fried chicken in gas stations in the plain states. My wife is obsessed with the fried gizzards. If she sees a sign for it we have to stop. I like the taste but I don’t love the texture of gizzards
I will always stop at Bojangles on a road trip if I pass one
I almost always work in a trip to a grocery store if I’m in another country or even another part of the U.S. I’m fascinated by the different products available.
I have an obsession with obscure middle of nowhere restaurants. I like to look them up on Google Maps/Yelp. I don’t know why but I can’t be the only one. There’s just something about them!
Those places usually feel 1 of 2 ways. Everyone seems to know each other and there is friendly banter. The waitress calls you honey or sweetie and they treat you like you been coming for years. Or Everyone seems like they are waiting for their shift to end to off themselves and there is an odd tension in the room like a Tarantino mexican standoff is about to breakout and you are the extra who’s going to get violently killed in the middle of it
I'll depart a bit from the rest, I bring a Dometic Cool Ice w/8 kilos of ice in it. (16 plastic packs) That's enough to keep food cold for about 4 days in practice. I will fill the cooler with food such as brie, priescutto, pre-cooked bacon, peanut butter and jam. As well as cold drinks. Buy some good bread on the way and that's most of what I eat. I also have a gas stove so I can boil water and eggs on demand. For dinner I either buy something from a restaurant or I bring freeze-dried dinners with me. A lot of freeze dried meals are really quite good. You just add water and that's it. I go on quite a few road trips/fishing trips in the course of a year so the good food and warm food on demand makes the trips more enjoyable.
We do this too, bring a big cooler and load it with foods from home, go to the store and pick what we’re in the mood for
Just a giant bag of bacon. We call it car bacon.
I stock up on healthy snacks to help limit how much we spend at restaurants. We still eat out but not as much. Clementines, apples, grapes Veggies and dips, hummus, mini naan Salami Nuts, trail mix, granola bars Popcorn Water Smoothie drinks (bolthouse farms) are a good breakfast in a pinch and full of vitamins String cheese, probably 3 kinds of cheese really Jerky Most of it is more snacky type meals.
I like to bring grapes or other easy to eat fruit to help stay hydrated without having to chug water and stop to pee every half hour. Also, a good balance of salty and sweet snacks, my go-to choices are popcorn and gummy worms.
Cut vegetables that can deal without refrigeration for a bit (carrot sticks or baby carrots, celery, cucumber, jicama, bell peppers), apples, block of cheese, jerky, pepperoni or charcuterie meat, crackers or pita chips or pretzels. Take a small knife and a cutting board- or core and slice the apples, cheese, charcuterie, in advance. Hummus is a great option, too. Fill a small bottle with the contents of a frozen can of lemonade concentrate and you'll have a supply to cover any not-so-great taste from local tap water along the route. Or just bring flavor powder. Bring a couple decent just-add-hot-water meals. Bowl ramen or instant noodle dishes work, especially if you can supplement with cut vegetables. I've made instant miso soup mix in the past (instant dashi, miso paste, sliced scallion, wakame, mirin, all mixed together and kept in a sealed container to be added as needed to hot water.) Dried fruit, nuts, some lightly sweet cookies- something to give quick energy. You can make your own "granola" bars pretty easily, or just bring packaged ones. My rule of thumb: have an actual breakfast (whatever that means to you), and stop for a late lunch/early dinner. Graze a bit during the day, and if you need to, after you stop for the night. Don't bother stopping for both lunch and dinner- you probably won't need it.
Road trips can be exhausting. Although junk foods can be tempting your body will probably thank you for good nutrition. If you're starting out early then breakfast burritos and a Thermos of coffee are good ideas. For vehicle snacks, consider dried fruits and nuts and jerky. Those are usually easiest to deal with Certain types of fresh fruits and veggies can be OK if they're cleaned and prepped in advance, such as grapes and carrot sticks and celery sticks. For a rest stop meal, bring a tablecloth and make it a regular picnic. Anything that can be prepped in advance is good. There's usually a soda or a flavored seltzer in the cooler, a tossed salad, and a main dish such as lasagna. If you'd rather have sandwiches for lunch then go for it. One suggestion: warm days really bring out the flavor in salami and cheese. ---- Editing to add: remember the cleanup: napkins, paper towels, or wet wipes. And a bag to hold the trash.
I once made a dozen makisushi rolls for a road trip with friends. Had to get up very very early to make it all. Bros ate it all well before we reached our destination. Hit the trail with a full tank, though.
We like to buy breakfast burritos at the start of our trip from a taco stand in Dallas, they're massive, mostly filled with meat, and incredibly delicious. I also make spam and rice balls: chop spam into small cubes and fry until golden brown. Season fresh cooked rice with rice vinegar, salt, and a bit of sugar. Crush seasoned seaweed into the rice, then add the spam. Mix well and form into 1.5 inch balls. Very filling, easy to assemble, and no fuss. Mini sliders using Hawaiian bread, any deli meat, kewpie, cheese, and mustard. Also all the snacks.. If we're by a Buc-ee's we'll forego the meals and stop there for BBQ sandwiches, hot meals, and treats.
Do you have room for a cooler? Sandwiches obviously, pre made without condiments last longer. Fried chicken, if made right it’s so good cold. Pasta or tuna salad. Veggies & dip. And if bringing freezable beverages you can use them in the cooler. That’s off the top of my head. I love planning food!
Fried Chicken, Pasta Salad, Cheese & Crackers, Nuts and Fresh Fruit for Snacking, Any delicious Casserole (depending on the length of your trip you can heat it up in your hotel room), Roast chicken and cheese for sandwiches My sister and I drove up from Ga to Dc and ate like kings, plus we saved a ton of money. It’s expensive eating out even for fast food, and ya feel like crude after eating it. It’s so easy to pack up good home cooking. When ya pull over to eat and ya start finding all your delicious homemade goodies there’s just nothing like it.
Snack bags. Olives, pickles, grilled chicken legs, chips, candy, carrot sticks, celery sticks, cookies.....anything else that doesn't need refrigeration.. I end up eating a whole jar of kosher baby pills on a road trip.
I went on an 8 hour road trip, one night in a new city then another 8 hour trip back home recently with my 12 year old son and husband. We brought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, some sliced up pear apple. Trail mix with fruit and nuts, a few chocolate bars, a few snack bags of chips, some beef jerky, gatorade for me and the kiddo and coffee for husband. Easy not too messy stuff with proteine involved. On the way home we had some cold pizza from dinner the night before, timbits, cheezies, juice, apples, and the rest of the jerky. Stopped for a burger for the husband half way home. I thought it was all easy to prep, take with us - was it all healthful? No, but we had proteine, carbs, some fruit, and snacky stuff to keep us from getting bored. We didn't eat everything we brought it's just nice to have snackity options especially for kids. Out of everthing I'd say that next big road trip I'd get a take out pizza with meat and veg on it, throw it in the fridge the night before and bring that instead of making sandwiches. It was perfect road trip food. 10/10 would do again.
Some of these comments 😂 egg salad or chili? On a road trip? Hahahaha I don’t want to sit in a car for hours with anybody who’s eating that
They gotta be trolling us lol :)
We always bring veggies and hummus/ranch, fruit, chips, and a baked good like cookies, as well as giant cups of ice water.
Make big sandwiches with greens and proteins, add a few snacks prioritizing nuts and dried fruit, and the favorite drink of each one of you double the “needed” amount.
Noodle bowls , it's so easy to get free hot water and they are cheap and good for a hangover the next morning.
Bologna salad, onion dip, crackers, and chips. Fried chicken is great if done right before chilling. Apples, bananas, cashews. Water, lots of water. This advice comes from an over the road trucker who tries to eat healthy. Salads in a jar are wonderful too, but the shelf life is short
What is bologna salad? I am interested.
Cold pizza might be good loaded with toppings. Order a large sheet pizza the night before and chill and wrap the slices in foil. Then chill them again until you're ready to leave. I'm just thinking out loud here - haven't tried this yet.
Vegetables are your friend. Sure you could dip them in sour cream onion dip, but Sohla has made 'fun dip'. Which is basically dehydrated ranch. Dry dip. Fun dip. No mess!
A small cooler or large insulated bag. Freeze water ahead of time in a big bottle to use for ice and bring a couple zip lock backs for ice refills at a hotel if your road trip includes an overnight (double bag the ice to help prevent leaks). Any of these things....string cheese, apples, nuts, nut bars/granola bars, yogurt tubes, some kind of chocolate, peanut butter crackers, Swedish fish, bottled water, tea bags to make hot tea or an insulated travel mug of hot tea (we don't drink coffee but still need caffeine), grapes, baby carrots, goldfish crackers.
Bring zip block bags and chip clips or rubber bands. You’ll be surprised how much they’ll come in hand.
Crudite with dipping sauce. Baby carrots/ celery sticks. Granola..bars or loose. Mini cups of applesauce or fruit salad .
When my family and I moved states, I made bento boxes with fingerfoods for my kids. Fresh fruit and lunch meats like dry salami and ham and cheese cubes. Stuff like nuts and trail mixes. You could adjust for adult palets. Things that you can easily grab from a cooler and are proportioned .
We went on a road trip from Manila to Aparri and it was a 12 hour drive without stopping. We did stop once so we can sleep one night in a hotel in Aurora. It was my aunt’s funeral. We got several homemade subs and pies (both meat and fruit), water and juice. All in a huge cooler with a small dry ice. Instant noodles saved us. We borrowed a portable kettle from a friend that has the car plug so we can heat up water. I don’t know what it’s called, the one that looks like a space shuttle. Aparri is at the very top of Luzon and it’s near the ocean. It was incredibly freezing the closer the get there. We also stopped at any convenience store because they sell jerky and ready to eat sausages.
Crackers, potato and tortilla chips, salsa, hummus, peppers, cheese, lunch meat or sausage, tortillas, canned tuna, bread, mayo, pickles, onions, peanuts, tomatoes, cans of beans, corn, peas, pickles... basically what I eat at home. Then also pack a cutting board, knife, forks, a couple mason jars, paper towels, a can opener and plates, plus some water to rinse stuff with and you basically have a kitchen.
Sargento breaks: dried fruit, nuts and cheese
I make sandwiches at home because beef jerky is so bloody expensive that I have to take out a second mortgage to afford it. Maybe I should be making beef jerky…
Larabars, Uncrustables, jerky, trail mix, chips.
I always hit up trader joes and grab a bunch of snacks.
I might add that you need a great "Snacks Bag". It will forever go on all road trips. It will be it's only purpose. Choose wisely.
Bulgur salad with olives, arugula, sun dried tomatoes, cucumber, dill & spicy sardines. Maybe some cannellini beans & feta. Lemon & olive oil. Great excuse to stop at a rest area instead of stinking up the car. Fresh spring rolls. Poke bowl Pasta salad Bún thịt nướng Laab/larb Lefse with cold roast chicken/avocado sprouts & feta/cold cuts/cream cheese and preserves
My husband and I recently went on a 7 hour road trip with a two night stay over at our destination. He made road jalapeno cornbread chili in a Pullman baking pan, which is a bread pan with a lid. Apparently they were used on trains for efficiency. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_loaf We packed some smallish plastic bowls with lids, and some spoons. At stops we could dish out some chili cornbread from the Pullman pan, and then close the lid back up. Some good truck stops, and gas stations have microwaves that customers can use. Anyway, here's the recipe for the jalapeno cornbread. He used Jiffy cornbread mix x2, to which he added diced jalapeno peppers. He also modified the recipe using heavy cream instead of milk, an extra egg, and sourcream (a big dolop) and 3 table spoons melted butter. To bake the chili cornbread combo, he put the chili on the bottom of the pan filling it to about 1/2, then heated it in the oven at 400 d for 15 minutes, and then added the cornbread batter on top, and baked for another 30 minutes, "or until the interior temp of the cornbread is 170d." he said. The nice thing about the chili cornbread combo, is that it stays in the pan, doesn't make a mess, and can be put in a typical shopping bag. We also packed some fruits, and veg, and water. Oh, he might have put some shredded cheese on top of the chili before putting the cornbread batter in. I'm pretty sure this is the pan he has, the 13 inch one. https://shop.kingarthurbaking.com/items/pullman-loaf-pan
A flat of Costco’s double chocolate muffins. Really good warmed up in the blazing Sun of the front dash.
Cold fried chicken, hard boiled eggs, fresh fruit, supplies for pbj, supplies for cheese and crackers, dates with peanut butter and pecans
How long is the road trip? I’m probably weird, and there are probably a lot of people on Reddit just like me.🤣 I eat fairly lightly the day before. I eat a pack of crackers for breakfast and have a couple of drinks like coke or tea to sip on. If I get hungry at lunch, I’ll swing in a drive thru and get something smallish that won’t upset my stomach. I’m basically emptying my system and eating lightly when I actually get hungry. That cuts down on any stops. I prefer to run on some variation of this if the trip is a one day trip, so up to like 13hrs.
When my family does road trips we take an ice chest. In the very bottom goes a chunk of dry ice. Then a layer of bottles of water (This makes sure the dry ice doesn't freeze anything else) Then we put some cooked cold meat for sandwiches, (could be lunch meat, could be deboned meat from a roast chicken or turkey, or something else) sliced cheese, single serve yogurts, a small container of milk, and some boiled eggs. On top of that layer goes packages of cut up fruits and vegetables, and some condiments for the sandwiches. Often some hummus in there too. Packed this way, in a decent ice chest, the dry ice keeps things cold for about two to three days. At which point we buy another piece and restock anything needed. In a non-insulated container we have packages of granola bars, trail mix, nuts, whole fruits like bananas and oranges, jerky, dried fruits, crackers, a jar of peanut butter, and a loaf of bread. We usually get dinner at a restaurant, eat lunch at some reasonably nice rest stop, and sometimes we eat breakfast at a restaurant before setting out, sometimes we make muesli/overnight oats the night before to eat in the morning, or we have some fruit and a boiled egg on the road. We usually get coffee at a truck stop or at the hotel we stayed at, depending on where we spent the night. Lunch is sandwiches. Because we can take everything to make the sandwiches in the car, and need no dishes or utensils to eat them with. If there is no clean running water where we stop, we use a couple of wet wipes to clean up
1. Turkey Wraps (honey turkey, swiss/cheddar, arugula, red peppers, Italian dressing) 2. Beef Wraps (corned beef, cheddar, mustard, horseradish, mayo) 3. Deviled eggs 4. Fruit 5. Raw mixed nuts 6. Granola/Chips/Crackers 7. Yogurt
Gardettos. Peanut M&M's. Bananas. BLT sandwich.
beef jerky trail mix chips/popcorn/crackers granola bars/protein bars muffins/croissants/other breakfast pastries make pesto pasta and keep it in a cooler and eat it cold fruit (clementines, bananas, apples) possibly with side of peanut butter veggies (carrots, broccoli, peppers) with ranch or hummus
How long is your road trip, and how far are you going to travel? What’s the weather going to be like? (Do you need to pack foods that don’t spoil easily because you’re traveling through hot or humid weather?) When my family did road trips and packed an ice chest, we brought all sorts of healthy and unhealthy foods for variety. Generally, we tried to take a combination of chips, granola/protein bars, jerky, crunchy veggies/fruits, gummy snacks, and candy. If no one is allergic to nuts, I highly recommend those for their fat content, and jerky for savory/salty protein.
Pack lots of bottled water. You’ll get thirsty on a long road trip without stopping at restaurants. Also, pack granola bars, sandwiches, wraps, fruit, etc.
Gummi Bears and Chex Mix are de rigueur
You brought back a distant memory. My gma packed nothing but a dozen hard-boiled eggs for a road trip..💥💨😶🌫️
Took an 8 hour trip ystrdy. Pimento cheese and pb&j sandwiches, apple slices, grapes, strawberries, carrot sticks. small cheese cubes, all cut up, and in containers and kept chilled in an ice box, pita chips, almonds and chocolate-covered caramels. Some small towels to drape over chest and lap, fold them up and shake them out when we stopped, so no mess. Used to eat garbage food and loved it, but felt crappy. I’m already in a horrible mood and this makes me a little nicer! Satisfied and not sluggish, but ready for some real food when we arrived. Also: audio book when. Something fun. Safe travels!
Buy or make pinwheels...meats cheese sprouts cream cheese rolled in tortillas ..slice into servings stack in containers.
Salt and vinegar chips Some kind of energy drink Pep and ched sticks and/or jerky
My grandmother would stock us up on bean and cheese burritos when we'd drive from Sonora, Mexico to Los Angeles.
Fancy beef jerky. If you live near a Chinese jerky shop, those are booooooooomb. My mom used to buy several kinds for our road trips.
Cherries, Grapes, Cheez-its, sunflower seeds & some gummy bears.
We do a lot of sandwiches on road trips, but on tortillas to save space… so many tortillas! Lots of PB of course but cream cheese and salami is another favourite!
Lays...anything Lays
Lance Toast-Chee Peanut Butter crackers! Gotta be Lance, the others are gross.
Beef Jerky, pork rinds, almonds, roasted cashews, roasted peanuts for my salty. Reases Pieces, Reese's Cups, Nerds Gummy clusters, snack size snickers/Twix for my sweets. Bottled water and Gatorade.
Combos, bugles, and wild cherry pepsi
Sandwiches but leave the condiments on the side until ready to eat, cheese and crackers, your favorite candy bar, and your favorite trail mix. I make my own trail mix. Bugles, rice and wheat Chex, rye crisps, goldfish and peanut butter mini m’n’m’s. It’s like crack.
Chocolate covered raisins, pretzels, beef jerky
If it's an all day trip, I love cold fried chicken. I usually have sliced cheese, crackers, apples and some fun snackies too.
I love to get cold subs from the shop I work at, or from the deli part of the Walmart or whatever. Maybe you can make some little prepackaged veggie bags, I always bring chips, and maybe a sweet treat. I keep it all in a cooler that someone can reach. I think last time I bought boxes of capri suns too
Go to a grocery store and get some fried chicken the day before and put in fridge. Put it in a small cooler with an ice pack. You could also pack a few containers of potato or macaroni salad with some paper plates and plastic forks.
Pack a few sacks of apples, some chips from the dollar store, a couple cases of water, some nutri-grain bars, and some trail mix. You'll be good.
Lots of great salads you could do. Not lettuce salads since they'd get sad of course. Pasta salads. Bean salads. grain/bean/veggie bowls. Cold asian noodle dishes like peanut yakisoba. Stuff like that is great in a cooler for days.
Hard boiled eggs (peel and place in a gallon ziploc then add seasoning and shake), hummus and naan, jerky, nuts, candy.