Food for long road trips

[Conan The Librarian]

I'm taking a lot of road trips now to visit elderly relatives, some are a two day drive one way, mostly interstate, i've tried the fast food restaurants i recognized, but havent tried a lot of them. I prefer fast food because it keeps me on the road, like a pitstop. I like hardees, subway, and panera if I can find one.


Do you have any other recommendations that are quick, good, and inexpensive?


Thanks.

[victorcharlie]

I like to take a jar of peanut butter and a box of crackers.....slim jims......jello fruit cups....just to name a few...

[Ranger99]

how about making a few sandwiches
before you roll out  in the am?


 a few 'nanners,apples, peanuts?


i use those blue ice blocks in a small
cooler i can keep beside me.
or freeze water bottles for the same
purpose.


and like vc sez peanut butter is a
geat travel food.

[Conan The Librarian]

You're doin what I'm thinkin of doin. The fast food places were kind of exotic and interesting for a couple of years, but I don't much like it anymore. I really should just stock a little cooler and head out. I think I'll try that on my next trip. I was thinking of just stopping at a fast food and buying a coke, then eating my own food there. I like to have a nice place to sit and eat, rather than eating in the car.

[Ranger99]

how about mre's and a heater?


they ain't much more that a
"meal deal" at the farce-food joint.

[hillbill]

when i take long trips on the bike. i like to make up a big batch of deer jerky and carry some in my jacket to munch on.that and dried fruit. since i dont eat out a lot the normal grease from fast foods dont sit well with me.if in the car yu can pack a cooler with sandwhiches and maybe sum nice garden salads on ice.yeah i know yur old lady is rollin her eyes at yu cuz she dont understand.
 
wendys and sum other places do have some nice salads and maybe a fish sandwich. some truck stops do have a deli with some awesum salads also.we have one near joplin that  has a lot of stuff not cooked in grease.lots of diff pasta stuff and even ther burgers and chiken sandwhiches are good and not deep fried.

[Ranger99]

if you don't at present, you'll want to
consider carrying a water cooler jug with
ice water. if i go anywhere an hour or over
one way i carry at least a gallon of ice water.
in the summer here, i don't leave the house
without it for any distance.
use to make kool-aid, gatoraide, instant tea,
wash hands after checking under hood, gassing
up, changing flat, refill coolant reservoir,
re-hydrating freeze-dried food, top off
windshield reservoir, wash face, and of
course, good cold drinking water. i fix
it with my own ice and water from home
instead of paying travel prices at the
fuel stop.


something you only think of when you
need it and wish you had it.

[hillbill]

how about mre's and a heater?


they ain't much more that a
"meal deal" at the farce-food joint.

now that right there is a good idea.! ive ate lots of MRE meals and they were good.stop at a rest stop for 30 min and enjoy! buuut, everybody else in the car has to be on the same page.thats not likely.

[Ranger99]

the surplus and outdoor guy i use will
sell individual mre's  instead of forcing
a case on you, so you can pick and choose.


of course, there's always mountain house
brand freeze drieds. i've yet to meet anyone
i've let taste one that didn't like it, and
they have about any variety you can think of.

[Sourdough]

When traveling I am either driving a Miata or a Bike, not condusive to carrying a cooler of anything else for that matter.  I do have a bottle holder on the bike and in the Miata.  That makes it nioce to have water readily availiable.

I like stopping at Taco Bell, and getting a Crunchwrap and soda.  They are fast and easy to eat.  I also stop at Subway and get the 6" Veggie Delight.

[Victor3]

 Drive 'till you get really hungry and whatever you have with you will taste better.
 On vacations when I was a kid, Mom would pack blaoney and cheese sandwiches. Always tasted 10x better than when we had the same thing at home. Might have been the ice cold root beer she brought along that did the trick. 

[SHOOTALL]

cooler with sliced ham , chicken salad etc. a summer sausage is nice . Fast food is ok but when you travel and get fast food you often pick up bugs . Drinks are made from local water and often may not work well in your system. I like snacks for lunch.

[Old Syko]

No fast food for me.  Wouldn't do any good.  If I eat it, 30 minutes to an hour later it just comes back up.  For trips of up to 3 or 4 days I carry my own food and water along with some other drinks.  Bottled drinks can be picked up anywhere.  Ham, roast beef and the like do well.  Vienna weenies have long been a favorite.  I never make sandwiches ahead of time.  Just take along the fixins.  Easier to keep fresh.

[bulletstuffer]

For a fast food place Culvers is a good spot.  The burgers are good and they seem to use better quality stuff and it does not cost that much more than the other fast food joints. 


Freeze water bottles before you go to use for the ice in your cooler.  The food in the cooler won't get ruined like has happened so many times with bag ice.  They melt pretty fast in the front window of your car and keeps the water really cold for drinking    I take my favorite bread, some smoked turkey and pepperjack cheese for travel food.  Don't need anything else on it and the passenger can put it together easy.


Good luck,


Bulletstuffer

[Cheesehead]

I bring one or two boxes of my favorite low sugar, high nutrition cereal. Pour it into a travel mug and have it in a convenient cup holder for constant availability. If properly sealed, it will keep fresh for weeks. It is much better for you than most fast foods. I eat this dry, no milk needed, very convenient.

Cheese

[hillbill]

another poster mentioned bringing your own water from home.i had not thought of that! very good idea! the tummy likes what the tummy is used to lol

[Ranger99]

yeah. . .
it's bad enough to me paying over 3.00
a gallon for gasoline, paying over 3.00
for a gallon of water?


thank you no! ! ! 

[nw_hunter]

If you like Stew's or soup. Put hot into thermos.A few crackers and piece of fruit for desert. Pull into the nearest rest area, and chow down.OR........out west, you got to try Carl's Jr. Best burger west of the mighty muddy. (Mississippi river).

[PowPow]

Slim Jims, Yoo Hoo, and a couple of cans of fresh Skoal.
Skoal is freshest where the gas is cheapest.

[hillbill]

i know this wont be popular but when i used to drive big truck and heavy equipment a lot, and still do to sum extent. i cooked a lot on the exhaust manifold of my machines.left over wrapped tightly in tinfoil, can of macaroni beef or beans with jalapenoes.30 minutes on a hard working engine and it be plenty hot,slice open with buck knife and dig in lol.as another poster said, how good it tastes is rela tive to how hungry yu are.

[Ranger99]

yeah. . .
i've done the can-of-beans-on-the-
hot-exhaust before. . . .


i'm sure you can guess why i don't
do it anymore

[Ranger99]

(that's why they make pressure
washers huh?)

[james]

Fruit trail mix is my favorite snack.  I pick up whatever looks good when I fill up with gas as that is usually my only stops.  On my last trip it was pizza. Toward the end of the trip it is usually Starbucks frappuccinos.  Came home from a MT prairie dog shoot in 23 hrs.  Leaving  ne AR for a CO elk hunt in the morning and plan to be in Salida by midnight. 

[Empty Quiver]

Slim Jims, Yoo Hoo, and a couple of cans of fresh Skoal.
Skoal is freshest where the gas is cheapest.

Obviously you don't travel much.   Where are the sunflower seeds on that list? Mt. Dew? ( 1litre wide mouth for those emergencies in congested traffic   ).
 
When it comes to one stop shopping on the road I would first consider a Loves truck stop, they are the least trucker trashy of them all IMHO. Second would be the Pilot / Flying J, the newer the better most have a Denny's and a Subway inside. Don't overlook the pizza at Flying J it stays pretty fresh and it is the best ready to go road pizza out there. Arby's has a very good  Angus philly steak style sandwich. Mc donalds salads are way better than their burgers, I'm stupid about the southwest grilled chicken one.
 
So here is a menu plan and trip ticket for you.
 
0600 hit Hardee's for a loaded omelet biscuit, skip the nasty potato thing get a tablespoon of fryer grease instead less sodium, add a large coffee and get down the road.
 1100 stop at the Loves get fueled and grab a spicy chicken sandwich and side salad at the Wendy's that most have inside. Grab a 1litre Mt Dew and a bag of Giants sunflower seeds a tin of snuff and fill the thermos bottle. Get on the road man you can't be trashing around these truckstops for an hour.
1300 Rest Area and soon.
1530 check fuel prices and top off if in a cheap state another Mt Dew and down the road man.
 1730 Flying J, brother its the big time, fill the tank, grab a shower, slip into Denny's have the heart attack special. Grab a to go cup or have the pretty waitress (or yours if she is busy ) refill the thermos. In the store grab those Rolaids you have been meaning to buy since 1300. Dolly down the camper in the parking lot and relax or...  get on down the road man you are wasting time trashing around truckstops brother.
2100 Get a hotel you have got to be shot by now. Drury Inn's have a real nice breakfast spread and a nice happy hour thing earlier in the evening too for that matter. I ain't kidding about Drury Inn's either they are pretty danged nice outfits. 
 
Can you tell I drive for a living?

[PowPow]

"Obviously you don't travel much..."

You got that right!
For 25 years, I had a 12 minute commute.
They moved the office and its been 25-30 minutes for the last 5 years.
I've been in a foul mood ever since.


Guy I work with can't crank his truck without BBQ sunflower seeds in his mouth.