Tips for Travel with Food

You would think that two people going out of town for two weeks to Florida, where the clothes they require would be less bulky than in the Midwest, could fit everything into a Hyundai Santa Fe. 

It's a good thing we don't have kids. We'd have to strap them to the roof.

As it was, Chico wanted to ride next to me the whole way, which means that I was perched at an angle on the seats that are supposed to mold comfortably to your butt (or the other way around), making my arm fall asleep and my neck stiff! 

We brought a TON of stuff with the best intentions of cooking, but then we were both sick and then the second hotel/extended stay didn't actually have dishes, so we were very limited. 

1. Plan ahead! Make a menu plan that's flexible but that you can follow. What will you need to buy at the store once you get there? What can you bring from home easily? What utensils and pans do you need? Will you have a sharp/big enough knife??? (WE DIDN'T!!! Major pain trying to hack through a squash with a paring knife!) Think about SPICES. You only need a pinch, but if you have to buy a whole container, it can be $8!! 

2. Think about staples you know you'll enjoy and splurges/special occasion foods you can throw in. For the most part, if you eat eggs in the morning, plan to eat eggs in the morning. You know how your body will react and having your routine will help you stick to it. But you're also on vacation. So if you'll be tempted to go out for a big breakfast, maybe bring some pancake fixin's so you can control how big they are and what you put on them.

3. Do your homework. It's fine to eat out if you have a favorite place you don't want to miss, there's a restaurant your favorite Food Network Star owns, or you just want one night out. Just go in prepared. If you have food allergies, call ahead and verify the dish you want to order is available and truly safe. If you want to control your portions, know what you're going to order and maybe request a to-go container for half right off the bat. It's the worst when you splurge on dinner out and it makes you sick. You have to decide if it's worth it! 

4. Live and learn. It did NOT work out like I thought this time! We had a menu list and brought a ton of stuff with us, but we didn't bring enough (if that's possible!) or enough of the right stuff. The easiest meals worked the best - scrambled eggs and sausage, spaghetti squash and meat sauce (leftovers!). 

Things that were helpful to pack or that we wished we'd taken with us:

• Tupperware containers
• Silverware, including a fork, spoon, knife, and steak knife for each person, a paring knife, and a chopping knife
• Plastic plates
• Frying pans and pots (the first condo had these - the extended stay hotel did not, so check before you go!)
• baking sheet
• rubber spatula for eggs, flat spatula for flipping pancakes
• Cinnamon and grill spice
• Our Ninja blender (we used the blender. We also brought a small 2-cup food processor that we didn't use, but I think if we had cooked as we planned we would have)
• a coffee machine - This depends how much room you have in the car. ALL the places we stayed had smaller coffee machines, so if you're a big coffee drinker, you might want to get the full 10-cups (Steve makes a full pot for iced coffee and puts it in the fridge). Depending how long you're staying, these aren't too expensive and would easily make up for the price by not splurging on two Starbucks drinks (but if you start doing this with everything, you'll double your kitchen appliances fast!)
• Portable, healthy snacks like raisins

Tips:

We bought a carton of Publix sherbet for $4 (it is awesome). We didn't finish it, so we wasted some :( but $4 is less than we could have gotten ice cream ONCE from the ice cream shoppe.

We brought cooked chicken and sweet potatoes (staples) with us. If we had been feeling well, we would have only needed to heat them up for easy meals. 

Steve went to Publix and ordered sandwiches from the deli on top of lettuce instead of on the bun for quick, healthy, delicious lunches. Check out the grocery store's options before turning to fast food if possible.

When we do go out, we try to choose BBQ restaurants or seafood - they can be healthier if you order meats and veggies, and often things are made from scratch on the premises, so they know what's in them. 

I'm sure there's more, but I'm just happy we were able to unload everything! (Oh, that's another thing: we have a TON of those reusable canvas bags. They make packing everything easy!)