Road food

Road Meals

   One of the best ways to save money and calories on a road trip is by packing your own meals.  There are 3 pieces of equipment that will exponentially increase the numbers of meals you can have and the quality of your road meals.  They are a good thermos, and electric fry pan, and a good cooler. The opportunities are endless when you own these three items.

     Our family of 5 recently did a 16 day road to Yellowstone National park and we only ate out 3 times.  I took note of some of our meals from the trip to hopefully inspire you to pack more meals on your next road trip.  These are meals we often make when we travel.  They are all easy and family and budget friendly.  Happy trails and meals.

Meal #1 Pulled Pork sandwiches

    I premake these before our trip.  I just throw a pork loin in the crock pot for a few hours and shred the pork.  We add our favorite BBQ sauce to the pulled pork and then freeze it.  This helps keep our cooler food cold too while we travel.  Then when it's time to eat it I heat it up at our campsite or hotel and put it in our thermos.  Our thermos keeps things cold for up to 6 hours.  

Meal # 2 Steak Wrap 

     This is another make ahead meal.  My husband grills up some steak the week before our trip and we slice it into strips then throw the meat in the freezer.  When it's time to eat them we usually add cream cheese, pico de gallo, and lettus on the wrap.

Meal #3 Walking tacos or Taco salads

   

     This is my kids favorite road meal!  We buy the individualized bags of Doritos or the Aldi brand chips and then then add their favorite toppings to the bad for walking tacos.  I again prepare the meat in advance and freeze it.  We then heat it up in the morning and put it in the thermos. This meal is especially nice because the bag contains the meal's wrapper and makes for easy clean up.  I included the thermos we like to use to help us enjoy hot meals when we travel.

Meal #4 Chicken Caesar Wrap

     We often pre grill our chicken before a road trip but this time I just cooked the chicken in a pan at home and then froze it.  We like to just add Cesar dressing, fresh Parmesan, and romaine lettuce to the precooked chicken.  We also sometimes add chipotle ranch for a southwest wrap.  We like eating wraps on the road because they aren't that messy. 

Meal #5 Noddles 

     I wanted to include a picture of our electric fry pan.  We use it to cook noddles and rice.  It's deep enough to cook ears of corn and entire boxes of pasta. It's great for camping because then you don't have to use your propane and we also use it in our hotel rooms.  I know Ramon noodles aren't the healthiest food option but they don't need to be refrigerated and our kids love them.  They are quick, cheap, and take up very little room in the food box.  Convince for the win!

Fun Snacks 

     Because we don't splurge for expensive desserts or treats at gas stations or restaurants we do pack a few extra treats for the kids. One of those treats are a homemade slushy.  We freeze juice boxes in advance and then cut the tops off and give the kids a spoon.  The kids love them and it takes awhile to eat so it helps keep them busy on a long car ride.  The kids also like to freeze gogarts because they taste like frozen yogurt.  Both also keep the cooler cool.

  

Meal #5 Canned Fruits and Veggies with a boxed Mac and Cheese 

    When we were camping in Yellowstone we did not have electricity in our pop up.  So we stocked up on can goods and boxed dinners that didn't require any ingredients that needed refrigeration. This particular mac and cheese didn't need any milk or butter as some other kinds do.  Food inside Yellowstone was very expensive so we were glad we brought this stuff in.

                           Meal #6 Bagel and Cream cheese 

     I have one kid who isn't interested in sandwiches but loves a bagel with cream cheese for lunch.  I think it's fun to think outside the box and try different things.  It's an easy enough lunch to make and we always pair the main part of a lunch with some kind of fruit and veggie on the side. 

Meal #7 Curry Chicken Salad Sandwich 

   I use to never touch a chicken salad sandwich. But if you add some curry powder to it it's a game changer!  I don't follow a recipe I just scoop a little miracle whip in with a little celery and canned chicken and sprinkle the curry on.  We like it best on croissants.  Both the chicken and miracle whip didn't need to be refrigerated until opened so this was a good meal for our campsite without electricity. 

Meal # 8 Breakfast

    You can eat breakfast at any time of the day.  Because we had limited cold space we utilized breakfast food that didn't need to be refrigerated or took up very little space.  Pancakes are great for that, they need no refrigeration.  We also did a lot of instant oatmeal and hard boiled eggs.  Croissants and nutella are a family favorite too. 

Meal # 9 Campfire meals

   We used the fire to cook a couple of meals on this trip.  We really love the Dole salad kits.  They come with dressing and they have a really good shelf life.  We paired a nice salad with this steak but we also love cooking burgers or brats over the fire too.  

Meal #10 Meats and cheese with Crackers 

     This is another family favorite meal.  It requires no prep you just lay out meats a cheeses with crackers and fruits and veggies and everyone is happy.  

Meal #11 Pasta and Parm

   This was a meal that another mom shared with me and my kids love it.  Parmesan doesn't need to be refrigerated until it's opened.  So this was a nice meal to save until all the fresh food had been eaten.  You just add Parmesan to hot noodles and the kids love it.  Also, we chose to by 3 small thermoses instead of 1 big one.  Then each kid has their own.  This worked well for when we packed soup and other meals that needed to be heated.