Most people think of Road Food as restaurant food. In fact, there are many editions of a book by that name that serve as a guide to eating out on the road. Others think of gas station items that are quick and easy to grab when refueling. When traveling through rural areas and needing to avoid some foods to be healthy, that type of Road Food can be dicey. Luckily, there are other options.
Last week’s flex has been extended to a 7-day stay in an unexpected location. That could mean a lot of Road Food. And it has. But it may not be the kind of road food you expect.
This is my 6th day on the road and the first that I may need to rely on a meal purchased since I left. I still have plenty of veggies from home and some dried beef, but I am otherwise out of protein.
The news is not bad. I am parked in an RV park 5 minutes from Walmart. As an experiment, I placed a delivery order. It worked like a dream so I have rotisserie chicken that will last a few meals.
What kind of Road Food allows me to go 6 days without a store purchase when I expected to be at my destination in four? The simple answer is preplanned meals and supplies from home. You may think, yeah right, I’ve tried that before.
But if you’ve done much road tripping, you know every trip teaches you something. I’m putting to use the knowledge I’ve gained from experience. You can use it too!
When I made my first RV trip, I didn’t realize my refrigerator would be pretty much useless when driving every day. While it technically works on battery and propane, it only works well using electric hookups.
Once hooked up in the evening, the refrigerator is slow to cool off. If you take food out of the ice chest and put it in the fridge, the food gets warm before it gets cold. Not ideal for making food last.
Another issue when traveling across the desert is that ice melts quickly in an ice chest, even a fancy smancy one that says it will keep food cold for 4 days.
That first trip taught me to freeze a variety of entrees and some vegetables at home. That way, they last longer and help preserve the ice I add to the ice chest. The trip also taught me that I need two ice chests aboard – one for water and daily snacks (and overflow), and one for my primary meat and veggies. Having two ice chests means one can remain closed until mealtime, again helping to preserve ice and maintain a cool temperature.
There’s no need to add cooking sessions in order to prepare this way. As you approach your trip, carve off a serving or two here and there from meals you’re already cooking. Place them in the freezer in containers or freezer bags you can easily pack in an ice chest.
For this trip’s cold selections, I froze gluten-free turkey meatloaf, chicken breasts, and roast beef. I also had a leftover steak that I threw in at the last minute. I supplemented those with 4 servings of egg salad.
The only vegetable I froze was steamed broccoli. I carried sugar snap peas, beets, raw carrots, cucumbers, baby crispy lettuce, a mixture of sauteed squash, onion, and red bell pepper, and mashed potatoes. I even included a blackberry crumble because I couldn’t bear to let freshly picked berries go to waste.
For additional supplies, I brought apples, a sweet potato, microwaveable rice, instant GF oatmeal, some goat cheese mozzarella, and a loaf of GF bread. I added a bag of individual servings of mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, BBQ sauce, ranch dressing, butter, and salsa that I saved from restaurants.
With all of this on hand, the mixing and matching options have yielded a steak salad with lettuce, carrots, cucumber, and mozzarella goat cheese; a rice bowl that combined chicken, the squash, onion, pepper mix, and a little ranch dressing; and a standard meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and sugar snap peas with blackberry crumble for dessert.
I haven’t had a bad meal, and I haven’t had to worry that I’ll accidentally eat something that makes me feel miserable. This is the kind of Road Food I prefer! As a bonus, it costs less than eating out every meal.
What will I do now that supplies are running low? I’ll use the same approach. I’ll do a grocery run or I’ll shop without going anywhere. There’s a Walmart five minutes from where I’m parked and they will deliver.
I can order rotisserie chicken, frozen vegetables that I will cook immediately then keep cool, potatoes (or mashed potatoes), fruit, and snacks. I can even have ice delivered right to my door.
Obviously, I am stuck with many facilities available. I feel really fortunate and grateful! The scenario could have been different.
If it had, I would have opted to stay elsewhere. But I still would have had 6 days of food that fit in two ice chests and a shopping bag. And that’s the beauty of traveling with this kind of Road Food!
