Trip food?

[cristeen]

So I have to drive to Reno for a wedding this weekend. I'm 34 weeks pregnant, so I need to be eating every few hours. The hotel room does NOT have a fridge, so at best we'll have a tiny cooler. The drive is... assume 6 hours with bathroom stops.

This whole trip is going to be ridiculously expensive, but I didn't feel like I had the option to turn it down completely. AND I'm going with my grandma who is on a fixed income, and will feel the need to pay for everything if I let her. But, she does not eat 3 meals/day, she could probably get by on 1. So to minimize arguments and expense, we'll be eating out once a day, and I need to figure out food I can take with me for the in between times (the non-restaurant options of food are Port O Subs or pizza).

So, thoughts? It has to be able to survive at room temperature (assume high 80s on the drive, and A/C once we're there) for 3 days. No wheat or dairy. Relatively healthy/balanced would be nice. So far all I've figured out is apples and nuts. But that's not going to get me through 3 days in late pregnancy.

[KristyDi]

Other dried fruits would keep well. I immediately thought of GORP (good old raisins and peanuts) or some type of trail mix. I lived on that between meals when I was pregnant.

Is there some wheat free cracker type thing you could take? Then you could get peanut butter to go with them.

[crunchy_mama]

hard boiled eggs- if you want to do some grains whip up some lavash bread and make some wraps and put in the cooler-like tuna salad or something that would be great as it wouuld be way filling and you can eat w/ your hands. Personally- and you know I avoid grains as well I would likely make a batch of that lavash bread cut it into 4s and then make 4 little wraps- pb and fruit for a couple and a couple w/ meat. Jerky would be a good treat as well. Her is the gf/df wrap recipe http://glutenfree.wordpress.com/2008...grain-version/ it is super easy- I can have it ready by the time I get the oven heated I have it done. I sub other grains out for the ones listed- sorghum and buckwheat- and I usually avoid tapioca as I have an aversion really whatever starches you want to use or other flour- You could do lettuce wraps as well- Get some good lunch meat or pre-cook bacon- or other sliced meat and then wrap w/ some lettuce and put some of your good homemade mayo on for a good amount of fat- wrap it well and then you would be set.

[noobmom]

Does the hotel have a microwave? That would help make some food taste better, although I guess it wouldn't be strictly necessary. And you might have a fridge in the room, which would open up the options.

Here are my ideas (basically all canned foods, unfortunately):
- canned beans, either plain or baked beans
- canned fish (salmon, smoked oysters, sardines)
- dried soup cups (like the kind you just pour boiling water into to reconstitute, I think every hotel room has a coffee maker you can use for heating water)
- a jar of peanut butter or other nut butter
- whatever crackers/bread/flatbreads you normally eat, if any
- dried seaweed snacks
- other dried veggies (like Just Tomatoes)
- some nutritious herbal teas like red raspberry leaf, if you're taking that
- fresh fruit (other than just apples, whatever is in season where you are now) or dried fruit
- beef or other types of jerky (esp if you don't want to do the canned forms of protein)

I won't suggest canned veggies since I personally dislike them. I'd just try to eat a lot of vegetables whenever you eat out. I guess you could keep some sturdy veggies (like carrots) in a cooler. There are some pretty good raw food bars out there, but since you can basically get the same effect by eating dried fruit and nuts, it's more for convenience and variety.

[crunchy_mama]

oh- it has to survive 3 days- well no mayo then! but you could use some jerky for some meat or make you some pemmican you could still do some pb wraps or whatever other nut butter. Or how about some falafels w/ tahini wrap that would be way filling. pack some carrots and you got a meals there!

[tanyalynn]

I've kept trip food good for several days (5-day road trip) by buying ice each day, is that a possibility? Could you borrow a larger cooler (assuming "small cooler" because it's what you have, vs what will fit in the vehicle, so I could be wrong there) so that there's room for enough real food to last you?

[reducereuserecycle]

if the motel has an ice maker (which i think most do) you could always add fresh ice once or twice a day and keep some food in there.

if it were me, one thing i would take would be some strawberries :