Food for a Summer Family Car Trip

[PoetryLover]

My husband and I will be traveling about 10 hours each way (plus stops to feed and change our 4.5 month old son) to pick my 2 stepdaughters up for the summer. They are 11 & 13. We'll be staying overnight in a hotel. (We might do some sight seeing and stay 2 nights.) Money is a concern and I know eating out can be very expensive, especially over a 2-3 day period. I figure we can bring a cooler and keep filling it with ice. We can buy a case of bottled water. We can probably afford to eat two meals out during the 2-3 day round trip.

Please share ideas for relatively inexpensive vegetarian meals on the road that will keep for 2-3 days. I don't want to force them to eat pb&j the entire time. Thanks so much!

[caiesmommy]

container of hummus-carrot sticks/celery sticks/pita/cherry tomatoes
fruit-apples/oranges/grapes/strawberries or a chopped up fruit salad
cheese and crackers-cube the cheese and bring the box of crackers
rice and bean salad-not so easy for driver but not bad for everyone else
cold noodle salad w peanut butter sauce
fruit and yogurt parfaits
dried fruit leather
chips and salsa
trail mix
popped popcorn
muffins
wraps or pitas w veggies..put the sauce in a small container or a sandwich bag then cut a corner and squeeze it onto sandwich
bagged salad is easy to transport
bagels w cream cheese or peanut butter




I would check out the $ store for cheap single serving containers. So you can mix things like a fruit and yogurt parfait together before you leave and stack them in the cooler. Cheap plastic bowls can be rinsed out with water when you pull over to pee and since they are older I wouldn't worry about a mess with things like salads

[maciascl]

You may also be able to strech your eating out funds by checking out what is available along the way & planning where you are going to stop. Things like 99 cent bean burritos or stoping at a grocery store deli can stretch your eating out budget!

[crunchy_mommy]

We pack 80% of our meals when we go on vacation... We usually bring:

Breakfast:
Fruit, homemade muffins, container of dairy-free milk, maybe a box of cereal & some bowls

Lunch:
Cans of soup (bring a can opener!), loaf of bread, jar of PB, hummus, pitas, giant bag of baby carrots, tupperware of leftovers

Dinner:
Usually eat out, often stop at the grocery stored for something prepared but cheap (burritos, veg sushi, noodles, salad bar, etc.)

Drinks:
Reusable water bottles that we fill up whenever near water, DH brings a beer or two, could also bring some juice & seltzer

Snacks:
Fruit, chips & salsa, avocados (to make guacamole), homemade cookies, trail mix, etc.

[PoetryLover]

Thanks so much for all the ideas!

[Magelet]

I'd bring:
bread and/or pita bread, hard boiled eggs, cheese, fruit, hummus, yogurt, maybe some granola and milk, bean salad, egg salad, veggies, pb&j, nuts, salad stuff and a bowl to mix it, s&p

That way it can be aranged into various options:

Breakfasts:
Bread, biscuits, hard boiled eggs, fruit, cheese, yogurt, granola, milk,

Lunch:
Bean salad (I love french green lentil salad with veggies and feta and vinegrette)
egg salad (sandwhiches or as a side) or noodle salad or something
Sandwhiches: (cheese, veggies, hummus, and/or pb&j)
yogurt and fruit
hummus and veggies
salad

Snacks:
Hummus, pitas, veggies, cheese, hard boiled eggs, nuts

Dinner:
eat out 2 nights if you can afford it, similar stuff to lunch, (another bean or noodle salad? A rice salad? and a green salad with cheese?)

[PoetryLover]

Thanks so much for the responses! We ended up bringing home-made refried beans in cooler, fruit, muffins and lots of water. We would have brought more, but we had an exceptionally small cooler. Maybe for the end of summer return trip we'll incorporate more ideas if we get a larger cooler.