Secrets of Traveling Revealed!- Part Three
Tucson, AZ
If you're like me, you can only eat restaurant food for so long before you start to regret it. I like a treat just as much as the next person (actually, maybe more than the next person), but restaurant food is just too much after a while- too greasy, too heavy, too rich, too sweet, too salty, too bubbly, too creamy, and just plain too much food, too. When I travel for three days or more, restaurants alone just won't cut it. I have plans to construct a little travel kitchen in the back of my car using 12V appliances, but that's still only a plan and it won't help me if I have a rental car anyway.
What has been working out really well for me in the meantime is this:
1. Know where I can get some good pre-packaged no-cook meals. My favorites are Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. (It's handy to have some plasticware in the car with you.) When I finally broke on this last trip, I picked up Trader Joe's spa salad for a tasty, yet light and refreshing, lunch along with a strawberry smoothie. On my way home, I stopped at the Whole Foods in La Jolla Village Square in San Diego for more green lentils, and I grabbed a pre-made turkey sandwich to eat in the car on the way home. These places have a lot of options including ready-to-go sushi, wraps, salads, etc... Whole Foods also features a cafe-like area where you can order sandwiches, pizza, etc... This is about as close to homemade on the road that I can find, except...
2. Homemade food made at someone's house you know. I really appreciate when I'm in town being invited over for a meal at someone's house, no matter how simple. When I was up in Seattle last, my friend Steve was wonderful. He made homemade pizza for me. He also made it for me when he came down to Tucson. It was really good- not at all greasy or otherwise heavy like you'd get in a restaurant. Heck, I'd even be happy if someone just let me take over their kitchen and cook for them!
3. For the first part of a trip, I will sometimes pack along something to eat on the road. That way I make better time, and I don't get burnt out on restaurant food as early. My current travelling favorite is a simple bread, fruit, and cheese selection. It's very easy to eat in the car without spilling or making a mess, it helps cut down on food rotting while I'm gone, and it doesn't really require refrigeration (maybe you should for the cheese, but I don't). I just slice up an apple or wash some grapes or prepare whatever fruit I have, cut some pieces of whatever cheese I happen to have left over, and then toss in a roll or a couple of pieces of bread that I have and I'm good to go.
If you're like me, you can only eat restaurant food for so long before you start to regret it. I like a treat just as much as the next person (actually, maybe more than the next person), but restaurant food is just too much after a while- too greasy, too heavy, too rich, too sweet, too salty, too bubbly, too creamy, and just plain too much food, too. When I travel for three days or more, restaurants alone just won't cut it. I have plans to construct a little travel kitchen in the back of my car using 12V appliances, but that's still only a plan and it won't help me if I have a rental car anyway.
What has been working out really well for me in the meantime is this:
1. Know where I can get some good pre-packaged no-cook meals. My favorites are Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. (It's handy to have some plasticware in the car with you.) When I finally broke on this last trip, I picked up Trader Joe's spa salad for a tasty, yet light and refreshing, lunch along with a strawberry smoothie. On my way home, I stopped at the Whole Foods in La Jolla Village Square in San Diego for more green lentils, and I grabbed a pre-made turkey sandwich to eat in the car on the way home. These places have a lot of options including ready-to-go sushi, wraps, salads, etc... Whole Foods also features a cafe-like area where you can order sandwiches, pizza, etc... This is about as close to homemade on the road that I can find, except...
2. Homemade food made at someone's house you know. I really appreciate when I'm in town being invited over for a meal at someone's house, no matter how simple. When I was up in Seattle last, my friend Steve was wonderful. He made homemade pizza for me. He also made it for me when he came down to Tucson. It was really good- not at all greasy or otherwise heavy like you'd get in a restaurant. Heck, I'd even be happy if someone just let me take over their kitchen and cook for them!
3. For the first part of a trip, I will sometimes pack along something to eat on the road. That way I make better time, and I don't get burnt out on restaurant food as early. My current travelling favorite is a simple bread, fruit, and cheese selection. It's very easy to eat in the car without spilling or making a mess, it helps cut down on food rotting while I'm gone, and it doesn't really require refrigeration (maybe you should for the cheese, but I don't). I just slice up an apple or wash some grapes or prepare whatever fruit I have, cut some pieces of whatever cheese I happen to have left over, and then toss in a roll or a couple of pieces of bread that I have and I'm good to go.
Labels: travel
posted by Kirsten | 1/27/2006 01:00:00 PM
1 Comments:
And there's also my two big reasons for avoiding restaurants on the road. A) They're expensive (or the cheap ones are disgusting); and B) I'm completely anti-social about half the time (I prefer my own company, thankyouverymuch.) Crowded, noisy restaurant? [shudder]
I usually travel with a cooler when I'm driving, which opens up a few more options. Sticking with things you can eat with your fingers (and adding some options for carnivores) you can cut up and lightly blanche some vegetables (blanching makes them keep better), pack whole boiled eggs or slices of hard salami, or jerkey of some kind (beef, turkey or tofurkey). I make it a point of pride to avoid chain restaurants and stick to locally-owned restaurants, for dinner only.
Breakfast used to be a problem in hotels (a continental breakfast is useless for someone who quite literally falls over if she doesn't get protein in the morning), but I bought a flash heater (the kind you use to boil water for a cup of tea). I use it to boil water in the hotel coffee maker carafe, then pour the water into a thermos with some 9-grain cereal, clamp the lid on and leave overnight. In the morning the grain will be cooked, and is quite tasty mixed with a chopped boiled egg and some salt and pepper.
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