We’re off to a wedding, a birthday party, my in-laws, and then to visit my grammy (Adriana gets to meet her Great-Grammy!) over the long weekend. This means we’re going to clock a ton of hours on the road, so I am coming prepared! Even though a lot of our meals will be made for us (such as dinner Saturday and Sunday night), I like to fill in the blanks by packing some light meals and healthy snack options to have on hand.
After I made the recipes Eric said, “Whoa, that didn’t take you long at all!” – and he was right, it took me just over 1 hour to prepare 4 recipes. Granted, I was going turbo mode, but still. I purposely selected quick and easy recipes (many are from the 2-day meal plan) which I also tend to have most of the ingredients for in my fridge and pantry. And if I don’t have all the ingredients I just improvise! So when Eric commented on how quickly the packed foods came together it struck me that this would be fun to share on the blog. I hope you’ll enjoy this glimpse into what I’m packing for a weekend away. (Keep in mind this isn’t intended to cover all of your meals – just to supplement when necessary. Feel free to tweak it as you see fit.)
What I made (click the links to the brought to the recipe!):
- Chickpea Salad with butter lettuce “wraps”
- Gazpacho (amazing for summer – no cook and super refreshing)
- Energy bites – I’m still perfecting the recipe in the photo above so rather than sharing it before it’s ready, I recommend you try these amazing Dark Chocolate Cherry Energy Bites! <—a fav!
- Vegan Overnight Oats (note: I doubled this recipe, plus added 2 extra tbsp chia seeds, and 2 small chopped bananas for more volume. If the mixture gets too thick, you can thin it with a bit of almond or coconut milk)
Not shown: I’m also packing a few of my Coconut-Cardamom Overnight Oat Parfaits for the car! If I had more time I would’ve also made a batch of my Lightened Up Summer Granola.
What else I packed:
Hummus, portable fruit, homemade maple cinnamon almond butter (or store-bought), my favourite crackers, food for Adriana. Eric says he’s bringing the Vitamix to make green monsters at his parent’s house. Who is this guy? I don’t know how we’re going to fit everything in the car…especially with a stroller, baby stuff, and my shoes for every terrain (rustic, outdoor wedding!). Should be interesting…
Tips:
– These are my go-to glass storage containers. Mason jars also work lovely!
– Pack several ice packs to ensure the food stays cool and fresh. You don’t want to arrive at your destination with room temperature food.
– Pack the energy bites on top so they don’t get squished.
– You can improvise with these recipes a lot. I make all kinds of versions of Gazpacho, the energy bites, and the chickpea salad. For this chickpea salad I didn’t have any celery so I just used a whole red bell pepper (diced) instead. It’s pretty forgiving so don’t worry!
– Pack the gazpacho in a thermos if you want to save room in the cooler. Otherwise a large 2-quart mason jar will hold the batch.
Ok, now I’m turning it over to you. Which foods do you like to pack for trips? Share your favs below!
Well guys…I seriously cannot believe it’s August 1st. *still in a 2015 time warp* I hope you are enjoying the dog days of summer. Soak it up and have a fun + safe weekend!!
Awesome post!!
Love the chickpea salad, i make it for lunches often yet wouldn’t have thought of it to travel with. I always make some kind of energy bite/ball and i freeze them, then bring with me frozen so by the time i want them they’re still solid. Spiced roasted chickpeas, granola clusters, dry roasted edamame, raw veggies, and these seedy hearty crackers that I’m obsessed with latelyhttp://www.mynewroots.org/site/2014/07/the-life-changing-crackers/
I’m usually traveling by plane so the liquids and pudding/hummus are out but i’ve been fine with a nut butter cracker “sandwich”.
I have a little one as well and this is a great reference for packing food for a trip, thank you!
I love this post, it’s just what I needed, a look into how other people cope with going on trips and what to do about food, it’s really inspired me to be more adventurous and not just rely on fruit and nuts! Thank you!
I make energy balls too! They were inspired by the ones my mom used to make 35 years ago.
Peanut Butter Energy Balls
½ c. peanut butter, natural
1 oz dried apricots (about 4)
½ oz dates (about 3)
1 oz raisins (about 30)
½ oz sunflower seeds (about 2 T.)
½ oz almonds, chopped (about 2 T.)
½ oz walnuts, chopped (about 2 T.)
1 oz chocolate chips (about 2 heaping T.)
1 T. chia seeds
2 T. honey
½ c. crushed cereal
Blend everything except honey and crushed cereal in a medium bowl. Pour in honey and stir. Add crushed cereal and stir until thoroughly combined. Refrigerate (this helps them become less sticky). Roll into Tablespoonful-sized balls, place in a covered container, and refrigerate until eaten. They keep quite awhile.
This is so helpful. Glad I’m not he only one that travels with loads of food. Lots of inspiration here x
www.calmer-you.com
I just made the gazpacho. It made it an hour chilling. This is truly my favorite recipe ever, and I swirled homemade pesto throughout. Yummy! This was perfect today after a hot Georgia day.
For the last year, I ALWAYS bring a batch of thumbprint breakfast cookies and a container of almond butter. The cookies can be breakfast, snack, or dessert. As a vegetarian who doesn’t eat soy or sugar, I hate to put out the nice folks I’m staying with with my dietary restrictions. The cookies are also fun to share – everyone I’ve shared them with asks for the recipe. Other go to foods for the road are hummus and Beanitos chips.
Great idea for packing food. I could really use what I learned from these tips whenever we go to parks or on the beach. It can save me money and my family can eat healthier food.
What a great idea! I’m a vegan travel blogger so I often have to do a lot of day trips with heaps of picnics, I’ll be sure to come back to this post in the future for inspiration and ideas!
www.wonderstruckfawns.com
That’s the link to my vegan travel blog, which is the first of its kind! I’d really appreciate it if you’d check it out and let me know your thoughts? :) Best!
Thanks so much for this post! It came at such a great time for me as I was wondering what to bring on my weekend away. I made overnight oats, peanut butter chocolate chip cookie bites (from your cookbook), humus and gazpacho. The gazpacho was amazingly refreshing and delicious! This is going to sound a bit weird, but I woke up this morning needing a little pick me up and the gazpacho hit the spot! I loved having all those veggies first thing in the morning!
Thanks so much for all your inspiration and very tasty creations! :)
These are wonderful tips! I always find it a bit challenging when going away because I know that I have many food restrictions. These recipes not only look delicious and satisfying, but are also easy to pack. www.sugarpeel.com
My husband and I have been traveling for the past 13 months so travel food is always on my mind. Keeping food cool is a constant challenge so I usually opt for non refrigerated items. I also don’t usually have a lot of ability for advanced preparation. Besides the obvious bananas, apples, and nut butter, one of my favorite meals is tortillas with a can of refried beans, tomato, Tabasco, avocado, and bell pepper in a tortilla. (Tortillas are easier for travel because they don’t get smushed as easily as bread. ) I also recently discovered Mama Gone crackers. Love! I make overnight oats with water so it doesn’t need refrigeration and it works great.
I love bringing a big frozen lasagna with me. They stay rock solid being transported in a cooler, and then are closer to thawed out by the time we arrive. That way I can contribute a vegan dinner for everyone, without having to cook in someone else’s kitchen!
Wow, whenever I come and look at your recipes, it makes me want to be vegan. <3
This post is amazing!!!! THANK YOU! :) (By the way, thanks to YOU and Oh She Glows, we’re a plant-based family, now!)
That’s amazingly fast. I will definitely try some of these for my pre-made breakfasts and lunches during the school week! They’ll be perfect.
Everything looks MEGA Tasty !
www.ecoplates.eu Plates made of Wheat Bran
What is this plant based people started? Please say vegan, the fight for animals haven’t finished yet
This is fantastic! I’m going away for an evening this weekend and for a long vaca in 2 weeks and this will be very helpful (I’m traveling with meat eaters). Thank you so much for sharing!
Love love love posts like this! It’s always great to get ideas from others when it comes to quick portable food options :) (especially healthy ones!)
Hey Angela, Is there any particular reason to use bins made of glass?
This is going to be so helpful. I’m roadtripping it this week so that will be great! Def going to bring along some overnight oats.
We take a lot of road trips!!! We being my husband, 4-month old baby, 2 dogs, and I. Several times a year we make a 12-hour drive to visit our family in the Midwest. We pack meals for the drive and snacks to have on hand when we get to our destination. Chickpea salad is a go-to for us. I like to cut up all of the vegetables that will spoil while we’re gone and then we dip them in our chickpea salad. Also, energy bites are perfect and I typically make a trail mix with raw nuts and seeds and dried fruit. Also, I like making hearty banana pancakes. We spread some peanut butter on top and they are delicious and easy to eat on the road. I like packing a container of berries as well. I’ve found that if we travel with a fruit that has the potential to bruise, then undoubtedly it will!! Unintentional mashed bananas aren’t the best. I always fill up 6-8 water bottles for the trip. I store them in a 6-pack wine “green bag” that I got at Whole Foods. There is nothing worse than buying a $2 plastic bottle of water at the gas station.
Hi
If you make the overnight oats, how long would they be good for?
i.e 1 day, 2 days kind of thing?
Thanks
Amy
Ok, so this couldn’t have come at a better time. I too went away last weekend and made the Chickpea chicken salad. Holy Moly it was delicious! AND it totally tasted like chicken salad – without the meat taste. THANK YOU. All the meat eaters loved it too. I’m overly enthusiastic about your recipes and blog because they are just the best and it’s so exciting to have glorious vegan gluten free food. Thank you!
xo
~Anna
OMG, I love this. Going to try something like this next week.
My hubby and I did a 9 day road trip and packed most of our own food. I think we ate out at restaurants 4 times, and thats because we wanted to. Our car was PACKED with food and cooking supplies, to say the least. But it was so worth it and completely doable, with some planning ahead. we cooked our travel day meals in advance so we had food to eat when we needed a rest stop/break. Packing fruits, granola bars and other non perishable food items for day to day shenanigans was so helpful and convenient to stay on track.
Hey Angela!
Would you ever consider making an Aussie Bites recipe? They’re such great snacks and I would love to be able to make my own! There are some recipes that I found online but you never really know… I’d love it if you’d make a recipe because I know anything you create is fantastic! :)
Great suggestions not just for weekends away but for just lunch at the office. Thank you very much for the recipes :)
This is so awesome! What crackers are those?
How long will the Dark Chocolate Cherry Energy Bites stay fresh? Can I make a batch that will last a couple of weeks?
Hi Angela…
thanks for these helpful tips, i was planning for holidays next month. And the food is well presented , nice job. i just read your recipe of vegan oats . goona try that one first, seems delicious. Keep sharing these kind of post with us .
Hi Angela…
thanks for these helpful tips, i was planning for holidays next month. goona try vegan oats recipe first , seems delicious. keep sharing these kind of post with us. Nice Job.
Hi Scott, I’m glad you found this post helpful. Enjoy the vegan oats (and anything else you might try!), and have a great holiday!
Knowing what food to bring when traveling as a vegan has definitely been difficult for me so far but hopefully it’ll get easier over time! I went on 2 ski trips last month and both times I brought your delicious caesar dressing (HUGE hit), mac & cheese, curry lentils, black bean soup, etc. This post gave me some good ideas for my next trip!
Love the ideas! Any suggestions of what foods to pack when flying?
Thank you, Angela, for this post. This will work well especially for kids too because I find too many restaurants still use too much salt (despite at times asking for reduced salt). As for myself, I will still need to have my coffee and I use organic whole bean. Luckily, there are small coffee travel kits that would work great with this away meal plan!
We live in Europe and travel often. I pack some of the things you do along with your chickpea flour pancakes. Those are great to travel with, especially on the plane or train. I pack my lunch or travel food without cooling devices. If it’s vegan, I’m never worried about issues with food being room temp and much prefer the taste of eating room temp food vs food from the fridge or ice chest. Hummus is great at room temp as well. We just came back from a Germany to England drive with my 4 year old and lots of great vegan food, and are going to Berlin next week. Will be sure to make your bars to take along. Would love to take protein/healthy muffins too – do you have a recipe?
Awesome collection. i am going to try all this on my weekend. thanks a lots to share
Gotta say I’m impressed by this article! It has a lot of valuable information, and I’ll make sure to try those wraps. It seems like you focused on medium-budget food.
It would be great if you could spin out a cheaper version of this. I’ve tried the energy bites before, and I’m definitely gonna keep on making them!