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!!
Overnight oats, homemade bars and in-bulk family recipes are great ideas! I would pack a giant tofu scramble, portable fruits, baked sweet potatoes, rye crackers and hummus and guacamole too! :D yummy!
I love the idea of a tofu scramble! Next time :)
Gosh, thanks for posting these. That’s the only time I really have problems… when travelling. These will be great. Can’t wait to try them.
Baked sweet potatoes are one of my favorites too just because the kids think sweet potatoes are like candy. I love this post! We love going away for the weekends to our parents’ cottage on Lake Ontario. We love it there, it’s so peaceful. But food is always an issue. There is no place within an hour to buy food, except local roadside stands for things like zucchini and peaches. You are in BIG trouble if you don’t bring food. I find this post very helpful, it’s always tough to keep the cold food cold, especially since the AC broke in our van and is to $$ to fix. hehe.
I am a huge fan of your blog and cookbook so imagine my surprise when i saw you were the cover article on a magazine from my local health food shop! http://www.yourhealthyliving.co.uk/magazinecurrent This may not seem like a big deal but i live in rural Wales!! Great to see you are making an impact on this side of the pond! Enjoy your weekend away!
Love it! I make the chickpea salad a lot and whenever I don’t have celery, I use cucumber. It’s the perfect summertime lunch. Have a great weekend!
All those foods look delicious:)~
Great ideas! What are your favourite crackers?
Have fun!!
Bulgur salad like they make it in turkey is great because its filling and fresh and I always like to take something to drink that is not water, like homemade lemon-ginger lemonade or iced tea with a very small amount of sugar because water gets so boring ;)
sliced carrots with a dip are great as well.
Great tips! Everything looks really delicious.
http://xoxobella.com/
This is great, everything looks super yummy!
Your chickpea salad is so appealing…I am sure I am going to try and make it very soon. Thank you for the recipe!
I’m drooling. This is such a HUGE help since so often I feel like eating healthy on the road is a hit and miss. Not anymore! Totally impressed Eric is packing the Vita-Mix. :)
I’m always curious about what others take when they’ll be on the road for a while. Great ideas! I second bringing baked sweet potatoes. They’re mess-free and completely filling! Though something runny, sloppy, and messy has never stopped me from eating in the car haha.
You are seriously the best!!! Thank you for sharing this type of info with us!
Homemade protein baked goods, bars (like larabars and thunderbird bars), raw nuts, dry roasted edamame, dehydrated fruits and veg, raw chocolate, nut butter, and roasted sweet potatoes are my go to travel snacks!
Amazing post! Very helpful! Thank you!
I love everything you put on your blog. It is so much fun to find exciting things to fix.
These are great ideas! I like to make my oat/date/chocolate chip cookies. They are packed with healthy whole foods. No flour or sugar. And they are yummy. Perfect travel food because they don’t need refrigeration and they last for a long time. Often I just keep them in my bag when I know I have a long day outside in NYC. Thx for these awesome tips!!
My go to trip food is sandwiches. A salted avacado, tomato, sprout and tofu sammy with a few drops of hot sauce always hits the spot.
I also use up my veggies with a rice pulao or quinoa salad with edamame and cashews and some mustard and cumin seeds and tumeric as a base.
I will be trying the overnight oats for my next trip!
What an awesome idea Angela! The key to staying on track is DEFINITELY pre-planning. I run a plant-based diet reset group to help people eat clean, lose weight and get healthy, and this will be a wonderful resource for them!!! They always struggle with a few things 1) the prep work, 2) the perceived cost and 3) traveling and pre-planning. Thank you for this! xoxox!
Dawn
That all looks so yummy. Quick question about the energy bites. Think they can be made in Vitamix? My food processor died and a new one is not in budget right now :(
Happy Simcoe Day!
Looks like some delicious long weekend road tripping meals, Ange! That’s so cool that Adriana gets to meet her Great Grammy. I’m sure she’s developing quite the personality these days! My favourite travel snacks are pre-cut veggies with hummus, Vega Savi Seeds, fruit, roasted chickpeas, and salads or smoothies that I make ahead of time. On that note, I LOVE that Eric is bringing the Vitamix. I think you’ve taught him well! :)
This is such a great idea, Angela! I usually bring energy bites, crackers, and fruit! But next time I’ll pack hummus and vegan overnight oats too! :) Enjoy your time with friends and family!
humm, I usually just go for apples, nuts, dried tomatoes, soy-joghurt and stuff like that because i’m afraid of not being able to keep things cold enough, will have to try some of yours though!
Angela I really love this post! I love the way you laid it out, super inspiring. We do the same thing when going on road trips and I totally know what you mean about turbo mode:) We usually bring green juice and smoothies and then trail mix, hummus and raw salad and usually a big salad! Hope you had fun!
Sweetie! I’m so glad I found you! :) :) I just turned vegan and I needed some inspiration for road trip snacks. A bunch of bananas is not a bad idea, but putting my food in a container sounds even better!!
Oh this all looks so yummy!! Any tips or suggestions for plane traveling foods? We will be traveling almost a day in and out of airports and I need some portable snack suggestions :) thanks!
Hi Hattie,
I’ve had good luck making wrap sandwiches – whole grain tortilla with greens, tomatoes, and seitan salad (veganaise, seitan, dill, red onion, whole grain mustard). They travel well and are easy to eat in the plane. I found a BPA free cling wrap that holds it all together nicely. I haven’t made it yet, but Angela’s chickpea salad sounds like another great filling option.
Forgot to mention – fold them up like a burrito by folding in the sides before rolling. It keeps everything from falling out.
This couldn’t have come at a more perfect time for me! I was looking for ideas of things to take for myself to a family reunion this weekend, while everyone else will be eating BBQ. Thank you!!!
Angela, your recipes never disappoint! Thanks for including this! Your chickpea salad is one of my absolute favorite and thanks for sharing the lightened up granola. I mailed batches of your granola clusters for Christmas to family and friends and over and over they said, “Where is the recipe???” I pointed them to your cookbook and bought a few extra copies for them. Your website and cookbook have really been a godsend to my family. All the best to you and yours.
LOVE this post! We just got back from three days of camping, and your Detox Tabbouleh came along–I love it, and I actually really don’t like traditional tabbouleh! But we had an excess of parsley in the garden, so I looked up tabbouleh here and … thanks! (It also stayed crisp very well.)
When I was growing up, a Pounder bag of M&Ms was considered requisite road trip food. Don’t tell my sensitive parents, but NOT a tradition I want to pass on to my daughters!
P.S. Totally off-topic, but the Cheerful Chocolate Smoothie in the cookbook is officially the best thing ever. Yesterday I subbed out half the almond milk for full-fat coconut milk (just because I had leftover after skimming most of the cream off the top of the can for a scone recipe), and I think I added a bit of protein powder, because I needed it, and the end result was EXACTLY like a chocolate milkshake! And no refined sugar! I was SO EXCITED … I’m having another one now :-D
Hi Angela, I’ve been thinking of you ever since you posted that you were getting unkind emails about letting your daughter chose what she eats (versus insisting on vegan.) Making our own choices is one of life’s greatest gifts! Without force your daughter will lovingly follow your example and learn to love healthy eating. Im sure of it! And the beauty of it is that she will be that much more committed because she was allowed to choose for herself.
I want you to know you’ve made a positive difference in my life. I keep finding more and more recipes that work for me from your cookbook! You have made my life better and I’m grateful to you. One person can make an amazing difference!
Awesome round up! It makes trips much more enjoyable knowing there will be no stress over finding suitable food options on the road.
I laughed so hard at Eric packing the blender. We used to do the same thing! Now I make a few smoothies the day before we depart and freeze them in individual bottles/jars. Thaw it out in the fridge the night before and the taste stays the same. You can thaw on the counter top or in the car too; it’s still yummy but the kale taste comes through a bit more.
Hi Angela,
This is worth commenting, which is something I don’t usually do… I’m one of those quiet readers…:-) I just need to send you a word of love. Already the 2-day-reset was amazing and it was SUCH perfect timing for me. I followed it to the T. Funny thing- i pretty much prepared everything for it in one single setting and it was quick! And then I didn’t have to worry about cooing and shopping for about 4 days, which was great (it was tons of food and my husband left after day one – though certainly NOT due to the food :-))
Needless to say, I also love this. I would pack your endurance crackers instead of the energy balls. I’m a huge fan of those and have to be careful with fructose.
I love the fact that you are using glass containers! It’s so funny, I am a Swiss living in austria, so far away, but I feel so close to you – my husbands name is Eric too, he is American, and many things (including green smoothies) are such parrallels to your husband! He loves your food, btw, which is big! I hope you vontinue this for a loooooong time.
Thanks for everything, now I’ll be “quiet” again.
Best, Katja
This post (together with the post about 2-day plant-based meal plan) is the most helpful one. It woud be great if you could write more posts with complete menus (it’s easy to pick up one recipe but I find it quite difficult to make a meal plan for a whole day).
Thank you for all the inspiration!
I love the idea of a portable gazpacho! My idea of eating healthy on the go usually consists of a ton of apples and bananas, plus a huge green smoothie in a jar. But I love these options here!
I haven’t been traveling a lot lately, but I’m excited to look through your suggestions for when it happens again!
Thank you for sharing these great ideas!!! Would be awesome to know what kind of foods you have packed for Adriana :). We are gonna do our first overseas trip with our little guy when he is 1 years old in September, so I am trying to gather ideas on what to bring!
Love these ideas! I do hummus (usually two variations), three bean salad, baked oatmeal (heavenly carrot cake is a fave), tabbouleh, fruit (usually apples, grapes and oranges because they last longer) and then crackers of a couple persuasions and pretzels. I’ve also been known to put carrot sticks and celery sticks in a jar on top of 3 or 4 TBs of nut butter for quick snacking on the go. I also use mason jars. Eco friendly, don’t smoosh, and washable.
Hey Angela, this is totally unrelated to this (great) blog post, but I just wanted to share an interesting news article, from Canada! Thought you might be interested: http://www.mfablog.org/award-winning-goat-cheese-maker-goes-vegan
LOVE this idea. I hate traveling and feeling like you don’t have the healthy options on hand. I also love packing veggies and hummus, clean protein bars, homemade energy balls, and healthy breakfast cookies! :-D
Awesome idea! Thanks for sharing :)
www.nikkisplate.com
Why do I get excited with this snack pack, especially the energy bites. It would be amazing if its assorted and just be delighted of the flavor you picked. And oddly any food made for getaways has its magic, it will always taste good and better than eating the same things at home.
Grapes – love grapes on road trips and my son and I make trail mix with unsalted nuts and dried fruit. The ideas here are excellent and just in time for our drive to the beach. :-)
Packing food for trips always seems to take forever…it was inspiring to see it can be done in less than one hour!
Favorite foods to pack: popcorn (despite the messiness!), carrots + hummus, my go to breakfast of buckwheat/millet + raisins/coconut/cinnamon, fruit.
One thing that ALWAYS derails my healthy eating is traveling. I try to take healthy foods, and one time did bring my Vitamix to a weeklong family getaway at my in-laws (want everyone to think you’re crazy? Bring a blender on vacation!)
I usually just pack snacks like nuts, fruit, or granola bars or something; I never thought to actually make anything. I’m going to try that next time — starting with your energy bites and overnight oats!
I have no problems with packing snacks, emergency oatmeal packets or anything to help get my husband and I through a trip. Problems arise, specifically when we stay with family or friends. What do you say to them when you show up with a cooler full of your own food? How do you answer questions of why you packed your own food? How do you ensure you don’t come across as some elitist who is too good for their food?
These are all very scrumptious ideas for a weekend summer trip! Gazpacho is definitely one of my favs and so easy and refreshing! I’m excited to try vegan overnight oats! I always do overnight oats but never tried with chia seeds! Can’t wait to try tonight!
This is SO helpful. It can be so difficult to maintain healthy eating habits when you’re out and about and traveling on the weekends. Thanks so much for sharing!
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These are such great ideas! I haven’t made gazpacho before and can’t wait to try this. I DO make chia pudding pretty much every time I go anywhere and it travels so well! Great job on doing 4 recipes in under an hour. My hero!
Going away for a 3 day bike trip to sunshine coast this weekend. Was thinking of easy to pack food and your post couldn’t be more perfect!
Thank you!
Yummy! Thank you for sharing your travel food. We just went on a road trip and we are bug fans of fresh fruit, vege sticks (carrot, cucumber and capcicum) and home made seed cookies!
Mmmmmmm everything looks so incredible! I’ve been traveling basically every week this summer, and it definitely threw off my eating! I love that it’s all quick and easy to make, too!
Angela, I’ve been reading your blog for a couple years for healthy food inspiration, for which it is a treasure trove. I want to extend thanks more than ever now, though, as I’ve come to see how helpful it’s becoming as I try to eliminate plastic from my lifestyle. This post sent me to endurance crackers, and I can’t wait to try those, as well as your spelt flatbread. And it’s encouraging to see you traveling with these more sustainable options instead of getting take-out on the road. Thank you!