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!!
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. :-)