Last week we were all about packing food for flying, and you had some great comments and suggestions to share. As promised, this week we’ll talk about packing food for road trips. (Road trip, yeah! Ahem. Sorry—I love road trips.)
Road trips are fun. You play games, stop whenever and wherever you want, sing at the top of your voice, recline your seat as much as you want, and you can pack drinks and jellies and never have to worry about making sure they fit in a single quart-size baggie. Plus you get to remove your shoes and your belt because you want to, not because you have to.
I know many will be on the road next week, so let’s talk about road trips already, shall we?
What are your favorite tips for packing food for road trips?
We like packing homemade empanadas or other hand pies for road trips. I’ll make both savory and sweet versions, and sometimes a combination of both, like cheese and a small amount of figs or jelly. And of course, nuts and chips for when an attack of the crunchies hits. We also pack a cooler for drinks and make sure there’s extra space for any unexpected treats we may want to purchase while on the road.
We know you have your favorites too, so tell us all about them! While you’re at it, do you also have any cool games or activities to make the time go faster and the trip more fun? Any favorite road tripping memories? We want to hear them all, so come share below!
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Jackie on 11.20.2014
This past weekend, my boyfriend and I, along with a friend of ours, made the two-hour drive up to Boston for an event, and rather than getting fast food along the way, I decided I’d make food to pack. I baked two loaves of bread (one regular sandwich bread, one cinnamon-swirl); the regular bread became turkey-and-cheese sandwiches, and the cinnamon-swirl bread became peanut-butter-and-Nutella sandwiches. I baked a pumpkin-bread Bundt cake with maple glaze, cut several slices, and wrapped them in plastic wrap. Those, some juice boxes (apple and grape), a bag of clementines, and some fun-size chocolate bars, were our road trip food. (In retrospect, I may have slightly over-prepared… especially since we went out to dinner with friends right before our return trip.) But it was tasty!
AngAK on 11.20.2014
My Mom always made apple turnover type pockets for our road trips. loved those things. we could never have books or crayons or crafts of any type because I would get terribly car sick. just looking out the car window games. same thing now. I love audio books now and we listen to one each time we go to our fishing cabin 3 hours away. we can usually finish a short book on the round trip. popcorn and packets of trail mix or nuts is our standard car snack for this trip. if it’s longer, I’ll pack a picnic—no matter the weather. love picnics
KrissyC EsMommy on 11.20.2014
We don’t really do long road trips, but we do make a 400 mile round trip (200 miles up then 200 back again) to my family’s place a few times a year. That 3-4 hours in a car is enough to drive me insane but only because I hate small spaces! Someday we’ll do longer but for now, its short. lol. BUT for trips we usually get hungry there and back again due to being hurried in the mornings and the nights being very late, so I always pack sandwiches made with rolls, bags of chips, popcorn, cereals, and dried fruit to with them. I pack lots of juices and water and activities like color books (even I love to color), word searches, puzzle books, maze books and such. Plus my daughter plays her ds a little bit of the time as well. We sing, laugh, talk, share stories, and just enjoy the scenery. Good luck on your upcoming trips!
jan g on 11.20.2014
Your road trips sound far more exciting than ours… but when we’re taking short weekend trips, i always make a big batch of Chex mix (all from generics, sorry Chex), in the microwave because it takes a total of 9 minutes, so that the spousal unit can munch and stay awake. Must reserve bag for return trip.
Melissa G on 11.20.2014
I just came back from a 9-day road trip, and it turns out I like the idea of a road trip much more than the actual “road” part (2650km round-trip, I was the only driver!). The best thing I packed, food-wise, was breakfast food. A packet of cereal, a loaf of bread, butter, peanut butter, milk, coffee and sugar meant that we were able to feed ourselves in the morning and that was one less meal to budget for. I also took a carton of Coke, easy to stick a couple of cans in the fridge on arrival at our nightly stop, another saving. And apples, so that there was something other than the never-ending stream of chips and lollies to munch on!
Jenny on 11.19.2014
I like to make stromboli for road trips. We slice it up and keep it in a cooler and its a family tradition as my daughter makes it for road trips as well. Favorites are pepperoni and mozzarella, ham and Swiss cheese, and salami and cojack!
Sonjia on 11.19.2014
The day after Thanksgiving every year, my family takes a 7 hour drive from Dallas, Texas to Eureka Springs, Arkansas just to enjoy the cold weather and the beauty of this tiny victorian mountain town. We are up before the sun and on the road by 6am. I make bacon and egg breakfast burritos for the drive. We always stop half way there for lunch at a rest stop in Oklahoma. That’s when I break out the crockpot full of warm chili, that cooked overnight. When we get to our hotel, I clean out the crockpot and set it up with irish oats, sugar, cinnamon and apples. I plug this in when we go to bed. We have a hot breakfast waiting when we wake up the next morning.
Jennifer on 11.19.2014
I have a bad habit of mindlessly eating on road trips, so I pack a lot of veggies!
Iris Tate on 11.19.2014
A long time ago, we took our 3 kids and 6 foster kids on a huge tour of western USA in a station wagon….. I gave each kid $5.00 in quarters, and whoever made a gripe or negative comment or started a fuss had to give up a quarter. Only one boy lost one quarter, and I the Mom, lost one. The rest they could spend on souvenirs. It was a pleasant trip.
Mary O. on 11.19.2014
Best line ever! “Plus you get to remove your shoes and your belt because you want to, not because you have to.”
BB Tyree on 11.19.2014
We frequently travel 6-12 hours, depending on what relative we’re visiting, with three elementary-aged children. We pack nuts and chips and fruit, sandwiches made with bagels instead of bread, they travel well and don’t get soggy. We take a cooler of various drinks, and extras to refill the cooler as needed. Each child brings their own travel backpack, they keep their games/toys and their own special snacks in them. The only thing we get on the road is coffee and more ice for the cooler if needed.
Cheryl on 11.19.2014
Most places on our road system in AK takes a few hours to get to so unless I am going to picnic or camp out then normally its just like waters, crackers and beef jerkey and sunflower seeds. I usually fill my cooler with iced coffee, water, soda’s for those who drink it or flavored sparkling water, cheeses if I make tuna or chicken salad or pasta salads i will place them in the cooler as well. I use reusable bags to hold paper plates, plastic ware, papertowel, tissue, wetwipes and hand sanitizer. I will put like breads, chips, crackers, beef jerkey, trail mix,nuts, fruits unless they need to be chilled then they go in the cooler. We also stop at gas stations for more if needed.
Becky T. on 11.19.2014
Sliced sticks of cheese. Sliced apple . Pretzels. Hey these would work on the plane also!
I often wind up on the road by myself and a couple of baggies of these goodies and an audio book or 2 and I can cover 1000 miles a day if I have to.
Karen on 11.19.2014
I don’t usually bother much with pre-made snacks – it is just the two of us so a couple packages of peanut butter crackers and coffee/tea in the mugs and we are set and stop when we need to for more – normally we are in the RV so everything is right there in the cabinets and I make hot water or more coffee when we need to – when traveling in the car we just stop for more hot water or coffee at the convenience store when we stop for gas.
kay43026 on 11.19.2014
Since it’s just hubby and me now, we pretty much have it down to a science on our ‘road trip’ snack packing!
We always have a small cooler, which we can easily reach, with cheese sticks and/or cut up cheese, yogurt, cut up raw veggies & grapes. There’s a canvas bag that stores the crackers, chips, cheese/cracker packets…dry snacks. We always put a case of bottled water in the back of the SUV, but also fill every cup holder in the front. He’s a coffee/pop drinker, I just drink water/tea. He starts out the trip with his coffee mug from home but when he’s ready for his Diet Pepsi, we stop at at a gas station…usually for a potty break and (sometimes) gas. Occasionally we pick up more snacks there, too.
There’s at least ONE roll of paper towels within easy reach & a packet of wet wipes. I pack disposable plastic spoons/forks.
The crackers are about the ‘messiest’ that we’re willing to take. We rarely go to a drive-thru for fast food when traveling (maybe for a quick breakfast sandwich). Since it’s just the 2 of use, we splurge and go into a restaurant when traveling. We didn’t travel very far when our kids were growing up (careers/$$), but the few long road trips we did take were pretty much the same. Healthy snacks in the car…but food in restaurants.
We’re taking a 3 week trip to Florida in Jan/Feb and will be also taking a cooler of frozen foods to cook while at the rental house. I’ll pack the frozen meats intermixed with other things that need to be kept cold…and throw ice AND ice packs into the cooler/s. We’ve done that before and it works perfectly. Have never had things thaw on us.
C. L. ( Cheryl ) "Cheffie Cooks" Wiser on 11.19.2014
Short road trips can be great fun! We do not do long road trips they’re not fun! All family members (and it is a huge family) all live within 45 minutes of each other (so no need for long road trips). Light travel this Holiday season again. Movies, games for the children while riding is easy. Munchies (homemade).To everyone a safe and Joyous Thanksgiving!!!