Using What You Have

First things first, road trip was a success! No fried foods, no restaurant food on the drive either way. Instead, we stopped at picnic areas and a gigantic Sonic playscape (where I had a much-needed coffee) and the girlies spent the respites running, climbing and jumping. Wonderful. We restocked before the drive home (and I was shocked to find NO organic produce in East Texas groceries) and made the trip back with a single pit stop (for gas and pita chips at an HEB Grocery store that offered a gas station as well).

This week, in recovery from trip mode still, I'm concentrating on using what we have in the pantry/fridge.

This meant eating leftover vegan quiche and boiling fresh corn on the cob from our CSA for dinner when we got home Monday evening. It meant a big salad for dinner yesterday, coupled with leftover hummus and baba ghanoush. It means that I've got pintos my dad sent home with me (frozen, from his garden) simmering on the stove as I type this. These will make a simple meal in and of themselves with greens and cornbread, but I'm also going to deviate from my black bean burger recipe and sub these instead for dinner tonight. I'm also planning to use the fresh tomato sauce I froze last Friday (made with fresh tomatoes and basil from our CSA) for a simple pasta meal this week. And I'm pretty sure there is a frozen tub of Greek lentils in there as well, to which we'll had vegan sausage links.

I'm hoping we'll only need a small restock at the grocery this week (various milks for the girls, fresh-roasted coffee, greens for smoothies and other).

For the weekend, I'm going to concentrate on making room in my kitchen for easier cooking. I'm often balancing a cutting board on the edge of the sink because counter space is limited/full. That's just bad cooking chi. Must amend because I've realized that it's become an impediment to weeknight cooking. If I have to clear a countertop to chop veggies, et al, it's less likely to happen.

Road Food

So, the girls and I are taking a road trip in a few days and I'm facing the dilemma that many of my vegan friends face regularly of how best to have adequate and healthy food available away from home. I have been thinking through food ideas as I prepare.

In particular, I have been trying to eat mostly dairy-, egg- and oil-free and certain parts of this state are, to put it mildly, less than vegan friendly, not to mention health friendly. What to do?

First things first, I'm planning to pack a cooler bag to bring not only shelf-stable food. For starters, I'm packing organic milk for one child, and soymilk for the other. Deciding to take the cooler allows me to expand my road food options.

Next, we are going to try to stop at parks rather than restaurants. This way the girls can stretch their legs and we won't be tempted to eat french fries and ice cream, which will just make us feel yucky for the remainder of the drive. I'm even staying away from fast-ish food veggie burgers (like the Boca used at Texas Burger) b/c, really, need I say more?

Here's my list so far:

pretzels and pita chips
homemade hummus and baba ghanoush
boiled organic eggs (for the girls)
organic cheese cubes (for the girls)
cold pasta salad
fresh and dried fruit
pbjs
vegan peanut butter and chocolate chip fudge (our treat)
hope to make: vegan broccoli quiche, which is super yummy cold

The idea of eating this way on a road trip actually excites me. No more gas station food!

Please share other good healthy road trip food ideas!