Where to eat while traveling

[MommaLuna]

My DH and I are planning a cross country trip from the west coast to the east coast in April. We plan to be gone about 2 months, meandering around and seeing friends and relatives, beautiful scenery and historic sights in less populated areas. We'll mostly be sleeping in our van which has ample room--but no cooking facilities. About every third day we'll get a motel so we can shower, etc. Now for the big problem. Where do we eat? We'll have a small cooler, that's all.

I know we can get plain baked taters at Wendy's and bean burritos at Taco Bell (ugh) but what else have you found that is McDougall friendly. Since we are small town Oregon people we don't know any regional chains. Can you point me in the right direction.

And of course we are trying to do this on the cheap with one McDougaller and one very junk food orientated eater.

[Faith in DC]

boy is that going to be hard. First off I'd order some right foods. You can get boiling water just about everywhere.

What I'd do is when I am visiting a friend, I'd ask if I could steam some round potatoes and maybe make some hummus. They should understand. Then you got potatoes to pop and hummus for carrots that you can buy.

It sounds like a fun adventure.

Just remember to stop often and walk.

[Plumerias]

I think it would be useful if you could give a basic outline of your planned route. That way people along the way could offer suggestions in their respective locales and those who have visited places could do so as well.

As one who lives in an RV full time and travels, might I suggest you find campgrounds with shower facilities. They are likely to be more cost effective than motels. Most have laundry facilities as well. Some have clubhouses with kitchen facilities that registered campers may use. Some places have allowed me to use their freezers, although it's pretty much been in off/shoulder seasons. (DH is now talking over my shoulder and making suggestions.) Were you to carry a camp stove, you could do a fair amount of cooking on the campground picnic table. Oregon, hmmm, do you have access to an REI location? They have all sorts of compact cooking items, including small nesting cookware. Coleman products are widely available. Potatoes are a good candidate for the campfire ashes. Ice is routinely available.

Our absolute favorite chain, not completely national, is Sweet Tomatoes/Souplantation. Their salad bar is very good, with ample raw selections, that usually include kidney beans and chickpeas. Their hot bar includes simple baked potatoes, generally they don't seem to be oiled at all, just baked. Sometimes there are also sweet potatoes as well. If you join their Club Veg thing, you get coupons e-mailed to you, assuming you are taking your laptop that is. In some locations, there are coupons in the Sunday paper, amid all that shiny paper junk. Another option, although not quite as good as ST, is the Ruby Tuesday chain, which offers a less expensive but still adequate salad bar. I've honestly never explored the potato options there.

I had neighbors a long time ago who could only afford tent camping as a family vacation. Somehow that woman managed to pack a week's worth of cold items into a large Coleman type cooler. I know she froze a lot, the meats of course, which functioned as ice for several days. Personally, I know hummus freezes quite well, having done so many times while traveling by air. So while you are with friends, you could use their freezers to restock such things. I freeze a good many things in one quart Ziplock freezer bags. It is surprising how much you can get in one. I lay them flat to freeze and they stack quite compactly. If you have a saucepan, you have hot meals.

Most truck stops have microwave ovens for patrons to heat their purchases. If you are filling the gas tank, you can stick something in while your husband is fueling. Mine did this many, many a time while traveling on business. Of course, you have to put up with the smell of hot dogs, ugh.

LOL, when it's cold at night, I have put food outside to cool/freeze overnight. One must exercise caution with respect to wildlife, however. If you can at least get it cold before you retire for the evening, that's half the battle with respect to the cooler.

Okay, that's it off the top of my head. The sun is shining and I'm should go for a walk.

[Plumerias]

Okay, I had some additional thoughts while walking.......

There is a safe restaurants thread in Jeff's area. Ethnic restaurants are often veg-friendly, although not oil-free. Some Asian restaurants have steamed vegetables and brown rice. Our favorite is Indian.

Check Happy Cow http://www.happycow.net for wherever you happen to be. We learned the hard way to verify listings, as they don't necessarily remove closed businesses.

Find the local health food stores/natural foods stores/co-ops. A good many of them have small cafes. Perhaps not oil-free, but vegan is generally available in the hot and cold items. They will also have refrigerated items, which you can tuck into the cooler for later. This also includes the national chain, Whole Foods Markets, which is often discussed by members here. As one who has shopped in their stores in numerous states, let me say this...... they are most definitely NOT all created equal. Some have deli areas that totally offend me, others have so darned many good looking options that I wished I was shopping for them as opposed to groceries!

Explore the local farmers markets once the growing season is underway. Not only will you be able to get delightfully fresh local produce items, but many of them also have vendors who sell prepared items as well. Some local restaurants, for example, have booths at them, hoping to draw diners to their restaurants. Other vendors might be an individual who loves to cook and sells their foods.

With respect to truck stops, I feel fairly confident in saying that if it has a parking lot large enough to accommodate numerous eighteen wheelers, there is a shower and a microwave inside. I have never had occasion to understand the rules with respect to using the showers, so I cannot comment further.

And, LOL, you can always warm something on the engine block!

[Faith in DC]

wow a wealth of information Plumeria. I am glad you clarified that you hadn't tried out the showers at the rest stops.

When I use to tent camp, I'd always buy my food once I got to the city near we were staying. Potatoes were always a huge part. We'd bake in the fire for one dinner, and use the rest for breakfasts. I'd always bring hummus as a snack. I'd also grill corn on the cob, a dozen of them, and use those to snack on. I love cold corn on the cob.

[Gweithgar]

My favorite road-trip safety net is SubWay. They are located everywhere. Their bread selection is not all that a McDougaller could wish (not grainy enough, for starters), but the range of fresh and crispy veggies is good and you can get a veggie delight with NO cheese, your choice of veggies, and just a spritz of vinegar. For your junk food eater, they also have chips, soda, and cookies (ewww). If you balk at the bread selection, just ask for your veggies "salad style" and they will fill up a generous box with whatever you like. And you can fill up two people for one $5 foot-long, which is sure cheap enough. The sandwiches also keep for a day or so, if you have a cooler.

I also like eating out of grocery stores when I'm on the road. Pre-washed, ready-to-eat produce has become pretty easy to find, along with fresh fruit and good whole-grain breads or crackers. If you can pack a gas or propane fueled campstove in your van, you can devise some tasty meals from grocery store plunder. Mix a can of diced tomatoes, a can of corn, a can of some kind of beans, some seasoning. Serve over whole grain bread. You get the idea.

[MommaLuna]

Dear Plumerias, Faith in DC and Gweithgar, Thank you for your tips. I forgot all about Subway which we do frequent occasionally here. And now it looks like we may take a camp stove so all kind of possibilities have opened up.

We're going to take a southernly route, through Arizona, New Mexico, across the top of Texas, Oklahoma with many side trips, then not sure how but end up in Charleston South Carolina, up the coast and inland to Raleigh, NC, on to Pittsburgh and home via a northerly route still complete unplanned.

We've gotten lots of AAA things now and are really checking out the campgrounds. Still will do a motel now and then just to remember creature comforts

What are your favorite sites across our beautiful land?

Thanks Linda

[Plumerias]

Okay, this is just a little quickie, as we are on our way out to the farmers market.

Sweet Tomatoes (Souplantation in southern California where the chain began) is our favorite travel restaurant. http://www.sweettomatoes.com Check their website for locations, they are in the states you've listed.

This is a website many of "us" use. One must often read between the lines. Please note that some places will not welcome you as you are not "self-contained". http://www.rvparkreviews.com It is, however, a useful site.

Do check out state parks along your routes. I don't know if they are listed in the AAA campground books or not, as we are too large to fit in a good many of them, especially older ones.

http://www.localharvest.org is a good place to look for farmers markets, health food stores and restaurants. Again, check to make sure the listing is still current.

Most state(s) department(s) of agriculture maintain a listing of farmers markets, if that kind of thing is of interest to you. We have truly enjoyed seeking them out and learning what grows where and when in this large country. The State Farmers Market in Raleigh is on our top ten list. Do stock up on some Carolina sweet potatoes, the state is the nation's largest grower and they are delicious.

Should you like to read, seek out used bookstores along your way.

Okay, gotta run, will try to think of some more things later, assuming we have a connection.

[ncyg46]

lol...make sure you visit the used bookstore in Quartzsite Arizona! The owner is a suprise! lol!

[veggielou]

When leaving Okla. if you are continuing to Mo. be aware it is a meat eating state. In Springfield there is a health food store Mama Jeans that serves a vegetarian,vegan lunch They have a web-site with daily menu and location. Otherwise I can only suggest one other place, Five Spice (oriental) They have 1 veg. entree Buddha Feast very good but some oil . Sound like a trip I would love to make.

[sda]

Another good chain to keep in mind is Chipotle. (www.chipotle.com)
They make everything to order in front of you, it is not very expensive, and if you look on their website under special diet they list what you can and cannot eat as vegan or a vegetarian.

They also make an effort to buy and use local foods, are introducing organics beans etc. They also cook all their food on site.

[lydia]

In the original post you mentioned taco bell burritos as "mc dougall friendly". Caution!!! I used to think this, too, until I read the ingredients. I am not able to find the ingredient list on line but I know after reading it, I was bummed. I, too, went out of my way to go to taco bell as I thought it was a healthy choice.

What I can find on line is that of the 370 calories in a bean burrito 90 are from fat!!

When my husband and I were road tripping, if we were looking for a place to eat breakfast, I would call ahead to restaurants to ask how they prepared their oatmeal. That way we could enjoy a home cooked bowl of oatmeal.

with a decent gps, it could work to call ahead for any meal. I think it also lets restaurants know what travelers are looking for...just an idea.

[MommaLuna]

Thanks Lydia, Looks like I'd better do a little more research. I won't mind not eating at Taco Bell as I think they taste pretty bad (I get the Fresco bean burrito) but it was one place my husband (true junkfoodist) and I could go together.

And, sda, I'll sure look into Chipolte's. That sounds really good. There aren't any in my area so it will be fun to try a new (to me) place.

Linda

[noelalexis2000]

I am a gypsy by nature and would love to be traveling across country. Thanks for all the wonderful ideas. I just mostly take a cooler and buy in grocery stores or HFS when traveling. We have a little electric burner and a pan, skillet and can opener that come in handy as well. Most places have microwaves where we stop for gas so potatoes are a great snack. Hope you have a wonderful trip.

[blueskies]

Most of the Wendy's here (central Ohio) now have sweet potatoes as sides, in addition to the regular baked potatoes. The brown sugar cinnamon butter always comes on the side, so it's easy to get it nice and plain! I'm not sure if this option stretches across the whole country or not yet.