Tip #29 Road Trip Food

Just got back from a long road trip and thought I would share my thoughts on snacks and road trip food.  Since I live and grew up in the northwest, I have taken a lot of long road trips.  This is what works best for me and my family:

Not my idea, or picture- but isn't it so smart??

• Keep your snacks pretty healthy.  There is nothing worse for a digestive system than eating crap and sitting for many hours.  I like to bring grapes and baby carrots because they are easy to eat.  We also pack a lot of oranges and apples although they are messier.  Bananas are less messy, but bruise so easily. 
• Drink lots of water.  You might not like this tip- it makes you stop and pee more.  But constipation is a real problem while traveling and keeping hydrated will help with that.  During this last trip, we traveled to much drier climates and that can also add to your constipation problems.
• Try and get fiber.  Here it is again folks.  If you want crackers, try and get whole wheat ones.  I even opted to buy some freshly popped popcorn at one gas stop- I needed a salty snack and at least popcorn has more fiber in it than most other salty snacks.
• Do you find that you need to keep your mouth busy on a drive?  Try getting a no-calorie drink like naturally flavored seltzer water, chewing gum or my husband's favorite- sunflower seeds.  These keep his mouth busy and his mind alert while driving.  A trick from his school bus driving days in college.  
• Although nuts are a good snack, I do not bring many on a trip.  For one thing, they are high in calories and I would snack on too many.  Also, trail mixes can be packed with candies and dried fruit that is fine to have in small amounts, but sticks to the teeth a lot (see next point).
• Go easy on the sweet stuff- ok, this is just personal preference, but there is nothing worse than lots of fuzzy teeth when traveling.  I try and avoid getting a lot of candy or snacks that will stick to our teeth since I know we won't be brushing for a while.  I hate the fuzzy teeth feel, so if I do have a sweet, I follow with some carrots, apple or gum or even a cheese stick.  These things can help neutralize some of the bacteria and make my teeth feel cleaner, even if they are not much better.
• If you get drinks at the gas station, try and stick to real juice or chocolate milk.  Just better nutrition in these.  We also pack juice boxes and sometimes get the Fruitables which are a fruit/vegetable blend.
• Plan your food stops carefully.   If my one yr old falls asleep, I don't want to stop the car and wake him up.  But we might get really hungry waiting for him.  So I pack more substantial items like peanut butter sandwiches.  This saves us money too of course.  We don't like trying to keep meat or mayo based sandwiches cold, so we almost always just do peanut butter.  But I usually can only go so long without a hot meal, so we factor that in too.  If I plan ahead and have something I can heat easily at home, that's great.  If not, we might make a planned stop somewhere where we know we can get something hot and fairly nutritious.  I am always a big fan of Wendy's for their baked potatoes and small hamburgers.  Fries make me feel crappy on a drive, so does too many beans, so watch the re-fried beans or chili!  Ha ha.

There's nothing too scientific here, just my preferences and recommendations.  If you have tips and things you have worked out while on road trips, feel free to leave it in the comments below!