Seems like we’ve been peppered of late with people asking about our favorite approaches to taking food on the road while traveling; after all, it’s high summer and time for folks across the fruited plain to get out and play.
We happen to be headed out ourselves later this month; we’re fairly hardcore Primal eaters around our camp, and I’m now in week 13 of a nutritional ketosis run that’s been nothing short of extraordinary, so we’re shaping our ‘road food’ plans accordingly for this trip.
A Quick Thumbs Up for the Power of IF and/or a Compressed Eating Window
Last year, several months into a fairly diligent run restricting my own personal carb intake down below 70 g/day initially and later fairly consistently under 50 g/day, as so many have before, I found my typical hunger diminishing, with increased cognitive and physical performance along the way.
It became second nature to simply not eat until hungry, which for me personally on most days means not eating my first meal until somewhere between noon and 2 PM (and most days include a very early walk and another morning to midday workout or active play at least 5 of 7 days/week).
Intermittent fasting or use of a compressed eating window like this plays very, very well on the road.
Worth Its Weight in Gold: A Good Cooler
We’d argue that no matter what the length of your trip, investing in a decent to good (maybe even great) cooler is worth the money. There are a number of great brands to choose from (not just YETI); we happen to prefer the Orion line and find it the best buy and most fully featured on the market today.
From prior days floating multi-day trips on Western Rivers, we learned of the value of picking up (or freezing your own) a block of ice to fit the cooler, though on this trip we’re taking up a couple of pieces of grass-fed beef and pork to family in Montana, so we’ll freeze them both solid and use them to chill the cooler all week (it works great actually, the meat will still be frozen solid on day four).
Our Favorite Road Trip Foods for the Cooler
Pre-cooked meats often include either steaks or a grilled leg of lamb (try the Ancho Grilled version coming up on Friday); a roasted or smoked pork shoulder works too, though we find meat from ruminants (beef, bison, elk, venison, lamb) tend to keep better over several days.
For the first day out, one of my wife’s favorites is our tamari-lemon-dill grilled salmon; she insists it’s better cold than hot off the grill…
Another first day out treat that’s worth the effort is a container of deviled eggs; we’re both children of the South and a zesty deviled egg is simply part of a longstanding tradition in these parts. Boil extra eggs, leave them in the shell, and pack along for snacking down the road too (probably good for a week with consistent ice in the cooler).
We also almost always pack a high-quality cured meat or two for variety, this trip will include our current favorite – a German mustard seed salami thickly sliced, along with several quality sliced cheeses (baby swiss with the mustard seed salami is heavenly). Speaking of dairy, my wife likes to have a bit of a good full-fat yogurt in the cooler as well, particularly if we’ve packed some fresh, seasonal berries along.
If there’s room (and there usually is) we like to add a few organic avocados to slice in half and simply eat out hand with a spoon, along with some colorful cherry tomatoes so common this time of year.
Finally, the cooler wouldn’t be complete without a container of our cold-brewed coffee that’s become a staple around the house (the current flavor of the house is a Mexican Chocolate); it’s perfect poured over iced with a bit of cream or a cold sparkling (unsweetened of course) water.
Favorite Grab and Go (Non-Perishable) Road Trip Foods
We’ve long been fans of homemade jerky, and have crafted various versions using beef, elk, venison, bison, turkey, pork, fish, and even goose. Not only is home-prepped jerky much healthier, as you control everything from start to finish, you’ll save astounding amounts of money compared to the commercially-prepped stuff.
Everyone puts nuts of some sort on their list, and while nuts have their downsides (caloric density and omega-6 baggage among others), we’ll often include some macadamias, walnuts, dry roasted pecans, or even pepitas.
If you really want to get down to nit-picky details, high-quality canned seafood might be the most nutrient dense option you can pack in the road trip bag, with ‘whole fish’ options like sardines, herring, and mackerel arguably the very best choices, though oysters, tuna, and salmon (pick the olive oil packed versions for an even higher bolus of good fats). Years ago I worked as a backpacking guide in the Weminuche Wilderness of southwestern Colorado; we always had a ‘seafood night’ on my trips, and lugged the relatively heavy (from a backpacking perspective) tins of seafood goodness often for days. Opening the various tins, usually along the shores of a high altitude mountain lake, made whatever meal seem like a banquet.
We’ve been playing with making root vegetable chips of late, and here’s a recent video (30 June 18) detailing the process nicely.
Other odds and ends that occasionally make it in the ‘snack bag’ include –
Coconut butter ( just a tablespoon is a great treat)
Dried, flaked coconut (unsweetened!)
Dark chocolate
Dried seaweed / nori
Plantain chips fried in coconut oil
Rarely a pork rind or two
There are no doubt dozens more we’ve missed; update post to follow.
