ISO Recipes For Takealong Road Trip Hot Meals

[Chef Munky]

We just got home from an almost 2 week road trip.
Yes we ate out at a few local places.The food was great.It helped us relax and not worry about what's to eat. Stores were close enough if we needed anything else. It was usually cases of water.

I did pack us up a nice set of essentials.
Fisrt off was a case of Cavi-Wipes. Don't expect the maids to clean the microwave or mini fridge.Bring your own ice bucket.

Paper plates.
Napkins
Box of utincils from costco
Paper cups/Home coffee mugs
Take your own coffee and maker.What's supplied is old.Could possibly be hazardous to use.
Pack a few extra sets of your own towels. Your own home pillows.

We stayed for 1 week in 1 spot.Had a great time.Only went to the store for late night munchies.It's truly a hassle to to lug around an ice chest.
I bought us a portable one that plugs into the cigarette lighter that keeps things hot or cold.Great investment.

Enjoy your trip. We were sorry we had to come back.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

We just got home from an almost 2 week road trip. {snip}
Enjoy your trip. We were sorry we had to come back.

Got the "kitchen stuff" covered, this is from our Great Western Adventure two years ago :







This was zero hour to blast off and then I would restock my "pantry" along the way. We were on the road for a little more than a month, staying in most places 1-4 days and eating in some restaurants if it wasn't just a pit stop-overnighter-moving-on-at-day-break.

We usually drive in 9-12 hours stretches here in the West, `cuz everything is so far apart once you get away from the cities.

This up coming road trip is looking to turn into possibly 6-8 weeks on the trail. Once we get to Michigan, we plan on branching out and seeing loads of family and old friends of my husband's, and then one the way back stop more and see sights, take out time basically.

 

[CWS4322]

This takes me back to my dad doing "engine" cooking when we traveled. Meat, potatoes, and carrots worked best.


Engine Cooking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[sparrowgrass]

Freeze the meals for the second and third day--they will keep everything cool, but be defrosted by the time you want to use them. I generally freeze my bottled water too, and use it instead of ice in the cooler. Nice cold water to drink on the road is great.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Pasties

+1

Also, why not grill a couple steak over fire and freeze them. They're flat, and stack nicely when frozen. To reheat, simply nuke until they're hot. Frozen burritos, frozen chicken, frozen steamed veggies, frozen soups, even frozen mac and cheese will work. Don't forget frozen pizza. I mean, how can you go wrong with frozen home-made-pizza?

Frozen pork chops with frozen veggies, and frozen smashed sweet spuds.

Just don't freeze things with gravy as freezing does funny things to gravy, execpt sunday gravy of course. Oh, and that's another couple of ideas, frozen lasagna, spaghetti, manicotti, enchiladas, egg rolls, rice, all reheat very nicely. Frozen fruit pies are great for desert. You can either nuke until hot, or just thaw and eat.

Frozen, cooked fish and seafood is good, especially with rice.

That's a couple ideas for you.

If you want something less fussy, make up some jerky with various kinds of meat, and some fruit leather. You can eat it while on the road.

Hope that helps.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Freeze the meals for the second and third day--they will keep everything cool, but be defrosted by the time you want to use them. I generally freeze my bottled water too, and use it instead of ice in the cooler. Nice cold water to drink on the road is great.

There's a good thought, DON'T freeze the first nights meal
That's the idea I was thinking of too, freezing the meals to help with keeping the cooler cold along the 4 day trek from Arizona to Michigan. We will arrive on the fourth day, so that's why the need for only 3 dinners.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

+1

Also, why not grill a couple steak over fire and freeze them. They're flat, and stack nicely when frozen. To reheat, simply nuke until they're hot. Frozen burritos, frozen chicken, frozen steamed veggies, frozen soups, even frozen mac and cheese will work. Don't forget frozen pizza. I mean, how can you go wrong with frozen home-made-pizza?

Frozen pork chops with frozen veggies, and frozen smashed sweet spuds.

Just don't freeze things with gravy as freezing does funny things to gravy, execpt sunday gravy of course. Oh, and that's another couple of ideas, frozen lasagna, spaghetti, manicotti, enchiladas, egg rolls, rice, all reheat very nicely. Frozen fruit pies are great for desert. You can either nuke until hot, or just thaw and eat.

Frozen, cooked fish and seafood is good, especially with rice.

That's a couple ideas for you.

If you want something less fussy, make up some jerky with various kinds of meat, and some fruit leather. You can eat it while on the road.

Hope that helps.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

STEAK!! I grill steaks about once a week along with the veg, there's one meal!
AND...
PIZZA, YEAH BABY!! That can be our first night's supper on the road. That would be super comforting for DH after a long days drive, he goes crazy for my home made pizza, and that I won't freeze, as sparrow suggested, just keep it cold is good.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Our breakfast will be courtesy of our hotels (mostly Best Western) en route.
Mid-morning snacks are typically fruits that have been washed and cut up, along with maybe some cheese and crackers, as we motor down the Interstates.
For lunch, we will find a nice place to stop each day for a well needed break from the car and a picnic of sandwiches, fruit and chips. I always have something to cover nasty picnic tables and benches as well as extra rag-towels for any clean-ups.
While in Yellowstone NP, we had company for many of our picnics

 

[RPCookin]

Freeze the meals for the second and third day--they will keep everything cool, but be defrosted by the time you want to use them. I generally freeze my bottled water too, and use it instead of ice in the cooler. Nice cold water to drink on the road is great.

For a three day trip, they shouldn't have an issue, but for a longer trip, dry ice is great. On one raft supported kayak trip on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, each of us on the trip was in charge of one evening meal. I took chili con carne with beans, packed in Seal-a-Meal packs and frozen. My meal was planned for the 5th night on the river, and it had to be taken out of the cooler right after lunch to thaw or it would have been still hard as a brick that evening.

With a good cooler, it takes surprisingly little ice or frozen meals to keep food cold for 3 days. One advantage to using the frozen meals themselves and frozen bottles of water for cooling is that you don't have to deal with melting ice. No need for sandwich meat and cheese etc., to be in totally watertight containers.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

[snip]

With a good cooler, it takes surprisingly little ice or frozen meals to keep food cold for 3 days. [snip]

Rick, which cooler do you use?
DH was just saying that he thinks we ought to buy a new one.

 

[RPCookin]

Rick, which cooler do you use?
DH was just saying that he thinks we ought to buy a new one.

Well, size is important, but I have one that was branded Oscar that I have been using since the mid 80's. I think it was called the Super Oscar, and holds enough for me and my wife for a couple of days if we are careful (when I bought it I was single and used it for my weekends in the mountains). As long as I don't open it any more than really necessary, it keeps frozen stuff cold for 2 or 3 days with no problem. I usually pack sodas or juices in a smaller cooler on ice so that I don't have to open the food cooler as often.

We also have a larger Igloo with 2 wheels that we use more now for road trips to give ourselves more options. I tried one of those plug into the lighter/power outlet ones, but the one I had was not terribly good at cooling. An ice chest worked better.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

My adorable husband and I just got back from Northern Arizona, visiting with Mr.&Mrs. DF and we stay in a hotel nearby (it's just easier that way) and we were having our complimentary breakfast in the hotel. I asked DH how much our hotel room costs us, and then I figured that by having this free breakfast, we're saving at least $25 USD off the top by taking advantage of that.
Lunch, so there's another $25, but we spend maybe $2-3 a piece for sandwiches and the accompaniments in stead.
Dinner, WOWZER! There's a good $50 for the two of us if we ate in a restaurant, as apposed to my takealong idea, which would cost us, what? Maybe $5 for both of us...
So, let's do some cipherin' there Jethro!
$25 - $3 = $22 x 4days
$50 - $5 = $45 x 3days
plus the $25 x 4d breakfast savings...
That's a total savings of $323, HEH!!! That could pay for our hotel rooms and then some along that 4 day trek!!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

My adorable husband and I just got back from Northern Arizona, visiting with Mr.&Mrs. DF and we stay in a hotel nearby (it's just easier that way) and we were having our complimentary breakfast in the hotel. I figured that by having this free breakfast, we're saving at least $18USD

So I got ta thinkin' about our road trip to Michigan...

Lunch out, there's another $25, but we spend maybe $2-3 a piece for sandwiches and the accompaniments instead.

Dinner, WOWZER! There's a good $45 for the two of us if we ate in a restaurant, as apposed to my takealong idea, which would cost us maybe $5 to make-ahead for both of us.

So, let's do some cipherin' there Jethro!

Lunch: $25 - $3 = $22 x 4days = $88
Dinner: $45 - $5 = $40 x 3days = $120
plus that $18 x 4d = $72 breakfast savings...
That's a total savings of $280, HEH!!! That could pay for our hotel rooms on that 4 day trek!!
(I just showed this to my husband and he's real excited about this)

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

My adorable husband and I just got back from Northern Arizona, visiting with Mr.&Mrs. DF and we stay in a hotel nearby (it's just easier that way) and we were having our complimentary breakfast in the hotel. I asked DH how much our hotel room costs us, and then I figured that by having this free breakfast, we're saving at least $25 USD off the top by taking advantage of that.
Lunch, so there's another $25, but we spend maybe $2-3 a piece for sandwiches and the accompaniments in stead.
Dinner, WOWZER! There's a good $50 for the two of us if we ate in a restaurant, as apposed to my takealong idea, which would cost us, what? Maybe $5 for both of us...
So, let's do some cipherin' there Jethro!
$25 - $3 = $22 x 4days
$50 - $5 = $45 x 3days
plus the $25 x 4d breakfast savings...
That's a total savings of $323, HEH!!! That could pay for our hotel rooms and then some along that 4 day trek!!

This is odd, why did the system post this do you wonder? I only hit submit on the next post...

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Does anyone else have ideas?
I still need a couple more thoughts (or more)
before I start to put together a menu for the road trip.

 

[Addie]

Driving cross country twice we had a small Styrofoam cooler. Bought a bag of ice and a small jar of mayo and mustard. Also a large loaf of bread. Along the way we would stop and buy sandwich stuff. Canned tuna, celery, chicken, etc. I would make the sandwiches as we were driving. And if anyone got hungry between meals, they could make a sandwich to hold them over until the next big meal. We would stop along the way and pull out the small Hibachi grill along with the small bag of briquets. Just enough to grill a piece of meat for each of us. (three people) By the time the meat was cooked, the briquets were cold enough to dump and if not there was always water in the bottom of the cooler from the melted ice. We had the ability to make hot meals and cold ones. What you bring depends of your means to prepare it. And the ability to keep some foods cold. Planning on stopping on the way to make fresh purchases should also be part of your plan. We took full advantage of using rest stops. Some of them were really nice and some we ate in a hurry and scrammed out of there. One that we stopped at appeared to be a meeting place for males to find male mates and then head into the woods. Certainly not geared for families.

 

[HeidiCooksSupper]

I notice a lot of folks have suggested frozen items but on a long road trip keeping them frozen is a real issue. They won't stay frozen in a standard cooler. A friend and I did many such trips to bird watch and cooked most suppers in motel rooms. Some of our trips were over 100 days. My advice may make more sense for over 3 days but I still think trying to transport frozen meals in a cooler is risky.

Yes, microwaves are great but I think you may want to schlep an electric frying pan and a small toaster oven. With these, you greatly expand your cooking options. Access to supermarkets will allow you to cook many things with these that really don't work in a microwave, e.g. chicken.

Though we both preferred real mayonnaise we found Miracle Whip survived the vicissitudes of life in a cooler better. Things like pickle relish and mustard survive a cooler fairly well. Keep track of what things you use frequently to cook and plan on packing these, e.g. salt, pepper, cinnamon, etc. Remember, too, though, not to over pack. If you can get it in a supermarket you needn't worry about having forgotten it.

As to knives, we packed a chef knife and two steak knives. The steak knives can do most of what a paring knife does. If you expect to need to peel veggies, bring a peeler. Again, if you find you need a specific kind of knife you can pick a cheap one up in a supermarket along the way. Bring a plastic cutting board. I'd suggest a rigid one because it adds a solid work surface for places with little work space. You can always work on a rigid cutting board on a bed or in your lap if you have to. A large stirring spoon and a spatula will come in handy.

Do bring real flatware. Using plastic flatware long term is likely to drive you up the drapes. Also a couple of real coffee mugs. You can use these both for hot or cold drinks and for things like soup or cereal.

Now, you are likely to look at things a little differently at the supermarket. Whereas you might make your cornbread from scratch at home, on the road Jiffy mixes are your friend. You will buy small jars rather than large. Look to things like cooking sauces.
You'd be amazed how good noodles, frozen mixed veg and some chicken cooked with a bottle of teriyaki sauce tastes in the middle of nowhere! Frozen "skillet meals" will taste better than they would at home. And for those, the electric skillet works great.

If you are used to eating homemade stuff at home, watch the sodium load of packaged foods on the road. Make sure to hydrate and consume lots of baby carrots, grapes, etc., as snacks along the way rather than salty crackers.

Finally, don't drive yourself crazy over-planning. You can always adjust along the way by stopping at supermarkets and big-box stores.

 

[GotGarlic]

I notice a lot of folks have suggested frozen items but on a long road trip keeping them frozen is a real issue. They won't stay frozen in a standard cooler.

Hi, Heidi. Welcome to Discuss Cooking [emoji2]

That's kind of the idea The frozen meals will thaw over a day or two and when they're thawed, you eat them. DH and I have done this several times. When I'm traveling all day, the last thing I want to do is go shopping and cook in the hotel room. And I believe most hotels don't allow cooking in the rooms. But to each their own [emoji2]

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

.... snipped ...

Finally, don't drive yourself crazy over-planning. You can always adjust along the way by stopping at supermarkets and big-box stores.

ALOHA!
Welcome Heidi to DC!!

As to your post, yes, I have adapted most of your suggestions in the past two years since the original post, as we take road trips ALOT!!
AP Knife, cutting board, basic spices, Oil&Vinegar, regulation plates/cups/bowls & cutlery (along with plastic/paper too), sugar, creamer, instant (Starbuck's) coffee, bottled water & juices (oh and don't forget the wine I take a case of water and a case of TJ's Three-Buck-Chuck ), and then the starter frozen meals for about 3-4 dinners. Snacks are strictly regulated to fruits, nuts and cheese (well maybe the occasional tin or two of homemade baked goods).
Oh, and don't forget some dish soap and laundry soap (along with rolls of quarters)! I always throw in 2-3 rags too, just in case.

I do draw the line at taking along a toaster oven and electric skillet though.

As GG mentioned, most hotel/motels frown on "cooking" in your room... micro though is okey-dokey.... and this is why we take along frozen meals that I have prepared long before blast off.

Also mentioned, after a long day in the car, the last thing I want to do is
A) look for a market
B) shop
C) prepare a meal
Which is why I was looking for ideas for meals I could make ahead, freeze SOLID and pack for the road.
I am always looking for new recipes for frozen-take-along meals ... We like chopped salads when traveling during the warmer weather, that's why I take Oil&Vinegar, oh and a mason jar to mix to up with

Some places that we've gone to have charcoal grills; if I know this ahead of time, I bring along a bag of Match-Light and I have one of those grill mates and tongs; I always have matches in the car, a make-shift table cloth and napkins and paper towels.

One of the reasons we prefer road trips is that, there is no over packing. We don't have to worry about weight limits or baggage fees, love it! A weeks worth of clothes and starter supplies; we're good to GO!!!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Want gourmet? If you are going to be at a place where you can have a fire pit. Purchase 1 small turkey. Make a tripod out of stout wood. After cleaning the bird, place the drumstick ends into the little plastic holder at the cavity opening. Run a stick between the body and the legs so that you can lift the bird with the stick. Tie strong twine to the stick ends and attach the middle to the twine to a hook at the apex of the tripod. Build a good cooking fire with log=ts of coals and place the bird close. Give it a slow twirl. It will spin one way, then the other for some time. When it slows down, give it another slow spin. Let the bird cook while you are breaking camp. Clean some mall rocks and let them heat in the fire while the bird is cooking. When he skin is browned, remove the bird and fill the cavity with the hot rocks. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil, and then in a couple of good blankets, or place it into an empty ice chest after wrapping in foil. As you then drive to your next destination, the hot rocks will cook the bird from the inside out, giving you a yummy turkey for your next meal.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North